My wife and I will be installing new flooring in our house in the near future. We‘re trying to decide the best route to take. We will probably put the house up for sale in about 5 years, so we want to consider resale value/attraction.So, if you were buying a house, would you prefer real hardwood, ceramic tile, or a combination of the two, throughout the whole house (2800 sf)? We prefer to have hard floors in all of the rooms, but would you (as a buyer) prefer carpet in the bedrooms?Thanks for any input.
I just went through this process in the summer, but I used contractors. We had a designer. I wanted tile in the kitchen, but since we opened everything up between the kitchen and the den we went with hard wood in the kitchen. So in the end, the bathrooms and the laundry/mud room was tiled, and the rest of the house was hard wood. We went with three different widths for the hard wood. Using rugs in the bed rooms and the rest of the rooms sets off the room. If you are going to do the hardwood floors the old fashion way by laying, sanding, and coating, then I would not hesitate putting the hardwood in the kitchen because the floor is sealed. If you plan on installing pre finished hard wood flooring then I would go with ceramic tile in the kitchen. But you need to consider the layout of your house. If you have an open plan, it is best to use the same flooring throughout. The interior looks more uniform and appealing to the eye. One thing I noticed about the tile compared to the tile we used to have is the grout line. The grout line in the tile that was laid this summer was much thinner. This gave the bathrooms a much more elegant and modern look. It simply looks marvelous. Lastly, nix the carpet and go with rugs. Pick rugs to enhance the decor in each room, so that each room has its own personality. Hardwood sells and carpet does not. The buyer can always decide to put carpet in if they want too. One last piece of advice. Make sure you have the humidity checked under the house. If the humidty is high, like above 14%, your hard wood flooring can start to cup, or warp over time. Even if this does occur, if you get the humidity down and controlled, then the wood floor will go back to normal over time. Good luck.
run your air through an intercooler or put your filter in the wheel well.
I'm not a huge fan of wood floors in the kitchen or bath. I have ceramic in them, as well as a ceramic entryway and hearth. The living room and dining room are hardwood, and the rest is carpet. I am in the process of taking it all out though. I find carpet to be a pain. It holds dirt (especially what you can't see), wears too easily, and restricts you with your colors unless you do all neutral, which I don't like. My carpeting wasn't cheap, but I can't wait until it goes away. For those who say that wood floors are cold, you can always use an area rug. Hope this helps.
If you will keep this house for 5 years, do what you like because you can't predict the buyer's needs. Or the buyer will change everything since they brought such a big house, may be they don’t mind to spend more to make it as their dream home. Here are my opinions: 1. Ceramic tile - For sure to have ceramic in the kitchen and bathrooms. Once you choose the style, try different angles or pattern, because it looks completely different and it might surprise you. I saw a picture on magazine which uses the ceramic for a big living room with a special pattern, which turns out very nice too. 2. Carpet - If I am the buyer, for sure I will change the carpet no matter how expensive it was, or how clean it is. I want my new carpet! 3. Hardwood floor - It is very nice but cost a lot more than laminate. Also if you have children, any toys dropping on the floor will cause damage very easily. 4. Laminate – It costs lower. Good choice of color and installation are very important because it might have only 3-5 styles for one color, so to have a good mix and match to make it looks nature is not easy.
