We're thinking about replacing our badly worn linoleum flooring. Love the look of ceramic, though the "hardness" and coldness are a concern, as well as grout lines, and prepwork to sure up the floor - plus I may need a smaller dishwasher because of added height. Radiant heat by the sink, maybe? Some of the new high end vinyls are nice, I like the look of some of the Karndean's, but some are really pricy, and are they really worth the price, and what about longevity with a pack of Labradors?

Anyway, thought this might be a good place for feedback. Thanks and Happy New Year everyone!

We just used Armstong Allure vinyl flooring in our new room. Soooooo like how it looks. Suppose to be really moisture resistant etc. It's also cheap enough if you had to replace it, would not be a big deal And we installed it ourselves. I do like tile but you have to be careful with the grout absorbing urine.

If you seal your grout, urine or any spill will not be a problem. Based upon the sealer would determine how often it would need to be done. Last time I sealed ours it was with a spray can, really easy, supposed to do it again in a year.
Personally I would go with tile, like the look and durability much better than vinyl, JMO.

I disagree with the grout sealer comment. I have ceramic in my TV room where the dogs hang out in the evening. The grout has been professionally sealed, cleaned, re-sealed etc. It's a medium color and it does not look as nice as I had hoped it would. If it were black grout then I wouldn't care so much.

My kitchen is a really nice vinyl that look like a ceramic tile on the floor. One big single piece in the kitchen. Cleans up nice, it's warmer than the tile floors, and I don't have the maintenance of the grout.

Vinyl in the kitchen is the way to go for me since I have high traffic in the kitchen. Besides, after about 3 years I know I would get bored with the more permanent ceramic tile option.

We just went through this with our kitchen. I was on the internet a lot doing tons of research. In the end we went with a luxury vinyl tile as I was wanting a black and white floor. Our vinyl tile happened to be just as much or more than a lot of ceramic tile. Armstrong has a lot of nice simulated tile looks. If you pay a little more it is hard to tell the difference between the two at first glance. The advantages of vinyl tile are that it is not as hard, as cold, as expensive..in general, and they are more pliable. If you have an old house like we do the tiles have a little give to them, or you can place them on a floating floor, and they will not break like ceramic or travertine. As my kitchen is a high traffic area where dogs and kids spend a great deal of time I did not want something hard and cold. My first preference would have been hard wood but this was going to be a major ordeal to match since our house is so old and I have a couple different hard wood styles. My suggestion for vinyl tiles would be ones a little bit of a darker color shade to help hide dirt. BTW, you can grout in between vinyl tiles as well and they look even more like real tile.

Another advantage is the reduced labor upon installation. You can actually place luxury vinyl tiles right over your old floor, no matter the old surface. So, you don't have tons in labor costs for ripping out the new floor and then the additional cost and time of putting in the new. Our kitchen is about 400 square feet and they installed our tile in about 1 day.

Part of what works best depends on where you live and your climate... for us, ceramic is great- properly sealed there are no issues and the dogs absolutely love it, as it is hot way more in the South than cold, and they just plop & drop enjoying the cool surface. I will say that after visiting a friend in Ohio that had heated tile floors in her bathroom, that might be a great option for those in cooler areas. It was mighty toasty getting out of the shower stepping on to warm floors!!

I installed porcelain tile with a "rectified edge" so that I could have the tiniest grout line possible, 1/8". Since my areas are small, I went with a 14"x14" tile and laid it on the diagonal, which helped the area to appear larger. If the area were larger, I would go with a 20"x20" tile, still with the tiny grout lines. Works great for me in Southern California. Coldness and hardness are considerations for sure, but I will tell you that when we come home from a long walk in summer, the dogs love nothing more than to flop those bellies down on the cool tile floor. For winter, I use rugs. I also have those cute anti-fatigue mats in front of the sink and the stove and those help my feet/legs. Have fun with whatever you decide! There are so many great options out there!!

Whatever you opt for, just avoid a long join in the vinyl. We laid heavy duty vinyl in our laboratory to protect the hardwood floors (it's a rental) and, even though it was professionally done, the wheels on the chairs have made a mess of the join. Can only imagine what dogs could do!

Our home is all open plan on the ground floor with quarried stone. It doesn't show dirt, is non slippery and the underground heating makes it nice and warm in winter whereas it stays cool in summer. Dark colours show dirt and fur just as much as very light colours, so we stick to neutral tones and save slate for the bathrooms.

I like tile, everywhere. As said before, make sure you seal the grout and you're set.

If you or a family member have arthritis or back problems, then you might want to go with a cushioned, premium vinyl. Standing on tile or travetine can be rougher on people joints.

I find tile lasts much longer then any vinyl has for me. I love wood also but it's not the best with dogs. The harder the wood and the more coating used, diminishes the chances of scratches. My 2.5 year light stained, bamboo floor is not scratching or showing yellow coat. I had 4 coats of oil base put on it. Bamboo is a softer wood. It's in my office which is 14 feet by 18 feet and the dogs do lie at my feet under the desks. So far so good, not a scratch but I dremel their nails short.

Take color of whatever you use into consideration depending on the color of the dogs you have.

Have fun floor shopping. It can be loads of fun.

We lived for years with vinyl flooring before replacing our kitchen with tile, along with taking up the living room carpet and putting down tile there too. The tile has been SO much easier to live with!! No waxing, scrubbing, etc.
On the grout, it really also depends on the color! We have a lighter color in the kitchen, and it is harder to clean than our living room, which has a medium brown grout and seems to hide most everything. And there have been plenty of puppy accidents!

I also noticed that standing on the tile is more comfortable than before when we had linoleum on the slab of our house (my feet would actually ache after a while, but not now).

We are also in the south, so the tile has helped keep the floor cooler in the summer time.

Best of luck!

A few years ago we had the same quandary. I had an older Lab girl who was starting to have mobility issues in spite of her good hips--just old age stiffness and slipping. She was unable to walk on hardwood floor without falls, even when we let the finish wear down a bit. Tile would have been merciless, and runner rugs she scuffed or tripped on if they were not anchored as wall to wall. Plank laminate, even the tile kind, was too slippery and let urine drip through at a breeder friend's house. We looked at high-end vinyl, which I had been against at first until clued in by a floor guy. We ended up going with the next to the highest type of cushioned vinyl at Carpet One. The flooring is made in Canada, and has a nonslip quality that has to be felt to be believed. My girl was able to stand to eat in the kitchen again without her back feet slipping out from under her, and the occasional accident was easy to clean. When I drop a glass jar or even a china plate, it doesn't break or chip instantly as happened when we had tile. We also had it anchored with glue only at the seams and doorways, but one could glue the whole thing down. I even accidentally dropped a paring knife point down, and it impaled the floor, but I couldn't find the cut, even on my hands and knees--it seems to have sort of self sealed. We had 2 more years of quality life with our old Lab, saving my back from having to pick her up from her slips and falls on the old floor. Living to over age 15 years was possible in part because the floor enabled us both. Floor still looks brand new, and impressed a breeder girlfriend enough to replace her old floor with this. She had the company install it. Vinyl has come a LONG way. It looks like stone or porcelain.
It is much easier on human and dog backs and legs, comfortably cool in the summer to my bare feet, and not pulling so much heat out of the dogs in the winter if they choose to hang out in there while we cook. We live in the northeast. Another friend has had the same high end Armstrong sheet vinyl that she installed at least 16 years ago--I had gotten down on my hands and knees after it was installed, as I couldn't believe it was vinyl. Her pack troops in over that floor several times a day, and they come in from the yard onto that floor. It still looks like tile. Let us know what you decide and how it works out.

Thanks so much for everyone's feedback! I really appreciate it. :-) I was wondering (Moderate labs/Dogz ) what was the name/color of the vinyl product that you got? I think that I am going to get quotes for both vinyl and tile - and go from there. BTW, we're in the Mid-Atlantic - so it's fairly cold in the winter, and fairly hot in summer, lol! (we have a foot of snow right now) I was kinda rushing to do this, but I think taking my time and doing it well will work best.

Happy New Year!

I'd be interested in to know what you purchased from Carpet One as well. I am in Canada too and we are looking at replacing our floors as well in the near future

I am not sure but it was a brand only available in my area from Carpet One. I believe it was IVC Earthscapes. In any case it is only from Carpet One, and it has a backing of fiberglass, with a guarantee of 20 years. It might have to warm up to be unrolled in your area this time of year--leaving the roll in a big room as opposed to the truck or a garage for a day. If you go to www.carpetone.com, then plug in your zip code, you should be able to find out if there is one near you. The things I would do over is having it professionally installed, rather than dealing with family members, and picking a color that hides my mud and dog hair better than a color that is light and makes the room look bigger! So far, nothing has stained it.

When I have a litter I buy linoleum remnants (2--one on top of the other) and put them down to protect the hardwood floor. The urine always leaks through! Do you think it might do this with vinyl and you wouldn't know b/c you never take it up?

Usually those remnants are very low quality with a poor-quality backing as well. Not sure why they are leaking through, but I'd suspect small holes in the vinyl and/or really thin wear layers that are easily worn through by just the whelping box. I've never had good quality vinyl leak through anywhere but at a seam that needed to be re-sealed.

Agree. I also buy remnants at big box stores and use them on hardwood or carpet areas. If they are too short, the urine runs down to the edge and then spills over and under. I use BIG oversized remnants--half the room.

You can seal regular grout or you can use one of the newer epoxy grouts. I did with 6 dogs- girls in season, puppies housebreaking- not a spot on the grout. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,384695-2,00.html