Which flooring is better? |
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Engineered hardwood flooring |
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Available in wide range of styles from traditional to contemporary.
Most popular colors: beige, brown, and grey.
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4 |
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5 |
Beautiful natural look of wood. Available in variety of colors and shades. Most popular species: oak, maple, and cherry.
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Can be installed in any room. Best suits for a bathroom, kitchen, hallways, and basement.
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5 |
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4 |
Good for most rooms in the house, but not recommended for installation in areas with potentially high moisture level such as bathrooms, powder rooms, or laundry rooms. Best choice for a living room or bedroom.
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Easily withstands any abuse, but feels hard under the feet.
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4 |
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3 |
Can be damaged by heavy abuse or constant liquids spills. |
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Wearing layer of glazed ceramic tile impervious to pet urine and hard enough not to be scratched by even bigger dog’s claws.
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5 |
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3 |
Susceptible to pet urine and can be scratched by claws. |
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Glazed ceramic tile is insusceptible to stain. Grout between tiles might lose its appearance overtime if not sealed periodically. |
5 |
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3 |
Even highest quality hardwood floors could be stained and discolored spots might appear on wood surface if water, juice or pet urine won’t be wiped from the floor immediately.
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A few hours standing water on the surface of quality glazed ceramic tile with low water absorption coefficient (less than 3%) won’t do any damage to the tile. |
5 |
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2 |
Water or even high moisture level in the room can cause multiple problems to the wood floors including bucking, cupping, warping or crowning. |
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Ceramic tile do not fade or change color under any conditions. |
5 |
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2 |
Direct sunlight can cause discoloring of wood floors. Some wood species might even change in color overtime under normal light intensity. |
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Ceramic tile with high resistance to abrasion is one of the most durable flooring materials. |
4 |
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Depends on species and finish quality, but wood is softer product than ceramic tile. |
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Lifetime with proper installation and care. |
5 |
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4 |
Lifespan significantly vary. Glue or nail down installation 50+ years, floating engineered floors 25+ years. |
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Very little care required after installation. |
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4 |
Regular cleaning and elimination of any liquids from wood surface right away will ensure long lasting flooring performance. |
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Warranty on hardwood flooring depends on a manufacturer and product quality. Most reputable wood floors producers offer 25 – 55 years limited wear warranty on their products.
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Boxes 12” x 12”, 16” x 16” or 24” x 24”, but many other dimensions are available.
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Typical weight per square foot
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Vary, but normally cheaper compare to wood flooring. |
3 |
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4 |
Some exotic wood hardwood floors might be quite expensive. |
Installation cost (labor)
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Cost of ceramic tile installation normally higher compare to laying hardwood floors. |
4 |
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2 |
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Nail down, glue down, click and lock. |
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Typically tile slightly harder to install. |
4 |
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Prefinished wood floors installation is not a complicated task and many homeowners are able to do it themselves.
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Depends on complexity, but in general, for an experienced tile setter tiling 11’ x 15’ kitchen using 12” x 12” or bigger tile is one day project excluding possible preparation work and grout application. |
4 |
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3 |
Experienced hardwood installer normally is able to complete nailing down 3 ¼ in. wide engineered hardwood flooring in 14’ x 16’ master bedroom in one day, not accounting any preparation or extra work. But complex installation might take twice longer. |
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Replacement of ceramic tile could be an extremely time consuming process. Demolishing of existing tile and preparation work might actually last longer compare to installation of new tile itself.
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5 |
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3 |
Floating wood floors very easy to remove and replace with new ones. Nail down floors are much harder to replace. Demolishing and replacing glue down hardwood floor might take the same time as replacing ceramic tile.
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With proper installation ceramic tile flooring shouldn’t have any problems except grout lines discoloring which can be easily fixed by cleaning and (or) regrouting tile. Cracks are normally a result of poor completed project. |
5 |
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3 |
Hardwood floors are much more susceptible to damages, and even adequately installed quality wood flooring can be easily damaged by high moisture level in the room or simply placing heavy and sharp objects on its surface.
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Ceramic tile and engineered wood flooring are great flooring options with their own advantages and disadvantages and which one to buy depends on many factors. Type of a room, ability to take cake about floors properly and homeowner’s preferences should be taken into account while choosing between tile and wood.
1 Rating was estimated on the scale from 1 to 5, accounting 1 as lowest and 5 as the highest quality of a product. Always consider the fact: not all products made equally the same and performance of certain flooring material significantly depends on individual product quality, adequate installation, and proper maintenance.