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Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,459
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I have a ceramic tile floor in by bath, it is pretty but oh boy is it cold. Mine is a 'floating' floor and the product came from Menards. My contractor suggested this product because my sub floor was not totally level and this tile 'floats'...I really like it. It was a bit more expensive but the upkeep is very easy.

The grout (if that is the actual product) is dark and does not get dirty like traditional grout, nor did it need sealed. If interested check out Menards web site. If my house was not on a slab I would have it in the kitchen but it would colder in the winter than what we have on the floor now, but if you drop something....the 'something' will break, it's a really hard surface.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,892
Registered: ‎07-03-2013
I have a good amount of ceramic tile. Kitchen, hall, laundry room and 3 baths. I don't find it cold. I find it time consuming to keep it clean. If I ever replace it, I would look into the 16x16 ceramic tiles or vinyl. I have a neighbor that has the ceramic and another vinyl. Both look equally nice.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,892
Registered: ‎07-03-2013
On 3/1/2015 Susan Louise said:

Last pic...

It came out really nice. I'm all for the bigger tiles.
Trusted Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-09-2010
On 3/1/2015 Susan Louise said:
On 3/1/2015 luvtoshopathome said: I just had my whole house done over. Originally I ordered beautiful thick vinyl wood planks for my kitchen which is very big. Unfortunately the company did not send me enough. When I called them they told me they didn't have the color I ordered any more. I didn't want to send them back since they were quite expensive to mail back. I decided to have them installed in my living room and they look beautiful. So, I opted for Italian ceramic tile in my kitchen and bathroom. BIGGEST MISTAKE IN MY LIFE! First, ceramic tile is very bad on your joints, especially if you have any back or joint issues. Second, if something falls and breaks there will be glass that shatters all over the floor. I recently dropped a jar of homemade tomato sauce and you wouldn't believe the mess, there was glass and sauce all over the floor. I actually stood there and cried, it took so long to get all the sauce and glass up making sure there were no slivers of glass especially since I have 2 very inquisitive Persian cats that wanted to walk on the floor while I was cleaning it up. Do yourself a favor and go with the vinyl floor planks, the ones that are floating and click in. I bought mine from IFloors online, you can google them. Good luck!

How long was it from when you got your tiles to when you called back to get more?

Thankfully, since we loved our new tiles in the kitchen so much, we decided to order the same ones a week later so we had enough for our 2 bathrooms when we update them early next year...no cold ceramic tile floors for us and we didn't want to risk the tiles becoming obsolete if we waited til next year to get them. They match perfectly back to our taupe carpet in the rest of the house too.

We found out by reading many reviews online that floors get discontinued quite often. Some flooring will be around for years, others for very short periods of time. Sometimes it's due to low sales, other times it's because a vendor of a company decides to stop making a particular flooring due to lack of materials or they go out of business...could be anything. It was no problem for us to just store the 4 boxes of tiles for the bathrooms in the corner of our basement til next year {#emotions_dlg.thumbup}

My contractor measured my kitchen floor for the vinyl wood planks. I gave those measurements to the representative from the flooring company. Now my kitchen is black and white and I didn't want any type of brown planks so I opted for a beautiful grey, which has the knots that look like wood. I was also told this was the best choice since I have cats and if they had an accident, it would never seep through these vinyl planks. As soon as they were delivered, my contractor counted the planks and said there wasn't enough for my kitchen so I called the company immediately. That's when I was told that they did not have any more in that color grey, the grey is a mixture of light and a little darker grey. Since I purchased a dark grey sofa for my living room and my walls are painted a very light rosey lilac, the planks look beautiful in my living room. So my kitchen has long Italian ceramic tiles, they look beautiful but if they weren't so expensive and brand new, I swear I'd have them replaced with vinyl.
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,071
Registered: ‎09-23-2010
Beautiful photos thanks fir sharing. My neighbor has the vinyl plank wood look flooring,she loves it.I have wood laminate in my kitchen/dining room and tile look laminate in my lr.I am very pleased with my floors and easy care.Cleaning grout sounds terrible.
Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎04-18-2012

I'd take tile over laminate wood floors any day of the week. I do love solid wood flooring though.

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Respected Contributor
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Registered: ‎05-13-2010

Just a bit of input--I always go for the least hard flooring I can. I have back and leg issues.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,577
Registered: ‎09-24-2011

I've got a 65yr old home. Hardwood floors throughout except in basement(linoleum tiles), attic (carpeting), main bath (ceramic tile) and kitchen. The kitchen floor had vinyl, but had to be replaced (UPS man came to house - dog is very protective - a can of shiny black paint got knocked over and splattered on walls/floor: it stained the no-wax floor) . Wanted to replace with vinyl but was told with prep work it would cost more than if I installed laminate or tile; hardwood was too cost prohibitive (very large kitchen). Opted for porcelain tile instead of the laminate 'cause have furry babe and if laminate got scratched would not be able to sand down as with hardwood. The downside with tile though is it can crack/break. Whatever you choose, there's always pros and cons. A pro for tile: furry baby finds it nice and cooling in the hot weather!

P.S. Bought from large tile store from their discontinued/outlet room and used installer's discount so the price wasn't too bad.

Super Contributor
Posts: 478
Registered: ‎03-25-2010

If you are going to go the tile route you should consider porcelain instead of ceramic. Their is a price difference, but the tile color goes all the way through a porcelain tile. If it gets chipped it won't be that noticeable. Ceramic on the other hand, if it gets chipped (something heavy falls on it) the color underneath is a red color and would be noticeable.

Esteemed Contributor
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Registered: ‎09-24-2011
On 3/2/2015 karlam said:

If you are going to go the tile route you should consider porcelain instead of ceramic. Their is a price difference, but the tile color goes all the way through a porcelain tile. If it gets chipped it won't be that noticeable. Ceramic on the other hand, if it gets chipped (something heavy falls on it) the color underneath is a red color and would be noticeable.

Thanx, karlam, I didn't know that. How can you tell if it's ceramic or porcelain? I know kitchen is porcelain, but bathroom not sure.