<p>We are in the midst of a lake home remodel. We lifted the home and added a walkout level that will be the main exit and entrance to/from the lake. I am so confused as to what type of flooring to put in over the heated concrete slab. No one wants tile as it is too hard on knees, backs and old hips. Carpeting or engineered wood would be a mess from wet and sandy human and dog feet. I am so very tempted by a high end wood look laminate or the newer vinyl tile floors. Has anyone installed these? Other suggestions?</p>
<p>Went with a high-end heavy wood-look vinyl tile that installs like laminate wood but more waterproof.
[TrafficMaster</a> Allure 6 in. x 36 in. Tradition Resilient Vinyl Plank Flooring (24 sq. ft./case)-90014 at The Home Depot](<a href=“http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100595233?productId=100595233&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&MERCH=REC-_-product-1-_-100522807-_-100595233-_-N#.UZ1G_KKbPt4]TrafficMaster”>http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100595233?productId=100595233&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&MERCH=REC-_-product-1-_-100522807-_-100595233-_-N#.UZ1G_KKbPt4)</p>
<p>I think good vinyl is the way to go. Easy to care for and not as slippery as tile. I am putting in vinyl that looks like stone in an upstairs bath. I want easy to care stuff and it looks great.</p>
<p>My SIL has pre finished wood in her lake home. It has held up surprisingly well. She has vinyl in her bathrooms and I like it, really easy to clean since everything is so sandy here. </p>
<p>I was at a beach home which had a tile which looked like wood. It looked nice but I thought it was hard to clean. Sand got in all the crevices.</p>
<p>15 years ago we put in electrical floor heat on our slab and were steered away from vinyl and toward tile. We tiled the room off the lake and the other side of the basement has carpet. Our neighbors have water heated floors and they have some tile and some carpet on the concrete slab. (tile by lake side entry) If you go tile, do not pick a light grout and select a multi shaded tile that blends well with dirt and water drips:p </p>
<p>Depending on your exact set up, I suppose there is always a potential issue with carpet and moisture. I wonder if the heat would dry out the vinyl or some wood/wood type floorings.</p>
<p>The concrete has water filled tubes to heat the slab. The vinyl tile manufacturer says the warranty is only good up to 80 degrees. Still checking on the laminate. We have a wood floor upstairs and tile in bathrooms. It is the great room by the sliding doors that has me stumped!</p>
<p>This decorator’s blog got me thinking about the laminate. I researched this product and it gets great reviews. Just nervous about whether it will hold up since it isn’t a well known brand. <a href=“http://www.theyellowcapecod.com/2011/10/more-on-floor.html[/url]”>http://www.theyellowcapecod.com/2011/10/more-on-floor.html</a></p>
<p>Allure is good to 90+ degrees. Not sure hot heated floors are.</p>
<p>I have been advised by my contractor that you can NOT put real wood on top of concrete. The water from the concrete leaches into the wood floors and ruins them.</p>
<p>If you have laminate floors in the basement -what do you put on the stairs?
Can you put laminate on those too?</p>
<p>*Went with a high-end heavy wood-look vinyl tile that installs like laminate wood but more waterproof. *</p>
<p>Had the same thought. There’s also some high-end vinyl that looks like ceramic tile, too. Depends on the look you want.</p>
<p>VH, I have oak parquet on top of poured concrete floors. The house was built in 1961 and there have been no problems. (We are in PA.)</p>
<p>I have installed 1000’s of sq ft of the TrafficMaster vinyl flooring tiles, both the wood grain and the ceramic tile versions. I actually think the ceramic tile version looks nicer, as the wood grain still has kind of a plastic-y look to it, IMO.</p>
<p>It is pretty easy to DIY, although it can get tricky when you have to go around something like a pillar or a door frame.</p>
<p>The durability so far has been excellent. And because it floats it is easy to take up if necessary.</p>
<p>Two things to think about:</p>
<p>1) on a concrete floor you will have to very carefully check the surface, if you find any small pieces sticking up you will have to chisel them down. Small divots or cracks will be easily spanned as the tile is quite thick.</p>
<p>2) if the room ever gets really cold (like less than 40 or 50 degrees) the tiles can shrink and open up gaps between some of the pieces, which show up as thin black lines, because that is the color of the underlying overlapping areas. It remains waterproof, but the black lines are not the most attractive thing.</p>
<p>This will not be a DIY project. The contractor will install whatever we get. Don’t worry VeryHappy…no wood in the lower level. 
I really like the look of the Armstrong Alterna
and the Congoleum DuraCeramic. The DuraCeramic has spotty reviews online and the Armstrong Alterna gets better reviews. The Sam’s Club laminate also gets great reviews. Need to make a decision by Friday!</p>
<p>If you’re dealing with dirt, sand, water, dogs… really, tile is going to be the best, and you can use task mats for the working areas.</p>
<p>If you want to save money, finish the concrete with a nice stained skim coat.</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of vinyl.</p>
<p>Slate with area rugs.</p>