Home Improvement Case Study: Laminate Floor Tiles
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I recently had a client who was in need of new flooring for his kitchen. This was for an older home with leveling issues which means his floors are uneven. The only true fix to such a problem is to lift the house and pour a new foundation...not an option. The uneven foundation caused serious problems with the ceramic tile floors he had installed in his kitchen. Because ceramic tile is a hard surface that needs to be adhered to the subfloor, over time, the grout cracked and the tiles were literally popping off the floor. According to the homeowner, his dog was eating the grout (not good!) and his kids have cut their little feet on the lifted tile (really not good!). Their temporary solution to the problem was to lay large area rugs over the tile. As you walked over the surface, you could feel all the loose tile underfoot. Did I mention he had the installers return 3 times to repair the tile? Unfortunately, there is no cure for that floor except to replace it with an alternative flooring option. After learning about his situation, the obvious fix was a floating floor, i.e. laminate. Most of us are familiar with laminate flooring that looks like wood. Well, laminate has grown up over the years and there are some beautiful tile options available. In fact, we were able to find a tile that looked almost exactly like the existing ceramic tile, which he liked. We went with a laminate floor tile in Black Onyx. Since laminate flooring is a floating floor and is not glued or adhered in any way to the sub-floor, it has more flexibility and give. This helps disguise and even accommodate the imperfections underfoot. I say the results sure beat the expense and life disruption of a new foundation...what do you think?
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