Bob wrote:
My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about 40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it. Perhaps
she has a point.

She does, and your dogs have about forty of them.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

The difference in friction between tile and wood depends on the tile
and the wood.

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really don't know what
it entails.

Tile is far easier to maintain and if installed correctly will look
the same longer. Wood can be refinished. Tile can't - at least not
easily.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible, so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.

http://www.discoverwoodtec.com/

Plank tile that looks like wood. Seems like a fair compromise and the
dogs will never know the difference!

R

Tile is more durable than wood. That's an easy one. A good quality
wood finish will withstand a lot of dogs nails. You can trim the
nails on your dog almost eliminating the problem. The advantage that
wood can be re-finished has been mentioned. Lots of new products are
coming out all the time so have fun shopping.

My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about 40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it. Perhaps
she has a point.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really don't know what
it entails.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible, so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.

Thanks in advance, Bob

In article , Bob says...

My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about 40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it. Perhaps
she has a point.

I strongly feel that tile is the best choice for a kitchen over wood. The other
good choice is vinyl, which are are changing from (I did, too, but I still think
it's a perfectly good practical good-looking option.) I haven't found that the
tile is too hard to stand on, and our kitchen gets a lot of traffic and use.
Wood has concerns with upkeep, and isn't a good choice where water is. Since I
got my floor tiled, I can better see the water droplets from rinsing, filling
pots, etc., and it's amazing that there are quite a few. Even without spills,
there is a lot of water exposure in the kitchen. Frankly, IMO wooden kitchen
floors is a current fad, coming from a reluctance to have different floor
materials on the currently fasionable open floor plans. Five years from now
those sticks are going to be removed from a lot of kitchen floors, I predict.


Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

The funny thing about this is that wood is harder on the feet than carpet - if
you're concerned about the kitchen tile floor for this reason, then you'd want
carpet in the den ;-)

In the den, carpet vs. wood is more of a personal taste and preference thing,
each has advantages and disadvantages. You dislike coasters under furniture; I
dislike area rugs. Dog nails may mar a wood floor, but may catch on carpet.
Wood takes some care, carpet is harder to keep clean. No one I know of with a
real wood floor (vs. something like Pergo) has had a problem with furniture
slipping. Furniture is far more likely to dent rugs than wood (or is that what
you meant?) I like the "warm" look, softness, and quiet of a berber carpet so
that's what I'm getting, but that's a personal thing.

How about wood in the den and tile in the kitchen as a compromise? They look
good together if you have any transition. Less to refinish if the dog nails do
prove to be a problem.

Banty

I like vinyl for kitchens. Tile can be a pain in the kitchen because of the
grout. In my rentals I use commercial vinyl tile because of its durability,
and the fact that you can replace a tile or two if it gets gouged for some
reason. The down side is that you have to wax and buff a couple of times a
year.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.


"Bob" wrote in message
...
My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems
to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of
time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about
40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it.
Perhaps
she has a point.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again
we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as
well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like
to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture
have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really don't know
what
it entails.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible, so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.

Thanks in advance, Bob

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:22:28 -0600, "Bob"
wrote:

My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about 40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it. Perhaps
she has a point.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really don't know what
it entails.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible, so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.

Thanks in advance, Bob


I agree with your wife about the dog scratches. A house across the
street sold recently and the damage to the wood floor was evident. I
got to visit during an open house. As soon as I walked into the front
door I could seem the scratches.

A warning on MOHAWK hardwood flooring: "Vacuums with a beater bar or
power rotary head can damage a wood floor and never should be used."

We removed vinyl flooring in the kitchen and replaced it with large
tile (16x24). I enjoy it until a drop a glass jar. They seem to
shatter in a million pieces. The tile is easy to clean IMO.







--
Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:22:28 -0600, "Bob"
wrote:

My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about 40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it. Perhaps
she has a point.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really don't know what
it entails.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible, so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.


Sensible shoes, or some kind of mat/throw-rug in front of the sink
ought to solve the hard-floor problem.

If you want a wood floor Google "wood hardness" and choose a wood that has
the hardness to stand up to the traffic. North American hardwoods are not
all that hard. Coupled with a real good quality pre-finish wood will stand
up to a lot. Even vinyl can be scratched, cut and gouged with untrimmed dog
nails.


"Bob" wrote in message
...
My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems
to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of
time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about
40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it.
Perhaps
she has a point.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again
we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as
well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like
to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture
have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really don't know
what
it entails.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible, so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.

Thanks in advance, Bob

Maybe you can kinda do both.

There is a fairly new flooring that is a vinyl tile in strips.
Armstrong strips are 3"x36" or 4"x36". The 4x covers 1 SF, just
like VCT tile.

We have 2 installations of it now. It has only been down for a
few months. Most observers, including tradesmen, think it is a
laminate or real wood floor.


--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Bob" wrote in message
...
My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently
sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten
years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff.
It seems to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any
length of time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two
dogs, about 40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch
it. Perhaps
she has a point.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year,
and again we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies
there as well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really
don't like to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does
furniture have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really
don't know what
it entails.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials
but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible,
so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.

Thanks in advance, Bob

"Bob" wrote in message
...
My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems
to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of
time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about
40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it.
Perhaps
she has a point.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again
we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as
well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like
to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture
have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really don't know
what
it entails.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible, so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.

Thanks in advance, Bob



I would go with tile just because of the fact that sooner or later water
will get on the floor go unnoticed and now your pulling up flooring. If you
do decide on wood I believe if you get the kind with groves the dogs will
not slide as bad, also buy a couple extra boxes if your going with a
pre-finished. Also you will have to go with an engineered flooring on
concrete. It's more like a plywood nothing wrong with it, a good flooring
supply can explain it better. The one problem with tile if you drop
something on it, it will most likely break but wood will dent. Also if you
go with tile you might be able to go right over the vinyl if it's in good
shape. As you mentioned stay away from the big box stores but the one thing
they do have is bad advice and if you special order from them good luck.
When you get into quality flooring the big box stores prices are way over
priced. Find a good mom and pop shop they point you in the right direction.

In article , "Bob" wrote:
My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of time.
I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about 40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it. Perhaps
she has a point.

Also, we are going to replace the carpet in the den this year, and again we
are thinking of wood, but her concern about the dogs applies there as well.
I also have a concern about furniture denting it, and I really don't like to
have to put rubber coasters under furniture legs. Also, does furniture have
a tendency to slip / slide on a wood floor?

Another concern about wood is the care required. We really don't know what
it entails.

I intend to go to a floor store and check out various materials but it is
always mice to go in armed with as much information as possible, so I'd
appreciate any experiences and advice you may have.

For the kitchen, I'd choose tile. It's tough, durable and
not prone to moisture problems. Select a grout color that
won't show stains and seal it well. The risks of cracking
are pretty minimal, IMO. I've had tile floors for years,
dropped plenty of things and haven't cracked a tile yet.

For the den, I'd normally go with the wood. But you might
want to consider laminate too. It will probably withstand
the dog toenails better than all but the hardest hardwoods.
However, it won't tolerate much urine if that's likely to
be an issue.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:22:28 -0600, "Bob"
wrote:

My wife wants to replace the kitchen floor which is currently sheet vinyl
directly over the concrete foundation. We built the house ten years ago.
She is thinking tile, a good quality, not HD el-cheapo stuff. It seems to
me that tile would be rather hard to stand / walk on for any length of time.

I think so too. Even the small amount of padding inherent in even
thin vinyl floor is probably a lot compared to the no padding nature
of tile.

Also, I drop a glass or dish now and then and usually they don't
break, on my vinyl over plywood floor (with basement underneath) I
would think ceraminc tile would break whatever is dropped on it.

I suggested wood. Her concern about that is that we have two dogs, about 40
pounds each, and she fears their toenails will dent and scratch it. Perhaps
she has a point.

In addition, water will get in the cracks when you spill things. I
forget the consequences of that, but some thread discussed it.

I would go with tile just because of the fact that sooner or later water
will get on the floor go unnoticed and now your pulling up flooring. If you

REAL wood doesn't self-destruct just because it gets wet occasionally.

do decide on wood I believe if you get the kind with groves the dogs will
not slide as bad, also buy a couple extra boxes if your going with a
pre-finished. Also you will have to go with an engineered flooring on
concrete. It's more like a plywood nothing wrong with it, a good flooring
supply can explain it better. The one problem with tile if you drop
something on it, it will most likely break but wood will dent. Also if you
go with tile you might be able to go right over the vinyl if it's in good
shape. As you mentioned stay away from the big box stores but the one thing
they do have is bad advice and if you special order from them good luck.
When you get into quality flooring the big box stores prices are way over
priced. Find a good mom and pop shop they point you in the right direction.

"Goedjn" wrote in message
...

I would go with tile just because of the fact that sooner or later water
will get on the floor go unnoticed and now your pulling up flooring. If
you

REAL wood doesn't self-destruct just because it gets wet occasionally.



Put some real wood in your house poor some water on it leave it sit for
about 30 minuets, then tell me what happens. Wood expands when it gets wet
engineered or solid its all real wood. The water will also get under the
finish and cause it to bubble and blister. Engineered wood flooring is solid
wood , If you do some research you can not put solid wood on concrete.

"Sacramento Dave" wrote in message
. ..

"Goedjn" wrote in message
...

I would go with tile just because of the fact that sooner or later
water
will get on the floor go unnoticed and now your pulling up flooring. If
you

REAL wood doesn't self-destruct just because it gets wet occasionally.



Put some real wood in your house poor some water on it leave it sit for
about 30 minuets, then tell me what happens. Wood expands when it gets wet
engineered or solid its all real wood. The water will also get under the
finish and cause it to bubble and blister. Engineered wood flooring is
solid wood , If you do some research you can not put solid wood on
concrete.

Engineered is solid core like plywood that might better description for a
novice