which flooring to choose?

[airart1]

i got pergo also, great stuff and the quality is always getting better.......and i've seen some really nice patterned and stained concrete, some really nice stuff out there......they say cork is nice flooring, also bamboo.........

[JRMalick]

Thanks for all of the replies. Right now I'm leaning towards ceramic tile, even though it is tiring to walk on. I've been told that there are newer grouts that are stain resistant and don't need frequent resealing. Also, I've heard that there are tiles that even look like wood. With my dogs, and my son having toileting accidents, I'm afraid of wood or anything that isn't waterproof. I just don't want to have the floors of my first, and probably only, new house wrecked withing a year.

[Van Quad]

Here is a product I sourced for a recent project: Congoleum Flor-Ever Plus

It contains silver, a natural antibacterial that is now used in catheters & Band-Aids. And it looks great with few seams.

[russianrob]

I have all engineered wood in all woods but 2. The other two rooms are real wood and sealed. My chair causes no damage to either and they both look like real wood. The engineered is just easier to take care of.

[rlmtrhmiles]

I have dark burgendy stained hardwood entire 1st floor but bathrooms. Bathrooms ceramic. Hardwood he need be extremely careful or can damage instantly. Both simple to roll on. You fall, you better be prepared for what it may feel like. Getting up from floor to chair hardwood and ceramic, you basically have very little traction for your own body unless you can provide it some way. Even the chair itself can be moved trying to get back in because there is no weight on it for traction. I suggest you evaluate what kind of surface you would be on most of the time and determine what kind of issues you may have. Floors are not cheap.

[macska]

I would also look into cork or bamboo.

[Sue Pendleton]

If you really want to go with tile, I suggest porcelain. The Eternity Gold stone look by Saime here looks and feels like stone but has the easy cleaning properties of porcelain and does not turn slippery when wet. http://www.buytile.com/home.php?main...an=138&cPath=3

This was a porcelain I originally thought I wanted for my cabinets in my master bath when I thought the photo I saw of it was wood. Bamboo to be exact. I saw it up close in a recent hotel bathroom and still like it but the spousal unit thought it was too slippery for the floor in the guestroom bath. http://products.daltile.com/series.cfm?series=377 I liked the Zen Garden color I saw up close because the rust color would handle cherry cabinets very well but considering my Dad is the most often occupant I don't want to have a slippery floor in a wet envirnonment. Daltile also has other wood looks so you might look for other wood look alikes that have a less slippery surface. All tiles and paint colors you see online will differ computer to computer and the tiles by batch so definitely shop for flooring in stores that specialize. Do try to barter on price when doing large areas!

Seems I vaguely remember that I saw a show on newer flooring and cork is supposed to be rather tough under use. Whatever you get also talk to someone about spot rugs like for where you stand when cooking that give your feet a real break. At one point General Motors had a wheeler who was the house OT and worked on finding such rugs that held up under heavy use like 3 eight hour shifts a day, could handle industrial cleaners and saved the company money on foot, leg and back injuries to long term employees.

[noirin's mum]

hi. we have solid wood throughout ground floor and semisolid wood upstairs.. we had this before our daughters spinal injury and before getting a dog. have managed to get through the dog toilet training days and noirins occasional incontinence does not affect the floor- only the wheelchair cushion (if even). 4 years and no problems-may get refinished in few years but more as a result of dragging plastic boxes and chairs (have young children). our daughter has such freedom in her chair and race from room to room.

[Chassmain]

We just built a new house and used Armstrong laminated and tile with epoxy grout. According to the contractor, and from our experience epoxy grout might be a little bit more expensive/harder to install but way easier on the upkeep. So far it looks just as clean as the day we installed it with no major scrubbings.

As far as the laminated flooring… The stuff is bulletproof as long as you keep it from staying wet. We've had two large sized dogs skittering all over the floors, playing tug-of-war, getting overly excited and just totally spinning out. You'd think the floors would be destroyed (and they probably would be if regular hardwood), but so far not a mark yet. Only thing to watch out for, is like Van Quad mentioned, I did get one of the floors rather wet with the shower chair and left it in a puddle overnight only to wake up the next morning with some wrinkled/delaminated pieces. Not the end of the world, but definitely noticeable if you know where to look.

[ekephart]

We have ceramic tile, laminate, hardwood, bamboo and cork (in different areas of the house. The house was built with hardwood in living room and hallway. We installed laminate in Ry's old bedroom (now the gym) and bamboo in the room that is now his bedroom. New tile went into the bathroom when the remodel was done (for a roll in shower). The tile SUCKS. It has been 3 years and I have removed and redone the grout five times. The tile is standard 12 inch tiles but the weight of his power chair causes it to shift and crack the grout. When I redid the flooring in my kitchen (the power chair ate up the sheet vinal that was there), I chose cork. It is comfy underfoot, water and stain resistant, and in the 2 years it has been down, power chair proof. The bamboo in his bedroom has been wonderful too. He has spilled a full water tumbler (thank heavens it was plastic) and the floor had a puddle for hours until I got home and you could not tell where that happened. If I had the cash, I would put bamboo everywhere except the kitchen and bath where I would put cork (tile in shower only but small tiles that have more give).--eak