Type of Flooring?

Tile. Definitely. And easier upkeep/cleaning.
Wood flooring will scratch. And the synthetic "wood" flooring can too.

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Just a note:
Synthetics, vinyl, etc. have been shown to increase breathing problems, probably because they get scratched and abraded into a fine, inhalable dust. This is most dangerous to short people and pets, who are closest to the floor. If you end up with anything with a synthetic surface, some health experts recommend regular damp-mopping to limit dust.

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I just swore I would never, ever have a tile floor after spending 2.5 hours on my hands and knees cleaning the grout of 75 square feet of tile. I would go with something that you can swish, swish clean with a mop or steamer. With little dogs I wouldn't worry too much about real wood scratching; kids that's a different story. With cement and tile you can expect everything that drops on the floor to smash to a million pieces. Sometimes the laminates and wood are "softer". I have a friend who has cork flooring and it's just wonderful.
S.

I currently have carpet and tile in my house - and would LOVE to have hardwood only! I came from a house that had hardwood in all the rooms except the bathrooms had tile and the family room had carpet. I miss that!! I hate carpet and I am not in love with my tile. My kitchen tile is treacherous! If it gets wet at all - it is slick - I have fallen so many times. Just this morning when I was cleaning out the fridge - a plastic container of red sauce fell out and broke and splattered everywhere!! What a mess!!

The upside with tile - it is easy to clean and looks nice. We are getting ready to remodel our kitchen - and that tile is going!!! I am not opposed to all tile, just mine. I have seen some tile that looks like antique wood - it is so nice. I think the problem with my tile is that it has too slick a finish!

I changed my carpet to tile and I love it. I did it right before my son was born. He is three and we have two dogs. Easy to take care of. Just make sure you seal the grout.

If you put in the extra elbow grease up front, you won't have to worry about the grout issues. There is a sealant for grout that you can buy and it is very easy to apply. The trick is that you have to do it immediately after the tile has had a chance to cure.. which your cousin can tell you how long you'll need to wait. It may be longer than you are willing to stay off/out of the house... any spill (dogs having an accident or the kids spilling something... or even the spouse spilling coffee) that gets onto the grout can soak in before it has been sealed. It is porous. And it will be very very difficult to get it out. If you can be completely careful until it has a chance to cure (probably 3 or 4 days) and then buy a jug of sealant (about $50 I think) and put it on all the grout , then you won't have problems with the grout becoming discolored.

Definitely laminate! I have had both with kids and a big dog. Of course you have to research the kind of laminate you get, but we bought cheap stuff at Lowes or Home Depot and loved it. It never once scratched and is way easier on the kiddos when they fall. Some of the fancier stuff may scratch, so make sure you give it your own personal scratch test on their sample stuff in the store. Over all, everyone I've ever know who has had it loves it.

I just glanced through your answers and I think I am the only one who recommends laminate. My husband and I replaced the carpet in most of our house with laminate and have been very happy with it. We did our kitchen about 5 years ago, really liked it, then decided to do the rest of the downstairs and the family room and hallways upstairs about 3 years ago. We bought the flooring at Costco, installed it ourselves (it was easy) and paid less than $2.00/sq. foot for it. We have a 2 year old son and 3 German shepherds and the floor is holding up really well.

We just bought a house with laminate in the basement play area, which is pretty large, and then the shower on that level had a leak and water seeped under the laminate (installed directly on concrete.) Laminate can't take even a rumor of water, and now about 10% of the flooring is trashed but that may as well be the whole floor because who knows what brand it is and even then if it can be patched.

Tile is much easier to maintain (once properly sealed.) You don't worry about heat too much in FL (at least not normally, right?) so it's coolness is a plus. There are so many beautiful choices that mimic stone, you don't have to have it look like a giant bathroom floor. Just ask to see styles that have multiple "screens" so that each tile is not exactly like the others.

Your doggies can't do a thing to it either.

I agree with the other who mentioned the toxins. There are dangerous, long term harmful effects in the chemicals from the laminate and carpet. You could do a google search on them. Cancers, breathing problems, etc. There is formaldehyde and other stuff are in them.
If you can get real wood and seal it or tile and get the larger tiles and have minimal grout or get grey grout. It may be a bit more work BUT it's less work in the long run for the health of your family

When my mother lived in FL she had tile with several area and scatter rugs. I visited her often and thought it was great. It can give a "cold" feeling like others have suggested, but choosing a "warm" color and scatter rugs can help.

If I had my choice no matter where I lived it would be real hardwood.

with two children and two dogs there will be some kind of mess...wether a spill or an accident of some kind. i would go with something that you will be able to maintain easy enough that won't break the bank. there are other alternatives to wood laminate or staining concrete. i would suggest you go to a flooring store with a price you think is fair for you to pay then ask them for suggestions that would keep you within your price range. It is a matter of choosing which you can live with within your budget you have set for the flooring needs. it is always good to shop around...even to look into doing it yourself. you would be surprised how easy some flooring is to install yourself and is durable with kids and animals.

Laminate will be MUCH easier to keep clean than tile. Cleaning the grout by yourself isn't fun and takes a while and hiring someone to do it is expensive. I have laminate in my dining room and it's so easy to swiffer after every meal.
Have you ever had hard flooring throughout your house? I have before and hated it. We recently found an AWESOME carpet. If you want info let me know!

My experience with this is tile is better with animals who may have accidents, my shih tzu urinated on our laminate and it stained and the edges bubbled. AT least with the concrete or tile you bleach it and or scrub it, besides children drop things too. If you do go with the laminate just make sure it's with a reputable company who stands by there product in case they need to replace it for any defects. We have it in the playroom amd the kids rooms. The high traffic areas we have tile, the only place we have carpet is our stairs the area outside of and in and our master bedroom.

i will go with tile as i have the wood and it can stain real easy with kids

Wood flooring, tile and laminate all look so pretty. They are actually cleaner than carpet, b.c you can get to the allergens instead of them seaping into the carpet. However, I have dogs and wood flooring and the only drawback ( and thing you should think about) is the tap dancing in the morning. My dogs love to wake up early and trot all over the house in the mornings waking me and my family up earlier than we'd like. It doesn't matter how short the nails are.

My suggestion between tile and wood laminate would be the wood. Mainly because the laminate has a bit more give than tile. If you don't have joint problems now, you may have them if you have tile installed in your house. Imagine walking around on concrete. That is what walkin gon tile is like.
Hope that helped.

L.

tile sounds really good. it is easy to maintain. plus the dogs can not scratch it up.

Good Luck

The laminate WILL scratch with animals running across it...Staining the concrete and tiling seems to be the best option. Good luck. And if your cousin is really good at tile, let us mommas know!

Our living area and kitchen had tile in it when we bought the house. It creates a cold atmosphere, bad acoustics (noise carries), and anything dropped shatters. And if tile gets wet, kids can slip & fall hard on their back. We installed Pergo - - but the dust of the installation caused lung issues for me for months - a heavy bronchitis-like cough. The floor held up with my kids, but when we rented to a family with 2 dogs, the floor was scratched beyond looking presentable. I don't know much about this new, natural, product called MARMOLEUM. Check it out at a Dallas store website - www.green-living.com

I personally love the look and feel and sound of real wood. Yes it scratches but can't be beat. To me laminate is just a waste of money. Tile is easy up keep. I would go with an epoxy grout. Harder to work with(installation) but doesn't stain as easily.

Hi SS,

My husband does flooring for a living and you can get a good product for a lot less than $5400.00. Unless you are real particular about the color/grain there are always closeouts.

Laminate , real wood and also tile is easy for dogs. Most don't scratch unless it is a real cheap product. The wood actually has flaws in it already being a natural product so most of this boils down to what you want. If you are doing laminate, make sure ALL the sawing is done outside with the doors shut, because the synthetic chemicals will dust up and cause problems. Once you get it down, a couple of days with the windows open usually is okay with most folks. I personally like wood and ceramic better because it looks better, but I have lived with all three comfortably.

Check the regs for staining concrete in your home. It's illegal to have it where children are, in some states and counties. www.simplefloors.com and www.flooranddecor.com are two of the outlets that my husband uses. Simple Floors is nothing but laminate and Floor and Decor has everything.

Hope I helped!

M.

Something to think about with tile... we have had major cracking with ours because it is installed over expansion joints in our foundation. I've talked with different people, and it seems that there is no option to prevent the tile from cracking when it's over a joint like this. If your house is not one complete slab, I'd highly advise against tile. If we had known about the expansion joint issues, we would have gone another route with our flooring (unfortunately, our builders should have known this, but neglected to say anything).

As long as you keep the dogs nails trimmed it shouldn't matter which type of hard flooring you use. The main thing you have to watch is them scratching the floor with their toenails.