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Looking at purchasing an existing home. We have no problem with replacing bedroom carpeting with high quality bamboo or laminate, since those products are thin and not likely to encounter major issues with door clearance, etc. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this!
A few homes that we would otherwise consider have wall-to-wall carpeting in the main rooms (living and/or family room). I don't want laminate or bamboo (or hardwoods) in these main living areas. I want ceramic tile.
Has anyone made this switch? What were the major issues (door clearance, odd threshold heights??)? Or did you have these carpeted areas "dug out" to accommodate the tile thickness (and setting material)? Would you do it again?
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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Do you have small children?
Is this in a warm climate?
I lived in a house with ceramic tile throughout the main living space and kitchen. I hated it. I had small children and that surface is very unforgiving.
At one point, I switched from the really cheap self stick tiles in the bathroom to ceramic tile and I didn't have an issue with my doors.
Also, the floor always felt cold in the winter, even with rugs on top. Finally, in the kitchen, it really hurt to stand on. I love to cook and spend a lot of time doing meal prep and, even with one of those cushioned mats, it still hurt.
I don't like carpet, either, but I love vinyl plank flooring, which is what I currently have.
We moved to all tile in three houses. All wood in one house. In the master bath we have a 4x6 or so rug with a rug heating mat on a timer. Makes for warm feet and a good spot to brush cats.
Slab house? Or on piers? Not much of anything else in Pinellas Co.
I think you'd be hard pressed for "digging out" a slab- there's no reason for that! Cutting the bottoms of doors is a pretty standard practice when installing tile.
If the house is on piers- most likely a dimensional lumber flooring system. The entire floor area would probably need additional material to stiffen the floor and also an isolation membrane. So, going from tiled areas to untitled area may have transitions.
If it's a slab, you'll probably need to level it (floating) as the requirements for carpet are much looser than for tile. Once that's done the finished floor height probably won't go up much, since you're replacing carpet + pad with tile. You may not have to cut any doors at all. Heck, the finished height of tile may be LOWER than that of carpet. You'll have to pull up and reinstall (or replace) all the quarter round. With this small or negligible change in FF height, you probably don't need to do anything to the baseboards.
If it's on piers, you may have to put something additional under the tile to get adequate stiffness, and that thickness may call for cutting the bottoms of doors and resetting baseboards. Still, no big deal. You just knock out the hinge pins, put the door up on horses, cut, reinstall.
I was worried there would be a large difference in floor height. Most larger ceramic floor tiles (20-24 inch square) look to be 1/2 inch thick. But not sure how much of base they need to be set into...concrete, cement, whatever that mix is.
Thought I was looking at a 2 to 3 inch difference at thresholds where it would meet older flooring.
With tile, you will have to clean grout. Even with colored grout, you will have discoloring.
However, in a subtropical climate, tile might be the best choice. Otherwise, I think wood is a better choice. For one thing, it is easier on you if you fall. Standing on wood for several hours is easier on your bones than standing on tile.
If you do go with tile, get tile that has texture, for safety’s sake.
With tile, you will have to clean grout. Even with colored grout, you will have discoloring.
However, in a subtropical climate, tile might be the best choice. Otherwise, I think wood is a better choice. For one thing, it is easier on you if you fall. Standing on wood for several hours is easier on your bones than standing on tile.
If you do go with tile, get tile that has texture, for safety’s sake.
I have tiled 3 bathrooms (two with tiled showers and floors), a kitchen backsplash, and a small hallway in which I used epoxy grout. It doesn't stain and cleans just like the tile. It is certainly more costly, and more work. I'm not sure I would do it for a large area, but I might. I really like the finished product.
Had hardwoods in FL house.....looked fine, but coming in from spa was a disaster, or could have been had I not rolled out carpet runners. What a PITA. Pools/spas and hardwoods, not a good mix.
In hot climates, cool tiles feel great! In the few weeks of winter, wear socks!
As far as cleaning, it's just the two of us retirees, no pets/kids so keeping tiles and grout clean is a non-issue (had tile floors in 2 other homes).
I have tiled 3 bathrooms (two with tiled showers and floors), a kitchen backsplash, and a small hallway in which I used epoxy grout. It doesn't stain and cleans just like the tile. It is certainly more costly, and more work. I'm not sure I would do it for a large area, but I might. I really like the finished product.
I have epoxy grout on a counter, and I can tell you, it stains. It is not as bad as regular grout, but it does stain.
We tiled an entryway years ago. I used stained grout because I knew cleaning grout is a royal pain. The grout gradually darkened over time.
If you love tile and are sure you want it, then you should do it. Do the thing you like.
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