ceramic tile kitchen floor?

[mjarrels]

We went with oak hardwood because the dining room and halls were all oak... wood feels and looks warm with the only downsize is when you drop something... its history.

mark

 

[CurlyDave]

We are getting an estimate on a kitchen and the contractor sugested ceramic tile for the floor, he said it is not much more expensive than linoleum anymore. I've never had any experience with ceramic tile flooring and am wondering if there is a down side to getting one.

We would never have a ceramic tile floor for the same reason we would never have a granite countertop. They are pretty, but anything you drop is going to break.

If you are both really careful, and really coordinated, this might be the floor for you. Otherwise, the attrition rate on your dinner plates and glasses will be higher than you will like.

 

[oscer]

Quote from Curly Dave
If you are both really careful, and really coordinated, this might be the floor for you.


That leaves me out. Thanks for all the replies fellas.

Eddie, actualy I think the contractor said a couple hundred more per room for tile compared to top grade linoleum. We're talkin'12'x11'rooms. Regardless of what type of floor we decide on we need new sub floors, so that may have some bearing on his thinking too.

We have a very active dog which is why we are thinkin ceramic.

 

[EddieWalker]

oscer,

I've been very suprised by how many people don't like tile because of how often they drop plates and glasses. Other than that, it's really a great flooring for kitchens and bathrooms.

One additional thing about tile is it's the only flooring that is sanitary for commercial kitchens. I'm sure there must be other materials, but nothing else that's been listed so far is considered clean enough for health departmens.

I mentioned $3 a sqare foot as a starting price for decent tile. If you shop around, you can get it for less. I've found the exact same tile from the exact same distributor in Dallas from $14 a sq foot to $8 a sq foot. It all depended on which store you went to.

Just stick with a nice neutral color and don't get a patern.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Dusty]

If you live in an area where there are dirt roads and you will be tracking sand into the house, the vinyl tile or whatever flooring that you use will be subject to the abrasion of the sand, except for the sand. We loose maybe one or two glasses a year to the floor. More dishes are broken in the sink than anywhere else. Just make sure that if you go with tile, you pick something that you can live with for 20 years and won't clash with any future upgrades to the home decoration. In this picture, you can see how much dirt that 3 dogs and 2 adults can track into the house in one day. I mop the floor once a week and use a industrial cloth sweeper on it every morning to keep it looking good..... That is what I tell my wife. I actually sweep it about every other day. If she has caught on, she hasn't said anything yet.
Dusty

 

[tallyho8]

I love my ceramic tile in my bathrooms and kitchen but I will admit to using a lot of throw rugs in these rooms.

 

[dubba]

While we have tile in a lot of rooms (kitchen, bath, laundy, entry), I wouldn't do it again. Or if we did I would at least do it with radiant heat. Also when picking tile be careful of how rough it is. My wife picked a tile with texture for the entry to the house. it looks great after being handscrubbed & mopped. 10 hours later it looks dirty again. the small "textures" pick up & hold every piece of dirt introduced to the surface. Only smooth tile for me from now on

 

[Bird]

We would never have a ceramic tile floor for the same reason we would never have a granite countertop. They are pretty, but anything you drop is going to break.

If you are both really careful, and really coordinated, this might be the floor for you. Otherwise, the attrition rate on your dinner plates and glasses will be higher than you will like.

When I drop something, I expect it to break, and I'm rarely disappointed. I do wish things wouldn't explode and scatter as far as that 4' florescent light tube did last week.

 

[randy41]

we had ceramic tile in our kitchen in our previous house. it was slippery when wet and the dogs made it dirty with their muddy feet all the time.
we have oak hardwood in this house and its way better. it helps that the dogs never come in.

 

[RobertN]

We have a very active dog which is why we are thinkin ceramic.

We have two dogs and two cats; all are inside when we are inside. Then there's me, and our 12 year old son. We can seriously test flooring

We did the main part of the house in tile as I mentioned previously. Previous to that, we had done both bathrooms. Since then, we did the office in Pergo(can't remember model), and our master bedroom in Bamboo(Awesome!). Our goal is to do our sons bedroom and spare bedroom in a laminate in the near future...

We do not like carpet for the most part, nor linoleum.

We do have an area rug in the living room.

We had ceramic tile countertops in the kitchen, and just upgraded to granite tile. We've had the kitchen floor in tile 8 years or so. Ya, when we drop things do break, but that is not often. We kinda adapted to it, and are more careful. Accidents do happen though. When things do break, it is in a more explosive manner though

The tile is cooler to the touch than carpet, obviously, and even lino. But, we don't mind. In fact, it is nice in the summer. We're in the foothills outside of Sacramento; it does not get snowy frozen cold like more northern areas, so it is not that big a deal for us. If I lived in Minnesota, I might be more concerned.

If we were to get or build a new house, or do a major remodel, we would go tile and laminates again for sure, no question. We'd probably use more bamboo laminate too.