Tile vs Hardwood floor in Familiy room and entrance (Houston: mortgage, loan)
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If you dont want to pay the builder for the floor, just have them install whatever the default zero cost flooring is (carpet?) and rip it out after you close.
Entry - Default tiles by builder (wood in the future)
Breakfast Area- Default tiles by builder (???)
Kitchen- Default tiles by builder (???)
Laundry and Bath - Default tiles by builder
(fine)
Should we keep tiles in Kitchen and Breakfast area?
Master Bed - Carpet and we'd keep it that way
Dining- Default Carpet and we'd like to change this to wood
Family Room - Default Carpet and we'd like to change this to wood
We don't want a combination of tiles, wood and carpet...I guess it would look too busy. I think either Tiles+Carpet OR Wood+Carpet
The issue is what do we tell the builder to do with the "default" tiles area. Builder won't give us credit for sure If we get carpet in those areas and It would look hideous until we have the money, which can be early next year. Should we ask laminate - the builder would be happy to substitute cheap laminate for tiles I guess.
I've hear there are tiles that look like wood - are they any good? How expensive thean wood are these?
One additional point, my home sold very quickly in the softer real estate market a little over a year ago. I believe the hardwood helped sell it quickly though I probably didnt get back the money from the hardwood installation cost
We just built a house in SCR with tile throughout except bedrooms (carpet) and formal dining (scalloped-shaved wood). If you go with tile, don't ever let anyone talk you into the extra expense of sealing the grout in the tile. Pffffffftttt.... waste of time and money. If you do it right and get a sand-colored grout, it will be the same color as the dust and crap that ends up on the floor anyway. We've even spilled red wine on it and if you wipe it up quickly, it doesn't soak in.
We just built a house in SCR with tile throughout except bedrooms (carpet) and formal dining (scalloped-shaved wood). If you go with tile, don't ever let anyone talk you into the extra expense of sealing the grout in the tile. Pffffffftttt.... waste of time and money. If you do it right and get a sand-colored grout, it will be the same color as the dust and crap that ends up on the floor anyway. We've even spilled red wine on it and if you wipe it up quickly, it doesn't soak in.
Ronnie
SCR? South Carolina, cinco Ranch, Sacremento??
HoustonRonnie - I'm going through this confusion and argument with my wife over tile vs hardwood. She doesn't want carpet period.
Tile - ppl say it looks ugly and gives a cold look and feel.
Hardwood - takes a lot of beating with kids + expensive + hard to maintain.
Are you happy with your decision of going with tiles? What do the friends, neighbours say about it?
Also, why didn't you do tiles in dining room? How do the tiles blend in the with dining room wood? I could use all the tips and info before my design center appointment tomorrow. I have made enough wrong decisions with my house, hopefully not any more.
Better builders plan for hardwood floors by recessing the concrete slab to allow for smooth transition.
Stained concrete is good look-- nice or nicer than tile when done in artistic manner but csn be expensive.
If you did not plan on stained concrete initially then your slab might have stains/paint/gouges to contend with.
HoustonRonnie - I'm going through this confusion and argument with my wife over tile vs hardwood. She doesn't want carpet period.
Tile - ppl say it looks ugly and gives a cold look and feel.
Hardwood - takes a lot of beating with kids + expensive + hard to maintain.
Are you happy with your decision of going with tiles? What do the friends, neighbours say about it?
Also, why didn't you do tiles in dining room? How do the tiles blend in the with dining room wood? I could use all the tips and info before my design center appointment tomorrow. I have made enough wrong decisions with my house, hopefully not any more.
SCR = Shadow Creek Ranch (Pearland)
We love tile.
Our neighbors love tile.
Our neighbors have tile too, and wood in dining.
Tiles look great where they meet the wood. Great accents one to another.
Tiles are not ugly and cold unless you use flat, non-textured, one-colored (no accent colors in the tiles), cheapo tiles.
Used wood in dining to match wood furniture there. Also to accent the tile at the entryway to the dining room.
You need to go look at some model homes, my friend. I've never understood all the folks that say "don't do tiles!! It's so cold and barren and univiting!". Pfffttt.... sorry, I don't buy that. Go look for yourself.
If I were you, I'd get the premium laminate floor. I just went and see a few houses that have this laminate floor that look almost as nice as hardwood. It really is beautiful and it gives you the look of hardwood floor. It is much cheaper and will withhold scratch, etc.... Then you can replace with real hardwood whenever you want.
If I were you, I'd get the premium laminate floor. I just went and see a few houses that have this laminate floor that look almost as nice as hardwood. It really is beautiful and it gives you the look of hardwood floor. It is much cheaper and will withhold scratch, etc.... Then you can replace with real hardwood whenever you want.
we'll definitely look at that. thanks for the suggestion.
SCR is Shadow Creek Ranch, a master planned community in Pearland.
Don't worry about what other people think about your house. If you want tile and wood, go tile and wood. I would do tile in the kitchen and bathrooms though. They do have ceramic or porcelain tiles that look like wood that look good. Not sure about transition that to actual wood though. Most people expect tile in the wet areas (kitchen/laundry/bathrooms) and wood/carpet in other areas. Wood floors in formal dining rooms makes it look more "formal" whereas tile in breakfast areas is the norm.
Here are some pictures of my floors. We upgraded the tile to 16" tiles in the main part of the house. The bathrooms have slightly different tiles that are 12" tiles. The carpet is builder grade carpet because we figured the kids would trash it and we would replace it in a few years (it's only in the bedrooms anyway). Our kids are 2 and 6.
The foyer has a large Turkish rug that was given to us by my Father in law. It doesn't really go with our current decor, but I just can't get rid of it!! The wood floors in this picture are the formal dining room.
Media room has carpet. It is off the breakfast area.
Secondary bedrooms are off of the foyer. The doorway leads to the kids' bathroom - similar, but different tile.
We love tile.
Our neighbors love tile.
Our neighbors have tile too, and wood in dining.
Tiles look great where they meet the wood. Great accents one to another.
Tiles are not ugly and cold unless you use flat, non-textured, one-colored (no accent colors in the tiles), cheapo tiles.
Used wood in dining to match wood furniture there. Also to accent the tile at the entryway to the dining room.
You need to go look at some model homes, my friend. I've never understood all the folks that say "don't do tiles!! It's so cold and barren and univiting!". Pfffttt.... sorry, I don't buy that. Go look for yourself.
Lastly, tile is virtually MAINTENANCE FREE!!!!!
Ronnie
Ronnie, can you give me the brand/type that you have and mention a few other that you might know of. I'd like to look it up online and see how it looks.
We have a looked at a few model homes and they had the rough wood look tiles while a few others had the regualr brownish/beige with some wood type accents.
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