Floor re-tiling options.

[RPJ]

I have a kitchen floor that I want to re-tile, and I am looking at the different options.

A few years ago, I put down luan and then used peel-and-stick tiles. Once the luan was down, the job was easy. But it's a house with lots of kids in it, and it gets a lot of wear and tear. So, the floor tiles are wearing and look bad. None of them are peeling up, etc., and the floor is otherwise in good shape.

It appears that I can peel up the old tiles fairly easily -- as long as I am careful about it -- and the luan seems to stay intact and in good shape. So, one option is to just peel up the old tiles and put down new peel-and-stick tiles. I'm guessing that's what I'll end up doing.

But, are there other options that would make more sense? For example, are there other tiles that will wear and last longer, other than the peel-and-stick type? If so, what are they and would I be better off using those and applying them with and adhesive of some type? Someone I know mentioned "commercial" tiles such as those that are used in supermarkets, etc. But I don't know if he knew what he was talking about.

Of course, another option might be ceramic tiles. I like the look of those and I assume they wear better. But, I have a feeling that applying ceramic tile over a luan sub-surface is a problem.

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

Thanks.

[John Hines]

Commercial establishments like stores and supermarkets use a very thick tile, which of course, is more expensive, but holds up under very heavy foot traffic.

Go googling for terrazzo, or other stone tiles, as well as past opinions in this group (google newsgroup search).

[AJScott]

I'm not sure whether a tile being peel&stick is the issue. It's tile

*thickness* that is. There's thicker tile and there's thinner tile (in both peel&stick and the kind you need adhesive for), and thin tile wears faster under lots of foot traffic.

Supermarket tile is certainly an option. It'll stop a bullet thick and it's dirt cheap, but you have to stink up your house with adhesive and, well, it's pretty ugly -- which is why most people use it for basements. If you have enough kids to fill an orphanage and don't mind your kitchen looking like a Wal-Mart aisle, it's a bargain.

There's some pretty reasonable mid-grade thicker peel&stick at Menard's and Home Depot, but your choices are more limited the cheaper you go. Plus, the designs at the big boxes are pretty white-bread bluh. Try going down to one to see what they have. If you don't like what you see there, try your nearest independent tile store.

I wouldn't put ceramic tile as a kitchen floor. Too thin and slippery. Quarry tile, I would because it's more textured. But not with a house full of little kids, tho. Stone tile tends to be pretty nasty on dropped glassware and falling heads.

Cork flooring seems to be catching on. It's pretty durable from what some are saying, but "durable" tends to mean different things to different people. Again, take a drive down to the tile store or your big box and see what suits your needs.

AJS

[AJScott]

Dunno about that. I saw the same sort of supermarket-grade stuff at Menard's when I was getting ideas for the utility half of my basement that won't get lam flooring and remembered it because it was ridiculously cheap -- somewhere around 50 cents/sq ft -- and only comes in two colors: beige and gray-blue. Might've even been some sort of mottled flecks or marbling in it, I think. Reminded me of 1950s-60s supermarket and I stood there thinking, "Good gawd ... who the heck would put this stuff in their house?"

And then I thought, "Hey, bozo -- how stylin' does the floor under a tool bench really need to be?"

AJS

[John Hines]

I dunno about supermarkets, I expect them being cheap. I remember when my mother wanted to do a kitchen remodel, and all the tile she liked was dollars per tile, not tiles per dollar. The story from the tile store was that was used in places like McDonalds.

[RJP]

Thanks all for your responses. I read them all. I think I'll start by going to a tile store, seeing what they have, and asking the questions there. For some reason, that idea didn't even dawn on me. I think I'm brain-trained to just think of going to Home Depot and Lowe's, but I know that's not a good place to get advice.