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I will be buying a home next year and from what I've seen online I will want to get rid of the carpet that seems to be the norm in my new area. It will be an open concept, so I want something that would work in the kitchen and family room. Can you tell me the pros and cons of hardwood, vs laminate vs tile? Or direct me to a site that may give me the information I'm looking for? The house will be in the south, single family most likely on a concrete slab. Thanks for your help.
Do you want to rip up the carpet? You dont have to just because others do. Tile is a little bit harder to keep clean IMO. Laminate can look cheap if not done correctly. Hardwood is BEAUTIFUL.
Actually - if I ripped up the carpet it would be different from what others in the area have. I don't want carpet in the family room and prefer the kitchen and the family room have the same flooring. Carpet in the bedrooms would be fine.
Since I haven't bought the home yet I don't know how hard the transition would be. I'm just gathering information for the future. I personally like the look of using the same flooring throughout the area.
I have had all three types of flooring and these are my thoughts:
Tile is very pretty and durable - almost indestructible, but if you drop a breakable object on it, the object will shatter. I prefer porcelain tile to ceramic tile because it tends to last longer and the edges don't degrade. (Sometimes the edges of ceramic tiles seem to have the color wear off over time and I don't like that.) The clean up is easy on tile, just damp mop and/or sweep and you're done. Tile maintains it's good look over time and is terrific in wet areas like kitchens and baths.
My laminate looks great and seems to be very durable. Clean up is easy, I use a damp or dry mop and that has worked with every possible mess. When objects are dropped on my laminate floors they haven't broken. The only thing I don't like about my laminate is the sound it makes when I walk on it with shoes. It has a kind of unnatural sound. Don't buy cheap laminate because it looks like cheap laminate and don't put laminate in wet areas because it doesn't hold up well.
Hardwood is my favorite flooring, because it's beautiful, but I found it to be more labor intensive and less than desirable in wet areas. Dropped objects often survive a fall on hardwood floors. You don't want to clean hardwood floors with water and seems to scratch and dent easier than other flooring.
I recently had my kitchen and guest bathroom remodeled and chose 20 inch porcelain tiles set on the diagonal and couldn't be more pleased with the result, but if I were going to redo the flooring for an open concept kitchen and living room, I'd definitely consider the planks of porcelain tile that look like hardwood since a kitchen is a wet area. There are some really gorgeous tile planks that mimic hardwood and would give you a lifetime of durability. I hope this information helps you. Enjoy the process and get what you love.
I hate the tile in my kitchen so much. It is impossible clean the grout lines. I wouldn't mind if it was done so that there are no big grout lines in it, but there are and it's really horrible. The only way to clean it is to use a small brush and go over each line with bleach on your hands and knees. Needless to say, my kitchen floor never looks clean, because I have better things to do. I would never have tile with visible grout lines again.
I'd like to replace it with hardwood, but I have a friend with hardwood in the kitchen and she says it's a pain because you have to worry about it getting wet.
I like the idea of a good quality laminate - a couple of friends have that, and it holds up pretty well- but not forever, like hardwood - but I wouldn't want laminate in the family room, which connects to the kitchen and I think should be the same material.
I haven't found a good solution yet, but when we eventually replace all our tile and carpeting (I hate the carpeting almost as much as the tile), I will look for some kind of hardwood or similar product that is resistant to water and can be safely used in the kitchen. Hopefully there is something.
As far as hardwood Vs Laminate, my thought is it depends on the home. We live in a very large expensive home and laminate would cheapen the home. You don't use cheap flooring in a high value home.
We just replaced all the flooring in daughter's condo, and used laminate because hardwood would be over kill on the less expensive home. Match the value of flooring to the value of the home.
In our home we went with HW in three bedrooms, two of which are used as offices, and carpet in the master BR and two guests bedrooms, and the formal dining room and living room. Travertine was used in living room, kitchen, hallways, all four bathrooms, so we have a mixture of flooring.
Someone mentioned grout lines. We had our traverine installed without grout lines. Makes a big difference.
I have also had all 3 and I will give you my thoughts.
Tile - Cool to touch which can mean a lot in very warm climate. It is true it can be hard to keep clean but that is true of most floors, especially if not done well. The new grouts have come a long way toward easy maintenance and when properly sealed , last a long long time before appearing dingy. That being said, tile is unforgiving. Most everything you drop will break and more importantly it is hard on your feet and back. That only gets worse as you age.
Carpeting - offers comfort and warmth but does collect dust and eventually odors. The areas of high traffic show and that happens sooner with high padding and cheaper products.
Laminate - again, you get what you pay for and they have come a long way as far as aesthetics. There are several companies doing a hardwood look that is amazing. We are putting that in our kitchen and doing it ourselves. We have a big open concept but are keeping the present carpet for now for the living room but will be using laminate in the foyer as well as a family room. My choice was made on longevity, looks and ease of maintenance as this house is lakefront. It is also an old house so laminate is forgiving and there is nice cushion to what we chose so it is kind to the body.
Hardwood - The house we are moving from has hardwoods throughout except the kitchen and bathrooms. While not a huge upkeep issue - it is always in the back of my mind to be careful. Hardwood would have been my first choice at one time but as I age, I am looking for things that make life easier. I grew up in a house with hardwood floors and did some refinishing and that is something I don't want to have to do again.
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