Pros and Cons Of Luxury Vinyl, Cement and Tile Flooring In Our Home

Here is a look at the different types of flooring we have in our home and what we feel are the pros and cons for each.

I am sharing a closer look at the luxury vinyl, cement and tile flooring in our home and why we enjoy it or what we dislike about it!

Tile:

We have lived in this home for 2 and a half years now (I can’t believe that)… This is a look at all the before and afters. The wood-look tile was here when we moved in and it was one of the original design choices I really liked in this sweet home. The color tone was nice, so visually it didn’t feel like something we would change out quickly.

Pros: It is extremely durable! We have a pool and access is right here at the door near our banquette above. We have lots of people coming in and out with very wet feet. I NEVER stress about it because of this tile. I love that is no fuss and I am not concentrating on worrying about damaging it. It also hides dirt very well. I do clean my floors regularly, haha. But I will say that it never feels like they are super dirty to me and I like that.

Tiles have come a long way and look so sophisticated and timeless now. They can be affordable as well depending on what option you go with.

Cons: I really don’t feel like there are many with this tile. Obviously it is an imitation wood so it is a faux finish, so that may bother some. The plank sizes are shorter instead of long like traditional wood flooring. If it chips, then that can be tricky to fix or find a replacement. We have not had any issues with that either.

Luxury Vinyl Plank:

Pros: It is a straight forward and a DIY friendly install. Tyler and I have installed luxury vinyl plank flooring in both my daughter’s room and we just finished it up in our room yesterday. It is another affordable option and like the tile, LVP has come a long way. Companies have made it much more realistic looking. It comes in a large variety of color options and styles as well. Like tile, it can be very tough. Typically with this type of flooring it is waterproof and scratch resistant. This way another reason we went with this choice as we have a busy household with high traffic. Today’s luxury vinyl plank flooring can also be certified low or zero voc. This was another bonus for us and how we chose our specific flooring.

Cons: Much like I said with the tile, it is a faux wood option. It is not the real thing and that can be obvious depending on what type you get and looking up close. If it gets damaged, then I believe it is a difficult repair. We have not had experience with this in particular.

In the photo up above here, is an “unfinished” photo of the progress with our bedroom renovation. We finished the first step of replacing the flooring this past weekend. We had very very old and gross carpet in here (in all the bedrooms in fact) and so it was an obvious chose to go with LVP. It was more affordable than carpet for us and than hardwood. While hardwood is a wonderful choice and one I feel is rarely regretted… Sometimes it isn’t the most realistic choice for everyone. We had to weigh the options of what made sense financially, how we could save by installing ourselves and what would look best in our home. The carpet needed to come out and that was a non-negotiable. We were also able to find a very very close match in color and the overall look to the tiles downstairs. This makes things feel much more cohesive, which was important to the flow of our home.

Cement:

Pros: Similar to the upstairs, this living/dining room area had old and dirty carpet. I did not want to have carpet where we were eating and it just didn’t work well with the layout of our home. It was the first project we took on in this house as you can see here. We knew that there was a cement foundation under the carpet (it was in good shape) and decided we would refinish to enjoy until we could do something else later down the road. The funny thing is, we have LOVED it and do not plan to replace it. It cleans up easy, looks pretty and functions well with having a pool and wet feet in the house.

I would say that this was one of the hardest projects we took on and I don’t personally recommend doing it yourself. We were able to do it and rented the right equipment, took proper safety precautions etc (it is important too to follow safety guidelines with this one.)… But it was a lot physically/time wise.

Cons: I believe that having cement floors professionally done can price out similarly to hardwoods and the more expensive options. It does require maintenance depending on how they are sealed every few years (from what I understand).

All of these opinions are based on our personal experiences and with most design finishes, opinions will vary from person to person! In general I know that hardwood is a top choice and it is a great one! I also know that there are reasons (depending on circumstances) and needs that hardwoods are not a feasible option always.

There you have a closer look at the pros and cons of different types of flooring that we have in our home and why we chose them for our spaces.