Tile in the family room?

[fivi2]

We are in the planning stages of an upcoming addition/remodel. The house currently has hardwoods everywhere except bathroom and kitchen. I love hardwoods. The kitchen is a separate room now, so the tile doesn't look weird.

When we add on, we will be adding a family room and losing a kitchen wall, so they will be open to each other. We had planned to do matching hardwood in the addition. Apparently the floor in the kitchen is at a weird level, so it will be hard to match up with the hardwood floor.

So our options are to have just tile in the kitchen and figure out a way to transition to hardwood in the family room with an open floor plan, or to extend the tile throughout the addition into the family room and dining area. (with area rugs). I vastly prefer hardwoods, but the transition difficulty (and expense) are making me consider the possibility of tile in the family room.

So that was a lot of background to ask - do you have tile in the family room - and if so - do you like it? Cold weather isn't an issue.

[jerseygirl07067]

Yes! Love it! Easy to clean, don't have to worry about scratching and nice and cool as we live in FL. I am going to to hardwood in my living/dining room, but since the family room gets more use, that's why we went with tile. We don't even have an area rug at all, since it makes the room look bigger not to have one.

Good luck!

[lhafer]

I have tile in most of my house, only because it was an upgrade that came free with the house on a special sale when we signed on to build. Been here 2.5 yrs now.

Pros: zero upkeep besides cleaning, extremely durable with pets and kids, keeps my house cooler in the Texas summer, doesn't hurt resale here.

Cons: need area rugs to help with sound dampening, hurts when kids fall on it, has a cold feel/look to it in general (vs hardwoods).

I personally hate my tile floors and am very sorry I didn't upgrade to wood. The tile floors are easy to clean, they don't get scratched, etc. but wood floors are just so much prettier IMO. When we buy our next house when the girls are older, wood floors are a requirement for me.

[fivi2]

Thanks for the input both of you. My biggest concern about going with the wood in the addition is how handle tile in the kitchen with wood in the family room in an open floor plan... I have looked on Houzz - some do it well, others... don't. It apparently will be difficult to put the wood in the kitchen (we'll see).

I have seen pics of tile that look nice, I guess I am more worried about what the pros and cons are of all tile. (I didn't want to make it sound like I thought tile would be less attractive - I know it can look great. I am just used to wood).

[Snow mom]

We're going to put new flooring in our family room so this is a timely thread. The main reason I'm opposed to tile is that our foundation is a bit shifty as we are in a clay part of town. I imagine there is more risk of tile cracking here than in most parts of the country. I'm not sure if you are in a part of town where you need to worry about this (or what type of foundation you are on) but you might consider this issue, both in the jointing of the addition and how the flooring transition is accomplished. We have an older addition and it is the joint between the original house and the addition that is the most problematic with the shifting clay.

[twowhat?]

I personally don't like tile in living areas. It reminds me of apartments in china and taiwan I also seem to see it a lot in houses in humid areas (florida, for example).

For me it's just the look - I just don't like the look, the lack of warmth, etc. I know you could put a rug over it but it is still tile. And PP had a good point about tile cracking if the soil in your area moves a lot.

So personally if it were in budget I'd find a way to make everything hardwood (that probably means engineered hardwood since it hold up to things like spills/humidity which are likely in the kitchen).

If not in budget I'd be looking at good ways to transition from tile to wood.

[fivi2]

We're going to put new flooring in our family room so this is a timely thread. The main reason I'm opposed to tile is that our foundation is a bit shifty as we are in a clay part of town. I imagine there is more risk of tile cracking here than in most parts of the country. I'm not sure if you are in a part of town where you need to worry about this (or what type of foundation you are on) but you might consider this issue, both in the jointing of the addition and how the flooring transition is accomplished. We have an older addition and it is the joint between the original house and the addition that is the most problematic with the shifting clay.

Oh yes, we are in the serious shifting clay part of town... You mean having giant cracks in ceilings and walls isn't normal?

I hadn't really thought about that...

If we do hardwood, it will need to match as closely as possible the rest of the house (which is 60 or so years old) because we aren't replacing the rest of the flooring...

[indigo99]

It would depend on where the house is. I think tile is pretty common in places like Florida. In my area, I think that it may be seen as a negative when you go to sell the house eventually. I'd just try to match up the wood if possible. Our wood on the first floor is 2 different colors because they replaced the carpet in the living room at some point. It changes right in the hallway, but you don't really notice unless you're looking.

[fauve01]

I think I would do whatever is common in my neighborhood.

We had tile in the whole house when we lived in Italy and i loved it--it was so easy to keep clean! and it stayed so cool. NICE. we had area rugs.

now back in the states, we have tile in the entryway and kitchen and bathrooms, and hardwood in the living room and family room.

OP, have you seen that they make tile that looks like hardwood? I googled "tile that looks like wood" and a bunch of links came up. here's one with lots of pics:
http://www.southcypress.com/Design-G...e-Idea-Gallery

[SnuggleBuggles]

I personally don't like tile in living areas. It reminds me of apartments in china and taiwan I also seem to see it a lot in houses in humid areas (florida, for example).

For me it's just the look - I just don't like the look, the lack of warmth, etc. I know you could put a rug over it but it is still tile. And PP had a good point about tile cracking if the soil in your area moves a lot.

So personally if it were in budget I'd find a way to make everything hardwood (that probably means engineered hardwood since it hold up to things like spills/humidity which are likely in the kitchen).

If not in budget I'd be looking at good ways to transition from tile to wood.

Of course, I have fought dh to keep the carpet in the family room as he would prefer hardwoods, like the rest of the downstairs. Warmth, comfort...