Without a doubt mine would be our authentic Saltillo tile. It was almost a deal breaker when we bought the house.
Why is it so bad you ask? Well let me tell you-
- 1" wide-uneven-stained-beyond-cleaning-grout-lines
- Saltillo is very South Western. Our house is not. We purposely chose our house because we do not like South Western.
- Sealed-in dirty smears
- It's cracked in multiple places
- Companies charge twice as much to rip out Saltillo tile because it's super thick. There is no clearance between the floor and the door so you can't have a rug by the back door. You can tell the 2 tiles by the dishwasher had to be ripped out because they couldn't replace the dishwasher without moving them.
When we bought the house 5 years ago this month, it was easy to say, "Oh yeah we can always replace the flooring." Unfortunately it's going to be a huge job to replace this lovely floor. We even looked into having a professional Saltillo tile cleaning company clean it to make it look better until we could replace it. Under our couch (the only place for a couch so I'm sure there has always been one there) the tile isn't nearly so bad- it's still ugly orange but at least it looks clean. We thought if we could get the rest to look like that it would be worth it. The company came to give us an estimate and told us with a head shake- it's not worth it to clean this stuff. That's right- the PROFESSIONAL SATILLO TILE COMPANY WOULDN’T CLEAN MY TILE- not even for good money! They said it was the worst do-it-yourself job they'd ever seen. The sealed dirt smears into the tile and the grout is so uneven every time you mop the water evaporates from the puddles between the tile and leaves the dirt behind. Lovely. He did recommend only damp mopping or when you wet mop to promptly dry the floor with a towel, so that's what I do. But I think it's too little too late.
I've tried scrubbing it with soft-scrub, bleach, ammonia, all kind of harsh products I would never try otherwise. Nothing makes the least difference. I'll take any tips you have but I'm pretty sure it's beyond help. The only plus side to this floor is that it doesn't show the dirt- because even when it's clean it still looks dirty. Okay that's not really a plus side...
Anyway enough background on my tile on to the science experiment-
When my sponge mop of 6 years broke I decided I would try a steam mop. I was scared to buy one until I had tried one out. I'd heard a lot of people really like them. So I did a mini-science experiment. I really think it's in my blood this time of year... I borrowed a Shark steam mop from a kind friend and tried it out.
Pros
- Washable mop pads- I like that you can throw them in the washer and use them over-and-over I always feel like my sponge mop head isn't very clean
- Sanitizes your floor- it's supposed to not only clean but actually kill the germs
- Uses only water- no chemicals- only hot steam- a plus with kids who are on the floor a lot
Cons
- Have to go over the dirty spots multiple times and it still didn't get it off well
- My floor would need like 6 of the washable pads each time! We have 3 small kids, we're not talking light messes around here!
- More time consuming to push it back and forth slow enough to get the hard spots and sit and pump the steam awhile- I think it took me 90 min to do it- I might get faster with more practice but still long.
- More "elbow grease" doesn't really make a difference- You can't really push down and scrub with it
And the results-
After I mopped, I did the white wipie test (kind of like the white glove test). I wiped one square tile in the kitchen, one in the living room by the tv and one right under the high chairs or "red zone".
SPONGE MOP
The results- I tried to test the same 3 squares again- the wipies had already dried when I took the picture but even when they were wet the results were unanimous- my sponge mop and elbow grease did way better! I couldn't check to see how many germs were left each time but as far as the wipie looking dirty it was no contest. THE SPONGE MOP WINS!
Let's talk flooring in case we ever decide to take on this huge project. I love the look and feel of real wood. I know as far as increasing "value" or marketability I've heard it is the best. It goes the best with my style. I also worry about using it in a house with kids who push things across it- drop forks etc. I would love to put wood flooring in the hall, and all the main living spaces (I still like carpet in the bedrooms and we bought nice carpet when we moved in). We've also thought about wood laminate. Laminate can be much cheaper and often more durable but it doesn't ever really replicate the look or feel exactly. I know tile is supposed to be really durable and easy to clean but so many people complain about their grout lines and I don't like the feel as well.
So those of you that have lived with different kinds what do you suggest? What's your dream flooring? Any great places you've found to buy flooring?
We have real original to the house hardwood floors that we had professionally refinished when we moved into the house. Honestly, I'd much rather have carpet. Vacuuming is by far the easiest way to clean your floors. I know hardwoods are supposed to increase the value of your home, but with little kids running around, I'd go with carpet over hardwoods any day.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Becki- but what about in my dining room/kitchen? Has the hardwood held up okay? I agree carpet is nice as far as falling down and crawling babies.
DeleteWe have laminate flooring in our kitchen/breakfast area where we eat all the time. That's all I've ever had in that space except when we were in the apartment and had carpet in the dining room. That I do NOT recommend! You could tell exactly where Caleb's seat was at the table by the stains on the carpet. The hardwoods seem to scratch relatively easily, but I think I'd choose them over tile for the grout factor. We do have slate tile in our entry way and that has a darker grout that I think looks dirty, but everyone else says is just the color of the grout. So maybe with the darker tile you can get away with a dark grout that might not show the dirt as easily?
DeleteI like the look of laminate, but not sure how I would feel about it in the kitchen. It doesn't hold up well if it gets really wet, so if you ever had a leaky sink or anything it could be bad. We have tile throughout our whole house, and I like it way better than the gross old carpet we used to have (although I am not saying I don't like carpet - just not the carpet I had) Tile is super durable, and the grout hasn't been a problem yet. Although I've only had it since Christmas, so maybe that isn't saying much. I don't know much about real wood, so can't really comment on it.
ReplyDeleteOk I am sure you have tried it, but a couple of weeks ago I got down to scrub some old dried yogurt stains out of the grout (since I just use the swiffer wet jet and it doesn't even get into the grout-ours is also very uneven, so bad, that it breaks our dining room chairs when we slide them out). Back to the point, I used warm water, white vinegar and some lemon and a scrub brush. I barely brushed it and the grout came out almost white. I had no clue. So then I couldn't just leave a white mark in the grout when the rest was black so I had to do the rest of the kitchen. Well, I got tired so I finished half, still haven't done the other half. Anyway, white vinegar cleans everything, I swear!
ReplyDeleteI hate our carpet so much. We always had hardwood growing up but it is hard to maintain. And it has to be treated right or it has problems. Some professionals even do a bad job and then the only thing to do is start over. Yeah.
Anyway, If I had my choice at this time in my life with little kids I would probably do laminate(downstairs only, because it is loud)with a nice Target area rug, a new, nice carpet upstairs and in bedrooms. If I didn't do laminate throughout the kitchen I would do the largest tile, 18 inches maybe? with the smallest grout lines and in a better pattern, not gridlike. In the bathroom I would do that stuff that you lay down and you don't even need a bathmat because it is waterproof but kind of absorbs it too. I don't know what it's called. Someday I will be able to actually do something that I want to do to MY house! Good luck!
I use vinegar a lot when I clean but I can't remember if I've tried it on the floor. I did most of my experimenting when we first moved in. It's a ton of work to do the whole kitchen I'm sure. I'm leaning toward laminate as well. I don't think there is a perfect flooring- the more comments I get on here the more sure I am!
DeleteThanks for doing the steam mop test so now I don't have to. I have seen several houses in the past year or so with your exact tile. What was that crazy fad?
ReplyDeleteI scrub my floors on my hands and knees Cinderella style once a week. I'm with you - kids + gross floor. I've psycho cleaned my grout twice and I've given up on it; it's just going to be brown.
ReplyDeleteWe have laminate in where we eat and it is scratched from the rocking chair and dinged from who knows what. My mom has hardwood and it is totally scratched from chairs, children, etc.
I think polished concrete would be FAB, there are some really neat finishes and it's smooth. I also really love 1940's linoleum in kitchens - again, it's super smooth.
Don't get me started on carpet, mine is sosososososososososososososososo over the top disgusting. The Kirby guys couldn't get it clean when trying to see me a vacuum.
My aunt has travertine (pretty, no grout) but an overweight friend flopped onto their couch and the weight cracker a tile - oops.
-I remember you said you Cinderella scrubbed your floors before Nelson came. I consoled myself by thinking it was just a one time nesting thing. I used to scrub my mom's cheap linoleum floor like that every time growing up. I think I burned myself out because I have only done my floor like that once- last week. Do you wear knee pads like a vollyball player. I was way more tired after and it took longer- but I'm sure my floor was cleaner.
Delete-That makes me sad to hear that about your laminate since that's the option I was most likely going for.
-You're the third person I've heard say they liked cement I've seen some cool pictures but I've never seen it in person- it's hard to know what it would be like texture and cleaning wise...
-I googled "1940s linoleum" and got some crazy patterns- I guess I don't know what exactly you're talking about- our linoleum growing up would rip every time we moved the stove or fridge
-Travertine sounds expensive and interesting
My brother built a beautiful house with real wood flooring several years ago, and ended up with a huge gash in it the day they moved in. He hated the floor. I didn't think much of it until we moved here, with real hard wood. Let me tell you, I'm with him. Ours is older and has dirt permanently stuck in the natural grooves of the wood, and it dents like CRAZY with kids. I love the look, but I hate, hate, hate the floor. I could go on and on and tell story after story (kids+laundry basket=trauma), but I'll spare you. You won't be surprised, but I say go laminate.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be the consensus on the hard wood. Sad. But better to know now than to spend a lot more on it and hate it later.
DeleteI loved your experiment. I use a shark steam mop and love it. I don't think I will be doing that experiment though. I don't want to know how dirty they really are! We have carpet and tile. I love the carpet, but hate the tile. Its kind of old fashioned (in my opinion), and shiny and you can see every little spot. We have talked about one day putting in wood or laminate flooring, but after reading some of these comments, I don't know anymore!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Shark works much better on normal flooring! It's hard to get tile just right and it's one of those things that the colors and style really date a house. Hiding the dirt is definitely a good feature in flooring! I know these comments make you scared to buy any flooring!
DeleteI like wood... But I don't have children, so apparently everyone else's opinion counts for more than mine right now. Some woods are a lot harder than others but all will show scratches if you drag other hard things across them (like chairs/couches without any kind of padding on the bottom of the legs). There are also commercial grade wood flooring products.
ReplyDeleteSecond choice... a nice looking tile (probably a more expensive tile- but wood is still more expensive anyways) with really small grout lines or just butt-joints (yes, it's called a butt-joint when you just butt the pieces against each other with no grout). You can only do that style of installation with certain kinds of tile though.
Third choice... a really high quality laminate. It's true that they can be loud and they can sound really hallow if they're cheap. If you can find one that can be glued straight down (not floating) it wouldn't sound quite so hallow... but they're hard to come by, I think.
I love love love wood. I would live on a nice, well done concrete floor also, especially if my house was on a slab. Although it's a pretty hard surface for toddlers.
ReplyDeleteIf you've ever ripped out carpet, it's so gross how much nastiness comes out of the "clean" rug and pad. I love that the spills from the kids wipe right up, no stress. If you're leaning laminate for the scratch factor, just know that I've heard the very same comments from people about laminate & hardwood, about how they hate the scratches. Unless you're planning to put felt feet on everything in your house, you will get scratches. I live here, it doesn't bug me. It's character, right? Some woods are more glossy, and some are more of a dull matte finish, which is less glam, but more safe, and likely shows scratches less. I'd probably do a laminate, a nice pretty dark wood, if I lived in your house. Mostly because it's more waterproof for a kitchen, and you live on a slab.
p.s. I have a theory that people are either sweepers or vacuums. I much prefer to sweep. If you prefer to vacuum, you might prefer carper, right?
ReplyDeleteI was a little disenchanted with my steam mom. I expected it to clean the tile better than it did but I still like the sanitizing and how fast the water dries. I only have to keep J off a tiny area at a time. Mine flips over so I don't need to change the pad so much.
ReplyDeleteI Cinderella clean my floor once a year like my mom did when we were kids, Lots of water and sliding around on towels. Over the summer I would call and ask my young women if they wanted to come help me on various projects. I loved the quality time one on one with them and got my projects done in half the time. Win-win!
My parents have laminate as well as a few of my siblings. I'd say go with that and plan to replace it when your family is completely out of todlers. My parents' fridge leaked and one area buckled so they replaced those few boards. I think it looks really beautiful. If you never want to replace the flooring again, I'd go tile. It wins on durability and will probably stay nice the longest. You can even get tile that looks like wood. As for ripping out the old tile, in high school, my friend's family donated a few hundred dollars in return for our team to spend a few hours with sledge hammers in their living room. It was awesome.
And if you decide on tile and are attempting it yourself, I have the family wet saw in my backyard should you want to borrow it. It will save you a couple hundred.
I've had the same problem with our steam mop on our wood floors. I love having wood floors, but I miss using good old pine-sol. I've heard that there is a type of tile out there that looks exactly like hard wood. Back when I had tile, the good old fashioned yarn mop worked best, and I used oxyclean on my grout and it was amazing. Still need to be on hands and knees for grout, but it came out pretty easy.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is a "floor guy". When it came time to replace the floors in our house our views were a little different. I feel like carpet is disgusting no matter how much you vaccum it. Colt took me to his store where all the wood, tile and laminate is sold. I was SO OVERWHELMED by All the different colors and finishes. I went in saying "My husband's carreer is based on real wood and that is what we are getting" We ended up leaving with a laminate/wood hybrid floor and I love it! Absolutely no one can believe that it isn't "real" and it is already distressed so every little ding doesn't stick out. If you want more information or want to pick Colt's brain, shoot me an email, cadnfam@gmail.com. We would be happy to help! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteJust throwing my two cents out there. Our house is a mix of dark wood laminate and tile (no carpet anywhere). The tile is by far the easiest to clean. We have the large tile and the smallest possible grout lines, so while it shows dirt and messes fairly easily, it cleans up easy. While I loved the look of the laminate floor when we moved in, because it totally matches my style, it has been the biggest pain to keep clean. It shows dust like crazy and water spots, we've tried so many different types of mops (steam mop being the latest) and cleaning solutions. We're getting scratches and films... our washing machine flooded out into the living space and the floor totally warped and buckled. If you go the laminate route, you definitely need to get a high quality one that can handle some wear. We've only had ours a year and a half and are looking for what to replace it with... Good luck!
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