Another home question- vinyl/resilient tile

We were planing on putting tile all over the first floor of the house (living room, bathrooms, kitchen, dinning room & sunroom. 1000 sq feet.

 

But, I'm starting to think about doing a vinyl with a tile look. I've heard some really great things about this stuff. It's not like the vinyl currently in the kitchen that looks like a picture of tile. They are individual tiles. If one was cut, it could be pealed up & replaced.

 

It's not so hard like tile, which is why I'm interested in it. It sounds like its easier to clean, too. I want a really low maintenance floor. It's also more environmentally friendly. I don't mind how cold tile is. I just want something softer.

 

A guy just dropped off his sample boards & I'm impressed. This is the brand of his floor NAFCO® By Tarkett > Products > PermaStone

 

other brands

Mannington Flooring ? Adura Vinyl Floors

Congoleum Corporation

 

 

Does anyone have this in their house? What do you think? Did you have it grouted for that look or leave it ungrouted?

 

Also, we plan to stay in this home 20+ years so I'm not so worried about resell. I figure what ever we do now could easily be out of style in 20 years anyway so we might as well do what we want.

OK I'm not sure now if that is true. It's plastic which is made from petroleum.

I'd really like to find a good looking recycled rubber floor. It's bound to exist. I'm still searching. Or maybe a nice looking linoleum.

I personally don't like vinyl. My mom does. She likes the fact that it's easy to keep clean (especially if it's regular vinyl with no cracks). She also likes the fact that it's cheap to replace.

 

Personally, I've seen it curl, discolor, stain, get cut, and the cleaners and stuff you have to use to keep it looking nice and shiny are often toxic to pets. Don't get me started about the swiffer wet jet.

 

There are so many other options - ceramic and porcelain tile, stone, bamboo flooring, cork flooring (which is really awesome, especially if you're after something a little softer), hardwoods. They even make flooring from recycled tires.

 

My suggestion is to go to a really high end flooring shop and look at the stuff they have - and then buy the same stuff somewhere else for cheaper.

thanks for the info. I definitly do not want something I have to use toxic cleaners on. I've been trying to keep the air in the house really clean & just clean with vinegar, etc. I thought vinyl was like linoleum, but I'm learning it's not at all. So I'm pretty sure vinyl is off the list.

Linoleum sounds great for it's environmental qualities, but I haven't found any online that looks good for a whole house.

I'd love an attractive recycled rubber if it exists.

bamboo & cork both sound good, but I have some concerns there too. I've heard bamboo scratches really easy. My SIL had it in her old house & said she'd never do it again. I also want a low maintenance floor. I don't want to do all the cleaning that it sounds like wood takes.

porcelain tile will likely be what we stick with, but I just wanted to look at all the possibilities. My dream floor I think would be made of recycled rubber & look just like porcelain. I could do aerobics on it, clean it easily, drop stuff, not worry about dogs scratching it up or peeing on it...and it's environmentally friendly.

Great tip about going to a high end flooring place & looking around. I'll probably do tht this weekend. I'm meeting with an interior designer at this thing my real estate agent puts on.

I found a website last night with a beautifully decorated house with white rubber floors. We can't do white in our place, but maybe a brown floor. I'd like a little pattern in it.

 

The other option is staining the concrete & then putting down pads where we need softness.

 

and I looked into marmoleum. But, i read bad things about the seams.

here it is- white rubber floors

HOMEBUG : homes, interiors, art & design - ireland & elsewhere: WHITE RUBBER FLOOR

I wonder if something like this would just be weird Roppe Rubber Tile 900 Series (Slate Design 991) Tan 991-P120 Style Rubber at FastFloors.com

 

http://www.facilitiesnet.com/buildin...s.asp?id=3549&

I like that Morgan! It has a vaguely slate-like texture, it's too bad it's not just a little bit more mottled in color or it could pass for slate.

 

And where you wanted to dress it up, just put an area rug on it.

 

But wow, I didn't realize that rubber flooring was so expensive! $8 for a square foot is a lot - you can get tile for less than half that.

yeah, it's high. But, I imagine the installation costs would be a lot lower. Tile gets so expensive for the install. Maybe we could even DIY. We will definitly lay tile ourselves across 1000 sq feet. I'm a DIY by nature, but not crazy.

I also didn't shop around, so i could likley find it a lot cheaper than that website.

I emailed a green home supply place in town for ideas.

If I lived in the house alone, I'd probably put down a bright colored rubber tile.

reply from place in town:

 

I have several options to look at. I sell two different rubber floors, Marmoleum, cork, tile and many hardwoods. The Marmoleum, cork and Rubber would be my suggestion for softer, warmer floors and the Marmoleum or rubber would be the most durable. We have samples of all of them in the showroom if you would like to check them out, or you can look them up on line. There should be links for Xpanko and Marmoleum on our site.