Ceramic tile for family room . Can any one can help with answers?

Dabutcher

Man cave ,family room ,home theater in finished basement. We have cheap Berber carpet now and I want to do it myself with ceramic tile. Lots of instructions on the web. My wife says, No way it will be too cold. I am like ,we can all wear slippers in winter. Once in a while visiting dogs piss carpet or rarely we get a little water from storms. Anyone out there have tile floor in northern climates and can tell me how cold the floors get? Thanks as always. D

ZLTFUL

Ice cold. But nothing some nice area rugs and socks/slippers won't mostly eliminate.

And if it is that big of a deal, they make electric heating elements that get put between the concrete and the tile...but if you do get water, may not be the best solution...

tonyb

Yep, that floor will get ice cold. I'd get the water leakage problem fixed first before doing the floor. It may only leak once in awhile now, but rest assured it will only get worse over time.

Keep in mind too, even with some throw rugs on tile, the basement will still be colder. Which means extra costs for heat as well.

Also, as a dog owner/lover myself, accidents happen, you accept that as a dog owner. However, visiting dogs....have to be trained or they are not allowed to come over. A visiting dog needs to go outside pronto when coming over, they get excited, new smells and such. Usually within the first 3 minutes a visiting dog walks in my house, I take them outside. Once they start sniffing around looking for a spot to do their thing, outside they go. This requires somebody pay attention though.....least until the dog gets comfortable.

I'd stick with carpet in a basement for northern climates. Different story if you lived in the south.

lightman1

Water, a little electricity and cold tile floors make you do this.

F1nut

In addition to the noted reasons not to tile your basement floor, the acoustics will suffer greatly.

F1nut

....

VR3

The new lvp out, around 3 sq ft is light years over wood and tile Imo... You can submerge it in water, has a heavy wear layer... Easy to repair. I am talking the rigid core stuff, not the glue down.

Would take it over wood or tile any day of the week, I'm around it every day.

decal

tonyb wrote: »

I'd get the water leakage problem fixed first before doing the floor. It may only leak once in awhile now, but rest assured it will only get worse over time.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

mhardy6647

Two words:
Radiant.
Heat.

That said, we took out the ceramic tile floor in our kitchen in MA -- it was cold underfoot, it was hard underfoot, and anything dropped on it would break. We would break freaking Tupperware on it.

Bonus good reason not to have tile flooring (if it is the old-school kind with grout, that is) --- keeping grout clean is a beach.

aprazer402

I agree with the above comments. Tile will be cold, Train the dogs, Acoustics will suffer. If you gotta have tile install heating elements under floor. I would carpet again. One such heating system, https://www.amazon.com/ft-120V-Radiant-Floor-Warming-Mat/dp/B01B2GGE4G/ref=asc_df_B01B2GGE4G/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241942959786&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1819310119496929742&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9024578&hvtargid=pla-410358413741&psc=1

mlistens03

My friend has hardwood floors in his bedroom (not the same, but similar) and if we get some bright speakers in there, it hurts your ears a heckuva lot more than in my room with carpet. @BassFreak101 , you can attest to this fact, as it is your room. Brighter speakers = ear piercing with hardwood or tile floors.

FestYboy

My basement is all exposed poured concrete... We then tiled the kitchen area in 1ft² ceramic tile. It stays the same temp year round: cold (~54°F). We don't have heat in the basement, but the furnace and all the radiant heat pipes are down there so it stays fairly tolerable. Do NOT go with radiant floor heating without applying a thermal barrier first or you'll be trying to heat the giant heat sink that is the Earth. Other option: seal the floor and walls to mitigate the water issue, then lay down treated sheet wood as a thermal barrier, THEN lay the tile. It will still be cool but not 54°. Better yet, don't seal the floor (concrete breathes) and put down plywood with plastic feet on the one side (yes there's a product out there like that). Air gap + thermal barrier = win. This would be the way I go if it weren't for the lack of height in my basement. I need to lift my house another 2 course of block, but not just for that reason.

ZLTFUL

FestYboy wrote: »

My basement is all exposed poured concrete... We then tiled the kitchen area in 1ft² ceramic tile. It stays the same temp year round: cold (~54°F). We don't have heat in the basement, but the furnace and all the radiant heat pipes are down there so it stays fairly tolerable. Do NOT go with radiant floor heating without applying a thermal barrier first or you'll be trying to heat the giant heat sink that is the Earth. Other option: seal the floor and walls to mitigate the water issue, then lay down treated sheet wood as a thermal barrier, THEN lay the tile. It will still be cool but not 54°. Better yet, don't seal the floor (concrete breathes) and put down plywood with plastic feet on the one side (yes there's a product out there like that). Air gap + thermal barrier = win. This would be the way I go if it weren't for the lack of height in my basement. I need to lift my house another 2 course of block, but not just for that reason.

It's called "Dri-Core"

FestYboy

^ thank you! That's exactly it.

As an aside, I rethought the sealing of the concrete floor.... Don't. It sweats. If wood or other material is placed on it, mold can form in the gap between. Dri-core is the way to go here.

charley95

What about some type of epoxy floor coating? I have it in my garage and it's almost bullit proof. There are all kinds of varietys to choose from. I had a company do mine and it looks just as good as the day it was applied in 2011.

D'prived

Heating element under tile...
https://www.familyhandyman.com/floor/how-to-install-in-floor-heat/view-all/

tonyb

Many of these suggestions sound easy, and appealing, but far from practical. Fix the leak first, I don't have to tell anyone what water does to a foundation or what mold will do once it sets in.

Most states have laws about disclosure too when selling real estate. Do you want to have to disclose a mold problem when the time comes to sell ? What do you think that will do to your property value ?

mrbiron

If it's a finished basement, one would think a dehumidifier is a must if mold is a consideration. If you aren't running one, well, then i don't know what to tell you.

I'm with T-dubbs. Why are you doing upgrades when the core of your house needs to be addressed?

I did a vapor barrier with a floating engineered floor. In the winter, i would say the floor is brisk, but never obscenely cold. We have a decent area rug that remedies that. Now, for the tile in the bathroom, when performing a #2, will make you work at it a little quicker . We only put tile in because it's the entry off the garage and i wanted something that will hold up when coming in from outside.

FestYboy

charley95 wrote: »

What about some type of epoxy floor coating? I have it in my garage and it's almost bullit proof. There are all kinds of varietys to choose from. I had a company do mine and it looks just as good as the day it was applied in 2011.

Yes, it holds up to abuse well, but it will sweat, especially once a secondary floor is placed on it, and in a finished basement, that's a no-go.

Mikey081057

I've seen this stuff all over the place now.

It withstands water and messes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYCKwsUjIvs

mrbiron

We install LVT on most of our projects by the trailer load. Direct adhered to concrete slabs.
The stuff just works, if you like that fake wood look.
The floors will still be cold but i'd assume it would be less than tile...

Dabutcher

I think I will go with the LVT. Where are some choices for good prices on this product since you install so much of it? Room only leaked once in one corner in 18 years. Once I tear up old carpet and pad I will get a better idea if something needs to be done. Thank you all. Peace. D

mrbiron

We buy it in bulk through suppliers. (250,000 sqft +-)
You’ll be hard pressed to come close.

Go to lumber liquidators/HD/Lowes, find the type/brand/style that you like, and then scour the internet for the cheapest price.

Dabutcher

Kool thanks. Will do. Appreciate it. Peace. D

aprazer402

LVT is very popular and looks really good if installed professionally. Easier to change out later on than ceramic tile. Good choice.

GospelTruth

Another option to LVP is at Floor and Decor stores. It's called aquaguard. I installed it on our master bedroom, bath and closet. Takes a beating and holds out any water extremely well. I liked it because it was a lot thicker,more solid and had more of a hardwood floor sound than the LVP options.

Just my opinion. it's way easier to install than tile and has the warmer feel in the winter. Had tile in the master bedroom before and that was a lot colder in the winter. Either option though is better (and easier to install) than tile.

https://www.flooranddecor.com/aquaguard-laminate

Hope it works out well!

NotaSuv

Have a son in Edina who just put some of this ^ in his basement family room, one of the reasons was the tile floor was too cold for the kids..he saw it at a neighbors house and really liked it

kevhed72

We did Dry Lock - 2 coats - then underlayment with built in vapor barrior then laminant flooring from IKEA. Relatively warm in the frigid GA winters but more importantly no musty basement smell.