[Columbia TJ]

What do yall prefer?

Bought my current house as an investment property and have redone all the flooring except my kitchen, which is currently tile. Living room that is connects to the kitchen is now hardwood (was carpet). When I rip up the current ugly tile, should I switch it to hardwood and run that continuously or just redo with new tile (with a neutral porcelin tile).

[KeeptheJeep]

I have noticed that cracks inevitably widen on hardwood floors, when you spill stuff in the kitchen it runs into the cracks. Do you have kids or dogs? Both are hard on wood floors.

When you drop a plate or glass on a tile floor....it is gone. Wood is a little more forgiving.

Hope my 2 cents helps.

[NewhampshireYJ]

Do it tile. We did are with wood and when we moved any heavy object across the floor like the fridge it made indent marks that make it look horrible. It also scratches very easy.... This is a Thomasville hardwood floor that cost well over 3g's......Personally id go with some tiles.

[EvilM0nkey]

Ttiwwop!!!

[cmotsvt]

Id go with tile for any place that could potentially face liquids or need thoroughly cleaned. You cant bleach and scrub wood if you drop a chicken.

[Columbia TJ]

Yeah I think its going to be tile. The "wife" (its my girlfriend but we own the house together) was just thinking it might be nice to run hardwoods all the way. I just dont think people like hardwoods in the kitchen for reasons yall mentioned. Tile gives a nice definition to the kitchen as well...

Hoping I dont run into any problems with the subfloor as I just ripped up a piece of the current tile and noticed they mortared directly to the plywood subfloor, no cementboard...

[LandRover]

I have oak hardwood in the kitchen. No probs with moisture/gaps/etc. Clean-up of spills is as easy as tile in my experience. I'd do it again. I do have a few dents/dings here and there from dropping a canned ham or something, but no marks from moving the fridge or anything as mentioned above. My kitchen is open to the living room, and the hardwood extends from the living room into the kitchen...gives it a big 'great room' kind of feel. I vote wood.

[Chris_]

We were going to do hardwood, but opted to do everything in the wood laminate, the bathrooms in tile, and the bedrooms in carpet. The laminate looks just like wood, but is a lot more durable than real hardwood.

[LandRover]

Originally Posted by Chris_

The laminate looks just like wood, but is a lot more durable than real hardwood.

But if you get the cheap stuff it echoes like an institutional hallway. The nice stuff is very nice though.

[Jetscuh]

We have some good quality laminate and I was skeptical at first but I have to admit I like it. It's been durable and stood up to the dog and the cat. Also dropped a plate a few weeks ago and there is just small barely noticeable mark and everything is fine under the table and where the appliances are. I like the look of tile or wood. But we decided to try this type of flooring and so far so good.

[ctown67]

general rule for longevity is wood if its a wood subfloor and tile on concrete.

if you want tile on a wood subfloor use a layer of durock to keep a moisture and expansion barrier.

wood is ok on concrete but just remember concrete is porous(?) so you will need a good moisture barrier.

hope that helps

[Indy]

For resale, most of my clients have preferred tile in the kitchens and baths, even if the rest of the house was hardwoods.

[Prot]

Originally Posted by Columbia TJ

Yeah I think its going to be tile. The "wife" (its my girlfriend but we own the house together)

This snippet of your comment is the worst thing that will happen to you in your entire life. Flooring choice is the least of your problems. (plays Guns & Roses classic Used To Love Her). Yeppers, been there, done that, life altering event.

I vote for tile in the kitchen and bathrooms, hardwood in hallways and living room, area rug in the living room for sound dampening, and carpet in bedrooms.

[newracer]

tile for the win!!!

[Coldfever]

Originally Posted by LandRover

But if you get the cheap stuff it echoes like an institutional hallway. The nice stuff is very nice though.

We did the downstairs of our townhouse in Pergo ~6 months before we sold it. It was lovely. We were going to do hardwood but with two dogs and kids were going to be hell on them. Now we have a house that is completely hardwood, top to bottom, the 2 dogs and kids play havoc on them.