What's up with all the tile flooring? (Austin: house, maintenance)

[woodinvilleguy]

Wood is substainable if grown correctly. One reason not to purchase Brazillian hardwoods. Canadian and American forests are grown correctly.

[G Grasshopper]

We have had tile in the kitchen and dining room. I really appreciated the tile in the dining room when the kid was little. (We've never put a rug under the table.) But we have wood in the living room, entry, and office, carpet in the bedrooms. Different materials for different uses. I don't think tile throughout is all that bad if it is a good tile with a neutral grout color. It is hard to stand on in the kitchen; you need a nice gel mat or cushioned rug, I think. And it does chip over the years, as things are dropped. We have had very few problems with the wood (oak) - a few dents where things were dropped, but no scratches, easy to maintain. Just remodeled two bathrooms, using porcelain tile in one and a recycled glass composition tile in the other. We love them both. It all depends on where things are and what you like. I think it is hard to argue that one or another material is "better", except that we need to look, as we install things, at sustainability, which is complex, as TexasHorseLady has pointed out.

[achtungpv]

A few drawbacks to all tile is that it is hard on the joints and very cold. Our entire house was tile and both my wife and I started having knee and ankle aches. Also, you couldn't sit at the desk, where we didn't have a rug, barefoot since the tile was so cold your lower legs would ache. We took out 1800 sq ft of tile and replaced it with carpet and then just last year replaced the carpet in the living room along with the tile in the foyer and sunroom with hardwood.

[ladylonghorn2]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

A few drawbacks to all tile is that it is hard on the joints and very cold. Our entire house was tile and both my wife and I started having knee and ankle aches. Also, you couldn't sit at the desk, where we didn't have a rug, barefoot since the tile was so cold your lower legs would ache. We took out 1800 sq ft of tile and replaced it with carpet and then just last year replaced the carpet in the living room along with the tile in the foyer and sunroom with hardwood.

How much do you all think replacing the downstairs of a 2500 sf house with hardwood would cost? A ballpark range would be helpful.

[koviljka]

LADYLONGHORN2
It will cost you aprox. $15,000 for a first class floating engineered hadwood if you do it by yourself. Add another $3,000 if you want it done by an installer.
This will be the best possible investment in you home and you will never regret.

[Christine Hogan]

I'm building a home in Texas and have opted for ceramic tile throughout the house except bedrooms/den. I didn't have the choice of wood because the builder for this adult community did not offer it as an option. Tile was an upgrade. Although I love wood floors (previous home in Minnesota had one-inch oak floors throughout), they do require maintenance to stay beautiful. I know that tile grout needs to be sealed and kept from dirt build-up or the floors will not look good. Entryways should have some kind of rug/mat to keep the rest of the flooring looking clean and the grout looking good. An attractive area rug in the living room will add warmth and tie the furniture grouping together. That is what I plan on doing once I find the right rug. FYI, before I decided to build a home, I looked at re-sales and one of my requirements was that the home have tile OR wood floors. Either is much more desirable than carpet IMO.

[BentBow]

Originally Posted by ladylonghorn2

How much do you all think replacing the downstairs of a 2500 sf house with hardwood would cost? A ballpark range would be helpful.

Of the 2500sq.ft. home, how much is actually downstairs, then how much of that do you want it installed in? Kitchen and bathroom?, Then do you just want the price to install? What method of install... Glue, float, or fasten?
What species of wood?
That would be a very important part before spouting out estimates, there are way too many variables to estimate from a keyboard & monitor, or even the phone. I have to see the project and the materials specified, along with the method to install, to give a price. Roughly, never works out. "What do you charge?"... Never works, either.

[mm57553]

Originally Posted by Christine Hogan

FYI, before I decided to build a home, I looked at re-sales and one of my requirements was that the home have tile OR wood floors. Either is much more desirable than carpet IMO.

Depends. Carpet is really easy (and inexpensive) to change. If someone doesn't like the tile, it is really costly to replace. When we were looking at houses, we were instantly turned off by homes that were all tile. We don't really care for it, and we knew it would be really hard / expensive to replace. The house we bought had carpet throughout which we tore out and put down wood. We left the tile in the bathrooms and kitchen. And the bedrooms are still carpeted.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by ladylonghorn2

How much do you all think replacing the downstairs of a 2500 sf house with hardwood would cost? A ballpark range would be helpful.

I installed it myself so no cost there. I believe our flooring was $4.89/sq ft from lumber liquidators dot com. We choose natural hickory since it would supposedly hold up well to our dog's nails and it definitely has. Plus, it was a lighter color which definitely helped brighten our house up.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by ladylonghorn2

How much do you all think replacing the downstairs of a 2500 sf house with hardwood would cost? A ballpark range would be helpful.

around 5-15/sq ft installed. Our brazilian cherry was around 2.50 sq/ft (very good deal) installation was around 5/sq ft. so around 7.50 sq ft