[Dannny]

Sue and I purchase in the Villages in March. The house we purchased is 1 year old. We've decided to replace the flooring and have been looking into hardwood. We have run across many opinions on going to hardwood or not. Yet at the same time, we are seening more and more new Villages models and homes being built with hardwood.

Folks I've talked to (owners and builders) have two opinons. One is that there is NO issue with hardwood but others when I suggest it have said "you do not want hardwood floors in Florida".

We are pretty much at a standstill trying to decide. Any and all opinions, experince and examples are welcome. We are in transition as we still own a house in Michigan but will be spending more and more time each year at the Villages until we are down completely within the next 5 years. In the mean time we do have a full time service keeping an eye on our house with access to go in as necessary and check things out....

Advise?

Thanks,

Dan & Sue Adanti
Michigan and now the Villages..

[Applepie]

I replaced my carpet with bamboo flooring 4 years ago. I have had no problems. Looks as good as the day it was installed.

[jrandall]

I really like my engineered hardwood. The biggest Stue is that it shows dust and dirt much faster than tile. I have a little dog who brings in grass on her feet from the outside. I ended up getting an iRobot and that as lessened my load of vacuuming. Not sure I would get it again if I had a do over.

[jimbo2012]

engineered hardwood, is not hardwood it is a composite, apples & oranges.

There is no better floor than a real hardwood floor, by that I mean solid wood.

I did mine in Florida Cypress, love it.

[SpicyCajunPugs]

I love my slate look tile. It is unique, beautiful, and shows no stains, dog hair, dirt, etc. and it is very easy to maintain. Wood is an ongoing pain in the you know what IMHO...

[dotti105]

We are going with laminate!

We had hardwood in fla and found it to be a huge maintence issue. Sand and hardwood are a horrible combination. We had our floors refinished every year when we could vacate ( for vacation)

There was always scratches, scraped, dents, dings. I had to put felt on the bottom of my rocking chair because of the damage it caused.

I was going to go to tile for our Villages home. But I have looked at wood laminates and been blow away! The laminates are virtually impossible to tell from real wood floors. They are guaranteed for 20 yrs! No refinishing....ever!!!

Laminate is easier on the feet, body than tile. Do not dent and are just plain georgeous!!

The beauty and maintainence free qualities sold us!!

The Villages does not offer laminate. So we are installing it after tearing out the cheapest flooring we can purchase for our new home.

Go look at the laminates! They are amazing.

(Also the "tile" laminates look like real tile, slate. You have to see them to believe it!)

Lots of choices out there!! Have fun finding what is right for you and your home!!

[Villageswimmer]

Originally Posted by dotti105

We are going with laminate!

We had hardwood in fla and found it to be a huge maintence issue. Sand and hardwood are a horrible combination. We had our floors refinished every year when we could vacate ( for vacation)

There was always scratches, scraped, dents, dings. I had to put felt on the bottom of my rocking chair because of the damage it caused.

I was going to go to tile for our Villages home. But I have looked at wood laminates and been blow away! The laminates are virtually impossible to tell from real wood floors. They are guaranteed for 20 yrs! No refinishing....ever!!!

Laminate is easier on the feet, body than tile. Do not dent and are just plain georgeous!!

The beauty and maintainence free qualities sold us!!

The Villages does not offer laminate. So we are installing it after tearing out the cheapest flooring we can purchase for our new home.

Go look at the laminates! They are amazing.

(Also the "tile" laminates look like real tile, slate. You have to see them to believe it!)

Lots of choices out there!! Have fun finding what is right for you and your home!!

Dotti, we're plannibg on laminate as well. Can you share what company you plan to use?

[upstate]

Originally Posted by dotti105

We are going with laminate!

We had hardwood in fla and found it to be a huge maintence issue. Sand and hardwood are a horrible combination. We had our floors refinished every year when we could vacate ( for vacation)

There was always scratches, scraped, dents, dings. I had to put felt on the bottom of my rocking chair because of the damage it caused.

I was going to go to tile for our Villages home. But I have looked at wood laminates and been blow away! The laminates are virtually impossible to tell from real wood floors. They are guaranteed for 20 yrs! No refinishing....ever!!!

Laminate is easier on the feet, body than tile. Do not dent and are just plain georgeous!!

The beauty and maintainence free qualities sold us!!

The Villages does not offer laminate. So we are installing it after tearing out the cheapest flooring we can purchase for our new home.

Go look at the laminates! They are amazing.

(Also the "tile" laminates look like real tile, slate. You have to see them to believe it!)

Lots of choices out there!! Have fun finding what is right for you and your home!!

We have hardwood, tile and laminate in our home. I prefer laminate hands down, especially with a pet and it does feel better under foot and less upkeep. Our neighbors who are in the same situation agree, we had the carpeting ripped up in our villages home and had it replaced with tile look laminate, looks great. Not interested in resale value, only comfort. Good luck with whatever you
choose.

[SpicyCajunPugs]

We have had both laminate and hardwood in addition to tile, and we still feel tile is superior in nearly every way. Laminate has many of the same disadvantages as wood. It shows dirt, dog hair, foot prints, etc just like wood, and you also have to be careful with water and other products used on it. No matter how much I cleaned my floors looked bad, and I was always worried about damage, either physical or chemical. Tile is much more heavy duty and durable and comes in such beautiful colors.

[Maryland Girl]

Originally Posted by dotti105

We are going with laminate!

We had hardwood in fla and found it to be a huge maintence issue. Sand and hardwood are a horrible combination. We had our floors refinished every year when we could vacate ( for vacation)

There was always scratches, scraped, dents, dings. I had to put felt on the bottom of my rocking chair because of the damage it caused.

I was going to go to tile for our Villages home. But I have looked at wood laminates and been blow away! The laminates are virtually impossible to tell from real wood floors. They are guaranteed for 20 yrs! No refinishing....ever!!!

Laminate is easier on the feet, body than tile. Do not dent and are just plain georgeous!!

The beauty and maintainence free qualities sold us!!

The Villages does not offer laminate. So we are installing it after tearing out the cheapest flooring we can purchase for our new home.

Go look at the laminates! They are amazing.

(Also the "tile" laminates look like real tile, slate. You have to see them to believe it!)

Lots of choices out there!! Have fun finding what is right for you and your home!!

Couldn't agree more. We used Floor Masters. They have a large selection and they were less expensive than some others, including Great Lake Carpet and Tile. We recommend buying a thicker laminate with a good padding underneath. We also bought wide plank with a semi high gloss. It looks so beautiful. We had hardwood in our northern home, but we just love the laminate. To clean, just spray on a cleaner without ammonia, like Perfect Glass from Bed, Bath and Beyond. Also, be sure to discuss before purchasing what happens if they rip up the existing flooring and they find some leveling has to be done. We didn't have any leveling issues, but some people have. Leveling may add additional cost but that would be true whether the floor was hardwood or laminate.

[eweissenbach]

We just bought another home in Missouri and are replacing most of the flooring with porcelain wood-look tile. It looks like wood but offers superior toughness, with no scratching and no water problems. We have had wood and laminate and prefer the durability and beauty of tile.

[SpicyCajunPugs]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

We just bought another home in Missouri and are replacing most of the flooring with porcelain wood-look tile. It looks like wood but offers superior toughness, with no scratching and no water problems. We have had wood and laminate and prefer the durability and beauty of tile.

Wood-look tile is a great alternative to people who like the look of wood without all the problems and disadvantages. We almost went with that but liked the multiple color look of slate-look tile, and it had the look of old New Orleans where I was born and raised. Porcelain tile is wonderful for a more carefree lifestyle with beauty to boot!!!

[dotti105]

We have slate in our current home and I love the look. But my feet and legs are really suffering. I will need something with a bit of give. The Tile is great for those who can stand it under foot all day and night.
10 yrs ago we could. now we can't. end of story.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by jrandall

I have a little dog who brings in grass on her feet from the outside. I ended up getting an iRobot and that as lessened my load of vacuuming.

I know this thread is about flooring. But I have to ask .... Does the iRobot really work well?

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

I know this thread is about flooring. But I have to ask .... Does the iRobot really work well?

My son's friend worked for the iRobot company, he had loads of them - he got the ones returned to the company because they didn't work - he is a design computer engineer and could fix just about anything computerized! He said they were actually very good, open a door, put the robot in the room, close the door and when you come back the room is done. But, he did say it drives the dogs crazy.

For the average homeowner (like us) robotic cleaning is still in its infancy, but they are cheap enough to give them a try. It's a bit like those very light weight hoses you can get in WallyMarts - my husband loves them, but we must be on our third or fourth! He keeps hoping for the miracle one that will last.

Oops, this thread is about flooring in Florida ---- quarry tile and engineered hardwood in the bedrooms. Love both.