As some of you will remember from a past post of mine I need to replace the sub floor in my bath room do to a leaking toilet. Besides the obvious difference in cost I would like to hear opinions on tile VS vinyl in a bathroom pros and cons.
Tile is the only way to fly.I have it in my bathroom and love it .
Vinyl will be cheaper and easier.
Tile is more time consuming, looks better, adds value and you can put electric warming mat below tile and have a nice warm floor in the winter.
Imagine the posabilities for making Mud Monkeys in winter with a nice heated floor. -Mark
Tile—more work involved and more expensive depending on material and install. If installed properly should last a very long time and look very nice. Adds value to the house (maybe not in this market anymore?)
Vinyl—cheaper on cost, i’ve seen some nice looking vinyl floors in bathrooms and kitchens. They can fade over time from heavy use and may not be as durable as tile. If you have a black top drive way, lighter colored vinyl floors can turn a yellowish color from the chemicals in the black top if you don’t take off your shoes/boots.
I just put tile in mine and love it. But a buddy of mine just found some new vinyl that looks kind of like tile. Its still just sticks down, but then you have to grout the seams like tile. He seems to really like it.
Tile! If you shop around, great deals can be found on quality ceramic or porcelain tiles. Just a couple things to add to what was already stated.
Porcelain tiles are harder to work with and tend to cost more in both labor and material.
Here are some pics from a recent house I gutted out. Watch what you actually spend on tiles. This bath had tiles that were $2.XX /sqft and some that were $16.xx /sqft. The decos in the floor were only $6.00 for a sqft sheet. If you plan accordingly, you can get a great look for a reasonable cost
Use a cement board backer – NOT PLYWOOD.
Neutral color tiles will give you the best long term return value if you sell your home
Actually unless there is something under neath the ceramic tile to warm it I hate it. Cold on the feet all the time, add the cost of heating the floor it adds up over time.
I just redid my bathroom on a pretty tight budget and time constraints so I went with vinyl tiles. Its a pretty small bathroom and I think the total cost was about 36 bucks. It turned out pretty nice and only took me about an hour and a half to install.
Steve, one thing I’ve found out is if you go with a tile subfloor, such as Durock it strengthens the floor. I’ve done 11 bathrooms since last August and used Durock as a base because of the strength it adds. Its especially good when you have just one layer of subfloor instead of two. It adds another 1/2″ to the thickness under the tile and you need that so the tile and grout doesn’t come loose or break, especially with just a 3/4″ subfloor. I also use one tube of PL-400 construction adhesive on each sheet of Durock befor I screw it to the floor joists so the subfloor and Durck acts as one unit of thickness, it really helps. I got out of court a month ago on this very issue and we won because there was too much vertical movement and the tile and grout came loose and broke. If they would have put another layer over the exhisting floor it would have been better and we proved it for the lady. Alot of times you’ll have to cut the bottom of the door to match the new clearances of the new thickness of floor but thats easy. Go with tile and a durock base over the subfloor, linoleums ok but for durability and great looks tile is the way to go. Remember to seal the grount with two coats of grout sealer when its cured a couple days after the grouts been put in. Good luck, Nice looking bathroom Randy, good job.
Another option to consider…
About 7 years ago I did a basement bathroom with a big roll of vinyl I got from Menards. It was a complex two room situation. The cement floor had big cracks in it and I did not want to use tile, as the heaving cement would eventually crack any tiles.
This vinyl roll did not need any glue to hold it down and had a soft cushion base. I first cut a thick paper pattern to fit exactly on the floor of the two rooms with no seams. Then used the paper as a pattern to cut the vinyl. To this day it still looks like new with absolutely no problems. The vinyl was heavily textured so it looks like expensive tile but is soft and warm on your bare feet.
I have installed a lot of flooring and wall tiles in my days, but was very impressed with this (then new) vinyl roll for its ease of installation, inexpensive cost, flexibility, durability, comfort, and looks.
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