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I'm standing on a wood floor right now and my feet hurt. I really don't see how it's so forgiving when it comes to achy knees. I have arthritis too. A hard surface is a hard surface. My family room is always gonna be tile since we have a pool and kids and dog running in wet? Heheh no.
I have been to a few all tiled homes before. The tiles were all white. The grout always stayed white, since they gave high traffic areas a epoxy gel coat, but that is not always the case. I does offer a very clean look, but will require a damp mop nearby, for daily touch ups.
What I don't see much of is the VCT Armstrong tiles. These tiles last a long time, can be layed out in so many colors and patterns, and look new when the yearly wax, buff , and waxing. Schools and Hospitals still use the product, but not so much homes.
What seems to work the best is hardwood, with area rugs. It gives you the comfort of a rug when needed the most. The area rugs also help with the noise.
In Israel, it is very common to have polished marble floors, with no grout, virtually seamlessly fitted together. Very easy to clean, but certainly would be cold in winter. Of course, most of the year there it is warm, or hot.
If you look at listings in Tucson Az, you'll find quite a few houses with tile in every room. If you do that, be sure to use black grout because that is what you'll end up with after years of use.
If you look at a restaurant, e.g. McDonalds, you'll find tiled floors with black grout.
When my parents first bought their house in the late 1960's, it was perfect except for the gawd-awful dirty tile in the master bedroom shower floor. Not the walls -- just the floor. That stuff was disgusting! So dirty it was almost BLACK! My mother scrubbed that grout until her fingers bled. Over the years, we would attack it with every new cleaner we discovered -- nothing. We soaked it in bleach. Nothing. We finally gave it up for lost and figured it was stained beyond redemption.
15 years later, a tile guy came out to fix the shower after a plumbing repair. He looked at the shower and laughed and said to my mom, "Hey, I remember this shower -- I installed it back in the late 50's! We always thought the lady that built the house was crazy for wanting black grout!" My mother just stared at him. "The grout . . . is . . . black?" she stammered. "Yeah, she was ahead of her time, huh? Never had to worry about it looking clean!" My mother admitted she had never heard of black grout, and had been scrubbing it for 15 years. She had it replaced with white grout. :-) I still smile every time I see that shower.
I would have loved it at our house in HI. It was an upside down plan and the first floor was all tile. Upstairs was tiger wood and about 10 degrees warmer at all times. I have no idea why the builder used a warm wood in such a hot, humid climate. We considered tiling the upstairs too but didn't want to rip out 50k of wood flooring.
Exactly. NOT having tile in a Florida home, especially in the southern half, would be a red flag. Beach sand, pool water, humidity, etc. is a lot easier to deal with in a tile home. My whole house is distressed wood looking porcelain tile. Cool, clean and where you want a bit more comfort throw down a rug. Grout is darker and matches the tile.
Here in southern New Mexico, most home are concrete slab/tiled floors. It is VERY hard on the legs and back if you are standing/cleaning. Also cold. Unless the grout is that special acrylic stuff, it gets yucky and nothing cleans it. You can have it acid washed and then painted over however.
I suppose with concrete slabs there isn't much choice other than carpet and that fake wood flooring stuff that looks so bad.
What? I have engineered wood on my slab. Yes, it can be refinished. We have it throughout most of the house. Bathrooms and utility room are tile. Secondary bedrooms are carpet.
I tiled my house when I built it. 18" marble tiles. They were put in 2004 and look like they are a week old. They are indestructable. I had carpet in my bedroom; Im having it torn out and also tiled. Love it. Hate hardwood floors. Im probably in the minority, but I hate them. I have throw rugs to walk on, and so the puppies dont slip and slide so much. Super easy to keep clean.
Had a friend in Las Vegas whos house was all tile. Was freezing cold with the AC on in the middle of summer. Was never there in the winter so I can't say how it affected the temperatures inside.
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