Tile isn’t just for the bathroom and kitchen anymore. Unique tile even is finding a place in the custom-home and remodeling markets.
That doesn’t mean that tile is leaving its traditional rooms. Three-dimensional fruit-shaped tiles placed over a solid-colored background are just one example of the many selections available to today’s kitchen enthusiast, for example.
Regardless of the market, home buyers will find a vast assortment of styles, depending upon taste and budget.
Tiles shaped like oranges and berries, for example, can add depth when applied to portions of a solid-colored kitchen wall.
According to Tom Mihal, construction manager for custom builder McNaughton Development Inc., the fruit adds a dramatic, colorful look to a kitchen. The price is about $10 to $20 per piece, which can add up to as much as $500 in one room, he said.
In the first-time buyers market, though, many builders do not offer custom features. They focus instead on sales of established tiles, with certain options and upgrades available.
Mass market
“The larger builder is almost like a machine. . . . It becomes very difficult to vary from that system,” said Rich Pietranek, president of Deer Point Homes Development Corp. in Hainesville.
More common kitchen countertops range from a plain roll-top covering, available for about $10 per linear foot, to marble, granite and Corian finishes for about $35 per linear foot.
Buyers increasingly are matching a counter’s tile with the wall tile to carry a design scheme through the entire kitchen area, Pietranek said. A ceramic speckled counter tile in bright colors, for example, could be matched with strips of solid colors in the same color scheme. The solid colors would be placed in rows around the top of the wall tile, drawing a person’s vision upward to the entire wall.
Some homeowners choose to be more bold in their design, mixing heavy geometric shapes with bright colors to provide a dramatic, contemporary effect.
Maintenance of the tile varies with the product, said Bryan Smith, owner of Bryan Smith Furniture and Carpet in Manhattan, south of Chicago. Vinyl can be cleaned with manufacturers’ products, which can be purchased over the counter.
“One of the best ways to keep a ceramic tile clean is to use basic vinegar and water,” he said.
In the remodeling market, homeowners frequently purchase more expensive tile to replace the standard product that came with the house, Pietranek said. A more expensive tile can help upgrade the look and bring in updated color patterns.
To remake a counter, for example, Formica can be added in a wide range of decorative designs for about $11 to $12 per linear foot, Pietranek said.
Other ways to upgrade counter tile include adding highlight strips on the edge of the Formica, beveling the edge or adding laminate. This provides a shiny finish and designs suited to individual tastes. For an additional $3 to $5 per linear foot, one can add an oak strip along the edge of the counter, Pietranek said.
“Those are nice economical ways of making your house look custom without spending a lot of money.”
Many options
Floor coverings also offer many selections and price ranges. The vinyl and asbestos coverings that were popular in the ’70s have been replaced by a no-wax, shiny vinyl without the asbestos. Vinyl is the least expensive covering at about $2 per square foot.
Sheet goods, priced between $2 and $5 per square foot, are large pieces of ceramic-styled or wood-finished products that offer a no-wax shine, Pietranek said.
Hardwood floors are in the $6 to $8 per square foot range and are made with a variety of pre-finished wood products.
For a more elaborate look, marble can be used to give a rich, deep look to counters and floors. While not a standard home buyer’s request, marble is becoming more popular. But the cost can be prohibitive.
McNaughton Development is building a 9,500-square-foot house in Palos Park that will include marble slabs in the 15-by-20-foot foyer, in the 10-by-10-foot hallway and on the face of a fireplace.
Marble usually is applied in square-foot pieces to a concrete board, then glued, Mihal said. In the Palos Park home, that kind of application would cost $20,000, he said.
The owner, though, requested that the marble be ordered in large slabs and applied with a mortar-based product, which is a more extensive process. The large slabs add to the labor costs because they are more difficult to handle, Mihal said. The project will now cost $150,000.
