Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl
I like our Camellia with tile throughout kitchen and entry path, and baths but keeping it clean is a chore because of the dirt that comes in somehow. ( I find that things get dusty much faster than anywhere I have lived and I have lived in construction neighborhoods before.
There seems to be available in the houses that are already built just two choices of carpet: a cut shag and a plush. We have the plush and I like it. It gives some resilency to your feet.
I think that wood laid on top of cement would have no give. The wood floors in our Cincy home are laid on plywood that gives with each step. I imagine the reason that real wood is avoided is because of termites. ( I don't understand this, the house itself has an inner construction of wood) People are always warning you not to put down wood mulch etc.
If you shop carefully you can have your entire carpet cleaned in an average TV house for about $150. which I do frequently here and will do in TV. When you call several places for cost , do the math and say traffic patterns only and move things for easy access.......or not. I like to save money. Also go to Sams and buy an 8 pack of Spot Shot. It cleans any stains out of light carpet.
Get a Shark cleaner for tile. Works great. AND you will need to use it often. Saves your carpet too by not tracking that gritty grime onto it. Using it is fun and good exercise.
Latest news report from Miss know it all, Suzy Homemaker. I am so annoying.
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Gracie,
As usual I do agree with everything you just wrote. Plus the tile remains cool for your feet. In a hot climate, cool floors are welcoming.
The steamcleaners you mentioned, no matter which brand, are GREAT as they can even clean with straight water. Leave no sticky residue like a Swiffer or other mop and detergent. Yes, the grout, especially in a kitchen like we have it up here in Vermont.......is the dilemma in certain parts of the kitchen such as near the dishwasher or from the coffeepot area to the trashcan.........other parts of the grout remain clean. One would drive themselves crazy trying to clean every bit of grout, so get the darkest you can get. Our kitchen tile is an adobe tan with similar color grout. The bathroom tile floors are shinier tile and for some reason the grout doesn't get dirty at all.
Wood floors nowadays are much easier to keep nice than the old ones of years ago..........but to me carpeting is still the easiest. Vacuuming is much easier than cleaning other type flooring. We remodeled a condo in Florida and I put in a pale oatmeal berber thinking it would stay clean as it was on the beach...........but it did get dirtier than even I would imagine. We put tile in the foyer and kitchen and bathrooms which was nice and cool to walk on. Plus tile on the balcony.
I think tile is great for Florida......but get one of those steam cleaners.
Also, I'm not saying there are "bugs" in The Villages, but another time we rented a house for one year in Florida on the East Coast near Patrick Air Force Base and it had beautiful plush carpeting but at night there were roaches that would "run out". Never saw them in the daytime. I assume they were UNDER the carpeting. I doubt if they could hide under a tile floor.
Nor under a wood floor...........but don't know about termites at all in Fla.