I would check around and see if you could find a 'friend of a friend' who you know does good work. They would probably be cheaper. The labor IS expensive, but I was looking at putting down vinyl that looks like wood. To get the best vinyl that looked like real wood, the cost was about the same as tile.........It was just that the money was going into the vinyl more than the labor.
Carpet is WAY cheap, but that's because most people don't want it anymore due to pets, allergies, etc..... Wood might be a little cheaper to begin with, but wood won't last forever. The good thing with tile is that if one gets broken somehow, someone can come out and replace that one tile. (Be sure to buy some extra to keep for that purpose.) You don't have to replace the entire floor. It will never get scratched, soiled, etc........ if you keep it sealed. And choose a colored grout and you don't have
to worry that much about that anyway.
Where I live there are tile 'outlets' nearby. I went and picked out and bought the tile and grout myself and then hired someone who had done the tile in a friend's house to install it. It was more expensive than carpet or even laminate........ but then after a few hairballs, cats dipping their paws in the water dish and running around with wet pawprints, etc............ You can't see those things on the tile. The wood shows every little water mark or smudge where someone ate a treat, etc....... It is a pain to keep it looking good. I have a lot of light in here. It's not that bad all the time, but like today........... it looks terrible. You can't tell the tile needs to be mopped like you can the wood.
I took the wood I have in the living area with me and bought tile that matched it somewhat. Like I said I got really 'mottled'
type colors so that the tile will basically match anything. It's called Indian something or desert something, and it has a brown that matches my oak laminate, some gray, some off white (that matches the bathroom tile) and flecks of other 'warm colors' thrown in. I got a brownish colored grout too. It doesn't show much dirt, but you can feel it if you're barefoot. lol. So you still have to vacuum.
Unfortunately my roomba is out of commission right now! :(
t
wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
wendy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hey guys,
My husband and I have decided to go with the tile in
replacing our carpet in the living room, hallway and
one bedroom, plus we figure we might as well replace
the kitchen and master bath linoleum while we're at it
as it needs replacing too. We're going to move on this
in the next two weeks, since I'm having foot surgery
on the 25th of April and would like it completed by
then. There is some beautiful tile out there. What
stinks is that the labor costs twice as much as the
tile. So if you have a 10x10 room, and the tile is 2$
per square foot (on average), it's going to cost you
$200 for just the tile. But the labor is another
$3.25 (HD) or $3.50 (Lowe's) per square foot, so what
we could do for $200 will end up costing us $525-550.
That's a lot! And when you're talking about 800
square feet, it gets expensive. Plus, sealing the
tile is extra (we will for sure do that ourselves),
and tearing up the carpet is extra (we'll do that
too), and floor prep is extra (probably do that
too!!!). LOL. So we might possibly lay the tile
ourselves with help from a few friends who have
already done it. My husband is scared to do it-he
doesn't want to mess our house up. I am more the
do-it-yourself type, so I'm all for it. Anyone out
there ever lay tile? Any thoughts or advice?
:)
Wendy
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