Like: attractive, sturdy, easy-clean. Dislike: cold in winter; hard on the feet. A later post mentions strategic rugs, which modifies the 'cons' considerably. Cold on the feet in winter is pleasantly cool, or at least neutral, in summer.
Our bathroom was done with similar backing (3/4 plywood instead of T&G subfloor, yet we still had some tiles crack. When I had the bathroom redone recently, we had them put in cork tiling, with excellent and durable results, plus it is not slippery, and is warm to the foot. With this experience, I plan to use cork when we get enough money to redo the kitchen. If you go ahead with the ceramic tile, I suggest you check with an expert or two to insure your support is adequate.
|Our bathroom was done with similar backing (3/4 plywood instead of T&G |subfloor, yet we still had some tiles crack. When I had the bathroom |redone recently, we had them put in cork tiling, with excellent and |durable results, plus it is not slippery, and is warm to the foot. With |this experience, I plan to use cork when we get enough money to redo the |kitchen. If you go ahead with the ceramic tile, I suggest you check |with an expert or two to insure your support is adequate.
Is cork flooring OK in a semi-wet-floor?
Rex in Fort Worth
| |Like: attractive, sturdy, easy-clean. Dislike: cold in winter; hard on |the feet. A later post mentions strategic rugs, which modifies the |'cons' considerably. Cold on the feet in winter is pleasantly cool, or |at least neutral, in summer.
Two words: Radiant heat Rex in Fort Worth
We have about 1700 sf of ceramic tile in our 2600 sf house, everywhere but a small area in the living room and the bedrooms. We love it and are considering replacing the carpet in the living room with tile and an area rug also. One big advantage that we hadn't even thought of, our aging female dog became incontinent, but fortunately only went on the tiled area, so easy to clean up. She loves the tile and hardly ever goes on the rugs. We got her on estrogen (if you can believe that) and it took care of the problem with only an occasional "accident". We experimented with cleaning, as it is a light color and does show the dirt. Found that Armstrong "Once and Done" does a great job, very easy to mop it on, don't have to rinse, only needs to be done about every 3 or 4 months. In between, we run a swiffer over it. Ours was professionally installed, but I did do a repair on a small section in a rental house I owned, and it was very easy. I just took the pieces that needed to be cut to Home Depot and they cut them for me. They rent wet saws if you're doing a big job. The key is, as others have pointed out, to have an absloutely flat surface, and use those little spacer things.
Hope this helps. I would never want wood floors again, even though they are beatutiful.
Jim
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet but walk carefully in stocking feet until you get the feel of things. Especially if it's going to be a glazed tile -- it can be pretty slick.
Giselle (you'll be zooming through rooms faster than you can yell for help)
Our older female dog also has incontinence and she is taking phenylpropanolamine (the same stuff they pulled off the OTC market, but evidently it doesn't cause strokes in dogs) and the vet recommended it as being cheaper and safer than hormones. If you are not particularly happy about having your dog on hormones, you might ask them about it.
Price comparison done at
Megestrol 20 mg tablet: 0.99 per tablet, I have no idea what the dose would be but it would give you an idea of how the same place would price two products.
I wanted to say the same thing, but I was chicken :o) Anything as permanent and easy to muck up should be done by a pro. Hubby and I contemplated doing it ourselves. Then his best buddy offered to "help" and I almost had a nervous breakdown AND ended my marriage. His buddy thinks he knows everything, which precludes him ever learning anything new. Watched him put down pavers over a concrete walk, checking each paver with a level. They are all "level", but not with each other. Different heights, which makes the walk stay puddly.
We did a lot of research before choosing tile, and other than ordering imported tile shortly before 9/11 we did fine. The contractor had a guy who came out to undercut the baseboards and door trim beforehand, so's the tile goes under it, not up to. Looks much better than grout glopped up against door frames. Ran a bead of caulk around the room when all was done, using masking tape to keep it out of the grout lines. Helped during a recent flood to contain the water that reached our dining room and kept it from soaking the baseboards :o)
About a year ago, I had tile installed in all of my 2,000 sq ft home, except for the 3 bedrooms, that still are carpeted. I have absolutely LOVED living with the tile, and would strongly recommend it to (almost) anyone! Exceptions might be families with very young children, or with elderly occupants, as the very hard surface would be dangerous in the event of a fall. I feel that my home is much cleaner, as I capture much more dirt/dust/animal hair now from the tile, than I ever realized was in the carpet. If desired, area rugs can be used to soften the look; these would probably be used even with carpet, to anchor various seating or table areas in rooms. I have two cats and a dog, and any (very infrequent) cleanups are a snap.
Two words: Tired feet.
While I love my ceramic tile I installed in the masterbath, my wife swore to never have a hard surface under her feet again in the kitchen. You WILL get tired of standing on it for any length of time. Btw, you can put rubber pads where you stand but then your trying to fix an unnesesary problem.
I stay with hardwoods, laminates, or vinyl.
-- Bill
I'm putting in 2200 sq ft of tile, so I don't think you've got "a lot of area". My current house here has over 1000 sq ft and my other house has about 800 sq ft. I started with tiling halls and baths, then tiling everything but bedrooms, and now I'm tiling everything but the living and dining rooms and guest casita, mostly to save a little money on upgrades.
The bad parts? Noisy, cold, a bit fragile. Wear shoes when you're spending time in the kitchen or you'll pay; it doesn't absorb energy, so your feet, joints, and back will hate it if you spend a lot of time on it.
The good parts? Cool underfoot in the summer, easy to clean, easy for a wheelchair user, looks very nice, adds to resale value if in good shape. As long as you don't drop pointy stuff on it, you can treat it with absolute abandon. Dogs and cats, particularly those with long coats (I have rough-coated collies) just love it in the summer. I love it being easy to clean up after said dogs and cats.
Get the grout sealed by a company that offers more than a one-year guarantee. Our grout sealers gave us a five-year guarantee. Don't use scrub brushes on the sealed grout.
Let's see, what else? Don't use a sponge mop because it doesn't clean the grout joints properly. Put energy-absorbing rugs or pads in front of the kitchen sink and, if you use one while standing, the ironing board. An area rug in the dining room will reduce the noise levels but you lose the easy cleaning advantage.
Mary
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