Finished Basement Floors: Stone and Ceramic Tiles a Poor Choice

Across the world since more than 4,000 B.C., tiled flooring if one of the most ancient ways to cover a home’s floor. There’s no doubt that the designed look of tile is one of the best looks in a custom-designed basement. Unfortunately, appearance is all you’ll get in a basement environment with a tiled basement floor. These cold, expensive, hard surfaces can shatter easily and can a health risk.

10 Reasons to Avoid Ceramic, Stone and Marble Basement Floor Tiles

1. Stone and ceramic tiles are usually grouted directly to the floor, which makes them costly, difficult, and messy for removal.
2. Installing tiles is a long, tedious, and involved project. After installation, they will need to sit for at least two days without being used in order to seal correctly on to the floor. To learn how to install tile to the floor, click here.
3. Because these tiles do not add insulation to the basement floor, they tend to be cold and uncomfortable underfoot.
4. Porous grout lines can absorb moisture, stain easily, and grow mold, bacteria, and mildew. To care for them properly, they should be resealed each year.
5. Floor tiles made of ceramic are fragile and can easily crack, chip, shatter, and crumble.
6. Stone, marble, and ceramic tiles have a surface that is hard, cold, and unforgiving. Dropped objects will shatter easily on impact, and injuries sustained from slips and falls will be more severe.
7. Wet tiles will be slippery when wet, making them less safe than other flooring materials.
8. Porous tiles easily stain and grow bacteria. They need to be treated routinely with sealants.
9. Stone, marble and ceramic tiles reflect sound and make a lot of noise underfoot.
10. High quality stone and marble flooring is very expensive and can cost upwards of $25/square foot.

Replacing old stone, marble and stone tiles can cause exposure to asbestos and other harmful chemicals and should be done by a professional. However, if you hire a professional, you should carefully check for hidden costs, as many will add a charge if you want them to remove furniture, remove and dispose of the previous flooring, or prepare the subfloor for tiles. Finishing the floor could be more expensive than you think!

Total Basement Finishing’s ThermalDry Tiled Basement Flooring is a much more convenient option. It installs with all the beauty of ceramic, stone, or marble flooring and without many of the disadvantages. ThermalDry offers a warmer surface (up to ten degrees) that installs with a build that will not stain or shatter the way other tiling does. Installation is fast, easy, and requires no grout. If they ever need to be removed, they can be taken up easily even by a novice homeowner. They’re more forgiving to falls, and they will not support the growth of mold, mildew, and bacteria like grout does.

If you’d like to learn more, Total Basement Finishing would like to connect you with an expert representative that can meet with you and offer a free consultation on finishing your space. Call or contact us today for more information!