<p>Tile makes me nervous… if you decide on it, make sure it’s not slick. My dad walks with a leg brace and relies heavily on floor friction when he takes a step. Any drip of liquid on our tile kitchen floor and he gets a real quick close-up view of that tile. The rest of us have had problems with it, too, despite our all being able-bodied. I would’ve thought that someone would’ve warned a homeowner against slick tile for a kitchen, but our house’s previous owners apparently didn’t get the memo.</p>
<p>Has nobody said anything about natural stone? I’ve always wanted a slate-floored kitchen. (This is, of course, after DH wins a scorewriting Oscar and when I have my own structural design firm and work full-time on Cesar Pelli and Frank Gehry projects.) Same coldness problems, but increased attractiveness of natural materials.</p>
<p>If you use slate, make sure you are OK with an uneven floor. I’m laying slate tiles now on a fireplace and they are definitely not a nice, even surface.</p>
<p>This is what we have in the kitchen, although ours are 14X14, and we have some of the listello tiles and 6X6 tiles making a pattern in an adjoining hallway. We actually used our leftover 6X6s to do the backsplash with a border of some handmade black tiles.</p>
<p>I shopped the floor longer than almost anything in our kitchen remodel, and I’m glad I did. My tiles were on the expensive side, but not outrageously so, and they have just enough variability to look like old worn floors.</p>
<p>I’m a cut-to-fit, beat-into-place kinda gal… I’d probably get a kick out of topo-mapping my kitchen, but it’s nice to be forewarned. =) Thanks, washdad.</p>
<p>I don’t cook much, being a single parent with my D away to college. I am wondering why I am redoing my kitchen. Anyhow, I am going with Porsche/Poggenpohl’s design kitchen for men. The architect suggested a smooth stone floor. I do worry about slipping on it.</p>
<p>Most natural stones are more porous than tile, so water-on-the-floor’s not as treacherous as it would be with tile. Tile glaze, when fired, becomes glassine, so with tile, you’re actually walking on a thin layer of glass over ceramic (which is naturally porous and very absorbant, actually). Natural stone, depending upon the type of stone, will probably be a lot more slip-resistant than tile, but it’d be a good thing to ask your architect about anyhow. Any idea what type of stone it is?</p>
<p>Better yet speaking as an architect, just get a sample of the stone you are considering and put some water on it. Most stones are less slippery than most tiles, but the tiles in my front hall aren’t slippery at all, and I’ve seen polished marble floors that look slippery, but I don’t know how slippery they are. I do know that my kitchen floor (glazed tile) is dangerously slippery and I can’t wait to change it.</p>
<p>3bm103, no I don’t. You could try Googling “tagina Italian tile”, that is the maker and start calling your local stores. I think that online tile companies will send you a sample for a fee, but that won’t really do it justice because the tiles vary one to the next.
I got lucky, I found the tiles online, then found one store in my area (since gone out of business) that carried the tiles. The store, of course, actually had the big sample boards with about 8 tiles installed to give you an idea of the variability of the line. All the colors are pretty - one is a white and beige, limestoney look, another is more golden, like a dark, old jerusalem gold limestone, if you are familiar with that.
My contractor wanted to save some bucks so he got his carpenters/do everything guys lay the floor. They had done a little tile work, but this was by far the biggest most complicated job they had ever tiled. Needless to say, I was a little worried, but because they didn’t feel like they “knew what they were doing”, they were very careful and did a super job (my floor is laid at 90 degrees, and has some borders etc). They measured 3 times, and one of the guys and my husband worked in the garage opening boxes, laying out tiles and mixing them up, before taking them in to be laid.Tiles in a given box tended to look alike, while the boxes varied one to the next. If they had just opened a box, laid all those tiles, then went on the next box, the floor would have really looked weird. As it was, the 3 of them really got into the process, they saved the darkest, most worn looking tiles, and put those in front of the sinks and the stove, so it really looks like the floor got more wear in those areas.
My dark color is not to everyone’s taste, but in our bright, hot, sunny climate, ti works great.</p>
<p>For 25 yrs my husband built spec houses for a living. Styles change every few years. He never put in a wood floor. He always used tile. The last few years he built he used the type of tile Cangel used. Go visit the tile stores in your area. You will be pleasantly surprised at all the interesting tiles that are out there. Most tiles stores will have manufactured tiles as well as natural products. When compared side to side the “real” thing looks better but when you don’t have them side to side the manufactured tile can look great. The man- made tiles have gotten so good that often time you can not really tell if they are the real thing. The costs vary. Bring home several samples and lay them out in your room and keep them there for several days. Look at it in different lights. Also tile stores have designers who work for free. The tile store will also likely have sample areas laid in different patterns. They can help you out. If you don’t like the first batch you bring home return them and bring home some more. They also usually can give you names of people who can lay them for you. </p>
<p>In several instances when my husband had to do a small area the tile setter sometimes has material left over from another job or something that was ordered and the person didn’t like it that you can get at a reduced cost. Price of tile can vary and you can do a floor for fairly cheap or extremely expensive.
Unless you pick an expensive tile I would think that in most cases a tile floor will be less expensive. And in most cases tile can last forever with little to no work.</p>
<p>So I’ve decided on my tile and now the debate seems to be between laying cement or duraboard underneath it after we pull up the old linoleum. At least that’s the way I understand it. We’ve gotten four quotes on on laying the floor and two of them are firmly in favor of the cement and two of them on the duraboard.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, the condition of your sub-flooring will dictate whether the cement will work or duraboard is required. For a new sub-flooring, most tilers will prefer cement installation, I believe.</p>
<p>A late addition to the discussion, but a couple of years ago with our remodel we went with ceramic tile (big ones) in the kitchen, which wraps all the way to the front entry. It has been great, and is often mistaken for travertine. I don’t mind (too much) when the kids track in mud and since I am a hopelessly messy cook, I needed easy maintenance in the kitchen (used the darkest grout appropriate and immediately sealed it). I’ve had nice hardwood in the kitchen before and it was not a good surface for the abuse I put a kitchen floor through.</p>
<p>Yes, it can be a bit cold and hard, but sometimes I like the coolness. Being a slipper wearer anyway - not an issue. It is a lighter color which has been very helpful in a house that tends to be a bit dark. Our particular subflooring set up and need to match levels with hardwood elsewhere required duraboard. We did not want any “lips” anywhere where surfaces changed.</p>