While the plumber and the electrician do their thang at the Myrtle House, Brian and I are staying put, saving up money, and plotting the next steps. After the major systems are finished, and insulation/drywall go up, the most important next project is getting at least one bathroom in working order. By working order, I mean having a toilet and possibly a tub. :) First thing to do in the bathroom is lay down flooring. If you know me, or have followed along on Pinterest or the blog, you may have picked up on the fact that I have a bit of a marble obsession. See the problem is, where the Myrtle House is located, marble floors just are not justified. It is too nice of a material for the area, and we would never see that money back. Plus, the Myrtle House will at some point be a rental property, and the idea of people slipping on the floor (hello lawsuit) or staining and chipping my beautiful marble floors makes my skin crawl.
I have been doing a lot of research on flooring and came across this product at Lowes. It is a vinyl peel and stick tile that is also groutable.
No, it is not real marble and will never come close to it. However, if you want the look of marble at a fraction of the cost (this is $1.08 a square foot), this could be a great alternative. My dream Hex Marble floor is $9.97 a square foot so we are talking about nearly 1/10th of the cost of real marble. When you have 3.5 bathrooms and a laundry room to floor, these are big savings.
I was skeptical at first. I am one of those people that don't like fakes - I would rather save up for the real thing. But after seeing how lovely Roeshel's bathroom from DIY Show Off turned out using this vinyl tile, I was convinced.
I think the key that makes this tile superior to other peel and stick varieties is that it is groutable. So unless you touch it, it is hard to tell it is not real tile. Another thing I really like is how close the pattern resembles real marble. Some faux marbles look nothing like the real thing, but in the photo below, you can see how much the floor resembles the real marble vanity top.
Even though I LOVE real marble, it will be a decent amount more to put in, and it will take a lot longer to install. Since we are already over budget and timeline, I think on this one, I will go for the fake. At DIY Show Off, Roeshel does an amazing tutorial on installation if you are interested (this is the one we plan on following). If you are looking for more information on vinyl flooring, I found this article helpful as well.
What do you think? Too fake or passable?