Flooring for the seasons

Question from Paul:

I have a three season room which is built on beams (possibly an old deck. 4x4's sitting on concrete pylons). It currently has 3/4 inch plywood floors covered with outdoor carpet. My question is what kind of floor replacement do you recommend? I want to get away from the carpet if I can. I would like to put a wood or tile floor down but don't know how it would hold up with the temp changes. In NJ we have hot humid summers and cold winters. I do have a heater installed but only use it when we are in the room.

Jake's Answer:

Paul,

It sounds like your climate is similar to ours in Kansas City.  Basically you have a room that is exposed to the extreme temperature and humidity changes, so you need to be careful of the type of flooring you put down.  A wood floor would probably not work too well, too much exposure to the elements.  I would suggest putting down a tile floor.  Assuming you can use the existing plywood as a sub floor you will need to add a cement type underlayment.  The best type would be a 2” mud set base with the tile on top of it.  If the increased  floor height causes a problem then switch to a ½” concrete board, like Durock, check it out here.

You can then install the tile over the Durock.  If you are concerned about the cold floor you can add some area rugs for comfort.