Tile the bathroom floor?

Question

So, I'm in a bit of a debate with my handyman, who has serviced one of my two multi-families for years (prior to my buying it two months ago...)  All the bathrooms have vinyl sheet flooring. One tenant complained that her bathroom flooring was flaking off around the radiator, and since I wouldn't want vinyl sheet flooring in my own bathroom I replaced it with ceramic tile for not quite the cost of one month's rent. I also upgraded the toilet from a water waster to a more efficient one.  I didn't even think twice about it. All paid for out of gross rents from my two properties.

Some background...I do pretty well after having worked in the same non-real estate field progressively over nearly 25 years, so I'm in this for cash flow and appreciation but do understand that I'll be investing in improving building over the next year. So I'm not living off what I earn in real estate but hope to someday not too far in the future.

My handyman's take is, install the cheapest thing and be done with it. Personally, though, I take pride in my product and want my apartments to be of a quality where I'd want to live there...not Architectural Digest but durable, classic, and clean.

Can you invest in quality and also do well over the long term?

Zachary C. · Answer

Just a little note on the laminate type flooring. One guy I talked to that had tenant proofed his lower end house said that he got some in a patter and kept a decent amount of spare material. He said the kind he got was very durable but if it got messed up, say they rearranged furniture and the slider had come off and a nail dragged a cut into it, he could cut the affected patterns out and lay in new ones seamlessly instead of doing a large area like the whole room. I, however, cannot remember all of the details about how he had set this up to make it work so well but he said it did. Just something to keep in mind and explore if the need arrises.

Jake Thomas · Answer

Upgrades like tile and the like will eventually fetch you higher rents and and better resale value in the future. The cheapest fix for everything isn't always the right answer and that old school mentality is a thing of the past. Tenants that pay a premium don't want to live in a cheap unit but rather live in something nice. I usually upgrade my units to a standard that I would live in like you and I command higher rents. Tenants that also pay a premium are less likely to do serious damage as well to the property.

It depends on what type of landlord you want to be.

Zachary C. · Answer

@Michael Healy,

I think you can, and I think you are in the right mindset, depending on the types of tenants you typically get. I have heard people talk about tenant proofing their properties, these people range from extremely high end rentals to very low income rentals. A big point from the topics discussed are durability, for instance the tile will take a beating and should last a long time, given no one is dropping their bowling ball in the bathroom. There is a good balance here to find, and I think it is you pay a little more for a quality product that last longer but you don't pay more for a fancier product that wont last longer (if that makes sense.)

Chuy Gonzalez · Answer

If by laminate you mean the stuff that is made with saw dust wood underneath...that stuff is not water resistant. Since most tenants are careless pigs, I avoid this stuff. I did use vinyl planks that look like wood in my nicest unit. The planks require a nicely smoothed out subfloor, however. The planks look great...I will see how they last.

Usually when a tenant moves out Replacing even a stove, a wall heater, paint, drywall repairs, etc are all fairly simple and cheap, but the floors are always expensive and something I dont do myself. I am currently evicting a tenant on a ground floor unit. The ground floor units flooring gets dirtiest. When she is gone, I am going to tile the kitchen/ dining room, entry, living room , hallway and bath. I am seriously debating tiling the bedrooms. Im gonna use grout the color of coffee grounds. I will use generic beige colored tiles.

Sheet vinyl seems to hold up for several years, and I get the stuff that has 12x12 patterns printed on it, so my floor guy can patch sections...but I really want to try tile to see how long it holds up. I think after 2 or 3 vinyl floor replacements it would have paid for itself....Since i want to keep my place forever, I'm going with tile.

As far as the water saver toilets...they seem to require 2 or 3 flushess to do the same job an old toilet did in one flush.

Even when I use basic materials, when I am done with a unit i always admire how decent it looks in its pre-tenant glory.

Deanna McCormick · Answer

great idea the laminate type flooring is way to go.

Michael Healy · Answer

Thanks, everyone..very helpful. In another property around the corner every unit has institutional grey carpeting on top of gummy plywood...so, nothing beautiful.  As folks move out I'd like to replace with at least luxury laminate that looks like hardwood. Thoughts?

Danny F. · Answer

I agree with @Ed B., even Brandon gives examples about renovating a home and found wooden floors so instead of rehabbing it to its luster and spend the money 5k  and renting it.  Then in 5-7 years he wants to sell the house and perhaps the wood is worst off (and can't repair or do a complete re-hull) , he placed nice laminate wooden floors that looked great.  At the time when he wants the sell the house he can get more with the wooden floors.

Hence, it is your preference if you will be keeping the property long term or short term.  Further, as mentioned you can still keep a level of quality that is desirable rather than "cheapy" .  With quality you can even raise the rent.

Ed B. · Answer

Michael, I like Zachary's advice to "pay a little more for a quality product that last longer but you don't pay more for a fancier product that wont last longer."

There is nothing wrong with wanting to provide housing that is durable, clean and functional, but it also depends on how long you plan to  keep them. If you think for at least the next five or more years, don't worry about spending a bit more than your handyman might be comfortable with.  Provide a level of quality that may attract the better quality of tenants, but don't overdo it.

Tile the bathroom floor?

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