Scott and I are in the process of buying a small condo. The flooring in the kitchen and bathroom (and I'm adding dining room) has to be replaced. It's a big debate on which type of floor to use. Here's the ideas and the pros and cons (in my mind) for each. Please offer any advice you might have.
Tile
Pros- looks nice, is durable, and will help with resale
Cons- expensive, more work to install, and I hate cleaning it
Laminate
Pros- easy to install, cheap, can look really nice
Cons- prone to water damage, a little noisy when you walk on it
Bamboo
Pros- cheap, not too hard to install, looks pretty nice
Cons- can scratch, no the easiest option to install, could go out of style
Linoleum
Pros- super cheap, super easy to install, super cheap
Cons- tears easily, a little out of style, no my favorite look
I go back and forth everyday on which one we should use. I think right now my top choices are the laminate or the bamboo... let me know what you think.
12 comments:
Definitely laminate. I used to work at a floor place and laminate is by far better, especially with having children. Tile, harder to clean and if you drop anything it will most likely break and a lot louder. We love our laminate, it doesn't seem loud at all.
It looks like you've thought it all through...I would say that a lot depends on what you like the look of the most. Tile is the hardest to install in my opinion.
I would tile the bathroom and do laminate everywhere else. Love our laminate in the kitchen/dining area.
We just put in linoleum that looks like hard wood. . . so it is not prone to water damage. . . which is super nice, it looks super nice, no one knows that it isn't wood or laminate. I also have discovered that as far as condos go, they will all sell for about the same price, the difference is how fast they sell. so don't spend too much on improvements, unless they are just going to make you happy, don't expect it to increase the value of the condo. . . if it looks nice it will sell faster. does that make sense? we went with linoleum because it was cheep looks great, and really was the most kid friendly, less likely to suffer from the kids, and if I do have to replace it, then it is cheep. tile breaks. . . my parents got tile in their house less than six years ago, and it is all cracked and ugly, it was even professionally installed, laminate scrapes really easily and our bishop had to replace his three or for times because his air conditioner leaked once, then his dishwasher. . .etc. My aunt had to do the same with her hard wood floors., i don't know much about bamboo, other than you can get to be different colors, so I think it would look a lot like any wood floor. it is also anti bacterial which is a big plus for me, and it is GREEN! but I can't say any cons on that, but if it scratches, little boys will scratch it. that is why I decided on Linoleum. works great. . . go with the stuff that looks like wood floors and you won't regret it. makes out house look very comfy and warm too. oh and tile is very cold.
Well I am a fan of hardwood, but Mike's mom has pergo and they love it and it seems great when we are there. I like hardwood because I can refinish it if it gets scratched up or I want a new look to it. Mike's brother in law showed us how to install it and it wasn't too bad, we did it in a weekend. But if you never care to redo the floor, then I might just stick with laminate. Price usually wins with us (which worked out great when we found hardwood for less than most laminates.)
Given that great thoughts from you and for you are already here, I will be brief with my only additional thought. Tile can be hard to stand on all day. If you don't have yummy slippers to wear to soften the blow, I wouldn't plan on preparing dinners on a tile floor. Other options are much softer. Best of luck!
You've already gotten some great input, and I'm not qualified to comment on all of the different options. However, when Heather and I installed laminate in our house, we used the thickest pad available (or underlayment, or whatever they call it), and we don't have any trouble with a noisy floor. (Although that might be because the noise in the floor is drowned out by our teenage daughters and two dogs.) Good luck!
I vote tile. But it's your choice, haha.
How exciting for you guys! Congratulations!
We redid our whole main floor and chose laminate. I love it. We went with a pretty dark one, and the scratches show up more easily. So, a lighter color of laminate is an excellent choice--won't show scratches or dirt so fast!:o) Good luck.
p.s. it's easy to install yourselft too!
I vote anything BUT tile! We have it in out kitchen and I hate it! I'm always worried the kids will get hurt as they run/play. When Preston was about 2yrs he did slip and chip his tooth. I so want to rip it out and put something else in!
Donell
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