Tiles vs. Vinyl, What We Chose

Our home had tiles in the living room, basement and kitchen when we moved it. After a few months the tiles started breaking. The contractor who did the house replaced a few and then disappeared. We were forced to get help from an architect to fix things. We had the living room and kitchen re-tiled. We used tiles for the kitchen and re-engineered bamboo flooring for the living room. 

We only had the basement flooring fixed these past few weeks. I wanted to do it last year, but the architect said they were still okay. We had to cover the floor with rubber mats for safety. Things got worse and we decided to fix the issue. We reviewed options for flooring. Wood flooring was out of the question because they're expensive. 

We also wanted something that would be easy to install. Something foolproof. Tile was out of the question since we had a bad experience with it. The foreman explained to us that the tiles were not installed properly. I used laminate for my childhood home's basement. It's still intact after 2 decades. It requires rugby for installation. The smell would be bad for me. 

We watched a couple of videos and we thought the best option would be vinyl tiles. It could be interlocked, so no need for adhesive when it's installed. We were given the option for waterproof or water resistant SPC vinyl. Waterproof vinyl is a bit more expensive than water resistant. We thought waterproof would be better in the long run, so that's what we chose. 

It took a few days to remove the tiles. This is the noisiest part of the process. We were able to save some that came off cleanly. We'll use it for a future project. After the tiles were removed, cement was laid out to make the floor even. After cleaning up the interlocking vinyl was installed. Part of the process included removing the baseboards and cabinets to ensure the planks were installed properly. And now it's done!

#BeKind #StaySafe