<p>I’ve searched the forums for this questions, but can’t find my answer.</p>
<p>We’re remodeling the kitchen. Almost everything is settled and I actually thought I had my answer to the flooring, but then my sister came over and now I’m starting from scratch.</p>
<p>We have ugly linoleum right now. I do not like or want wood. My lifestyle does not lead to keeping it scratch free and clean. My husband is the kind who likes to bleach. And they spill a lot which makes wood damp.</p>
<p>So I had just about decided on ceramic floors because I think they look nice and it seems to be a selling point when a house is listed so I assumed that meant people liked it. But now my sister tells me that the floors are hard and cold. Cold I could deal with by putting socks on in the winter, but hard?</p>
<p>So…anybody have any experience on whether ceramic tile is the way to go, or other suggestions?</p>
<p>I can tell you that after living in a house with hardwood floors and moving to one with porcelain tile throughout, I now suffer constant shin splints. I wear Reef flipflops (with flipflop socks in the winter) to combat the problem. I’m about to pay a fortune (thousands) to have my tile grout cleaned and resealed…so I long for the wood floors of my old house which were never a maintenance or care problem. Next house…it’s back to wood for us.</p>
<p>Just my take. </p>
<p>[Btw…there are some beautiful wood flooring products out there that can taking a beating (and a bleaching). ]</p>
<p>If you do decide aginst wood and go with tile… Have you considered putting in-floor heating system? A friend of mine has one of those, and her tile floors are soooo nice to walk on! Of course, that would not solve the hardness problem…</p>
<p>As far as tile goes, if your installer uses a special kind of grout, it will not need much care. It is called epoxy grout. I re-grouted my shower with it, and I’m happy to report that it has been more than a year since its installation, and it never needed any special cleaning.</p>
<p>YES! Epoxy grout…good catch BB. I have a couple of friends who have had bathroom makeovers and swear by this stuff. Wish I had known about it 8 years ago when our home was built. The last quote I rec’d for the grout work is $2300. I’m seriously considering doing it myself.</p>
<p>I’ve been dying to rip out our ceramic tile and replace it with wood. It’s not the cold and hard that bother me, but the darned grout. It’s light and is constantly stained and dirty (yes, we seal it regularly). The tiles are only 8" square so there’s an awful lot of grout. I scrubbed it on my hands and knees with a brush and grout cleaner three weeks ago and it already looks pretty bad.
If you do go with tile, pick the biggest tiles you can afford and the narrowest grout lines the installer will use. Also avoid tiles with a lot of relief (makes them harder to sweep) but get some with a little texture or speckle to hide some of the spots.</p>
<p>I changed to porcelain ceramic tiles and love them. They go straight from my front door through my front hall through my kitchen and all the way to the back door. Everywhere else on my first floor I have wood.</p>
<p>IMO this is a very practical surface. Little kids could come in the front door dripping with snow and no worries about damage to the floor from pools of melting snow. The same goes for hubby’s mud when he is doing a yard project – easy to clean up.</p>
<p>As for cold, I live in the Northeast and only in the winter would I even think of the cold, but even then it is not an issue for me. Most of the floor is over a basement so there is some heat underneath from the ductwork down there. In any event I can always wear thick socks in the winter. </p>
<p>I must admit I have on a couple of occasions dropped a dish on the floor that then broke. Yes, it is a harder surface than some other alternatives. </p>
<p>But I find it really easy to keep reasonably clean and sanitary and have no regrets.</p>
<p>This floor was put in in 2001 or so and I have never had a grout problem (or perhaps I am not that fussy). The tiles are beige and the installer matched the grout to the tiles. We have 12-inch tiles and the installer deliberately used very narrow grout. I did research and ask about epoxy grout but was told it is only used in commercial establishments. I guess you can have it done in a private home if you pursue doing that – my installer was not willing.</p>
<p>dragonmom, the tiles in my bathroom are 3’’ squares, and there was a lot of old grout to scape out. But the epoxy stuff is impermeable, therefore dirt does not get lodged in it, and it does not get mildewy at all. I wipe it with a towel after showering, and I have yet to clean it.</p>
<p>ldmom, as you can guess, I re-grouted the bathroom shower all by myself. Hub provided emotional support and gave me some “technical tips”. So if you are a mildly handy person, you can do it. If you have a lot of groutline, work in small batches, or the stuff will harden before you cover the entire area. The hardest part was actually to get the old stuff out. H was too macho to rent a tool from Home Depot, and as you can guess, I was the one who was stuck with the manual scraper in the end.</p>
<p>I agree with many who prefer wood in their kitchens. Mine is a softwood (maple), but it survived many things in our almost ten years in the house. If I were to choose new floors for my kitchen, I’d go with oak - that wood is bombproof.</p>
<p>Don’t forget, if you want to put down a tile floor, it could possibly raise the height of your floor almost an inch, especially if your kitchen is above a basement or crawl space. Most subfloors are 3/8" plywood, so you’ll need to lay down another layer of cement board to prevent “bounce” in your floor (which will cause cracks in your grout and loosening of the tiles). Make sure you have enough clearance between you appliances and your countertops (i.e. the dishwasher), and between the fring and whatever is above it (i.e. a built in cabinet). Most appliances have adjustable feet, but you want to check.</p>
<p>Same goes for hardwood flooring. No extra sub-flooring required (except a vapor barrier), but it can raise your floor height almost an inch as well.</p>
<p>BTW, just replaced my entire downstairs with 3/4" oak hardwoods, including the kitchen. Did it myself. Looks fantastic!</p>
<p>We’ve had tile in our kitchen since the remodel in 97. I love it. In the colder weather it is only chilly in the area over the crawl space. No problem with the darker grout.</p>
<p>Another vote for hardwood. We recently redid our 20 year old kitchen–but left the original hardwood floor untouched. OVer 20 years of constant use with kids growing up and a dog running around, we have had it refinished maybe twice. It is VERY forgiving on your feet and legs when standing for long periods of time. As far a every day cleaning–just a damp mop. That’s all–and not every day, either.</p>
<p>I have tile in my kitchen. Yes, if you drop glass or ceramic on it things break, but they might well have broken on the wood floor too. My tiles came with the house they are smooth and white with a dark grout. I’d never choose white it shows everything, but the grout doesn’t bother me at all. The real problem is that the tiles are dangerously slippery when wet. Be sure to check that out if you get tiles. They make great tiles that look like stone - we have limestone-like ones in our front hall (with some border tiles that are shades of brown and gold and copper - I love them). A client of mine put some slate-like tiles that she got at Home Depot. She loves them too. My kitchen floor is over a basement and I don’t notice it being too cold, though I am apt to wear slippers in the winter as a matter of course. I don’t notice it being hard on my feet either. Some feel wood floors are more comfortable, I just don’t spent that long in my kitchen though I’m a good cook if I do say so myself. :)</p>
<p>Linoleum, by the way, is back in fashion. You might find something you like if you wanted to replace it. There are also fairly convincing vinyl floors, and vinyl tiles out there for those on a budget. </p>
<p>My sister in law likes her cork floor. My mother had wood in her kitchen and it got very worn between her stove and sink despite area rugs.</p>
<p>I have cork flooring in my kitchen and LOVE IT! It looks like wood, but the care is much easier. It has a clear coating on top so it can be washed with hot water and soap. I replace a wood floor with this and am so glad. One down side is that it has faded over the 20 years we’ve had it, but other than that it still looks great. Soft on the feet. As I recall it was cheaper than wood floor, but more expensive than vinyl.</p>
<p>I’ve had hardwood floors in two of my kitchens (current one included). I wouldn’t have anything else. Cleans easily, comfortable and looks great.</p>
<p>Besides being cold, and hard on the feet, I find tile to be very slippery, and had to rush a visitor to the ER for head stitches, in our very first home !!</p>
<p>Have had wood floors in our last 2 homes and love it. We are sloppy cooks, and do drop water, but so long as you mop right away it seems to leave no visible signs of damage.</p>
<p>A friend of mine recently installed bamboo floors in her kitchen, and besides being cheaper than wood, it supposedly holds up to moisture much better.</p>
<p>I have wood in my kitchen and I love the way it looks and feels. Also matches the rest of the house. However, I had to have it refinished after about five years, and now – only three years later – it needs it again.</p>
The tiles are beige and the installer matched the grout to the tiles. We have 12-inch tiles and the installer deliberately used very narrow grout. I did research and ask about epoxy grout but was told it is only used in commercial establishments. I guess you can have it done in a private home if you pursue doing that – my installer was not willing.</p>