ceramic tile kitchen floor?

[RobertN]

We tore out carpet and Lino in about half our house(kitchen, dining, living, and family rooms) about 8 years ago. We'd never go back!

The thing that was amazing is how hard we worked to keep the carpet clean, but when we pulled it up the back was dirty. There was all kinds of dust and silt and icky that got in it.

We really like the tile. It is easy to clean, looks nice, and has held up well. We have one nick so far, in an out of site area. We do have extra tile, leftovers that we kept, just in case...

In my office, we took carpet out and put in one of the Pergo laminates. That has wrked nicely. In the master bedroom, we ripped out the carpet recently, and put in bamboo flooring; WAY COOL!

When you look at you bid and price, I would pay attention to the tile itself. There are many grades, just like other flooring. Make sure it is a good grade of tile; you don't want inexpensive or cheap stuff cracking and chipping on you. Make sure to check out the tile stores for idea's too. We put some borders and stuff in that looked really nice, and added little to the overall cost.

 

[riptides]

Just went through this in different rooms. Ended up with laminates, wood, vinyl and tile in different rooms with different sub-floors accordingly.

Our problem was one of cost, traffic and life-style decor. One material just would not meet all our expectations.

For the kitchen I will be leaning towards tile. The floor needs sub-floor work anyway, so any other material at this point would need a major redo of the base. We don't mind the "cold" of tile, and as far as maintenance goes, I don't need to worry about liquids, staining or absorbsion with the material.

Each material has its own benefits, have you considered stamped, painted concrete?

Good luck.
-Mike Z.

 

[pennwalk]

I would pay attention to the tile itself. There are many grades
That is a good point the tile salesman told us that they are starting to stock 10 year tile because many people like to remodel periodically so why spent too much on life time tile. It sure would be a bummer to think your tile was going to last forever and have it start to crumble.

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

My neighbor had Pergo in the kitchen and the dishwasher let go and he had to replace the floor. Do they make laminates that will hold up if they get wet?

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

Linoleum is the cheapest and easiest to install
Eddie, We are coming out of a building boom and for a long while anyone who had a hammer was fully busy. It is amazing how some of these guys can screw up. When you need to seam vinyl they have this special glue that can make a perfect joint but not everybody can do it. There is no doubt that if you don't get the sub-floor clean and even you will have lumps and bumps in the vinyl. There are so many great products these days if only there were more great installers.

Chris

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Ceramic is cold and hard and very depedent on installation technique for a good lasting job. Personally, I would never use ceramic on a floor. I have them in the bathrooms, but wish I didn't. Cold and hard -- have I said that already? It can also chip, and the grout is hard to clean. Even if you have darker grout, a bit of cranberry juice gets sucked right up unless you seal the grout once in a while. It definately costs more. You might say that over the long term, because the tile lasts longer, that it will cost the same, but who wants the same floor pattern for 50 years anyway unless it's wood. Oh, and it's cold and hard.

Of course everyone wants something different from their floors, so all this is opinion.

We have traditional hardwood in the kitchen. Quite happy with that, and if it wears in twenty years, we sand it and refinish it. New floor.

Cliff

 

[riptides]

My neighbor had Pergo in the kitchen and the dishwasher let go and he had to replace the floor. Do they make laminates that will hold up if they get wet?

Chris

I would not put down a laminate in an area that could get wet. this includes damp mopping.

-Mike Z.

 

[riptides]

I would pay attention to the tile itself. There are many grades
That is a good point the tile salesman told us that they are starting to stock 10 year tile because many people like to remodel periodically so why spent too much on life time tile. It sure would be a bummer to think your tile was going to last forever and have it start to crumble.

Chris

And consider an EXTRA case with the same serial/sequence numbering for just in case disasters.

-Mike Z.

 

[Dusty]

We installed ceramic tile from the front entrance hall, through the kitchen, into the back hall, bathroom, and to the garage when we built the home in 1982. There isn't one crack in the tile, and it looks as good today as the day it was installed. The installer put down expanded steel and nailed it in place ever 4" in every direction to the plywood underfloor. Then he installed a mortar over that which was mixed with a latex for additional strength. Then came the tiles that were set in with a mastic mixed with latex again. It seems that it took forever for him to finish the job, but it has stood the test of time. If you drop a glass, it will shatter the glass. It is also cold in the winter, but the dogs haven't been able to damage it, and a mopping once a week will keep it looking like it was just installed. That is the only bad part of it. It is my job to keep the floor clean. If I had it to do over, I would have radiant heat installed under the floor, but nothing else would change. Same for the shower stalls. That tile floor is quite cold in the winter till the hot water warms it.
Dusty

 

[Ken_CT]

One thing nobody has mentioned yet about ceramic tile is it can be very slippery, especially if it's wet. Whatever you decide on, be sure it's of good quality, don't buy the cheaper grades of anything or it will cost more in the long run.