How to go about changing the flooring (Phoenix: wood floors, custom home)

[phoenix_new]

I am thinking of changing the flooring of my house, can you please give some suggestions? Specially which areas should have carpets, wooden and tiles?

Thanks

[DetroitN8V]

Go with what you like. Wood floors shouldn't really be put in areas that may get wet. We replaced some awful pink tile and an area with worn out carpet with wood-look porcelain tile and are very happy with it.

[observer53]

I would not break things up too much with different types of flooring, it makes the house look smaller. I have tile everywhere but in the bedrooms. Others go with tile throughout and use area rugs where something softer underfoot is wanted. Tile is a bit chilly underfoot even in Phoenix in the winter. I don't have experience with wood, but others will chime in. Someone posted here not long ago about some lovely tile that was in a wood floor pattern. So, that's another way to go.

Edit-- I was posting at the same time as the poster above, he is the one with the wood look tile.

[MGotcha]

If you opt for tile, make sure the installer is a certified tile installer ("CTI") as there are so many uncertified tile installers in the Valley who may put down a nice looking floor, which may start cracking or popping up a few years down the way due to improper surface prep. I have had to pull up a lot of tile that was just slapped on with some thinset without proper slab prep and/or underlayment.

[TransatPhD]

We just replaced our floors. We learned a few things regarding wood. 1) PHX is best off with engineered hardwood rather than solid hardwood. Has to do with the monsoon humidity. 2) Stay at 5" wide or narrower if you feel that you have a smallish house. 3) Doing as much demo as possible yourself will save you some cash, and it typically isn't that hard (as long as you don't have tile or glued wood floors). 4) If you get glued-down wood floors, have the installers put a bead of glue BETWEEN the planks (at the edges where the planks meet each other) for a more watertight seal. This is how we justified allowing the engineered hardwood in the kitchen. (We didn't want the visual chaos of changing it to tile, as our kitchen and dining room flow in to each other.)

As for non-wood floors....We like the environmental friendliness of cork, but it isn't good for sunny places like PHX (sun damage), and according to our installers, bamboo hasn't been performing well in PHX. (I can report that our bedroom had bamboo when we moved in, and indeed the flooring is cupping. Didn't have the cash to replace that flooring, though.) We balked at the high cost of tile installation and preferred to put the bulk of the cash in the quality of engineered hardwood rather than the labor of tile installation. But of course, tile is king in bathrooms!

We saw some really amazing vinyl "wood" planks that seemed really durable and attractive, but we were too scared to do something we grew up thinking was bad material.

Initially, when we moved in, we took up the Pergo floors and had our concrete slab refinished, but it was a nightmare in so many ways. The dust that gets everywhere in PHX made the concrete look dirty all. the. time. (Relatedly: the darker your floors, the more the dust will show up. We went for a nice medium tone hickory, and it shows a little, but nowhere near as bad as the concrete.)

[phoenix_new]

Thanks a lot everyone !

Any idea of the cost, I know it depends upon what i select, but i am asking about mid range stuff ... i am looking for per sq ft pricing..

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by phoenix_new

Thanks a lot everyone !

Any idea of the cost, I know it depends upon what i select, but i am asking about mid range stuff ... i am looking for per sq ft pricing..

your least expensive option will likely be tile - figure $2.50 per sq ft for a builder-grade porcelain installed as a baseline. (about $1 for the tile & another $1 to install it.) You can pay a lot more if it makes you feel better.

laminate starts at about $2 per sq foot, and another buck to install it - the stuff at Costco goes down easy & I've had some of it installed at my place for about 4 years now & havent seen any signs of wear.. again, you can pay a lot more if it makes you feel better.

carpet - meh.. I hate it, mostly because I havent found any installers worth calling back.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by MGotcha

If you opt for tile, make sure the installer is a certified tile installer ("CTI") as there are so many uncertified tile installers in the Valley who may put down a nice looking floor, which may start cracking or popping up a few years down the way due to improper surface prep. I have had to pull up a lot of tile that was just slapped on with some thinset without proper slab prep and/or underlayment.

the last tile I had put down cost under $2 per sq foot, including the tile, labor, thinset & grout. If it "starts popping up" in a few years, I'm still waaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of the price a "certified tile installer" would charge just for labor. Many of the tile guys on Craigslist are the *same* guys who lay tile for the McBuilders in those "semi custom homes" out in the hinterlands.

[observer53]

I had my tile installed by a crew arranged for and sent by the store where I got the tile. I'm sure they were not "certified", but they were fantastic at their jobs. Almost 11 years later, it still looks perfect.

[cjs123]

When I bought my new home in 2004, I selected textured vinyl flooring in a tile pattern. I still love it; it looks so nice in the kitchen and bathrooms. Don't recall the cost; I know it was less expensive than tile and it has held up extremely well. I have tile in the entryway which I really like, but do enjoy the vinyl in the rest of the house (the parts that aren't carpeted, that is).