Asking people 40 and up…. tile or wood?
My husband and I bought a house in January, and we are wanting to replace the ugly vinyl in the kitchen, carpet in the dining, and white 4 x 4 tiles in the bathrooms. We are deliberating between wood (real hardwood or the reengineered stuff, not the laminated kind) for all the above named rooms.
Here’s the difficulty. I really want to keep the house looking its time period. It was built in 1968, has been very well kept, and is truly homey. Would a nicely textured, darker color (like dark beige) tile make the house look like it was from a more recent time period? What would fit the best?
I like the idea of the wood, but tile is so much cheaper. I really do want to stay with the age of the house, though.
Can you tell me what you remember from your childhood homes? Did you ever have larger tiles? Were floors wood? Please tell me what you remember and what you think would look the best.
Thank you very much!
Emily
The kitchen and dining room are one long room; I’m afraid it would look stupid to do two different floors. However, if enough people disagree with me, I must be crazy. 
YES, back in the DARK-AGES we had tile — of all sizes! Richer people had the better tile! If your floors are wooden under-structure then use wood throughout your house — even in th ekitchen. Tile is nice and many will reccommend it for kitchen & bath, but as you age or if you get a back injury you will APPRECIATE WOODEN FLOORS in the kitchen as wood "gives" and will keep your back from aching !!! Make sure that your wood floors & your cabinets dont clash, but that they also arent matchy-matchy !!! Tile in the bathroom is great — you wont be spending a lot of time on your feet in there!!! If your base floors are wood in the bathroom, make sure to put down CONCRETE BOARD before you tile or your tile wont stick, your grout will crack and it will be an awful mess !!! The folks at a good tile store can advise you & even Lowe’s has educated supervisors who can instruct you !!! I would either carpet or use high quality laminate in diningroom !!! If you’re in a flood prone area high quality laminate will survive a flood with little or no damage, whereas real wood flooring will warp & buckle!!! It also depends on what your actual house is worth, what it’ll be worth in 7 or 8 years or if you plan to live in that house forever — that should guide you in what to buy !!!
Houses built in Florida in the 60s & 70s were built of CBS, had Terrazzo Floors throughout and carpeting in the Living room & bedrooms! The TERRAZZO was kept highly polished & it is now coming back into style !!!
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Tile! It is much more durable
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Use real hardwood in the dining room and tile in the kitchen and bathroom.
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Tile the kitchen and bath area with a color that accents the counters not the cabinets. Hardwood floors 3/4" the rest of the way. if you have tall ceilings or lots of windows you can go with a darker wood. opposite for low light rooms. Dark wood makes them look smaller. a few bucks for samples can save you lots of grief later if you choose the wrong color, or style
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I think from the 60s, wood floors were rare. We lived in a tract house in CA that had gross green carpet and vinyl in the kitchen/baths. Homes from the 50s and earlier had wood. I think wood would be nice in the dining/kitchen. Wouldn’t the bath need something that would stand the moisture better than wood, though?
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YES, back in the DARK-AGES we had tile — of all sizes! Richer people had the better tile! If your floors are wooden under-structure then use wood throughout your house — even in th ekitchen. Tile is nice and many will reccommend it for kitchen & bath, but as you age or if you get a back injury you will APPRECIATE WOODEN FLOORS in the kitchen as wood "gives" and will keep your back from aching !!! Make sure that your wood floors & your cabinets dont clash, but that they also arent matchy-matchy !!! Tile in the bathroom is great — you wont be spending a lot of time on your feet in there!!! If your base floors are wood in the bathroom, make sure to put down CONCRETE BOARD before you tile or your tile wont stick, your grout will crack and it will be an awful mess !!! The folks at a good tile store can advise you & even Lowe’s has educated supervisors who can instruct you !!! I would either carpet or use high quality laminate in diningroom !!! If you’re in a flood prone area high quality laminate will survive a flood with little or no damage, whereas real wood flooring will warp & buckle!!! It also depends on what your actual house is worth, what it’ll be worth in 7 or 8 years or if you plan to live in that house forever — that should guide you in what to buy !!!
Houses built in Florida in the 60s & 70s were built of CBS, had Terrazzo Floors throughout and carpeting in the Living room & bedrooms! The TERRAZZO was kept highly polished & it is now coming back into style !!!
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I’ve built 6 homes and refurbished 3 others. If you need more help e-mail me @ petunia1354@yahoo.com
BEST WISHES, AUNT BARBIE & UNCLE SKEETER !!!
I know it’s outside the scope here, but take a look at linoleum / marmoleum products. They’re durable, easy to clean and last a very long time.
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I Agree with Webster lino has lots of patterns from stone,nice,slate pattern and timber patterns,the list of choices is inumarible.
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Personable advice