Tile in the Great Room?

[carol_piirto]

We are looking at houses with tile floors. Everything is wonderful except the tile looks like it could be cold and uncomfortable.
Has anyone ever taken tile up in the great room and replaced it??
If you left it, how did you make the living room feel cozy?
...Never lived anywhere with tile (other than the bathrooms).
Thanks!

[Snowbirdtobe]

We have never lived in a place on a slab. We always had real wood over a cellar.
First thing my wife did was to rip up the carpet and install 20 inch tile on the diagonal everywhere but the bedrooms. She had wood flooring installed there.
This is Florida and cold underfoot is good.

[Kelsie52]

We have tile throughout ---(everywhere) and love it

You can always put down area rugs ---if it seems too cold --

Its easy to clean especially with our new Puppy !!!!!!!

Good Luck:ho:

[Happinow]

We are going completely tile in our new home. I thought it would be helpful since it was sometimes so hot there. I think area rugs will "warm it up" nicely. Tile is very easy to keep up and you can clean the spills easily too. With carpet it tends to get dirtier and once those cleaning services come in to clean them the carpet is never the same. JMHO

[ilovetv]

We are looking at houses with tile floors. Everything is wonderful except the tile looks like it could be cold and uncomfortable.
Has anyone ever taken tile up in the great room and replaced it??
If you left it, how did you make the living room feel cozy?
...Never lived anywhere with tile (other than the bathrooms).
Thanks!

I sense you're seeing it as I do, that it's not so much literal "coldness" but aesthetic coldness as in "institutional" feel that too much tile can cause.

One reason many people tear out carpeting here and don't get more carpeting is because it is often cheap carpeting that fuzzes and mats and shows traffic patterns far too soon. Buying better quality, dense carpet that is nylon and not polyester is a good solution to that for living rooms and bedrooms.

Also, engineered hardwood flooring is a nice solution here with the concrete slab underneath. Some engineered hardwood planks are interlocking (lock and fold flat) and can be floated over vinyl or maybe tile, and some are not lock and fold and need to be glued down on the slab. The hardwood looks beautiful (if not a cheap grade), and this provides a friendly, inviting atmosphere like "home" and "family room", not a bathroom nor institutional look.

And there is also laminate "wood-look" flooring that looks realistic in better grades, and is durable and quiet......but it's sometimes more expensive than the real wood or tile or carpeting.

Get what you like!

[duffysmom]

If you tile make sure the grout is dark.

[graciegirl]

We have carpet only in the bedrooms in our new home and I go barefoot a lot...or did until I found out it is hard on your achilles tendon. I love the soft cushiness of the carpet in the bedrooms and I think the quality of the carpet given to us is very good.

[Happinow]

Honestly, I would like carpet in bedrooms only, but my husband is stead fast on tile throughout. A good quality carpet should wear well. I do, however, question the wall to wall carpet with the humidity in FL on a slab. A lot of people have it so it must do ok. I hope I don't develop foot problems due to the tile!

[KathyW]

What are the advantages of putting in tile on a "diagonal" as opposed to straight. I looked at the tile in all the Premier Models and it is laid straight, not diagnoal. Just wondering what are the advantages.

[tommy steam]

We are looking at houses with tile floors. Everything is wonderful except the tile looks like it could be cold and uncomfortable.
Has anyone ever taken tile up in the great room and replaced it??
If you left it, how did you make the living room feel cozy?
...Never lived anywhere with tile (other than the bathrooms).
Thanks!

I think tile in wet areas and very good carpet in livingrooms and bedrooms. Why? I am thinking of grandchildren playing on the floor in great/livingroom or bed rooms. Just a bit hard if they fall down on tile floors. Less bumps.

[Happinow]

I think tile in wet areas and very good carpet in livingrooms and bedrooms. Why? I am thinking of grandchildren playing on the floor in great/livingroom or bed rooms. Just a bit hard if they fall down on tile floors. Less bumps.

That thought went through my mind today too. Little tots need a place to land safely!

[batman911]

Tile and wood floors also make the house noisier. Sound reflects off hard surfaces. The TV and sound systems will sound harsh. Any thing made of glass that is dropped on the floor will shatter to pieces.

[senior citizen]

We are looking at houses with tile floors. Everything is wonderful except the tile looks like it could be cold and uncomfortable.
Has anyone ever taken tile up in the great room and replaced it??
If you left it, how did you make the living room feel cozy?
...Never lived anywhere with tile (other than the bathrooms).
Thanks!

We stayed in two designer homes in the Villages, one of which had a lot of tile with some area rugs to "warm it up". I understand the concept of tile being cool on your feet, however, it really is backbreaking to clean tile floors, even with a steamer....unless one has a cleaning crew do it.

I think I would go with wood floors even in the kitchen which would be a bit softer on the old bones. Walking back and forth from the laundry room to the bedrooms with the laundry made me realize how uncomfortable tile can be for those with arthritis. Not only is the kitchen and laundry tiled, but the foyer and often the great room living areas........

To me, carpeting seems softer on the old bones.

When we redid our three bathrooms and kitchen here in Vermont, we put in the newest big tiles.........the bathroom grout stays clean.....; however, the kitchen tile grout is another story. More drips and spills, especially by the sink, stove and "path" from the frig...........not necessary me or hubby doing it but when the grandkids visit, etc. or others, there are bound to be drips and tile is NOT easy to keep clean, in my humble opinion........unless one has a cleaning lady. I wish I had put a wood floor in the kitchen. Our kitchen gets "traffic" going out onto the back deck and in again.

As another person said, if a good quality of carpet is purchased, then it will withstand "time and mishaps" without a lot of wear and tear. Not sure what they put in down there, but a relative just purchased Karastan as she heard it was very DURABLE for the long haul.

Everyone will obviously feel differently about this.......but yes, tile is cool on a hot day.