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How do I Choose the Best Tile Flooring?

Sheri Cyprus
Sheri Cyprus

The best tile flooring depends on the room, your budget and the look you want. A tile floor is a popular and classic look for kitchens or bathrooms, but tile can be used throughout the home. Some of the many different materials used for tile floors include stone, vinyl, linoleum, cork and ceramic.

Ceramic flooring tile is durable and available in many different colors and sizes. It's a great choice for bathrooms and outdoor living spaces because it's waterproof and easy to keep clean. Ceramic floors are often considered to add value to a home as they tend to be a desirable feature for many home buyers. If you want a type of tile to use to make creative design patterns, ceramics are a good choice because you can use flooring tiles on walls as well as combine different sizes from tiny squares to large rectangles.

The best tile for a floor can depend on the room.
The best tile for a floor can depend on the room.

Cork floor tile can give floors a unique, casual look. Cork is considered to be an environmentally green flooring choice, as recycled cork is pressed with a small amount of adhesive to form the tiles. Cork floor tiles can add a lot of interest to a floor because of their attractive texture as well as the different shapes they're available in, such as triangles and hexagons.

Room size, room type, and budget limitations are among factors that go into choosing the correct tile flooring.
Room size, room type, and budget limitations are among factors that go into choosing the correct tile flooring.

Linoleum tile flooring is a classic choice, as it can be an affordable way to add color and texture to floors. Linoleum tiles are often quite easy to clean. Vinyl tiles are affordable and popular, but some types are easier to clean than others. The textured vinyl tile flooring that has tiny indents as part of its pattern may trap dirt and require a lot of scrubbing. Vinyl tiles finished with what is called an enhanced urethane coating are made to stay clean with regular sweeping and light mopping rather than frequent washing.

Stone floors create a feeling of luxury.
Stone floors create a feeling of luxury.

Stone floors can look elegant and beautiful. Stone tiles are a good pick for lower traffic kitchens as they may stain easily. Marble and granite tile flooring are glamorous options, but tend to stain and may be a little on the slippery side. Slate is usually not as slippery or as easy to stain as other types of stone floors. While gray and black are popular colors, slate tile flooring is also available in rich dark colors such as green and deep red.

Discussion Comments

Eviemae

@Oscar23 – Hi! That isn’t really a very simple question to answer because no one thing is for sure better than the next – it really does have a lot to do with the quality of the tile flooring installation, the age of the work and many other factors as well. Think about it. It may seem like hardwood flooring would appraise higher than something like carpet tiles or linoleum – but not if the hardwood is rotten. While the value of your home is important, go with what works best for you.

oscar23

I suppose that one of the reasons that floor tile is so great is that it is much cheaper to replace one piece of tile rather than a whole piece of carpet or a piece in a tongue and groove floor. That makes sense – but how does it affect the value of your home? Are you better off going with a floor tile option or something else like hardwood?

tlcJPC

I know it’s not as high end as some other options but I really do love my linoleum floor tile. It’s great because it’s easy to clean, inexpensive to put down and simple to replace with a variety of floor tile designs. In order to clean it I just use my regular old mop and bucket with the suds added in. But, when it does get to a point where a piece is damaged, I just take up the piece that is messed up and replace it with a new matching tile. Works great and it doesn’t break my heart (and wallet) so much when it’s damaged.

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    • The best tile for a floor can depend on the room.
      By: Arpad Nagy-Bagoly
      The best tile for a floor can depend on the room.
    • Room size, room type, and budget limitations are among factors that go into choosing the correct tile flooring.
      By: Aleš Nowák
      Room size, room type, and budget limitations are among factors that go into choosing the correct tile flooring.
    • Stone floors create a feeling of luxury.
      By: mimadeo
      Stone floors create a feeling of luxury.