Guides
Tile and flooring guides for Florida homes
Engineered wood
Herringbone vs Chevron Floors: How to Choose for a Florida Home
Herringbone or chevron? How each pattern reads in a long room, which way it should run, why the centre line decides the install, and where to see both in wood.
October 2026
Flooring
Engineered hardwood vs LVP for a Florida house on a slab
Real oak or rigid-core vinyl over a Florida slab: how water, dogs and sanding split the two, what wear layer means on each, and which rooms get which.
October 2026
Large-format porcelain
Porcelain countertops vs quartz for a Florida kitchen
How porcelain and quartz countertops are made, how each handles heat and Florida sun, and why the edge profile decides whether a porcelain top looks like stone.
October 2026
Tile installation
Curbless shower on a concrete slab: how it is built in a Florida house
How a curbless shower is built on a Florida concrete slab: recessing the slab or raising the floor, choosing a linear drain and tile, and waterproofing with no curb.
October 2026
Tile installation
Epoxy grout vs cement grout for Florida showers, kitchens and floors
Where epoxy grout earns its place in a Florida shower or kitchen, where cement grout is the better choice, whether either one needs sealing, and why epoxy takes longer to install.
October 2026
Tile installation
Shower niche height and size: how to plan one in a Florida bathroom
Where a shower niche goes, how high and how big to make it, why its size should come from the tile layout, and the waterproofing detail at its corners that keeps it dry.
October 2026
Flooring
LVP vs laminate flooring for a Florida house on a slab
Luxury vinyl plank takes water and slab moisture; laminate's wood-fibre core does not. Where each belongs in a Florida house on a slab, room by room.
October 2026
Engineered wood
Engineered vs solid hardwood for a Florida house on a concrete slab
Engineered or solid oak over a Florida concrete slab: which one stays flat, which one can be sanded more often, and what to decide before you choose a wood floor.
October 2026
Choosing materials
Porcelain vs ceramic tile in a Florida house: where each one belongs
Where porcelain belongs, where ceramic is still the right tile, and how to tell them apart in the showroom, written for a Florida house on a concrete slab.
October 2026
Engineered wood
Engineered hardwood in a Florida house: it is not the humidity outside, it is the house
Engineered wood is the wood floor built for Florida. Whether it lasts is decided by the slab under it, the air in the house while you are away, and who installs it — not the weather.
September 2026
Large-format porcelain
Porcelain slab shower walls in Sarasota: what makes one look right
The slab is the easy part. The seams, the book-match, the waterproofing behind it and the two people lifting it are what the finished shower shows — and what to ask about before you order one.
September 2026
Flooring
The best flooring for Florida homes, and why the slab decides it
Most houses here sit on concrete, and that single fact rules out two of the popular options. What survives humidity, salt air and tracked-in sand.
August 2026
Large-format porcelain
Large-format porcelain vs. tile in Florida: what actually changes
Fewer grout lines, a much less forgiving substrate, and a crew requirement most tile setters do not meet. What actually changes when a tile gets big.
August 2026
Tile installation
What tile installation actually costs in Sarasota and Bradenton
Published market ranges for material and labour as of August 2026, the four things that move a quote, and why two quotes for the same room can differ by half.
August 2026
Large-format porcelain
Large porcelain slabs on the Gulf Coast: what changes past 48 inches
A 24-inch tile and a 126-inch panel are the same material and a completely different trade. Here is what actually changes.
Alan M. Lovera · August 2026
What we write about
- Choosing materials
- How to narrow a showroom full of options down to the two that suit the room.
- Engineered wood
- Why engineered outperforms solid hardwood on a slab in this climate.
- Flooring
- Vinyl plank, laminate, linoleum and waterproof floors, chosen for a Florida house.
- Large-format porcelain
- Panels and slabs past the size an ordinary tile crew will handle.
- Shellcrete
- Shell-based decorative concrete — how it is mixed, finished, and where it works.
- Tile installation
- Substrates, layout, movement joints and everything that happens before the tile does.
