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We are hoping to build a new house in the near future. I'm considering putting in real wood on the entire lower level...foyer, great room, kitchen, bathroom and hallway with vinyl in laundry room. I was going to do ceramic tile in the kitchen and hallway areas to the deck and bathroom, but am worried about breaking up the lines as it's an open floor concept, and concerned about ceramics propensity to crack, have grout issues, hard to stand on etc.
Please weigh in on your opinions and colors you have chosen for hardwoods. I have 2 small dogs (under 10 lbs). There are no scratches from them on our current laminate floors. I know they can scratch real wood and have heard laminate too, but wouldn't real wood be so much more beautiful and scratches able to be buffed out?
I have had hardwood, slate, ceramic tile, carpeted. and linoleum floors. I really like hardwood floors the best and my three small dogs have never scratched them or damaged them in any way.
I don't think I'd do ceramic tile in the kitchen again because when a dish drops on the floor it shatters. Plus you have the grout issues, the possibility of breaking tiles, and it's very hard to stand on for extended periods of time. I did see a new product at the flooring store last week that looked intriguing. It looked like ceramic tile, but it was rubbery. The salesman said it was a new product designed for kitchen use. It's worth looking into if you're afraid of water damage to your hardwood. Best wishes!
Of the choices you gave I would go with the hardwoods. One of the hottest trends in wood floors these days is something called "distressed" or "hand scraped" which is a way of saying somebody put scratches & deep gouges in the wood on purpose, so even if your dogs manage to damage the floor you will be right on top of the trend.
I have ceramic tile in my kitchen and love it. It's easy to clean. Never dropped anything that broke; no cracking tiles either. I love hardwood (have it in the rest of my house) but not in the kitchen.
Dogs will scratch up hardwoods. For the most part, you can buff out, wax, or re-stain to bring back the luster - but not always.
I have had the following flooring in my kitchens: wood , sheet vinyl, tile, and laminate.
The wood was fine, did get dings some, and after a while there were some small stains that just wouldn't come out. Moisture raised the grain in a few places, but not a huge problem.
Sheet vinyl is, well, sheet vinyl. Ended up changing it out when the carpet guy sliced into it when he was installing carpet and used the kitchen to make a cut. OOPS!!!!!
WE ended up going with a laminate flooring by Armstrong that looks like tiles. It is very durable, we have two dogs that are inside about 90% of the time, and very active. Our kitchen floor extends into the living room a bit to get to the rear door, into the hallway to the garage and into the laundry room, powder room. After having this flooring now for almost two years, I would consider putting it in the entire house. The dogs just can't seem to scratch it, and it cleans very easy. I was concerned about having it in the laundry room we had a couple washing machine floods that did nothing to the flooring.
This was not a low end laminate flooring. We shopped quite a while and ended up getting it at a flooring company. I'm also glad I didn't decide to do it myself. Since it looks like 12x12 tiles with grout lines, the layout was very important. The guy spent a couple hours just playing with it to decide where the best starting point should be, and it shows. It looks great. He also took two days to do the floor, and it isn't all that big.
When choosing between tile vs. carpet vs. hardwood, I think it just comes down to what sort of look you want. I personally love hardwoods and I don't think my 8 lb. dog has scratched the floors. But my mom hates hardwood because she thinks the look cold. Ceramic tile shouldn't crack if it's installed properly. And hardwoods can be buffed to make them look new again and take out any scratches or marks.
Not that you'd be selling the house anytime soon, but for what it's worth, hardwoods and ceramic tile on the 1st floor are typically preferred. Hardwoods on 2nd floor in new house is rare to see, but a nice surprise when you do.
I probably wouldn't mix hardwoods and ceramic in an open floor plan myself unless you could keep the hues/tones similiar and went with wider plank floors to lessen the impact in the lines. As far as your dogs go, even smaller ones can chip the finish and scratch the wood, so the best you can do is choose a durable, hard wood such as white oak, maple, cherry, bamboo(Although not technically wood, quite durable) or hickory, apply three coats of a good oil based urethane finish and keep their nails trimmed.
If you were to decide on tile consider porcelain as an alternative to ceramic if the prospect of them breaking concerns you. Porcelain is denser, harder and less likely to stain than ceramic. As it's been mentioned, it shouldn't be as much of a concern either way if the floor is properly installed.
We just went through this same decision.... after much research and reading lots of varied/competing opinions we ended up with a wood laminate... it so far has held up real well to the large dog and to 95% of the people it looks like hardwood. Don't regret it and would choose it again.
I would use prefinished wood or laminate in most places because the finish is nearly indestructable and sheet vinyl or linoleum in the kitchen because that is what I think should be in kitchens. Ceramic over heat mesh in the bathrooms. Carpets where appropriate.
I HATE hardwood floors! They are labor intensive! We put porcelain tile (16 inch) in our kitchen and baths, and I LOVE it! Shiny and easy to clean! Carpet in bedrooms--just vacumn and go! I have hardwood in the dining room and foyer--it's just hard to keep looking nice---gets "scratch marks" from shoes...(and they put a Satin finish--I'd rather have a high gloss!) so it never looks really shiny.
And if you have it in your kitchen and don't wipe up every drip and drop that falls on the floor...well--you know how water and wood react!
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