Wood floors over tile (hardwood floors, rent, house)

[Californianz]

There are quite a few realtors hanging around here so I thought I would ask - if a quality wood floor (engineered or bamboo - not laminate) is installed on top of tile...

Can you (or buyers) tell?

Does it look cheap or have less value than a full demolition of old tile floors?

The reason I ask is that we're buying a place that is dominated by large shiny white tiles throughout the kitchen, family room and walking areas - with the exception of a carpet circle (literally) in the middle of the family room.

It's a horrible, dated, cheap look and IMHO, not appropriate going wall to wall in a large single story house.

The reason I ask is that tile removal can be almost as expensive as new flooring itself - and there is a ton of it. I am still shopping the removal though, as the best case scenario to work with if possible, though if we can get away without it, great.

[TamRE]

I wouldn't recommend putting engineered hardwood over tile. But you can put laminate over tile. You can rent a chipping hammer at Home Depot to strip the tile yourself rather than paying someone to do it. I would ask a flooring company for their recommendations.

[coastal chic]

It will be hard to elevate the floor where the carpet is to the exact height of the tile. Your best bet is to take up the tile. It will cost around $2/ SF. Nothing dates a house like tile- I try to convince people to look at other options because its such a pain to remove! I can tell exactly what era a house was built/ remodeled bc of the tile selection.

[Californianz]

Thanks for the quick replies -

DIY isn't going to be an option due to the size - the house is 4000 sqft.
If I was Popeye, maybe - but I'm a girl.... If it was one bathroom, I could handle it! :-) My husband doesn't have the time or inclination for anything handy.

We'll keep searching for good prices on removal then - laminate is just too cheap to install in a higher end house IMHO.

[Obrero]

My friend installed a floating wood floor over her tile and it looks great. The problem is - it makes a clicking noise when you walk on it which is driving her batty.

Our house had a mixture of flooring - laminate (awful), carpet and tile. We were going to rip up the laminate and carpet and match the tile but it was no longer being produced. So we ripped it all up and put large travertine throughout. The difference is huge.

[LIFL]

It may bubble, and like Obrero said, it would click not-stop.

[davery5872]

Originally Posted by Californianz

There are quite a few realtors hanging around here so I thought I would ask - if a quality wood floor (engineered or bamboo - not laminate) is installed on top of tile...

Can you (or buyers) tell?

Does it look cheap or have less value than a full demolition of old tile floors?

The reason I ask is that we're buying a place that is dominated by large shiny white tiles throughout the kitchen, family room and walking areas - with the exception of a carpet circle (literally) in the middle of the family room.

It's a horrible, dated, cheap look and IMHO, not appropriate going wall to wall in a large single story house.

The reason I ask is that tile removal can be almost as expensive as new flooring itself - and there is a ton of it. I am still shopping the removal though, as the best case scenario to work with if possible, though if we can get away without it, great.

If the tiles are smooth you could possibly do this. It would need to be a floating engineered wood floor and you would need to use a thick underlayment. That being said, it would not be an ideal situation. Since you are asking about buyers, I am assuming you are trying to do this to sell the house. I would be pissed if I bought a house that had this done. In fact, I good home inspector would probably pick this up.

[blueherons]

Honestly you need to either remove all the tile or buy rugs and cover it up.

[Californianz]

Thanks everyone - we have decided to just bite the bullet and REMOVE ALL TILE before going forward.

Our thought right now is to replace it with a dark, handscraped/distressed engineered wood to play off of the all white cabinets. Handscraped because we have a golden retriever who will not wear slippers. :-) Engineered to withstand higher than average humidity, though the HVAC is on most of the time. The "groovy" circular stairs you see in the photo go nowhere - there is no second floor or attic access! They are getting ripped out too.

[TamRE]

We have engineered hardwood floors and our golden retriever/beagle mix put quite a few scratches in them. He has since passed away and our new beagle has a lighter step and does not put scratches in the floor. At some point we are going to have the floors refinished. We can have them refinished 2 times. Most of the flooring places here will not recommend hardwood floors because of the humidity.