Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Kitchen flooring material: ?anyone used ceramic tile?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Mar 11, 2018, at 2:22 PM, Ruth J Hirsch <heidinys [at] earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> We are looking at kitchen flooring material.
> Complicated decision.  

I did flooring research for Takoma Village a number of years ago. I can tell 
you a few things.

We originally had Marmoleum “planks” which are tiles on wood pieces that clip 
together. It was a disaster. We didn’t know that Marmoleum should only be damp 
mopped and we never had it “polished” which is a waxing. Using planks meant 
that all the seams were exposed to water. Marmoleum is a wood product so the 
whole floor was quickly a mess. Plus the water was going through the planks to 
rot the subflooring.

We replaced with a sheet of Marmoleum and heat sealed the one seam. We have it 
professionally “polished” once a year but that isn’t enough for the kitchen. It 
fairly quickly starts looking dull. Every 2-3 months would be better.

Well-maintained Marmoleum will last “forever”. The color is consistent 
throughout so when the surface wears down the color and pattern don’t change. 
If it is polished, only the polish wears.

Marmoleum will also stretch for a year or two after it is installed so a second 
and third trimming might be required depending on how much it is boxed in on 
all the edges.

At last to ceramic tile. Marmoleum is fabulous on the feet and is quiet. It 
absorbs sound. It requires a lot of maintenance in kitchens. Our hallways, 
children’s room, and laundry do fine with polishing once a year, though 
personally I think twice would be better. We damp mop in between. The same 
would be required of ceramic tiles.

Years ago when we “all” had linoleum in kitchens, as soon as it began to look 
dull, we added a coat of polish -- monthly or more often. Removing the old 
polish was done once or twice a year. If you were careful in applying a thin 
coat, then it had to be removed less often before it started building up and 
looking messy. 

Marmoleum vs linoleum from a vintage floor installer: Marmoleum is made by a 
company that has been developing it for decades. When linoleum was introduced, 
it was very popular but was replaced with vinyl tile that was maintenance free. 
Companies stopped making linoleum. But not the Marmoleum people — they 
continued to develop it. It is now better that the linoleum produced by other 
manufacturers who are playing catch up.

https://www.forbo.com/flooring/en-us/products/marmoleum/cfctp7

Marmoleum also has hundreds of incredibly beautiful colors and patterns. Of 
course we chose a color and pattern by consensus so we have safe and boring but 
it is a beautiful floor. The best site to see all the colors:

https://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/All-Products/Marmoleum-Shop-by-Color-Collections

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org