I want to install all porcelain tiles inside my home, where do i start

jetset2000

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

i just bought my first home. a 1 story, 3 bd, 2 bath house, needs a lot of updating. i want to start with the floors first. get rid of the old linoleum and carpet.

i'm gonna go with wood look porcelain tiles, and just had some questions on where to begin and start the process:

1) i just visited a local shop that sells tiles. it comes highly rated. I went today to look at the showroom. They don't actually install tiles, but they have contractors that they can refer me to, the customer service rep gave me some business cards, and it's up to me to call them and decide who i want to go with, or find someone else.

Should I talk to the contractor first or go ahead and place the order for the tiles?

2) is it a good idea to install all tiles inside the house (kitchen, living room, dining bathroom, dining room, laundry room)?

3) what is your suggestion on how i should go about it? my parents had a bad experience ordering hardwood from home depot, and using the contractor that home depot suggested. anyways, it took over 1 month, from the day we removed the carpet, to finally the hardwood being installed. the whole process left my folks upset because of how long it took because the floor was moist and they needed to wait until the moisture came down. finally, the hardwood contractor placed some sort of liquid material on the floor after like the 3rd week of trying to blow the floor with heater to no avail. i dont remember what that liquid stuff he placed on the floor was, but i suppose that guy could have done it sooner instead of waiting until the 3rd week.

what should i do differently to make the whole process smooth and quick?

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Comments (5)

mommyniki
6 years ago
I’ll give you my response to number 2. No. I would not want tile all throughout my home. It’s cold, hard and echoey. I’m not a fan.

While I am in no means knowledgeable about number 3, I would guess that if there was moisture then it had to be removed before installing hardwoods. Wood and water don’t mix. Unfortunately, that could take awhile. I also don’t know what he poured on the floor but it may be something that they prefer to do as a last resort. While not having a floor may be inconvenient, it’s better than installing a wood floor on a slab that’s not ready for it.
jetset2000
Original Author
6 years ago
thanks mommyniki, I never thought about noises having all tiles would make inside the house, that’s something I’ll consider
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Mrs. S
6 years ago
I would get myself over to Yelp, and research local flooring stores that sell product AND do installation. Read through all the reviews. Get a comfort level that you can work with the folks in the store, and that they stand behind their products and work.

Even more important when you're doing the whole house--it's a big project! When things go wrong, and you can read through many, many threads about that, the manufacturer points at the installation, and the installer points at the manufacturer. It is an uphill battle, it can get $$$legal$$$, and when I put flooring in our whole downstairs, I was (rarely for me) less concerned about saving $1/sf than I was concerned about not having anything go wrong, and in the event something did go wrong, having a long-standing store with LEVERAGE over the manufacturer to reduce my risk.

I'm glad I went the way I did, and after all my questions, I went with the decades-old family-run store with the great reputation across town. They made great recommendations, and made sure to offer me all my options/upgrades up front, and didn't try to talk me out of anything that was important to me: (e.g. I asked for no quarter round to have a sleeker look of baseboard meeting flooring). Be sure to ask about additional costs for moving furniture, and which crew they will send. In my case, they sent their "best" crew (most experienced), and I agreed to wait for them. They picture-framed our hearth (mitered corners-looks great), and "beefed-up" a stair step that leads to our front door, making it wider/safer--at no extra charge.

There are things that a homeowner might not know about (cheap glue?), moisture issues if you're on a slab, etc.

These are just my thoughts and experience. You can also read through a lot of threads in this flooring forum to see what goes wrong for folks, and get a better idea of what questions to ask. Good luck!
SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
Totally agree with Mrs. S. The long-standing company that sells and installs their tiles is a great benefit to the homeowner who has less than average knowledge about the renovation business.

I will warn you, the subfloor preparation can be VERY costly. Removing the carpet is going to reveal how "well" or how "poorly" built the home is. Is the home a concrete slab? Are you in a hot climate?

Both of these questions help decide whether or not tile is an option. And yes tile is LOUD. Look at your household and then look at your personal preferences. A single person in Texas will do very well with tile everywhere. There is no one else there to create noise that bothers you.

If you are a family of 4 in Seattle, then tile may not be your best option.
jetset2000
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thanks, now I know what to expect, and this should give me a heads up. I live in a warm climate, House was built in 1992. I saw another house like mine, same model, built around the same time and that had wood look tiles everwhere except the bedrooms where it had light tan colored square tiles. I’m hoping mine doesn’t have any problems when I remove the carpet, but at least I’m prepared for a worse case scenario

i looked up 2 good flooring companies, one specializes in tiles, and the other one is a mix of laminate, vinyl, hardwood, tiles. Both are family runned and highly rated. Hoping the whole process goes smoothly

I want to install all porcelain tiles inside my home, where do i start

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I want to install all porcelain tiles inside my home, where do i start

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