Hardwood linoleum throughout the whole house

[hart]

I may have missed this somewhere in this thread, but what do most of you use for kitchen flooring in rentals?
I've been using the vinyl tiles (not self-stick) that are cheap (~.68/ft) and easy to install.  They'll typically require stripping and rewaxing in between tenants.
I've been contemplating beginning to use a cheaper/but decent quality ceramic tile.  I'm thinking they might hold up better and not require as much work in between tenants - hopefully offsetting the extra up-front cost.

What do you all think?  Thanks for the help?
What would be a good price for a decent ceramic tile (for low-end market rental)?  Where would you suggest looking?  Big Box?  Tile Specialists?

Thanks.

[Rich_in_CT]

You can find cheap tile if you look hard, ask the guy at the tile shop what he has out back.  Sometimes they have discontinued stuff laying around or even some where half the tiles in the case are cracked that you can get for practically nothing.  If you go that route be damn sure you walk out with enough tiles or you won't be able to get more.

[hart]

Thanks.  I would kind of rather go the route of finding a low-cost (but decent) tile that is generic/common enough that I could be sure to find it again the next time I used it.  That way, I could also use leftover tile and reduce waste.

Thanks for the help.

[buffinvestor]

I've never used linoleum flooring in my homes - I'm strictly a ceramic tile guy...Looks terrific, renters love it, and it lasts forever (except for the rare occasional broken tile that takes 5 minutes to replace)...Remember, when people are looking for a place to rent, you're competing against the other rental properties out there...So why should they rent from you?...Give them something to remember your place by, not the run of the mill place that they've already seen a dozen times...The initial cost of the ceramic is just the same as linoleum...Granted, it'll take an extra 1-2 days of labor to put it in but it's in to stay and never has to be replaced...Makes financial sense in the long run and marketing sense all the time...

I've almost always gotten my tile at Lowe's or Home Depot...They both receive fairly large quantities of tile they'll put on sale...You can buy all kinds of basic almond tile for $0.60=$1.00/sf...Home Depot had a beautiful tile on sale once that I bought a full pallet of...It's a reddish/brown 16" tile....Looks superb, and I never realized until I installed it just how much quicker a 16" tile goes down vs. a 12" tile...Buy the 16" for a little more per sf and you'll save a ton of time on labor...

Also, always stagger the tile....Don't do straight runs and especially not a diamond pattern (you'll be cutting the tile all day!)...The stagger pattern looks incredible and it helps to cover up any pattern imperfections...

[realcon]

I have seen the hardwood linoleum and I think it looks cheap even for low income housing. Being located in Pinellas County Florida, many homes I work with have terrazo flooring. Terrazo flooring is amazing, nearly indestructable. The only problem is it needs to be sealed every few tenants.  If the flooring is just concrete then I usually go with tile in all the main areas with carpet in bedrooms.  The carpet always gets replaced after each tenant and the tile usually lasts about 3-4 tenants.

As Mike stated no matter what flooring you choose tenants will find a way to screw if up.