Ceramic Tile vs Laminate Vinyl Flooring

[ultrarunner]

Standard practice here is to refinish hardwood.

I’ve refinished 1920 matchstick hardwood and it always comes out perfect.

Matchstick is 1” wide oak strips…

The wider strips really did not start until the mid 1930’s through the 60’s and then carpet or vinyl over plywood.

 

[2manyrocks]

I suppose it required 2-3x as many nails to install the narrow hardwood strips as the wider ones.

A lot of people covered over their nice hardwood floors with carpet in the 60s and 70s. Carpets trap so much dirt.

 

[MossRoad]

I suppose it required 2-3x as many nails to install the narrow hardwood strips as the wider ones.

A lot of people covered over their nice hardwood floors with carpet in the 60s and 70s. Carpets trap so much dirt.

When we bought our house, the carpet looked like it belonged in a hotel lobby from the 60s. We hired someone to remove it and had a thicker plush carpet installed. We weren't home when they did it.

About 10 years later, my wife wanted to change it again. When we removed it ourselves we found all the sand and pet dander from just the past 10 years. Yuk! Then we noticed the original wood floor was in great shape and we decided not to re-carpet. All we had to do was just clean up the flooring and remove the tack strips around the edges of the room and cleaned it really well. Looks great. So we did the same in the living room.

One thing I found was two cigarette burns in the wood, about 1.5" long each. You could tell some previous owner must have dropped a lit smoke while sitting in an easy chair and it burned through the previous carpet. Yikes!

 

[nyone]

Wood floors are very susceptible to that too, well at least "real" wood. Maybe some of the modern engineered wood stands up better

Not totally correct. The finish most people use on hardwood floors is easy to damage. Because it's just a surface finish. I used tung oil on my red oak 13yrs ago. It still looks like I put it down yesterday. We have a gravel drive and 140lbs of dogs. It's because the finish isnt just a surface coating like all polyurethane is.

Yes my floor has digs and scratches in it but you cant tell because the subsurface is the same color as the top.

 

[Cycledude]

When we bought our house, the carpet looked like it belonged in a hotel lobby from the 60s. We hired someone to remove it and had a thicker plush carpet installed. We weren't home when they did it.

About 10 years later, my wife wanted to change it again. When we removed it ourselves we found all the sand and pet dander from just the past 10 years. Yuk! Then we noticed the original wood floor was in great shape and we decided not to re-carpet. All we had to do was just clean up the flooring and remove the tack strips around the edges of the room and cleaned it really well. Looks great. So we did the same in the living room.

One thing I found was two cigarette burns in the wood, about 1.5" long each. You could tell some previous owner must have dropped a lit smoke while sitting in an easy chair and it burned through the previous carpet. Yikes!

Any pictures ?

 

[MossRoad]

Any pictures ?

Of the hotel lobby carpet or the cigarette burn in the wood floor?

 

[newbury]

Good ceramic tile installed over concrete lasts forever unless you drop something heavy and crack one. It’s easy to keep clean and stays looking nice. But be sure to buy extra for replacements if you go this route. Because 10 years later, that particular style/color will be discontinued.

And IF YOU crack one you can chisel it out and replace it.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I've had both tile and LVP. The tile I had was the plank look. 5-8" or so wide by 30" or so long. The LVP is what is in our new house and was chosen based on budget.

Other than the cost, there was nothing that I did not like about the tile for a hard surface. After a year of living on the LVP there could be a case to be made that it's slightly less uncomfortable to walk on the LVP than the tile, in no way comfortable though. I don't want to walk on either for any length of time without house shoes. They both hurt my feet and legs.

I can not stand the noise the LVP makes when walking on it. It has almost a hollow sound if there is any area at all with even the tiniest void between the floor and the LVP. With a Visqueen vapor barrier under it, there are very few places that it's really tight to the floor. It doesn't move in any way that you would notice, it just sounds bad. There are a couple of low places in my slab and it's really noticeable in those places. It does seem to be a lot better in that regard upstairs where it's directly on the wood subfloor.

As for the scratching. We are out in the country, we have dirt, rocks, and small pets. None of that has scratched the LVP. But, dining chairs, couches, and tables sliding has put surface scratches in it. We put felt stick on glides under all the furniture and that seems to have cured the issue though.

I would for sure pick LVP over wood or laminate flooring. Literally every person I know that has wood or laminate has had to replace some or all of it in the last 2 years due to water damage. Whether it was up against an exterior door where water was tracked in over the years or due to a leaking kitchen appliance, it only takes a little bit of water to ruin it.

I don't regret installing LVP. But if I had unlimited money I probably would have rather had the plank tile if I could have found a similar finish. Though the LVP does match really well with the wood we have in the house.

 

[Cycledude]

Of the hotel lobby carpet or the cigarette burn in the wood floor?

Your Refinished wood floor

 

[MossRoad]

Your Refinished wood floor

We never refinished it. It's original to the house.