You cannot put vinyl anything directly over tile. The grout joints will telegraph thru inside of a minute. Floor must be extremely flat for vinyl.

Hi there!

First off, your jatoba flooring is beautiful and likely adds quite a feeling of elegance to the home. There are a couple of questions I have about the home though, like are there any bathrooms on the 2nd floor? Do you have any children, or pets in the house? Luxury vinyl and laminate are both durable either way and provide the look of natural wood, but in general, although a little more expensive, I believe luxury vinyl would be the better option.

Luxury vinyl has the ability to resist moisture, whereas with laminate flooring the joints can swell and pucker if exposed to moisture (which is why I was wondering about the bathrooms.) Also if you are installing flooring over your heated tiles, be sure that the floor is leveled.

The luxury vinyl flooring works well on any tightly sealed, smooth or seamless surface. They can be installed over ceramic tile if there are no cracks/broken pieces, and if the grout lines for the tile are not deep or wide. So, do make sure to check if the ceramic tile design you have allows you to properly install over it, or if it will need to be removed before installing the new flooring.

There is this Jatoba Luxury Vinyl in a mahogany colour that I've linked below from Armstrong Flooring and this product is also FloorScore Certified - meaning it meets/ exceeds low emission standards, thereby not negatively affecting the quality of air in your home. But of course speak to whoever will install your flooring about your options, as they will be able to assess your space and assist you accordingly.

In regards to design, it's a little hard to see the colour of your stairs clearly in that picture, but if it's a touch darker then I think you have the right train of thought. Try your best to go with something similar to the jatoba, because even if the stairs are a bit darker, it adds some contrast with the main floor. So I think it's best to continue that aesthetic for the whole house, than trying to blend one floor with the stairs and contrast with the other, since you are replicating the appearance of the same type of material i.e. wood.

Hopefully, this information was helpful. Best of luck with the renovation!

https://www.armstrongflooring.com/residential/en-ca/vinyl-flooring/luxury-vinyl-tile/luxe-plank-better/item/A6839.html

Thank you so much RavyRose for your detailed response which I found very helpful. There are 2 bathrooms and a laundry room on the 2nd floor but there are no kids or pets in the house. I thought I had looked at the entire Armstrong line of LVT but I have not come across the mahogany which looks like it could work. I'm in Canada and I wonder if it's only available in the US?

Do you have any thoughts on installing carpeting over the ceramic tile?

Here are pictures that provide a better view of the hardwood and the ceramic tile.

Wow you have a beautiful home!! I love the warmth of the brown and tan coloured walls; it really highlights the jatoba hardwood. I think your stairs actually compliment the flooring quite well. I was actually expecting something a bit darker. I'm in Canada as well. Have you tried putting in your location, where it says "where to buy"? If a location comes up and is a bit of a drive for you, I would recommend calling the store ahead of time to make sure they have it, or something very similar to it.

If your radiant ceramic tile flooring will allow for it, I would go with the luxury vinyl. In regards to functionality, it should be okay in moisture prone areas, it is quite durable, and aesthetically, it will create a harmonious continuation of the wood flooring from downstairs.

You can install carpet over most clean, dry surfaces, including tile, as long as the surface has been properly prepared prior to installation. Would you be planning on carpeting only the hallway & bedrooms, but leaving the ceramic tiles for the bathrooms & laundry room? Because I wouldn't recommend carpeting those rooms. Depending on the type of carpet, this maybe the lower cost option, if you're planning not to do the entire 2nd floor.

There are some things to consider about carpeting on radiant flooring:

• R-values, which means how insulating a material is. The R-values of a carpet & the R-values of the carpet padding added together in total should be as low as possible, like lower than 4.0
• Thickness of the carpet padding should be no more than 3/8 inch thick. Thin, dense padding is the best for radiant flooring.
• Carpet thickness generally correlates with the R-value. For ex. a 1/8 inch thick carpet will have an R-value of 0.6.
• Material of the carpet padding also impacts its insulating value. Materials such as synthetic fibers, sponge rubber, and natural fibers are typically better for radiant heating, but must be a high quality material, otherwise you will have issues with it.

A carpeting manufacturer should be able to guide you to the best carpeting option in their line, but these are a few things you can keep in mind :)

If you are in Ontario, this company has locations in London, and Windsor. They carry LVT Jatoba, and also Santos Mahogany which has a more red undertone : http://www.centuralondon.ca/products/vinyl/luxury-vinyl-tile-and-plank/glue-down/permastone/latitudes/jatoba

Both are fine choices but b/c of radiant heat flooring, I can't use glue-down planks. Thank you for the suggestion though, I do appreciate it.

Thank you RavyRose for your carpeting suggestions and info:-). I definitely want a carpet runner on the stairs for safety but it will probably be vinyl in all the other areas, with the exception of one bedroom.

@iamnow...you have tiles over top of radiant heat. You want to leave the tile in place (I'm assuming) because you want to keep the radiant heat in place. Your choice to leave the tiles will limit your choices.

You must pick something THIN enough to ensure there you do not run into code issues on the stairs (not easy with what you are thinking of doing). But you have to have something THICK enough to comfortably float across ALL OF THE GROUT LINES. Oh dear. Now we are in a massive pickle.

Here is an option: coat the tile in a thin layer of cement (self leveler). Now you can have a relatively thin floor laid on top of the tile...but vinyl does NOT like heat. The thin vinyl planks (3mm or 4mm) are STUPID difficult to keep happy when exposed to heat. Your in floor heat has to be set so low that it is almost useless. All it will do is take the chill off the floor - nothing more.

If the radiant heating is PART of your whole home heating system, then you have very few choices. If your radiant heat is only to keep the chill of your feet (because you have tile in Canada) then you might as well turn it off and put something else in. And if THAT'S the case, you might as well jack it out and put down whatever floor you want!!!!

If you must have vinyl that can HANDLE the heat, check these guys out. They are Canadian. I've met the Vancouver Rep...super nice guy with lots of knowledge and enthusiasm for his product.

http://xlflooring.ca/

The EZ Lay or Drop N Done vinyl floors are appropriate over top of radiant heat BUT YOU MUST get rid of the grout lines.

Did I mention grout lines are a problem. Well, just in case you didn't catch it...grout lines are a problem even with carpet.

Thank you SJ McCarthy. This is a seemingly impossible/very limited change I'm trying to pull of here. Thanks for the link, I'll check them out.