Tile for Long-Term Owners in Bedford's 1980s Homes
Bedford's population more than doubled during the 1980s, from 20,821 to 43,762 (U.S. Census), and about 8,000 of today's homes date from that decade, according to the American Community Survey. Many of their owners have stayed. Of Bedford's roughly 10,450 owner households, about 28 percent moved in before 2000, and the city's median age of 39.5 is nearly four years above the Texas median. When those owners redo a floor, they are usually planning for decades of use, and often for growing older in the same house.
For tile, that leads to a few practical choices. In bathrooms, we suggest porcelain with a wet slip rating (DCOF) of at least 0.42, and smaller tiles where you want more grout lines for grip. Thresholds matter as much as the tile: a step up between a new tile kitchen and the carpet next to it is a tripping hazard, so we plan the setting height and transition strip in advance. Slabs in 40-year-old houses on North Texas clay often have hairline cracks, which we cover with a crack isolation membrane before setting tile.