Hardwood. All the way. The ability to refinish (3-4 bucks a square foot is what we were quoted) is awesome. Our floors need to be refinished, but we will be waiting until the kids are bigger.
Quartz. It's awesome stuff.
I'd go tile in all restrooms. Make sure your seal the shit out of the grout. It will help cleaning in the long run.
1. High quality hardwood in a light stain. Shows less marks than darker stains and can be refinished once kids start acting right.
2. Soapstone. No need for sealing like with granite. It ages well, so long as you are ok with the 'lived in' look it develops over time. You just apply oil to bring out the natural beauty of the stone on your own schedule. It makes it look nicer, but it's not necessary.
3. Tile, preferably with radiant heat. I prefer wood everywhere except the bathroom because water plus wood is not ideal. I'd go with either a very large scale tile with minimal grouting or very small tiles with a dark color grout.
This- we didn't do it in our last house and I regretted it. Next house is definitely getting if we need to reno the bathroom. My sister has it in their bathroom and it's so nice. Unless you live in tropical climates.
Post by sleepymonkey on Jan 22, 2015 16:18:03 GMT -5
For countertops, I like granite. There are so many different looks of granite that I think almost anyone can find one they like. I think we looked at 100 different slabs of granite before choosing the ones in our house. I used to think that Corian-type countertops were just as good but after having that in our bathrooms, I found that they can scratch easily. They can be refinished but that takes time and money so it annoys me. I would definitely go with tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. I recommend using larger tiles and maybe set them at a 90 degree angle. We did that in our new house and it makes a big difference in the look of the tile. Wood and wood laminate can warp in high moisture areas. As far as sealing the tile, if you are building a new house you may want to wait to seal depending on the soil in your area. I live in Florida where we have really sandy soil so houses settle a lot, especially in the first year. My neighborhood is all brand new houses and the people that sealed their tile right away are regretting it because the grout is cracking from settling so the sealant is pretty worthless. Our tile is not sealed and our plan is to wait a year, then get the grout professionally repaired, cleaned and then sealed. That should give the house time to settle enough.
Post by cinnamonsmiles on Jan 22, 2015 16:36:15 GMT -5
Kitchen floors: tile tile tile. We have porcelain tile and love it.
Agree with what everyone else says about real wood flooring. It's pretty cheap to refinish, even if you pay someone. Plus, you can put a thick layer of polyurethane if you're really worried about scratching.
Countertops: if you can afford it, go with quartz. Granite has to be sealed once per year and although someone posted so earlier, you cannot put hot things on the counters (wears down the seal). We have it though and love it as a cheaper upgrade to quartz.
Bathroom: tile tile tile. So easy to clean. And if the shower is big enough, you may not need a door or it may not matter. My parents have a walk in shower so large that the water doesn't even hit the glass door so there's less of a buildup to clean.
Kitchen floors: tile tile tile. We have porcelain tile and love it.
Agree with what everyone else says about real wood flooring. It's pretty cheap to refinish, even if you pay someone. Plus, you can put a thick layer of polyurethane if you're really worried about scratching.
Countertops: if you can afford it, go with quartz. Granite has to be sealed once per year and although someone posted so earlier, you cannot put hot things on the counters (wears down the seal). We have it though and love it as a cheaper upgrade to quartz.
Bathroom: tile tile tile. So easy to clean. And if the shower is big enough, you may not need a door or it may not matter. My parents have a walk in shower so large that the water doesn't even hit the glass door so there's less of a buildup to clean.
Most granite does not need to be sealed every year. It depends on the slab, but for an average granite, it is recommended to reseal every 3-5 years, though the only way to know whether it really needs to be resealed is by doing the water drop test. We had granite in our old house and used to put pans straight from the oven on them all the time and in the 5 years we lived there, the granite never had to be resealed and I'm sure the granite the builder used was at best average.
To #1, they beat the hell out of anything. The fact that you CAN refinish is a good thing.
I agree. We installed unstained real hardwood planks and then had them stained with a couple of top coats. It's also what I grew up with. My mom had them sanded and refinished to freshen them up but they still weren't bad that after decades. And that's with five kids running around with millions of friends.
lmao...that's how many are in my house, killing my floors. I wish it were the $3-4/sf to refinish here like someone else is quoting. We're in bit of a bubble here. It's about $7 ave, $10 isn't unusual.
Oh, that is fantastic. This, this is wine. Look at what these idiots are drinking. Look at these dicks! I mean obviously, it's not really delicious, like hot chocolate or Coke, but for wine...brilliant.
Last Edit: Jan 22, 2015 18:10:33 GMT -5 by overture
Oh, that is fantastic. This, this is wine. Look at what these idiots are drinking. Look at these dicks! I mean obviously, it's not really delicious, like hot chocolate or Coke, but for wine...brilliant.
Our whole house is tile (except carpet in bedrooms). Love it. Easy to clean, the color hides dirt. Kitchen we have quartz. Its easy to clean. We have granite in the kids bathroom and for some reason its harder to clean than the quartz.
Post by jumpingpuddles on Jan 22, 2015 22:00:44 GMT -5
We have quartz (silestone) countertops that I love. I wouldn't do the engineered hardwood- we have it in the kitchen and while it's okay, it's nowhere near as nice as the real hardwoods in the rest of the house. We ended up getting it only because we needed a floating floor to avoid disturbing what is likely asbestos under all the layers of laminate that was there.
We went with cork planks in the kitchen. There are some scratches from the dog, but there is enough variation in it that they aren't really noticeable. It is soft underfoot when standing in there for a long period of time and also warm. We went with Corian counters and I wouldn't do that again. They feel dated to me and get tiny scratches when you look at certain angles. If I had it to do over I would get quartz/silastone.
Post by southerncomfort on Jan 23, 2015 8:08:07 GMT -5
So much of this depends on your personal preference and overall style of what you envision your house to have. I love that some of the ladies mentioned where you live too. Most people don't think about that.
1. Kitchen floors (engineered hard wood vs. laminate vs. hard wood vs. tile vs. ) -- We have hardwood throughout the first floor and while it does take some maintenance, we prefer it. Laminate scratches like the other ladies said. Tile can crack and is a pain to replace a piece if you break one. The crappy part is that you do have to practically move out to refinish hardwood and the smell lingers for DAYS. 2. Kitchen countertops (quartz vs. countertop vs. corian vs. something else) Quartz has lots of options for look/feel and doesn't stain. I would steer that direction. We have had Corian crack and granite stain. The recycled glass is gorgeous but it's not for everyone and it's on the more expensive end since it's a newer option. If this comes down to cost but you've found a Quartz product you love, go to local stone suppliers and search their granite slabs. If they have cuts and your kitchen isn't amazingly huge, they will work a deal to move those remnants. Keep that in mind for bathroom tops as well. 3. Bathroom floors (vinyl, tile, wood?) Tile. It holds up in humidity, cleans easier and it will give a continuous look where your shower is installed as the walls will be tile most likely.
Other tips or suggestions are appreciated. Get the overall look of what you want in mind, set a budget and stick with it. If this is truly your forever home, there is no reason why you can't install the most important things now and add upgrades later.
Also, we're planning a walk-in shower and we'll have to see if based on the layout of the shower if a door is even necessary but I'm debating if we should do a glass door or if it would be tacky to do a shower curtain (it just sounds way easier to keep clean). Love the look of a simple glass wall to block the overspray but it doesn't work most of the time. Glass is easy to keep clean IMO. I would do the upgrade to the glass door. It's easier to install that during the building process than later. It also will add more value to the house.
We are currently building our new house and the house we are moving out of was also new construction, we are upgrading some of those very materials this time around.
I suggest real wood. It can be refinished rather than having to be totally replaced and in my experience it takes a good beating (I have two kids and a dog).
In the kitchen I like tile or hardwood. We have tile here and will have wood in the new house. Both easy to keep clean.
I also like tile for bathrooms. Vinyl floors don't last as long, can discolor, and IMO don't clean as well. I have vinyl in our current bathrooms and we are getting tile in our new house. I never feel like it looks clean and it always looks kind of dingy to me. Could just be our product. I just like tile better.
Kitchen counters I like granite or Quartz. We have corian I this house and it is nice, but I like the look of granite better (shiny vs dull)- so that is just a personal preference.
For a stall shower I would go with glass, it just looks nicer. And if you can - get a seamless glass door as opposed to sliding with the metal rim around the edges and tracks- those are hard to keep the clean. The glass is easy to clean, and just wipe down after showers in between cleanings.
We have tile that looks like hardwood. We've actually had people think it is wood. I like it because it gave us the look I wanted, it is super easy to clean, it doesn't scratch like our real wood floors, and I don't have to worry about water ruining the floor.
We have granite that looks marbleish. I think the name is a super white. While I'm not a big fan of the speckled granites this stone is awesome. I would also check out Quartz and soapstone. I loved the look of soapstone, but didn't want the upkeep.
Kitchen floors: tile tile tile. We have porcelain tile and love it.
Agree with what everyone else says about real wood flooring. It's pretty cheap to refinish, even if you pay someone. Plus, you can put a thick layer of polyurethane if you're really worried about scratching.
Countertops: if you can afford it, go with quartz. Granite has to be sealed once per year and although someone posted so earlier, you cannot put hot things on the counters (wears down the seal). We have it though and love it as a cheaper upgrade to quartz.
Bathroom: tile tile tile. So easy to clean. And if the shower is big enough, you may not need a door or it may not matter. My parents have a walk in shower so large that the water doesn't even hit the glass door so there's less of a buildup to clean.
Most granite does not need to be sealed every year. It depends on the slab, but for an average granite, it is recommended to reseal every 3-5 years, though the only way to know whether it really needs to be resealed is by doing the water drop test. We had granite in our old house and used to put pans straight from the oven on them all the time and in the 5 years we lived there, the granite never had to be resealed and I'm sure the granite the builder used was at best average.
Hmm, when we had ours installed (in 2 different houses) they specifically told us to reseal once a year. Maybe we have a different type of granite?
Post by lucilleaustero on Jan 23, 2015 12:57:10 GMT -5
Kitchen floor, natural stone tiles will be in our remodel. I want a concrete countertop. We have laminate in the bathroom and kitchen currently and it sucks.
We have hardwood in the kitchen. I love it. It's been fine and durable. We did our kitchen about 2 years ago and matched the hardwood to the living room. I thought about tile, my decorators pushed me to wood and I am glad. I had laminate in my condo and the scratching was terrible. Would not recommend. Our countertops are engineered Quartz from Caesarstone that looks like Calcutta Gold marble. Frankly my first choice is marble but Quartz is so durable and I am really happy with it. It was 7k less than granite. Tile 100% in the bathroom. We have penny tile in the kids bath and marble basket weave in the master. I would never do vinyl if I could afford tile. We have redone 2 bathrooms and our kitchen so I am happy to answer questions!
Post by carrotcake on Jan 23, 2015 21:35:47 GMT -5
When we redid our kitchen, we were able to find hardwood to match the rest of the house and since we took a wall down between the kitchen and dining to expand the kitchen, it made sense. I really like real wood.
We went with soapstone countertops. I freaking LOVE them. LOVE.
I'd do tile in the bathroom and a frameless glass door for the shower.
Then Comes Family, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.