spartyparty
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Post by spartyparty on Feb 1, 2017 10:23:30 GMT -5
The carpet in our house is badly in need of replacement. My problem is that the wife wants some sort of hard flooring - mainly because she wants something easy to clean. I would prefer to stick with carpet, because I'm concerned about how cold it will feel during winter. I'm also concerned about the cats and a puppy that will be approx. 60-70 lbs as an adult (i.e., long term effects on their hips from slipping/sliding on the floor - not to mention damage to the floor). Plus only 1 of 3 cats uses the scratching post, so they'll start shredding the couch and curtains (I know we should try and to train the other 2 to use the scratching post anyway).
Any advice on DIY flooring (whether hard flooring or carpet) and any advice with how to talk the wife into staying with carpet (or convincing me to go with hard flooring) is much appreciated.
Thanks!
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 1, 2017 10:31:53 GMT -5
We have laminate in the kitchen/dining room.
So far it has held up to 150 pound dog, 2 kids on scooters, a cat, multiple spills, and me dropping shit. We used a runner carpet in the hallway for the dog when she got old.
Put in in floor heat and it won't be cold. Or wear socks.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 1, 2017 10:47:57 GMT -5
We have laminate in the kitchen. Hardwood in the living room and bedroom.
DH was the same way about ripping up the carpet. Nope he did not convince me to keep the carpet, I had my dad come over while he was at work and we ripped up the carpet while he was gone.
The laminate isn't even really cold. If the floor is cold in the living room or bedroom I wear socks. You get used to it.
After seeing what was underneath the carpet and realizing we were breathing that stuff in every day I am NEVER going back to carpet. The floors are so much easier to keep clean now, especially with kids.
We have two dogs that weigh in at about 60 lbs each. There was a brief period when we first restored the floors that they slid around on it but they adjusted quickly.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Feb 1, 2017 10:52:33 GMT -5
We installed the cheapest Menards laminate in the 2 smaller bedrooms. It actually looks great. We used a really nice underlayment from Lowes, so the floor doesn't feel cold at all (plus, the ductwork runs right underneath those rooms). The cheap laminate is slippery, though. If we ever succeed in getting the rest of our house remodeled, we'll replace that laminate with something a little better.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Feb 1, 2017 11:09:44 GMT -5
Hell no to carpet! I love hardwood floors. MUCH easier to keep clean than carpet and they're just beautiful. I have the original hardwood floors in my 105-year-old house, the floors were definitely a selling point!
Use some area rugs and hall runners. Wear socks or slippers in the winter. Done.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 1, 2017 11:13:11 GMT -5
We have hardwood and tile on the first floor, including master BR. With an aging dog, it does make it easier to clean up after him. He has accidents, because he just doesn't have the bladder and bowel control he had as a younger dog. I'd much rather clean up his messes off hard floors than carpet.
It it is also much easier to get cat and dog fur off of hard surfaces than carpet.
If your wife is cleaning up the messes (I'm sure there is probably a hair ball or two hacked up), I think her wants should trump your's.
Finally, good slippers take care of the hard floor being cold issue.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Feb 1, 2017 11:16:23 GMT -5
The house we bought has hardwood. I currently have 3 dogs ~50lbs each living at my house. The main issue is that the hardwoods show dog hair - one of dogs is white - so we have to sweep a lot.
I don't live in the north, so I won't comment about how cold they are. We are cold wimps here.
If I was going to choose what to put in, I would do laminate. When we were looking for houses, we saw a lot with laminate flooring that looked really nice. I know hardwood is the "preferred HGTV option" and it supposedly adds more value, but I would still choose nice laminate.
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Feb 1, 2017 11:16:59 GMT -5
Hardwood floors are much easier to clean. They don't get much colder than the carpet. Your hardwood floors will be about as cold as your basement.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Feb 1, 2017 11:37:01 GMT -5
The problem with laminate is that if it gets exposed to moisture, it will buckle. When we sold our last house, before we closed, our dishwasher malfunctioned and leaked. We caught it right away, and mopped up the water, but by the next day, the flooring in the kitchen was buckled. The floor had only been in for a year or two and was Pergo, but we were unable to get the same floor to do a repair. It was suggested to DH to get similar floor and put in a transition strip from one area to the other. We had an open concept Kitchen/Living area so we put transition strips between the Kitchen and living room areas and figure the buyers did not realize we changed it out. If hardwood buckles or gets damaged you can sand it down and restain in in many/most cases - not so with laminate. The prefinished hardwood has an engineered finish that is more resistant to moisture, but my understanding is that it would be difficult to sand it down and have the finish match the existing finish - because of the process the use to put the finish down (I think it is a multi-coat process). I was told the engineered hardwood is a pretty good product and so I used it in my dining room vs. putting down raw oak and then staining it after it is installed.
In the current house we have tile in the entry and kitchen and the bathrooms and laundry area. We do not have any heated under layments, but my neighbors did it in the Master Bath, and I would love to have it. We considered doing it in the basement....but DH was ready to lay tile and he would have had to change the electricity to add a thermostat/controller for the floor. That coupled with the added expense caused us to just go ahead without it. Tile is more expensive to install, but my DH is able to do it himself, where as he can not do carpet himself. When I was looking for carpet for my office (in the basement) I gave DH the prices, and told him I really liked the tile at the landing...if he wanted to install it it would be less $$. He told me to buy tile and he installed it for me.
My basement has ducts and there is only one room (the guest bedroom) that has carpet. The stairs going down to the basement are also carpeted. We have a area rug under the sofa in the family room, and a few runners, and no one has ever complained - it is plenty warm.
I do think the hardness of the floor on the joints is a concern - I am always cold, and I have back problems, my solution is to always wear shoes/slippers in the house.
If I could get DH to do it/if I could afford it, I would change out my square tile for the tile strips that mimic hardwood. My brother has it in his remodeled kitchen and it looks great.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Feb 1, 2017 12:36:29 GMT -5
I would never put laminate in a kitchen or bathroom for the reasons bean mentioned. But I do use laminate in my apartments for all other rooms. I absolutely detest the look of carpet and I find that laminate holds up much better....plus it is much easier to pop out a few laminate strips then to re-do carpet.
In my house I have tiles in the kitchens and bathrooms, hardwood downstairs and steps and carpet in the bedrooms. The hardwood is old (house is probably 100 years old) so I want to rip it out and re-do it and get rid of the carpeting in the bedrooms....eventually.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 1, 2017 12:57:53 GMT -5
In the current house we have tile in the entry and kitchen and the bathrooms and laundry area. We do not have any heated under layments, but my neighbors did it in the Master Bath, and I would love to have it. We considered doing it in the basement....but DH was ready to lay tile and he would have had to change the electricity to add a thermostat/controller for the floor. That coupled with the added expense caused us to just go ahead without it. Tile is more expensive to install, but my DH is able to do it himself, where as he can not do carpet himself. When I was looking for carpet for my office (in the basement) I gave DH the prices, and told him I really liked the tile at the landing...if he wanted to install it it would be less $$. He told me to buy tile and he installed it for me.
This is us. We have tile in the entry, bathrooms and kitchen. When we retiled the master bath, as the tiler was laying the tile he mentioned being able to easily put a pad under the tile which would heat the tile. It would have been nice had we known sooner. He told us it would have been about $200 for the bathroom.
I do think the hardness of the floor on the joints is a concern - I am always cold, and I have back problems, my solution is to always wear shoes/slippers in the house.
Standing in the kitchen is hard on my hips too. I've been thinking about buying one of those padded mats. However, I have discovered that as long as I am wearing good slippers (we tend not to wear shoes in the house), I can stand long enough to usually do what I need to do. I've currently wear a pair of Sorel slippers, which are warm, have a nice rubber sole and there is support. I should go looking for a replacement pair before they become discontinued.
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spartyparty
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Post by spartyparty on Feb 1, 2017 13:00:30 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! So no carpet it is....
I have read about laminate floor buckling due to moisture, so I have been looking into vinyl plank flooring. A coworker uses it in all his rentals and he really likes it (I forget what brand - definitely need to stay away from the cheap vinyl plank flooring though from what I've seen/heard).
ETA: I want to stay away from tile...I believe the subfloor would need some work, as there's too much movement.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Feb 1, 2017 13:34:40 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! So no carpet it is.... I have read about laminate floor buckling due to moisture, so I have been looking into vinyl plank flooring. A coworker uses it in all his rentals and he really likes it (I forget what brand - definitely need to stay away from the cheap vinyl plank flooring though from what I've seen/heard). ETA: I want to stay away from tile...I believe the subfloor would need some work, as there's too much movement. Yes, there are a few here who are real fans of vinyl plank. I was going to do that in the basement...but read that the glue smell could really be a problem if you could not open the windows to let the smell dissipate. DH wanted to put the floor down in the winter months, so we opted for tile. I can't remember the company name, but some of the landlords like Pat (Country Girl?)and maybe Zib? are fans. It is carried by Home Depot and Lowes. You can do the heated underlayment underneath vinyl too if you really want to.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Feb 1, 2017 13:39:46 GMT -5
In the current house we have tile in the entry and kitchen and the bathrooms and laundry area. We do not have any heated under layments, but my neighbors did it in the Master Bath, and I would love to have it. We considered doing it in the basement....but DH was ready to lay tile and he would have had to change the electricity to add a thermostat/controller for the floor. That coupled with the added expense caused us to just go ahead without it. Tile is more expensive to install, but my DH is able to do it himself, where as he can not do carpet himself. When I was looking for carpet for my office (in the basement) I gave DH the prices, and told him I really liked the tile at the landing...if he wanted to install it it would be less $$. He told me to buy tile and he installed it for me.This is us. We have tile in the entry, bathrooms and kitchen. When we retiled the master bath, as the tiler was laying the tile he mentioned being able to easily put a pad under the tile which would heat the tile. It would have been nice had we known sooner. He told us it would have been about $200 for the bathroom. I do think the hardness of the floor on the joints is a concern - I am always cold, and I have back problems, my solution is to always wear shoes/slippers in the house.
Standing in the kitchen is hard on my hips too. I've been thinking about buying one of those padded mats. However, I have discovered that as long as I am wearing good slippers (we tend not to wear shoes in the house), I can stand long enough to usually do what I need to do. I've currently wear a pair of Sorel slippers, which are warm, have a nice rubber sole and there is support. I should go looking for a replacement pair before they become discontinued. Mich, I actually wear Easy Spirit Traveltime slip on tennis shoes in the house.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2017 13:59:08 GMT -5
I'm loving my marmoleum and my tile that looks like wood...
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 1, 2017 14:32:07 GMT -5
In the current house we have tile in the entry and kitchen and the bathrooms and laundry area. We do not have any heated under layments, but my neighbors did it in the Master Bath, and I would love to have it. We considered doing it in the basement....but DH was ready to lay tile and he would have had to change the electricity to add a thermostat/controller for the floor. That coupled with the added expense caused us to just go ahead without it. Tile is more expensive to install, but my DH is able to do it himself, where as he can not do carpet himself. When I was looking for carpet for my office (in the basement) I gave DH the prices, and told him I really liked the tile at the landing...if he wanted to install it it would be less $$. He told me to buy tile and he installed it for me.This is us. We have tile in the entry, bathrooms and kitchen. When we retiled the master bath, as the tiler was laying the tile he mentioned being able to easily put a pad under the tile which would heat the tile. It would have been nice had we known sooner. He told us it would have been about $200 for the bathroom. I do think the hardness of the floor on the joints is a concern - I am always cold, and I have back problems, my solution is to always wear shoes/slippers in the house.
Standing in the kitchen is hard on my hips too. I've been thinking about buying one of those padded mats. However, I have discovered that as long as I am wearing good slippers (we tend not to wear shoes in the house), I can stand long enough to usually do what I need to do. I've currently wear a pair of Sorel slippers, which are warm, have a nice rubber sole and there is support. I should go looking for a replacement pair before they become discontinued. Mich, I actually wear Easy Spirit Traveltime slip on tennis shoes in the house. I may look for some of these for the summer. They are a lot like my Sorel slippers (only my slippers are lined with sheepskin).
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Feb 1, 2017 14:32:42 GMT -5
...
Standing in the kitchen is hard on my hips too. I've been thinking about buying one of those padded mats. However, I have discovered that as long as I am wearing good slippers (we tend not to wear shoes in the house), I can stand long enough to usually do what I need to do. I've currently wear a pair of Sorel slippers, which are warm, have a nice rubber sole and there is support. I should go looking for a replacement pair before they become discontinued. I have one of those gel mats. I only spend long hours in the kitchen during the holiday season, but that runner (got it at Costco) has been a back-saver for me!!!
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Feb 1, 2017 15:04:36 GMT -5
The carpet in our house is badly in need of replacement. My problem is that the wife wants some sort of hard flooring - mainly because she wants something easy to clean. I would prefer to stick with carpet, because I'm concerned about how cold it will feel during winter. I'm also concerned about the cats and a puppy that will be approx. 60-70 lbs as an adult (i.e., long term effects on their hips from slipping/sliding on the floor - not to mention damage to the floor). Plus only 1 of 3 cats uses the scratching post, so they'll start shredding the couch and curtains (I know we should try and to train the other 2 to use the scratching post anyway). Any advice on DIY flooring (whether hard flooring or carpet) and any advice with how to talk the wife into staying with carpet (or convincing me to go with hard flooring) is much appreciated. Thanks! I think there are two issues related to cleaning. Ease of cleaning. And frequency of cleaning. Granted, it's certainly easier to whip the dust mop around a house with hard surface floors than to drag out the vacuum cleaner. But, depending on pets, kids, the amount of airborne dust where you live, the type of air handling and air filtration you have, and, as another poster pointed out, the color if your pets and floors, hard surface floors may require daily, or even multiple times a day, cleaning. Carpet collects and holds dust, pet hair and the like. If the accumulation of dust,etc. doesn't give you sinus irritation problems, you might only need to vacuum once or twice a week. We live in a high desert climate. Very dusty. You'd dust, and a couple of hours later there would be a new, thick, easy to see, layer of dust on all the glass table tops and shiney surfaces. Switched from the standard grade filters to the best level of filtration available at Home Depot that is not a HEPA filter. Filters are pricey. About $20 each for the ones that fit our house. But it's dramatically less dusty in the house. Dusting every couple of weeks is more than adequate. And reducing the sinus irritation means that I sleep a lot better.
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spartyparty
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Post by spartyparty on Feb 1, 2017 15:25:34 GMT -5
The carpet in our house is badly in need of replacement. My problem is that the wife wants some sort of hard... I think there are two issues related to cleaning. Ease of cleaning. And frequency of cleaning. Granted, it's certainly easier to whip the dust mop around a house with hard surface floors than to drag out the vacuum cleaner. But, depending on pets, kids, the amount of airborne dust where you live, the type of air handling and air filtration you have, and, as another poster pointed out, the color if your pets and floors, hard surface floors may require daily, or even multiple times a day, cleaning. Carpet collects and holds dust, pet hair and the like. If the accumulation of dust,etc. doesn't give you sinus irritation problems, you might only need to vacuum once or twice a week. We live in a high desert climate. Very dusty. You'd dust, and a couple of hours later there would be a new, thick, easy to see, layer of dust on all the glass table tops and shiney surfaces. Switched from the standard grade filters to the best level of filtration available at Home Depot that is not a HEPA filter. Filters are pricey. About $20 each for the ones that fit our house. But it's dramatically less dusty in the house. Dusting every couple of weeks is more than adequate. And reducing the sinus irritation means that I sleep a lot better. Interesting....the wife doesn't do a whole lot of cleaning. I do about 90% of the household chores/yard work (vacuuming was 1 of only a few things she does - I'm not going to do everything ). She's a play/relax first, work later type person. I'm more of a do all my work first then play/relax type. She'll tell me to leave the heaping pile of dishes in the sink because she'll do them later....because apparently nobody needs to get water from the faucet...suppose I could use the spray nozzle to fill up the pet's water dish or coffee pot though....So, I end up having to do the dishes. Sorry, rant over. Anyway, I guess I will be watching dust bunnies blow across the room like tumbleweeds.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Feb 1, 2017 16:50:12 GMT -5
We have carpet in most rooms in our house except the front hallway, kitchen and baths. We recently redid one of our baths and pulled up a piece of the carpet in front of it only to find what we were told were hardwoods underneath is actually parquet flooring. In addition, it looks like it's completely ruined too from previous the owners pets. Once we get a little more saved up, I'll be replacing the flooring in the living room, dining room and hall with new hardwood. I'll put new carpet in the bedrooms as the stuff we have now is the cheapest crap you can get. It was put in right before we bought this house three years ago, and it already looks awful.
If I can afford it, I'd like to put hardwood in the kitchen and breakfast area, but we'll see if we can afford to do it then.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Feb 1, 2017 18:29:54 GMT -5
I think there are two issues related to cleaning. Ease of cleaning. And frequency of cleaning. Granted, it's certainly easier to whip the dust mop around a house with hard surface floors than to drag out the vacuum cleaner. But, depending on pets, kids, the amount of airborne dust where you live, the type of air handling and air filtration you have, and, as another poster pointed out, the color if your pets and floors, hard surface floors may require daily, or even multiple times a day, cleaning. Carpet collects and holds dust, pet hair and the like. If the accumulation of dust,etc. doesn't give you sinus irritation problems, you might only need to vacuum once or twice a week. We live in a high desert climate. Very dusty. You'd dust, and a couple of hours later there would be a new, thick, easy to see, layer of dust on all the glass table tops and shiney surfaces. Switched from the standard grade filters to the best level of filtration available at Home Depot that is not a HEPA filter. Filters are pricey. About $20 each for the ones that fit our house. But it's dramatically less dusty in the house. Dusting every couple of weeks is more than adequate. And reducing the sinus irritation means that I sleep a lot better. Interesting....the wife doesn't do a whole lot of cleaning. I do about 90% of the household chores/yard work (vacuuming was 1 of only a few things she does - I'm not going to do everything ). She's a play/relax first, work later type person. I'm more of a do all my work first then play/relax type. She'll tell me to leave the heaping pile of dishes in the sink because she'll do them later....because apparently nobody needs to get water from the faucet...suppose I could use the spray nozzle to fill up the pet's water dish or coffee pot though....So, I end up having to do the dishes. Sorry, rant over. Anyway, I guess I will be watching dust bunnies blow across the room like tumbleweeds. It does make clean up a breeze! Just pick up the tumbleweeds!
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 1, 2017 20:11:14 GMT -5
I think there are two issues related to cleaning. Ease of cleaning. And frequency of cleaning. Granted, it's certainly easier to whip the dust mop around a house with hard surface floors than to drag out the vacuum cleaner. But, depending on pets, kids, the amount of airborne dust where you live, the type of air handling and air filtration you have, and, as another poster pointed out, the color if your pets and floors, hard surface floors may require daily, or even multiple times a day, cleaning. Carpet collects and holds dust, pet hair and the like. If the accumulation of dust,etc. doesn't give you sinus irritation problems, you might only need to vacuum once or twice a week. We live in a high desert climate. Very dusty. You'd dust, and a couple of hours later there would be a new, thick, easy to see, layer of dust on all the glass table tops and shiney surfaces. Switched from the standard grade filters to the best level of filtration available at Home Depot that is not a HEPA filter. Filters are pricey. About $20 each for the ones that fit our house. But it's dramatically less dusty in the house. Dusting every couple of weeks is more than adequate. And reducing the sinus irritation means that I sleep a lot better. Interesting....the wife doesn't do a whole lot of cleaning. I do about 90% of the household chores/yard work (vacuuming was 1 of only a few things she does - I'm not going to do everything ). She's a play/relax first, work later type person. I'm more of a do all my work first then play/relax type. She'll tell me to leave the heaping pile of dishes in the sink because she'll do them later....because apparently nobody needs to get water from the faucet...suppose I could use the spray nozzle to fill up the pet's water dish or coffee pot though....So, I end up having to do the dishes. Sorry, rant over. Anyway, I guess I will be watching dust bunnies blow across the room like tumbleweeds. Get a roomba. Also entertains the pets. Win/win.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 1, 2017 22:40:49 GMT -5
I name the tumbleweeds and pass them off as additional pets.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2017 23:12:13 GMT -5
I name the tumbleweeds and pass them off as additional pets. That's entirely doable in my house. I vacuum as little as possible and with 2 cats and my hair deciding to depart as quickly as it comes in, well....
I ripped every last bit of carpet in this house before we moved in. We had 4 cats at the time, one was a barfer and one did not believe in peeing in the litter box on a regular basis, so no way in hell were we keeping carpet. It also does not work well with walkers and DH's form of walking, which is to say he moves the walker out in front of him a little and then hops. Can't lift his legs. We wear slippers so no issues there. Except in summer when I go barefoot and step in all the cat puke.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Feb 1, 2017 23:31:38 GMT -5
My feet kill me, I have soft mats in front of the stove, sink, and fridge, and down the laundry room floor.
We have tile in both bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, and down the whole middle of the house, keeps stuff from tracking down the carpet. They put laminate in the what was dining room and now my office, I have a big area rug in it. They said they wanted hardwood in the dining room and it was $5k, when we change the carpets, he can put in hardwood and if not for my feet I would prefer it. But we will have to see.
There are better laminates now, I bought them for the kitchen of the Texas house and it was pretty much waterproof, good stuff. In our basement I put a lock together type of flooring with channels under it that water can drain out of if it would ever flood. Bought a similar kind for the outdoor porches, it is really nice stuff, its like rubber maid material, the basement kind is easy on the feet. The ones on the porches are hard to walk on barefooted though as its little open squares that allow water in and out so hard on bare feet.
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justme
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Post by justme on Feb 2, 2017 0:23:24 GMT -5
I'm going to be putting Allure Isocore laminate flooring wall to wall in my condo. It's waterproof. Even if the place does flood you just pop the flooring back out, dry everything, and pop it back in. It's rated for basements and they recommended it to a family friend for the very reason they'd just have to dry everything if it does flood. I believe the core is supposed to help with the cool feeling. And it's also rated for commercial use with a layer over the decorative part that guards against scratches.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Feb 3, 2017 13:22:18 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! So no carpet it is.... I have read about laminate floor buckling due to moisture, so I have been looking into vinyl plank flooring. A coworker uses it in all his rentals and he really likes it (I forget what brand - definitely need to stay away from the cheap vinyl plank flooring though from what I've seen/heard). ETA: I want to stay away from tile...I believe the subfloor would need some work, as there's too much movement. I put vinyl plank flooring in my rentals. Very smart!!
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Feb 3, 2017 13:25:45 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! So no carpet it is.... I have read about laminate floor buckling due to moisture, so I have been looking into vinyl plank flooring. A coworker uses it in all his rentals and he really likes it (I forget what brand - definitely need to stay away from the cheap vinyl plank flooring though from what I've seen/heard). ETA: I want to stay away from tile...I believe the subfloor would need some work, as there's too much movement. Yes, there are a few here who are real fans of vinyl plank. I was going to do that in the basement...but read that the glue smell could really be a problem if you could not open the windows to let the smell dissipate. DH wanted to put the floor down in the winter months, so we opted for tile. I can't remember the company name, but some of the landlords like Pat (Country Girl?)and maybe Zib? are fans. It is carried by Home Depot and Lowes. You can do the heated underlayment underneath vinyl too if you really want to. Yup, I'm a fan.
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Blonde Granny
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Post by Blonde Granny on Feb 3, 2017 17:42:10 GMT -5
If I could get DH to do it/if I could afford it, I would change out my square tile for the tile strips that mimic hardwood. My brother has it in his remodeled kitchen and it looks great.
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I would too bean. I chose tile based on the builders allowance. I had no idea it would chip like it has when something gets dropped on it. My entire house is 18" tile and I have 1750 sf. At $1.25 or so per sf it would cost me a fortune to have it removed and the wood/tile look installed. I guess I'll just have to live with my mistake.
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CCL
Junior Associate
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 19:34:47 GMT -5
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Post by CCL on Feb 3, 2017 19:23:09 GMT -5
In the current house we have tile in the entry and kitchen and the bathrooms and laundry area. We do not have any heated under layments, but my neighbors did it in the Master Bath, and I would love to have it. We considered doing it in the basement....but DH was ready to lay tile and he would have had to change the electricity to add a thermostat/controller for the floor. That coupled with the added expense caused us to just go ahead without it. Tile is more expensive to install, but my DH is able to do it himself, where as he can not do carpet himself. When I was looking for carpet for my office (in the basement) I gave DH the prices, and told him I really liked the tile at the landing...if he wanted to install it it would be less $$. He told me to buy tile and he installed it for me.This is us. We have tile in the entry, bathrooms and kitchen. When we retiled the master bath, as the tiler was laying the tile he mentioned being able to easily put a pad under the tile which would heat the tile. It would have been nice had we known sooner. He told us it would have been about $200 for the bathroom. I do think the hardness of the floor on the joints is a concern - I am always cold, and I have back problems, my solution is to always wear shoes/slippers in the house.
Standing in the kitchen is hard on my hips too. I've been thinking about buying one of those padded mats. However, I have discovered that as long as I am wearing good slippers (we tend not to wear shoes in the house), I can stand long enough to usually do what I need to do. I've currently wear a pair of Sorel slippers, which are warm, have a nice rubber sole and there is support. I should go looking for a replacement pair before they become discontinued. That $200 for in-floor heat was a bargain. You can also purchase heating mats for under rugs. They actually work very well.
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