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Flooring options and ROI

We were looking at tiles the other day and saw some rather handsome one in the form and look of wood. Maybe you would like that. Personally, I like the rough terracotta tiles. But then, I think the patina is fine. My wife hates it.

Tile has come a long way in the past 10-12 years especially the Travertine and stone looking patterns......preferably in the gray(ish) colors. Grey's are neutral color that goes with most any paint wall paint color and room motif.

The plank tiles that you are referring to are also really nice, but you better make sure that the floor is "dead on balls" flat when you install them or the lippage will be horrible. I recently had a real estate lady who wanted her entire (huge) kitchen and dining area done with the plank tiles, but she didn't want the added cost of me leveling and durocking. ($1200.00) The 1950's era flip house needed the floor jacked and braced, and the original hardwood was loose in many areas. I refused the job, so she hired some jack leg to come in and do the work. Two weeks later she called me and was complaining about cracked grout/tile and toe stubs where the lippage was almost a 1/4"
 
I've thought of that, too - that or buying a fixer upper and putting in the floor then. Kids are grown and gone, don't need this big house anymore. And yeah, I thought about offering up a few grand for carpet allowance, and that way they can put in what they want. But I may not want to sell - I'm not sure. All I know is that I hate this carpet. I can clean and clean my house, and my carpet still makes me feel like the house is dirty. :(

It all hinges on whether or not you want to stay, IMO. If you stay, buy the best flooring your budget allows you to afford. If you want out, do it within the year and sell as is. The new owner will do what they want, and you can
Be rid of a huge headache.

In our case, according to Zillow, selling as is nets us nearly a 50% gain since buying in 2012. If we fix everything up, we'd pick up another 10%. But, the cost would exceed that number by a factor of 2. So, simple math: to gain 25k in resell value, I would need to throw 50k into it. That makes no sense unless we plan to stay, which we do not.

Real estate is tricky like that. Often a house's main value is location and foundational: size, structure, amenities, etc. Cosmetics are rarely adding much value. But, they certainly provide a selling feature, just not much more money. House looks great, someone may be quicker to buy it than if it looks like it needs $50K worth of remodeling. But, they are not going to offer $50k more than they would if it needs TLC.
 
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I have thought about mid-grade carpet. If we knew for a fact that we were moving pretty soon, we'd put new builder grade in and be done with it. But I don't want to put this **** back in here if we are going to be here for a while.

And I am actually doing touch up now on the paint. No rooms really need a new coat - just a few scuffs here and there.

I'd wait on doing any option until you decided if you're moving or not. Invest a little into a good home carpet cleaner to combat the smell.
 

I know dude, awesome...if I weren't a retired tool junkie with old school methods and paring down, even getting rid of...yes, I'll say it, getting rid of tools...but my Japanese pull saw is a keeper for sure.

They appear to be awesome and I have considered adding another Dremel or other brand...with full range of attachments...I'd be looking into cordless...one old school limitation I've been happy to overlook.

:mrgreen:
 
I stayed in a Courtyard in New Orleans and the flooring was nice. But had grout. I hate grout. And I'd rather not go with vinyl. To me, that's a terrible waste of money and time. Practically zero ROI.

What is your issue with grout? All ceramic tile has to have a grout joint of some kind. The wood look tile you are considering is usually laid with a 1/8" grout joint. I know Lutherf said you could go with a 1/16" joint, and this is certainly possible. But not all tile is created equal. For a 1/16" joint you would need what is called a "rectified" tile. Meaning, the tile has been precision sized. You would also need a very flat substrate if you wanted to minimize what we in the tile industry call "lippage", or colloquially, "toe stubbers".

There are many other considerations for tile as well, depending on where you want it installed. Wood structures have to be up to snuff to accept a tile floor covering, and concrete has certain prep requirements and considerations as well.

If you decide to go with tile, feel free to ask me anything. I have been installing tile for around 20 years now, 17 of those full time. I'm pretty knowledgeable on the subject. :)
 
OK so I am planning on changing out my flooring. I have been complaining about it for years, and it's time I pull the trigger.

When I built my house, my builder put in builder grade carpet, and it's absolute ****. I want to change it out.

For this I need some advice.

Get rid of the carpet...ceramic tile is durable, cleanable and cold in the winter on bare feet...throw rugs solve that and are easily cleanable or replaced economically.

Wood is also a good choice...just make sure if you are going to put composite such as Pergo in a wet area i.e. kitchen or bath if left wet it can swell...I understand they have a better grade that addresses that.

My third choice over carpet would be a dirt floor...it is healthier than carpet and easy to maintain...bwaaahahaha
 
I stayed in a Courtyard in New Orleans and the flooring was nice. But had grout. I hate grout. And I'd rather not go with vinyl. To me, that's a terrible waste of money and time. Practically zero ROI.

If the grout is sealed properly......no issues. Not to mention that the right grout color will enhance the tile.
 
If the grout is sealed properly......no issues. Not to mention that the right grout color will enhance the tile.

Some of the modern cementitious grouts don't even need sealing. I use Laticrete Permacolor Select mostly these days, and it is very good. Dries very consistent color too. If you want bullet proof, Laticrete Spectralock Pro-Premium epoxy grout is the ticket. Never needs sealing, and is virtually stain proof. Pretty expensive though, both for material and installation. I charge an extra buck a foot for epoxy just for labor.

Laticrete Permacolor Select.


Laticrete Spectralock Pro-Premium.
 
Some of the modern cementitious grouts don't even need sealing. I use Laticrete Permacolor Select mostly these days, and it is very good. Dries very consistent color too. If you want bullet proof, Laticrete Spectralock Pro-Premium epoxy grout is the ticket. Never needs sealing, and is virtually stain proof. Pretty expensive though, both for material and installation. I charge an extra buck a foot for epoxy just for labor.

Laticrete Permacolor Select.


Laticrete Spectralock Pro-Premium.

I haven't tried it pards. I will look into it before my next job. I usually always subbed out my tile work, but I actually have grown to like doing the installs myself lately.
 
I haven't tried it pards. I will look into it before my next job. I usually always subbed out my tile work, but I actually have grown to like doing the installs myself lately.

It's good stuff. Takes a little getting used to, since the base and color are separate. For small batches you just mix up your color packet with the requisite amount of water, and use this mixture to mix up small batches of base powder. This is for the Permacolor Select. The epoxy stuff is a two part resin epoxy, as you would imagine.
 
I know dude, awesome...if I weren't a retired tool junkie with old school methods and paring down, even getting rid of...yes, I'll say it, getting rid of tools...but my Japanese pull saw is a keeper for sure.

They appear to be awesome and I have considered adding another Dremel or other brand...with full range of attachments...I'd be looking into cordless...one old school limitation I've been happy to overlook.

:mrgreen:

I also prefer cordless powered hand tools over corded versions in most cases. One big reason is that for my "make ready" work in rental units I often have no electric power (last tenant had service stopped and new tenant will not have it restored until they move in). My latest battery powered tool purchase was an Echo 58v chainsaw and it works amazingly well but I still preferred to use a gas or corded electrical powered chainsaw over a manual bow saw (or axe) for cutting large limbs or trees.
 
I know dude, awesome...if I weren't a retired tool junkie with old school methods and paring down, even getting rid of...yes, I'll say it, getting rid of tools...but my Japanese pull saw is a keeper for sure.

They appear to be awesome and I have considered adding another Dremel or other brand...with full range of attachments...I'd be looking into cordless...one old school limitation I've been happy to overlook.

:mrgreen:

Pull saws are great for certain applications, but for cutting jambs, casings, and baseboards for flooring installations they are kind of a PITA. They can't reach into a corner like an oscillating tool can.
 
OK so I am planning on changing out my flooring. I have been complaining about it for years, and it's time I pull the trigger.

When I built my house, my builder put in builder grade carpet, and it's absolute ****. I want to change it out.

For this I need some advice.

I am going to do the downstairs only, for now. The bonus room is upstairs, away from the rest of the house, so it won't look separated and disjointed if we have two different kinds of flooring (which bugs me).

I am estimating about 1,900 sf downstairs.

I love carpet, but have a fat English bulldog. She's housebroken, but the oil from the pads on her feet cause the carpet to smell. I love carpet but I want something that will look cleaner.

I am not a tile person. I have ceramic tile in my wet rooms, but that's it. I hate the square tiles all over the house. Would rather stick with my crappy carpet.

I can't afford hardwood right now. I would love it, and prefer it, but it's so pricey.

I don't want laminate. I may sell the house in the next year or two, and I want a good ROI.

So I have been looking at the wood-look ceramic tile. It looks like hardwood, but has the durability of tile. But if you put in wood-look tile, can you bump it up against each other, or do you have to grout it? I don't want to grout it, because the whole purpose of getting it is so it will look like wood, and not tile.

Anybody here that is knowledgeable in this area?

Also, any realtors who can tell me what the best ROI is for flooring? I live in coastal Georgia, and lots of people have tile because of the sand, but I hate square tile.

One other thing to consider is leave it alone, but offer a "flooring credit" of say, $12K. That way the new owners can do their own thing, or live with it.

Also, when I had rentals, I had a commercial guy clean the rugs. He had a box truck with a big assed truck mounted system and miles of hoses. He'd pre spot, then fire that engine up and go for it. It did a great job.
 
Pull saws are great for certain applications, but for cutting jambs, casings, and baseboards for flooring installations they are kind of a PITA. They can't reach into a corner like an oscillating tool can.

They also lack enough blade to handle offset to keep one's paws from being damaged in the process - a big problem with most modern (i.e. thinner) flooring material.
 
One other thing to consider is leave it alone, but offer a "flooring credit" of say, $12K. That way the new owners can do their own thing, or live with it.

Also, when I had rentals, I had a commercial guy clean the rugs. He had a box truck with a big assed truck mounted system and miles of hoses. He'd pre spot, then fire that engine up and go for it. It did a great job.

That is an excellent idea come resale time but does not address the issue in this thread where the current owner wants better flooring installed now.
 
OK so I am planning on changing out my flooring. I have been complaining about it for years, and it's time I pull the trigger.

When I built my house, my builder put in builder grade carpet, and it's absolute ****. I want to change it out.

For this I need some advice.

I am going to do the downstairs only, for now. The bonus room is upstairs, away from the rest of the house, so it won't look separated and disjointed if we have two different kinds of flooring (which bugs me).

I am estimating about 1,900 sf downstairs.

I love carpet, but have a fat English bulldog. She's housebroken, but the oil from the pads on her feet cause the carpet to smell. I love carpet but I want something that will look cleaner.

I am not a tile person. I have ceramic tile in my wet rooms, but that's it. I hate the square tiles all over the house. Would rather stick with my crappy carpet.

I can't afford hardwood right now. I would love it, and prefer it, but it's so pricey.

I don't want laminate. I may sell the house in the next year or two, and I want a good ROI.

So I have been looking at the wood-look ceramic tile. It looks like hardwood, but has the durability of tile. But if you put in wood-look tile, can you bump it up against each other, or do you have to grout it? I don't want to grout it, because the whole purpose of getting it is so it will look like wood, and not tile.

Anybody here that is knowledgeable in this area?

Also, any realtors who can tell me what the best ROI is for flooring? I live in coastal Georgia, and lots of people have tile because of the sand, but I hate square tile.

The wood-look tile is very likely going to run you more than hardwood if you have it professionally installed -- and, because of the dimensions of the tiles, it's not really a DIY project. The cost of the tiles, themselves, is only a small part of the overall cost, which is labor intensive because concrete backer board must be installed on a bed of thinset and then the tile installed on top.

If there's any discrepancy in floor level, it will cause problems because the length of the tiles require a virtually planed floor. Smaller dimension tiles don't have that problem. Additionally, don't install tiles over a truss floor system, unless the system was originally designed for tiles. Most of the time, you'll want to insure your floor system is framed with joists.

Your best bet might be hardwood laminate. That's good laminate that features a veneer of hardwood. The better kinds have thicker veneers, some of whom can actually be refinished once or twice like regular hardwood.

Plus, hardwood laminate is DIY-friendly, and even if you opt to have it professionally installed, it's not labor intensive. Once it's down, most folks can't tell the difference.

Re-carpeting might be about the least-expensive solution, though, but with your dog, I can see why you're hesitating.
 
I stayed in a Courtyard in New Orleans and the flooring was nice. But had grout. I hate grout. And I'd rather not go with vinyl. To me, that's a terrible waste of money and time. Practically zero ROI.

Indoor tile must have grout, but you can minimize the grout joints to 1/16" and use unsanded grout. Otherwise, you'll have all sort of spills seeping between the cracks.
 
It all hinges on whether or not you want to stay, IMO. If you stay, buy the best flooring your budget allows you to afford. If you want out, do it within the year and sell as is. The new owner will do what they want, and you can
Be rid of a huge headache.

In our case, according to Zillow, selling as is nets us nearly a 50% gain since buying in 2012. If we fix everything up, we'd pick up another 10%. But, the cost would exceed that number by a factor of 2. So, simple math: to gain 25k in resell value, I would need to throw 50k into it. That makes no sense unless we plan to stay, which we do not.

Real estate is tricky like that. Often a house's main value is location and foundational: size, structure, amenities, etc. Cosmetics are rarely adding much value. But, they certainly provide a selling feature, just not much more money. House looks great, someone may be quicker to buy it than if it looks like it needs $50K worth of remodeling. But, they are not going to offer $50k more than they would if it needs TLC.

Thanks for that insight. That's the thing - my house is a pretty nice place. Not fancy, mind you. Just a comfortable, lived-in, middle class house. I have a pretty decent equity build up on already, because the area is exploding so much. I don't want to go all out fixing it up because I'll never get my money back. I just want it to be comfortable for us, and comfortable for the new buyer (if I even sell).
 
What is your issue with grout? All ceramic tile has to have a grout joint of some kind. The wood look tile you are considering is usually laid with a 1/8" grout joint. I know Lutherf said you could go with a 1/16" joint, and this is certainly possible. But not all tile is created equal. For a 1/16" joint you would need what is called a "rectified" tile. Meaning, the tile has been precision sized. You would also need a very flat substrate if you wanted to minimize what we in the tile industry call "lippage", or colloquially, "toe stubbers".

There are many other considerations for tile as well, depending on where you want it installed. Wood structures have to be up to snuff to accept a tile floor covering, and concrete has certain prep requirements and considerations as well.

If you decide to go with tile, feel free to ask me anything. I have been installing tile for around 20 years now, 17 of those full time. I'm pretty knowledgeable on the subject. :)

thanks, hon. I am just not a fan of tile, per se. Especially tile with grout. I just don't like the look of it. I don't know why. I mean, I have it in my kitchen and bathrooms, and it's OK there, but I dislike tile in the living areas immensely, unless you can tile without grout (so it doesn't look like tile LOL).
 
The wood-look tile is very likely going to run you more than hardwood if you have it professionally installed -- and, because of the dimensions of the tiles, it's not really a DIY project. The cost of the tiles, themselves, is only a small part of the overall cost, which is labor intensive because concrete backer board must be installed on a bed of thinset and then the tile installed on top.

If there's any discrepancy in floor level, it will cause problems because the length of the tiles require a virtually planed floor. Smaller dimension tiles don't have that problem. Additionally, don't install tiles over a truss floor system, unless the system was originally designed for tiles. Most of the time, you'll want to insure your floor system is framed with joists.

Your best bet might be hardwood laminate. That's good laminate that features a veneer of hardwood. The better kinds have thicker veneers, some of whom can actually be refinished once or twice like regular hardwood.

Plus, hardwood laminate is DIY-friendly, and even if you opt to have it professionally installed, it's not labor intensive. Once it's down, most folks can't tell the difference.

Re-carpeting might be about the least-expensive solution, though, but with your dog, I can see why you're hesitating.

I don't think I've ever heard of hardwood laminate. I might look into that. Thanks!
 
thanks, hon. I am just not a fan of tile, per se. Especially tile with grout. I just don't like the look of it. I don't know why. I mean, I have it in my kitchen and bathrooms, and it's OK there, but I dislike tile in the living areas immensely, unless you can tile without grout (so it doesn't look like tile LOL).

That's cool, we all have our personal preferences. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't because of staining or some other similar issue, since there are modern grout products which can greatly mitigate, or even eliminate staining issues. Also keep in mind that tile, as well as other hard surface flooring materials, can be heated. So, as some have mentioned, the "coldness" of hard surface floor coverings can be greatly mitigated as well. Heated floors aren't inexpensive though. :)

Keep in mind that they also make very large format tile these days, as well as large thin porcelain panels, which greatly minimize the number of grout joints. Again, none of it is inexpensive.
 
Thanks, hon. I don't know - so many different options. My original wish was polished concrete. That would be the easiest maintenance, plus it looks great and it doesn't matter if your floor isn't perfectly leveled. I may look in Jax or Savannah to see if I can find someone to do it.
 
Thanks, hon. I don't know - so many different options. My original wish was polished concrete. That would be the easiest maintenance, plus it looks great and it doesn't matter if your floor isn't perfectly leveled. I may look in Jax or Savannah to see if I can find someone to do it.

Stained concrete is very cool, you might want to look into that as well. Epoxy coatings are getting really advanced these days too.

Stained concrete:

Stained_Overlay_Interior.JPG


Epoxy coating:

image.jpg
 
Stained concrete is very cool, you might want to look into that as well. Epoxy coatings are getting really advanced these days too.

Stained concrete:

Stained_Overlay_Interior.JPG


Epoxy coating:

image.jpg

yeah that's what I was talking about when I said polished concrete. Thought it was the same thing LOL. I love that look, but there is only one guy in my location that does it, and he never returns phone calls.
 
yeah that's what I was talking about when I said polished concrete. Thought it was the same thing LOL. I love that look, but there is only one guy in my location that does it, and he never returns phone calls.

Where are you located? I'll ask on one of my flooring forums. :)
 
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