Yes it is hard on your knees and back . You will also have to beef up the sub floor so that it does not flex as tile can’t handle movement the other option is Luxury Vinyl Plank it is a nice choice

Refinishing might be the best option.

I can't see tile being much different than wood to your back ... Patricia's point on sub-flooring is correct, it'll need to be accessed by a knowledgeable tile contractor before starting.

There are many, many styles and colors in plank tile, one to match almost any desired effect, done correctly it's a great surface with few issues. If you're considering planks you need a good, informed tile contractor, planks need different setting techniques, and the floor must be very flat, the larger sizes can be considerable warped, do your due diligence when selecting plank tile ..

Also depends where you live -- tile is much colder.

Premier you obviously are young and have never spent a day working on concrete it is not forgiving like wood and is very hard on knees feet and backs as you age for sure

Agree acm, I live in a very mild climate but I prefer the warmth of wood since I'm barefoot in my home 90% of the time& yes, tile is much harder to stand on...

arizelda, I switched from tile to HW when I reno'd my main floor. I really love the look of HW but I thought I'd miss the durability and ease of care of the tile so I spent months searching for a wood look tile. I searched 10 different tile places. They had some really nice tiles but whenever I compared them to HW, no tile was ever as beautiful as real wood. The clincher was when my tile guy told me it was impossible to get narrow grout lines with the large format tiles I wanted.

Wood look tile can be beautiful but it isn't really a good substitution for real HW. If you like the look of WL tile then get it for what it is. Don't get it as a HW lookalike because it's really difficult and pricey to get it to pass for real HW.

I love how the HW feels on my feet. It is warm and has this lovely texture when I'm barefoot. Somehow, though it doesn't make sense to me, the HW has been "softer" on my body. I used to wear these thick foam slippers in the house to cushion my feet from the tile floor. Without the slippers, my feet became sore within minutes. I haven't needed the slippers at all on the HW.

Patricia ... on the contrary, I'm in my 50's, and have installed, and lived in and on tiled floors my entire life, almost all flooring is installed on concrete slabs in my area, there's a small difference in feel, not much .. but I realize all opinions are subjective ; )

I assume by wood tiles you mean porcelain or ceramic. Vinyl Plank would be an option to consider, which will be easier on your knees. Some vinyl plank products come with a pre-attached cork-backing. Check out the Modin7FT collection for an example of a product with cork backing:

Anura Vinyl Plank - wood look 7 ft long · More Info

Antero Vinyl Plank - wood look 7 ft long · More Info

Solid hardwood floors are designed to be refinished. It is part of why we purchase/install them. When properly maintained, solid hardwoods have a 60-100 year lifespan.

If you rip out your hardwoods, you have effectively removed a floor that has many decades more use in front of it. To be replaced by a tile floor that will offer 20-25 years of service - and that's it.

For $5/sf you can have your hardwoods refinished and get another 20 years out of that finish. If you remove them ($1/sf for removal) and have tile installed (can be a final cost of $10+/sf to do this), you will be removing a floor that is a "life long" floor for a floor that may only last 1/3 of your life time....for more money than it costs to refinish the hardwood.

It is your choice. Hardwood is meant to wear this way...this is what it does. You scrape it down and refinish it when it needs it. That's the "proper maintenance" that I mentioned. And yes...tile is harder to stand on. As someone with years of back issues (since my 20's = 20+ years ago) I will tell you that tile is harder on the body. If you have back issues, this is one of the toughest floors to live with re: pain management.

Thank you everyone for your input. I think it will be best to refinish the floors that we have in the house. I do love the look and feel of hardwood and think that anything else would be a substitute that I wouldn't like as much.