For those who have a two story house with all tile down stairs...... (San Antonio: appointed, contractor)

[stoneoak]

when we bought our house the downstairs -- although an open floor plan -- had carpet, tile and that parkay wooden tiles. Looked horrible. Tore everything out and replaced it all with tile. Love it! Really made the house look sharp. Have two little ones and I worry alot about injuries when they fall, but area rugs help with that. On bright side I now can just mop up all their spills, crumbs, spit up, throw up, muddy shoe prints, crayon, markers and all that other wonderful stuff kids produce. All the tile does make the house much chillier -- which is great in summer, rough in winter.

[Snowglobe]

Do those of you with tile have trouble with the tiles cracking? I have ceramic tile in 4 or 5 places in the house and only one room has no cracked tiles. Of course it is the room no one sees--the laundry room.

I know that settling occurs in this area, but I also know that my tile installation was not done professionally. How easy is it to replace the cracked tiles?

[rd2007]

One word for the people that have tile/wood/laminate, Roomba.. I got one of them before Christmas and they are worth every penny. The best thing is they get the dust bunnies from under the couches and if you have dogs they should be mandatory. Every day the receptacle is full of dog hair and dust bunnies.

The best deal I found on one is HSN. I got $35 off for being a first time customer and no taxes and free shipping. The best part about it is watching it park itself.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by cheermomof4girls

You are going to tile the upstairs? I never though about that. I was thinking of putting laminate upstairs, but might hire someone to do the stairs area. Are you going to tile the stairs too? I have 1 daughter that has asthma so no carpet is ideal for us too. Right now we are having the house built with carpet on the second floor and will replace it a little later on. A friend said that her carpet upstairs is not half as bad as downstairs, maybe because it has less traffic?

Please, please, please make sure you research about tiling an entire upstairs. If the upstairs is going to be tiled, it normally has to be framed a little heavier. Tile is extremely heavy, and most homes aren't suited to handle it upstairs. You can really affect the structural integrity of the home.

For putting laminate/wood on the stairs, be ready to pay for it. It's very expensive. I've heard quotes of $70-$120 per stair. Each piece has to be cut perfectly with almost no room for error. When you walk downstairs, you're putting pressure down and out on the stairs, so if it's not perfectly done, the laminate or wood will start to come apart and possibly become dangerous if it slips too far. Don't try doing it yourself either.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by Snowglobe

Do those of you with tile have trouble with the tiles cracking? I have ceramic tile in 4 or 5 places in the house and only one room has no cracked tiles. Of course it is the room no one sees--the laundry room.

I know that settling occurs in this area, but I also know that my tile installation was not done professionally. How easy is it to replace the cracked tiles?

It's because your thinset wasn't laid down evenly. Most likely there are little air pockets under the tile in areas, so the tiles aren't properly supported. It's probably not the entire house. Just areas. Common in production homes, because the tile guys zip in and out as fast as possible.

[banker]

I would be concerned about settling (which happens on all houses to some degree) when tiling upstairs. It does seem that you would have to put down some sort of special sub flooring which would raise the floor height.

[Twizzler7]

Originally Posted by kevcrawford

Please, please, please make sure you research about tiling an entire upstairs. If the upstairs is going to be tiled, it normally has to be framed a little heavier. Tile is extremely heavy, and most homes aren't suited to handle it upstairs. You can really affect the structural integrity of the home.

For putting laminate/wood on the stairs, be ready to pay for it. It's very expensive. I've heard quotes of $70-$120 per stair. Each piece has to be cut perfectly with almost no room for error. When you walk downstairs, you're putting pressure down and out on the stairs, so if it's not perfectly done, the laminate or wood will start to come apart and possibly become dangerous if it slips too far. Don't try doing it yourself either.

Great advice... as for tiling upstairs, bathrooms, Great, as long as you have duroc underneath, or another water barrier... tiling upstairs, the entire thing, would make me nervous. Houses settle.... tiles crack, and that's not so good. And the weight of the tile! Very heavy.

Wood on steps is good, (better, safer, than tile) but you have to keep up after it, cleaning wise... the stairs (at our house anyway, 3 people & a dog) get dirty fast.

As for allergies, I would look into cork flooring. Very popular in Europe, great for allergy sufferers and the prices are coming down. Also very easy on the feet.

[Paka]

Originally Posted by PrettyHateMachine

Since he doesn't have an answer as to why he opposes such option, you have the automatic overide.

And you do know that you're the boss, right? At least that's what my wife says.

Yea! What HE said!!! And besides, EVERYONE knows that the GUYS get to pick out the CAR'S and the WIFE gets to decide on things for the house!!! (and if that AIN'T the way it is suppose to be, PLEASE don't tell MY hubby!)

[cheermomof4girls]

Our house is up all and of the bottom floor is tiled and we love it. Banker said it looks cold to him, but to us it looks so much nicer. We like the way the floors all just flow together. We have another daughter that was recently diagnosed with asthma, so I know this was a good choice. Thanks RD for the Roomba referral. That is a top item on my small appliance list. I am glad to hear a good review of it.

[texdav]

Ceramic tile will definitely break easier than porcelain or travertine. laminate flooring really depends on the quality as there are so many cheap ones out there.Definitely go waterproof laminate floors in damp areas.