I'm personally not a fan of wood look tile or any tile for several reasons. I feel the wood look tile will look dated in just a few short years. Keeping the grout clean is always a major headache. And if your floors are not completely level, it will add to the cost to level them, but that should be done with any floor you put down. The main reason I'm not a fan of tile of any type is because it's extremely hard and if you have any back or knee problems it can just exacerbate the problem. (I have both, LOL) We are renting a condo in FL for the next year and moved in a week before heading back to NY. The floors are all tile and my back was feeling it after only 1 week. I've read good things about Luxury Vinyl Tile and the better ones are almost indistinguishable from real wood. I personally wouldn't give up on real wood floors. Think of all the old beautiful floors that were used in houses before we had tile and cork and LVT etc.

Here's the problem: " I want an eco-friendly floor, that will not scratch easily in a light gray color. " Eco-friendly means low-impact on the resource it comes from AND on the recycling potential of the item. Cork is super-eco friendly but it scratches quite happily. Bamboo SOUNDS nice but it has caused major problems in the areas of China where it is being grown. And the low-cost Bamboo (anything less than $9/sf is considered 'low-end') will scratch like the dickens. Solid hardwood in a narrow strip is going to be eco-friendly because it can last 80 years (one homeowner = one floor = one human life span). But they will scratch. A high-end polished concrete will do very well - except you are in a condo and you WILL HAVE noise requirements from your HMO. Which is where you MUST GO before you make any further decisions. Porcelain tile = eco-friendly and scratch resistant. Except it is DEATHLY expensive to put it into a condo with noise restrictions. I've seen the cost of the install TRIPLE because the noise abatement strategy needed was HORRENDOUS! Imagine your entire floor being lifted 4 INCHES above the existing level! Now imagine how you would have to gut your kitchen and reset your entrance door! Yikes. And here's the nest thing: vinyl does NOT allow underlayment. Certainly not the type of ACOUSTIC underlayment needed for a high-end condo!!!! We are down to laminate. A 15mm laminate with 6mm or 12mm cork underlayment will work JUST FINE in a high-end condo because the acoustic abatement of the cork underlay. Or you can do an engineered hardwood with the same 6mm or 12mm cork underlayment. You will notice that ANY hard surface MUST BE APPROVED by the HMO and you MUST include your noise abatement strategy when applying to said HMO for allowance to put in the hard surface (regardless of the floor itself). Or carpet with nothing special.

I understand what the SALES PITCH says. I know. They HYPE THE SNOT out of these floors but once you get down to the installation instructions, it says the floor must be SMOOTH and FLAT! Of course any floor can go over anything that is smooth and flat. The problem comes in when the subfloor (your stained concrete) is NOT smooth, NOT flat and needs fixing. All subfloors require a bit of a fix. Every. Single. One. Great. Now that has been cleared up, let's look at YOUR concrete and why it will require MORE work than a regular dusty ol' cement slab. A cement slab (dusty one...no finish) will require some NORMAL amount of grinding and a NORMAL amount of filling with Self Leveling Compound (SLC). The SLC needs to stick or to 'grab' the old concrete. That means the concrete needs to be roughed up (ground a bit or shot blasted if it is REALLY terrible). Then the SLC can have a NEW surface to grab...which it does nicely. The FINISH on your floor (and the reapplication of more finish 8 years ago) is a product that PREVENTS other things from sticking. Notice how your newest finish is peeling? Right. Now imagine that happening to the SLC that is used to flatten the concrete. Oh dear. What a crumbling, gritty, nasty mess. Floors have to come up and things need to be done properly. When it comes to finished concrete floors like yours (not just stained...but FINISHED) they must have the FINISH and the STAIN removed before the SLC can be added. The good news is you don't have to do the WHOLE thing. You just need to grind it off on the HUMPS (because they sit too tall = not flat) and the hollows (because you need the SLC to stick). That's when the hollows are skim coated with SLC. It dries and then another light sanding to the new SLC = ready to rock a new flooring product. A traditional concrete slab requires $2-$4/sf worth of subfloor prep before a floating floor can be put down. Your concrete might need a snick more help...which could put it into the $4-$5/sf range for the prep. Once the subfloor is FLAT and SMOOTH you can now float whatever floor you want. See? You can put those floors over concrete....so long as it is flat and smooth.

I would have the tile removed, and get the floor sturdy and leveled and go with your idea of tile, in the bathroom. If you are talking about the rest of the house also, your best option would be to recarpet, if you dont have level floors.