wood floors or tile floors

I am redecorating our house. I plan to put in new flooring in the kitchen, master bedroom, greatroom and half bath. I have my heart set on hardwood to match my foyer and dining room. My kithen has tile in it now but the subcontractors did not install it properly and it is cracking. My floor man wants to put tile back down but properly. He says it is stronger and will last longer. I like the look of hardwood but am confused now. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Do what you have your heart and desires set on... Hardwood.

Of course your tile guy is going to sell you tile and labor. He makes money.

If tile is all I did, I'd be trying to sell you tile & labor for the whole house, including walls and ceilings!!!

 

My guy actually does both wood and tile. That is why I got so confused over it. I really want hardwood and I think maybe I'll insist on it. I'm just really stressed out right now and think I might be taking on too much. I have 14 rooms to deal with and it is very overwhelming. I just want it to be perfect.

 

this is such a personal decision, it's almost pointless to ask others' opinions, but here's mine: i love wood floors, especially in dining rooms (with an area rug under the table) & foyers, like you have. but i'd rather have tile in a kitchen & 1/2 bath, for practicality and because it just seems "right" in those areas. and i'd rather have carpet in my bedroom & great room because it's warmer & quieter and easier to just vacuum.

something to consider: where do you already have a lot of stained wood, like cabinets or furniture? if your kitchen cabinets are a stained wood, the tile might be a nice change in materials from more stained wood on the floor. same with the bedroom - all your bedroom furniture stained wood? carpet will set it off nicely, and reduce dust bunnies under the bed! great room - any kids around who like to play/lay on the floor? carpet will be much more comfy than wood w/ rugs.

just my 2 cents.

 

I love hardwood in the kitchen and I have always had it in my homes. It is warmer and softer on the feet than tile. Tile is cold and hard.

Install hardwood...you won't regret it.

 

i am another vote for hardwoods. i just installed half my downstairs with hardwoods (including the kitchen and powder room) and let me tell you, everyone who has seen it cant believe what a drastic change it has made in the appearance of my house. my neighbor had to thank me beciuse after his wife saw my floor she is insisting that he rip up the fairly new tile he laid to put hardwoods throughout the downstairs.

the warm tones of the wood cant be touched by the cold hard feeling and look of tile. now i just have to make time to get the other half done. go with hardwoods, have you ever dropped a plate on tile? have you ever fallen on tile? my friends daughter fell on tile and broke her arm in 3 places. she was only 9 months old and had to have a few surgeries and pins put in her arm to correct it. i bet if it had been hardwoods she would have been much better off. i have also heard of people slipping on tile and cracking their heads open. not that it always happens, but just something to think about.

 

Thank you everyone for your response. I have decided to go with hardwood everywhere downstairs except the master bath and laundry room. We really haven't had a good weekend with this. We actually had to get our builder to come over because the flooring man said we were going to have problems because there are 2 plywood floors under our tile instead of duraroc. And it goes under all my cabinets and appliances so it will have to be cut out and cut out under the cabinets. Apparently neither has done this before. Can you believe? Plus it looks like we are going to have to put in unfinished and have sanded because we can't match our 8 year old existing floors. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and got the quote for painting and it's 10,000. I don't feel so well right now. Our house is only 8 years old.