Walk Out Basement: Ceremic Tile or Laminate floor?

Question

While all my friends are laying laminate floors in their slab basements, I decide to use the ceremic tiles as ceremic tile floor:

Last longer.
Don't need to worry about water spills, and would not cost as much damage if basement get flooded from power outage (sump pump).
Less worry about bring dirt into basement from the backyard.

However, laminate floor is more appearing, and feels more comfortable, particularly we don't wear shoes in the main floor.

Now question is, do most people prefer laminate floor, and therefor make the house easier to sell, or sells for more?

We will stay in this house for 20+ years, I hope. The laminate are ususally warranted for

25 years or more. The total cost for ceremic is a little cheaper than laminate floor.

Ikon · Answer

I think you should not take 25 years warranty in absolute terms: think of it like 25y laminate should be better than 15y laminate, but that's about it.

On the other hand, if you happen to live in a seismic area (like California), ceramics on a slab surface may easily crack during an earthquake. And ceramics will certainly cost you more once you take into account the installation.

m Ransley · Answer

Tile transfers cold and feels colder it is harder on the feet andslippery wet. If I wanted cool and lived in Arizona or Mexico tile wouldbe better.  Tile will last 10x longer than laminate.

G W · Answer

While all my friends are laying laminate floors in their slab basements, I decide to use the ceremic tiles as ceremic tile floor:

Last longer.
Don't need to worry about water spills, and would not cost as much damage if basement get flooded from power outage (sump pump).
Less worry about bring dirt into basement from the backyard.

However, laminate floor is more appearing, and feels more comfortable, particularly we don't wear shoes in the main floor.

Now question is, do most people prefer laminate floor, and therefor make the house easier to sell, or sells for more?

We will stay in this house for 20+ years, I hope. The laminate are ususally warranted for

25 years or more. The total cost for ceremic is a little cheaper than laminate floor.

Edwin Pawlowski · Answer

I went with engineered wood.     Looks and feels better for a living space, IMO.  Ceramic is a superior product in the ways you point out, but it just does not look as nice in the family room in New England.  I had thought about tile for accents where the door is and around the wood burning stove that is now on slate.  Just figured it may be too many elements.

Beeper · Answer

Within the last 2 years I refinished our basement with a slate tile floor. we installed underfloor heating so the tile actually feels good on our feet. The advice above are good points to take into consideration. Cold feet are not very comfortable. One thing I never took into consideration was noise. We have three kids and the tile just reverberates all the noise. It's a "loud" basement. I'm sure linoleum would absorb more noise. 1400 sq ft of tile took myself and a helper approx. 40 hours of work(x2=80). Also, is floor level enough for tile installation? Any stress cracks you see in concrete will eventually show up in tile, so I'm told.   By no means am I trying to talk you out of tile. I love it. Just some points to consider. Also I'm not sure where you get the big cost savings from between tile and linoleum. With all factors weighed I'd bet their pretty equal if not the tile being more expensive. Especially if not a DIY project.

Walk Out Basement: Ceremic Tile or Laminate floor?

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