What kind of tile?

deem · 01-04-2010, 11:03 AM

I have had carpet and vinyl in my house, but recently had a pipe leak which has led to an insurance claim and a lot of renovation and remodeling. Because of pet issues, I don't want to replace with carpet and the vinyl in kitchen needed to be replaced anyway. I thought about laminate, but was told it was not good with pets due to moisture issues. Therefore, I am now thinking of tiling the floors in all the rooms except one bedroom, which has carpet in good condition. The living room, dining room and hallway are all continous, but lead into the kitchen and small family room too. Although I know some don't like tile in the bedrooms, my bedroom actually connects to the bathroom vanity alcove without a door (a 1970s style trend) and I really want to avoid carpet. My question is what kind of tile might work for all of those rooms without being too slippery? Also, I have to stay under $2.00 a tile because I am having to go out of pocket to upgrade from carpet to tile and to expand the tile into areas that were not water damaged. I am interested in relatively neutral tile that will not show pet hair or dirt too much so I am thinking it needs to have various earth tones running through it. Any help would be appreciated. TIA

JazMan · 01-04-2010, 02:00 PM

You've already made the (correct) decision to go with tiles, you'll just have to visit a ceramic tile distributor showroom to make a selection. There is no reason why a tile should be slippery, the proper tiles for floors are not.

$2 per ft. does limit you since that isn't even average, but there are plenty of tiles available in the price range. Just stay away from the real cheap ones, those close to a buck or so.

Will the work be done by someone else or are you taking the allowance and doing the work yourself? That's where we can help, even (or especially) if a contractor is doing the installation. Let us know.

Jaz

deem · 01-04-2010, 04:17 PM

I will be having the tile professionally installed. I am in the process of getting estimates now.

ccarlisle · 01-05-2010, 10:37 AM

Don't be surprised if $2 per tile doesn't appear chump change when the final estimates roll in.

See, not every floor can be tiled without problems of grout and or the tiles cracking down the road. A good tiler will evaluate your homes structure from underneath, give you what's needed from an underlayment/subfloor perspective, then quote you everything you'll need to avoid the cracking I mentioned.

But just slapping down $2 tiles is overlooking a critical element in your equation.

JazMan · 01-05-2010, 03:57 PM

Absolutely right on!

The subfloor system and proper preparations are the most important part of the installation.

When a home has a wooden subfloor in good shape, I find that all the materials total approximately 30-40% of the total installed cost. The tile alone is about 20%+-. So buying a better quality tile only adds a small fraction of the total cost. Maybe 5%,

Jaz

ccarlisle · 01-05-2010, 04:27 PM

...and to take the JazMan's figures, and your $2 per tile, a tiled floor that needs doing properly can reach about $9-$10 per square foot. And I agree.

What's carpet these days? $40 per sq yard of 32 oz nylon? That's about $4 per square foot..! a bit more ($1) for underpadding and installation...so say half.

IceT · 03-20-2011, 05:09 PM

I would figure to spend $4-6 sqft for the tile. In my area.