Vinyl, Wood, or Tile?
What Flooring Should I Chose?

I simply chose vinyl for the following reasons:

1.  I plan on tearing up the kitchen at some point and re-doing the whole thing.  This is a large expense and not one that I want to tackle at this point in the re-model.

2.  I know that I won't be doing tile.  I have experienced this floor in another home and it is very hard to keep up.  Yes, you heard me right.  It is not an easy up-keep floor.  It must be damp mopped daily to ensure it's beauty.  Dirt easily falls into the grout even though it's suppose to be sealed.  It is very hard to stand on.  You can feel the results in your back.  It is also not friendly when you drop something.  Plan on shrinkage with your dishes.

3.  Wood is very popular at this time and is very beautiful but, this seems to be more popular with blue base individuals.  Being a yellow base person, I really enjoy a finish that is "softer."  However, I might break down and choose wood because of it's classic beautiful and clean looking nature.  Now, having said all that, the vinyl waiting us in this fixer-upper was a disaster.  It was peeling and cracking after only four years of wear.  The color was a sickly pink which was not going to work with anything.  This was the most difficult decision I had to make.  Choosing vinyl to bring two different carpets together (see picture below) and tie all of the colors together;  including the woods and appliances in the kitchen.

My answer to color and price was finally found in the form of large square vinyl tiles.  These are glue down, individual tiles.  They were the most expensive type of vinyl costing $1.72 per tile;  but a lot cheaper than the other flooring mentioned above.

Remember, I am only doing a fairly small kitchen and 3 bathroom floors.  The labor was in-house, meaning my son David was my installer.  The project was labor intensive so we saved a lot of money doing this ourselves.  Because the color was so perfect, the impact was astounding.  Immediately, the house looked richer and more expensive.  Remember, this floor tied all the carpet colors together.  It was subtle and exciting.

Install Materials:
1.  Jasco:  This product helped remove all of the old vinyl and prepare a clean underlayment for a new install.
2.  A sealer was then spread on the entire floor.  The underlayment is ready for the install.

3.  Tile pattern was decided and each tile was placed by removing the paper backing and pressed onto the floor.

In making these decisions, whether it is a re-model or your first new home, ask yourself the following questions:
1.  What is my budget now?  (total cost)
2.  Do I want to re-do in the fairly near future or is this suppose to last as long as I live here?
3.  What is my style?

Copyright © 2002 Renae Knapp. All rights reserved.