Has anyone tried to redo your carpet or tile a floor yourself?

Question

I'm thinking about redoing the floors in my house and don't have a lot of money to spend so I was thinking about maybe doing it myself. Have any of you redone your floor using tile or carpet/ which one was easier? did actually cost you any less in the end?

Answer 1

I got a great deal on tile and wood laminate. The laminate was EASY! The tile was intimidating because you have to keep it straight, which is not as easy as you would think in a large room. It was also very messy.

I have not done carpet, but I have heard it is easy. I was told to make sure you have a carpet stretcher to make sure you get a tight job.

Answer 2

In the long run you will be happier with tile. And also installing it will be a whole lot easier. With carpet you need to cut and handle room size pieces, piece sections together using carpet tape, put down new tack strip and stretch the carpet and affix to the tack strip. Its an art.
Not that tile isn't. But you are handling small squares you are putting in a puzzle so to speak. There are spacers so the tile all has the same gap in between for the grout. The hardest part will be cutting tiles to fit around the edges. Tile is so much easier to clean and will outlast carpet. Especially if you use a cheaper grade carpet.
Your local home improvement store will have some tips on installing tile, but look around. Tile stores with disc stock, discount or salvage companies close to you. You can find some amazing deals.
The key to either is proper prep. Depending if you are on subfloor, you may need to install concrete backing board (like Hardy backer board).

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/flooring/tile/lay1/basic.htm

Good luck with your project!

Answer 3

actual tile is time consuming and expensive. Carpet is much easier, and depending on carpet prices in your area, it can be cheaper, but then you wind up with cheap carpets on your floors. No matter the carpet you choose, spend the extra for good thick carpet pad. better, thicker carpet pad makes cheap carpets feel like better ones.


These two options are not the only options however. IF you can get the scrap wood from construction sites or something, you can make an interesting looking floor from these scraps. Cross cut them in about half inch thick pieces. not too thin or they will break too easily. stain them however suits you. use thin set to stick them to the floor use the sawdust mixed with glue or varnish to grout them. if you vary the colors, you can even make interesting patterns.

Another way to go is linoleum, either in roll form or self-stick tile form.