I have a problem. I have been for the last two days looking at options for new floors in my home. I pretty much know I need tile in my “sunroom” because that’s where we come in out of the back yard/lake area. The grandbabies will have wet, dirty feet. The salesman, who is a good friend, says porcelain. My friend says it will be slippery when wet. Anybody know? What do you have? I’ll probably put the same thing in my kitchen so how is it with spills? I don’t want to fall and bust my bottom!
And for my living/dining/bedroom I want laminate. I think. Laminate vs “engineered wood” – any experience? Dark vs light – opinions? I don’t really like light wood much but lean toward a medium oak because I don’t want dark either. What shows dirt the most? Smudges? Lint/dust? Anybody? Please?
I can’t think too hard about this because yesterday I bought this:
And I just want to go for a drive! With my seat warmers on high. :) Can you say warm baby!
And besides, I need to be cleaning out this:
I don’t need to be worrying about floors – I have no time for that. It’s sewing I need to be doing! Or driving. Sewing…driving…sewing…driving. Help!
21 comments:
How funny.. I'm driving with the top off (a little chilly in the morning) and you're driving with your seat warmers on :) Pretty Car!!
Oh, my, poor baby, you do need some help. First things, first. Pick a beautiful day and go for a ride. Enjoy! You can do the clean-up when it's stormy outside, right?
Now to the advice. I hate ceramc tile because it hurts my feet and shatters my glassware. It also cracks in earthquakes. We have plans to replace the nasty flooring throughout our house, but not all at once. Flooring of choice would be hardwood. Pocketbook says no. Second choice is laminate. We have the medium toned rustic wood style laminate for the hall and entry, waiting to be installed. The kitchen laminate is chosen but not ordered. It will be a lighter toned stone design laminate.Eventually, it is planned that the wood will carry on through the dining/living rooms. We were given a super good deal on these supplies. They are not first choice, but beggars can't be choosers, as went the old grammer school taunt. I am told that STANDING water could be a problem for laminates, otherwise it will handle most everything else. I will look forward to re-flooring the dining room and living room in the future. If I'm still alive by then. In the meantime, it will be wonderful to have the nasty berber removed from the hall. Now, about the kitchen counter tops.... %-\
I hope my blathering has helped answer some of your questions. Whatever you choose, I'm sure it will be beautiful. Unless you put white berber in that area where you are expecting mud, the other hard surface floorings should do well. Have fun!
I have laminate in my kitchen and entry. The entry is large squares that resemble marble. The kitchen looks like walnut.
•The settling of the house has separated some of the squares in the entry.
•In the kitchen, the ice maker in the fridge leaked and the water got under the laminate and warped several of the boards, once again making them separate.
•We were told that it wouldn't fade. Forget that. The spot in front of the sliding door that faces south east is almost white.
•I find it hard to walk on without shoes as it doesn't seem as pliable as wood or vinyl.
YMMV.
Ah - so many questions. Yes, I agree - go for a ride FIRST!! Then you'll be able to think more clearly. I am in the process of replacing ALL of my carpeting with laminate flooring, and I LOVE it. I've gone with a medium oak color, not too light and not too dark. So far I've got it throughout my kitchen/eating area and my formal dining room and living room - also down the hallway going to all the bedrooms. Laminate has been purchased for the master bedroom and the office. At this point we may leave the guest room in carpet at least on a temporary basis. My brother, who was so against laminate flooring - after visiting me this fall has change his mind. Went home and is currently installing laminate in his kitchen.
Our first laminate was put in about 10 years ago and they've made GREAT improvements since that time. That was the kitchen/eating area flooring. We had a chunk of that particular laminate that was stored out in the pole barn and went through a flood - totally submerged in water for a week and came out looking like it had never been wet. Unfortunately I don't remember the brand name of that particular laminate. We were able to match the color quite closely for the living room/dining room/hallway and because it's 10 years newer it's easier to care for. Doesnt' leave water spots, etc. I believe that was Pergo. Now we've purchased Tarket for the bedroom and office in a slightly lighter color and I'm anticipating being very happy with it.
A friend of mine who is currently reflooring her entire house with laminate has put dark laminate in her living room and hallway. The dust marks are driving her bonkers. Every time someone takes a step or her dog walks across it they leave a dusty foot print. So I wouldn't go too dark. The color of mine is perfect as I've got two cats and a Daisy Dog (German Shepherd) in the house and the hair doesn't show, nor do the foot prints. I can't say enough good things about a medium colored laminate flooring. ALSO - laminate flooring is made to look like a wide variety of cermaic tile. I don't find it slippery when wet, but there is also a surface that you can put on it to make it LESS slippery if you're concerned about it. We put laminate on the steps going to our basement. Daisy Dog was a bit hesitant going down them until I put the non-slip solution on them. Now she goes up and down like a champ.
Happy Flooring. Keep us posted.
Gotta love those bun warmers. I have them in mine too and they are heavenly.
Wood floors? Go lighter!! The dark looks incredible, but the dust shows up everywhere. My kids did the dark and both of them are so unhappy with how it always looks dusty and dirty.
I, too, have heard the porcelain is very slippery when wet. We have a textured tile in the kitchen and it is okay. I love the look of the wood, but it is not practical with the little ones around and spilling stuff. One thing about the tile is that the hardness is tough on the body. Anything that hits tile will break into a million pieces too.
Good luck!
After 10 years as a designer for new custom homes, here are my two cents. ;)
I prefer engineered floors over laminate as engineered floors don't sound hollow when you walk on them or have issues with moisture and humidity. Most come with wonderful warranties. You can use this in your sunroom if you want. As far as tile, you will fall and bust your bum on a wet porcelain. ouch! You need a tile with some texture, but grout is a pain to clean if it is not sealed. Every area is different, so you need to use what is best for your climate. As far as color goes, dark floors show dirt and dust more. Medium colors are great.
Congratulations on your new car! Fun!!! Love that smell!!!
xx, shell
Sorry, can't help with the floors, but I love your new Ride!
I wish I could help on the flooring, but I haven't been through any of that. I love the look of dark hardwood floors, though. Just haven't had to keep any of them clean.
Your new car is NICE!! I gave up seat heaters when I bought my last car and I won't be doing that again in the future. :)
It seems like you have some very good advice already. Yes, ceramic tile is slippery and breaks things dropped on it.
As to floors, I have dark ones and they show every speck of dust and pet hair.
Heated car seats? Never heard of such a thing but my heated toilet seat is something I can't live without during the cold winter months.
I will envy you your heated car seat when its 0 out here. It was 80 today however. I have laminate floors in all the house. Some is a little light and the bedroom a little dark but not bad. Does show things especially when you have a puppy pulling stuff out all over. I love laminate - our daughter who cleans houses says her hardest are the tile floors. Breaks things, nothing bounces and it kills her feet and legs. Glad your home OK
Love my laminate. It is a medium oakish color... picked out a wide looking plank style to look old and primitive. Great stuff!
P.S. - Did you get the quilt kit yet? I have been worrying!
Well, it looks like you got lots of advice, but I'll go ahead with my opinion. In our last house we had tile in the kitchen..it had white grout and was so hard to keep clean. Think on hands and knees with a toothbrush...If I dropped anything on it that was breakable it shattered....and it was cold in the winter...We had laminate in the living room and bedrooms..cold, too...also shows lots of dust and hair...I was so happy to find a house with vinyl and carpet.
Mama Bear
Love the car! We also have seat warmers and now I wonder how I ever did without them.
I don't like ceramic or porcelain flooring at all. It's so cold and hard to clean (grout etc...) It just doesn't lend to that warm, cozy feeling for me.
I agree with everyone who said DON'T GO DARK for the laminate. You can see EVERY speck of dust on dark flooring. I like a medium oak color.
Now go take a ride in that beautiful car.
((*wondering where Julie got that heated toilet seat*))
I say ride till the new car smell is gone. Explore, take that side road.
I agree on dark. Dust, lint and cat hair really show up clearly on dark floors. I am regretting it every day.
Tile is hard to stand on for any length of time so for me - never in a kitchen. We put prefinished Bruce hardwood in our great room/entry/kitchen/sunroom area 11 years ago and I still love it. It's held up wonderfully well and cleans up like a breeze.
We put pre-finished Bruce hardwood in our entry/living/sunroom/kitchen great room area 11 years ago. I still love it! It's easy to stand on for lengths of time and cleans up like a breeze. Congratulations on the new ride. Now go enjoy it and leave these decisions for another day!
Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving a very sweet comment. You totally made my day.
Its always good to have folks drop by and when you are having a bad day a comment from a stranger can lift you up and make you feel that some one is thinking of you.
I love your blogs.
A new car. Yippee. that is one more thing to add to your thankful list.
I love tile but I am not sure you want to get in your kitchen because if you do much cooking your legs will start hurting because it is like working on a cement floor. It would be so cold in the winter too. I don't know much about wood floors.
We have tiles in our kitchen. I am not that keen on them ... But around here most kitchens and bathrooms are tiled.
We also have laminate. When we lived in a house with carpet and tiles everywhere I really wished for laminate. Now ... well, it is not as nice as I thought. We have a rather light version I would say. But we have a black dog! You can see every single hair! It is rather annoying. Dust you can see quite well, too. But I suppose it would be even worse if it was dark.
The thing I do not like the most is that it is rather cold to the feet. So now that my baby boy is crawling around and wants to walk barefoot we probably have to get a rug or something. If I had the money I would get REAL wood for the floor. My sister lives in an old house with real wood floors. I find it very different to laminate. Like it much more!
Not sure whether that helped ...
You are a recipient of the Sunshine Award. Please read about it on my blog entry for today.
Love laminate...this is what I have in my quilt studio. The rest of the house is hardwood. I love tile for a sunroom....I see you have varied opinions.
New car!!! WOW...how fun is that!!! As you can see I am playing catch up here!!
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