Ceramic Tile vs Laminate Vinyl Flooring

[oosik]

I get gravel, sand, silt and volcanic ash tracked into the house. One major reason we chose quarry tile. Hasn't affected the floor, one bit, in over 40 years. I dry mop the entire floor - once per week.

My subfloor - 5/4 T&G plywood. Nothing moves - nothing has cracked. The plywood subfloor is glued and screwed to the floor joists.

 

[jmc]

Wood floors are very susceptible to that too, well at least "real" wood..

Good to put a fine point on what constitutes actual "wood":

Bought a "wood" toilet seat replacement from a major online home furnishings outlet, trying to avoid "polymer", aka "resin", aka plastic. The seat collapsed in a few months because the advertised "wood" was actually compressed wooden sawdust, reinforced with the paint on the surface. $50.

 

[MossRoad]

A lot of good information, I appreciate that.

One thing that concerns me about vinyl flooring is the area I live in has a lot of small rocks & sand that can get stuck onto shoes. I usually always remove my shoes when going inside but sometimes guests don't do that. I'm worried about rocks & sand scratching the vinyl flooring when on the bottom of shoes. I know tile is much stronger in regards to scratches.

We have vinyl sheet in the kitchen. It came with the house 30 years ago. It's a brick pattern. Held up really well. It's dark brick color. Does not show dirt. No joints to clean out as it's sheet wall-to-wall. Cleans easily with a Swiffer Wet Jet.

With that said, yes, sand or rock stuck in shoe would scratch it if dragged across it. So would big dog toenails. So think about that.

Fridge is moved out from wall about once a month to sweep behind it. That has never scratched it.

I installed a wood plank look sheet vinyl in our bathroom. Looks very nice. Identical look to vinyl plank but no seams to leak. All one piece. Pretty easy to work with. Just made a template out of flooring protection paper and transferred it to the vinyl. Removed the toilet and baseboards, slipped it under the vanity edges, adhered it with removable adhesive, re-installed the toilet and baseboards and caulked along the tub. I chose to use the removable adhesive method in case the wife decides to redecorate in the future.

On the other hand, my mother in-law has tile in her kitchen and main hallways. It is cold. But it is at least 25 years old and looks as good as the day she had it installed. They did break a tile, but had spares. Had a pro replace it. Cannot tell.

You could lay an electric heat mat under the tile if you want a heated area, like a bathroom floor.

 

[MossRoad]

Wood floors are very susceptible to that too, well at least "real" wood. Maybe some of the modern engineered wood stands up better, dunno, don't have any experience with it. Other than vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom, all our floors are wood. We always remove shoes before coming in, don't have company often enough that it's a big problem.

I have to ask the tile floor proponents, what's underneath them? I can see it working well with a cement slab, but wouldn't a joist-and wood subfloor have too much "give" for tile? Given that it's brittle, you'd think any give in the floor would cause cracking.

We have real wood floors in living room and dining room. Original from the 20's. It is susceptible to scratching. Like big dog toenails when they get the zoomies and try to make a corner and spin out instead! We've been in the house about 30 years and are thinking about having them refinished. They have a bit of wear in the heavy traffic areas. Other than that, if I ever install wood flooring from scratch, I'm gonna put radiant heat under it, as it gets cold as well. That's why we have an area rug in the living room.

 

[jyoutz]

Wood floors are very susceptible to that too, well at least "real" wood. Maybe some of the modern engineered wood stands up better, dunno, don't have any experience with it. Other than vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom, all our floors are wood. We always remove shoes before coming in, don't have company often enough that it's a big problem.

I have to ask the tile floor proponents, what's underneath them? I can see it working well with a cement slab, but wouldn't a joist-and wood subfloor have too much "give" for tile? Given that it's brittle, you'd think any give in the floor would cause cracking.

Tile can be successfully installed on wood floors if the floor is solid and has no “give.” Then they attach a layer of 1/4” cement board to the wood to act as a base to attach the tile with either mortar or adhesive. On a cement slab, tile installation is easy because no preparation is needed.

 

[ponytug]

A lot of good information, I appreciate that.

One thing that concerns me about vinyl flooring is the area I live in has a lot of small rocks & sand that can get stuck onto shoes. I usually always remove my shoes when going inside but sometimes guests don't do that. I'm worried about rocks & sand scratching the vinyl flooring when on the bottom of shoes. I know tile is much stronger in regards to scratches.

We are out and about on the ranch constantly. To cut down on dirt and grit in the house, we have a large (3x6') industrial outdoor floor mat / rug just inside the main door to help catch sand and gravel from everyone's feet, human and otherwise (large dogs). It is easy to vacuum and hose off when needed, and the rug traps almost all the sand/dirt/ small gravel. We also try to limit shoes in the house for the same reason. The tile and oak floors in the house 50 odd years old and in pretty good shape. I wouldn't replace or even refinish either one for another twenty years given their current state. If we had an aggressive volcanic soil like @oosik, it might be a different story.

There are many grades of vinyl flooring; the best ones in my view have a thick relatively clear upper layer (1/8-3/16") with the color and pattern below, rather like clear coat on a vehicle. It makes the vinyl more tolerant of scratches, without the scratches being particularly visible. It is not going to fool anyone that is tile or wood, but it makes for a durable and easy to clean floor.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ponytug]

Tile can be successfully installed on wood floors if the floor is solid and has no “give.” Then they attach a layer of 1/4” cement board to the wood to act as a base to attach the tile with either mortar or adhesive. On a cement slab, tile installation is easy because no preparation is needed.

I agree, but if it were me, I would still put down a fiberglass reinforcement on a concrete surface to keep any future cracks in the concrete from cracking tiles. It cuts down on tile breakage.

All the best,

Peter

 

[jyoutz]

I agree, but if it were me, I would still put down a fiberglass reinforcement on a concrete surface to keep any future cracks in the concrete from cracking tiles. It cuts down on tile breakage.

All the best,

Peter

IDK if they did this or not in our house. I know the tile have been down on the concrete slab portions for over 30 years with no cracking. For the bathrooms that are over wood floors, they did use the cement board. For new concrete floors, I think I would explore doing the stained concrete treatment. Those floors look great and hold up well.

 

[1 Old Man]

I was a contractor for almost 40 yr. Tile and wood floor installation technique depended on
multiple factors including slab or pier & beam, soil (sand, expansive clay, black jumbo,
red dirt etc). So it was not a one solution fix. Older homes with oak flooring w/ tile floor
bathrooms, required a float (sand & portland mix) so the wood and finished tile would be the
same height. Where tile laid on top of wood flooring, Wonderboard or Durock would be
installed as a tile substrate. This caused doorway thresholds need to be adjusted/installed for
2 different finished floor heights. Luxury vinyl planks, real wood, manufactured wood flooring,
tile, sheet vinyl, epoxy coating on slab, stained concrete....all good choices depending on
application and intended use. Determine your budget (materials & labor) and pick what you
like and can afford.

 

[Oaktree]

Good to put a fine point on what constitutes actual "wood":

Bought a "wood" toilet seat replacement from a major online home furnishings outlet, trying to avoid "polymer", aka "resin", aka plastic. The seat collapsed in a few months because the advertised "wood" was actually compressed wooden sawdust, reinforced with the paint on the surface. $50.

Our house pre-dates any engineered wood flooring by a very long time. Pine planks upstairs that likely are original to the (1830s) house, fir downstairs that's probably pushing 100 yrs old. Downstairs, and our upstairs bedroom were sanded and refinished maybe 15 years ago.

I hear ya on the "wood" toilet seats. Not only are they just particleboard, but they only have one set of feet, towards the front. Only other support was the hinge...quite a long unsupported span. We got a little better life out of those than you did, but they still only lasted a couple years. Gone back to plastic ones.