Tile vs. Wood vs. Wood Looking Tile

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation

Tile might be cooler in the summer, but its also rigid and makes a room feel cheapened. I'd rather refinish true hardwoods and pay for installation after installation than live with an all tile house (certain areas like kitchen, bathrooms and entry areas work with tile however). Carpet is a non starter outside of bedrooms for me and I'd only grudgingly accept them in. If a room needs cloth on the floor area rugs suffice. And yes I have a dog that leave small scratches everywhere. I call that the "lived in" look.

A number of years ago, we were at my grandmother's home. Her house was built in the 30's. One day, I mentioned to my mom that I was surprised the house didn't have hardwood floors throughout instead of wall to wall carpeting with the exception of the kitchen. My mom, who grew up in the house, told me that there was real hardwood flooring under all of the carpet. I was somewhat astonished and asked why carpet was covering it. She then told me that when my grandmother was in her late 30's, carpet was the big thing. It used to be that only rich people could afford carpet, but then it became affordable for the middle class, and a lot of people covered their hardwood floors with carpeting. Since she enjoyed the feel and sound reduction from carpet, she never went back to the wood floors.

I'm not a carpet guy myself, and I'm planning to ditch every bit of it downstairs asap, but I think a "cheap look" is in the eye of the beholder.

Personally, I plan to go with the porcelain wood. I'm going this way due to the kids, living on the water and that we are about to get a pool. I want durable and water resistant. As a matter of fact, my daughter overflowed her toilet last night, and it wasn't until I heard the water coming out of a light fixture onto the floor downstairs that I realized what was happening. My parents had a wood floor destroyed when they were out of town and the water line to their ice maker ruptured. My neighbor had his wood floor ruined when his standalone ice maker in his bar off the game room malfunctioned late one night (His were salvaged with sanding and refinishing, while my parents had to have theirs totally replaced).

I don't personally don't mind compromising a little for practical reasons, and to me, the look of the porcelain wood tile is very pleasing.

[cp102]

We did the hand-scraped wood look tiles. If placed correctly with a thin grout it looks like real wood and the upkeep is so much easier than wood or laminate. Especially with kids or animals. Your floors will stay looking nice and there wont be scratches, dents, chips etc. They can do different tile in your kitchen with a transition border that goes with both.

[marksmu]

My aunt did the wood look tile...Some of the more expensive ones come in 6 and even 8' sections to look exactly like her wood. Hers was very expensive, but visually it is identical to the nicer wide plank wood floors....durability is 100x better as well. The only difference is the sound when people are wearing heels or a wood bottom shoe.

I did the more expensive wide plank wood, and I regret that choice....if I ever have to replace the floors I am going to goto the wood look tile...its more durable and works so well for people with pets.

I have 2 labs and in less than 2 years have added quite a bit of "character" to my floors.

[Aliana926]

We have the wood look tile for the whole house except for the bedrooms and we love it! I don't have to worry about any scratches.

[texas7]

Originally Posted by marksmu

My aunt did the wood look tile...Some of the more expensive ones come in 6 and even 8' sections to look exactly like her wood. Hers was very expensive, but visually it is identical to the nicer wide plank wood floors....durability is 100x better as well. The only difference is the sound when people are wearing heels or a wood bottom shoe.

I did the more expensive wide plank wood, and I regret that choice....if I ever have to replace the floors I am going to goto the wood look tile...its more durable and works so well for people with pets.

I have 2 labs and in less than 2 years have added quite a bit of "character" to my floors.

Not my favorite but I am considering the vinyl plank flooring because of my big dog. I love the tile but house will get too cold in winter. Our kitchen is unbearable on cold days.

[TFW46]

Originally Posted by texas7

Not my favorite but I am considering the vinyl plank flooring because of my big dog. I love the tile but house will get too cold in winter. Our kitchen is unbearable on cold days.

My daughter did a lot of research before buying her flooring and decided on Smartcore Commercial Vinyl Plank Flooring from Lowe's. She installed it herself throughout her entire house. It's absolutely breathtaking. It has excellent reviews and is 100% waterproof -- it can be installed in wet areas and will never swell when exposed to water. And it can be installed directly over other existing hard surface floors. It comes with a limited lifetime warranty for residential installations.

Shop smartcore vinyl flooring at Lowes.com: Search Results!

[cp102]

We went thru Home Depot they had Montagna Gunstock , its a hand-scraped wood look porcelain tile, and it actually looks like wood when installed with a narrow grout line. t looks beautiful and its easy to care for. I wish my whole house was in this tile.

[AndreaJ200]

We did wood-look tile in the office, entryway, dining and living rooms. We had American Estates 6x36 inch rectified porcelain tiles (Spice color) with I believe either a 1/16th or a 1/32nd inch BLACK grout. Pic attached. Don't mind my killer dog taking a glamour shot LOL.

We used Happy Feet Floors based in League City - they did a great job and when the grout didn't come out the way we initially wanted, they made sure it was finished correctly and they took their time to get it right.

It looks beautiful, but it is tough on the feet if you are walking on it all day. We have 4 kids and a dog so we expect it to get a lot of wear. We thought long and hard about the tile v. wood decision but ultimately went with the tile because it looked real (most people can't tell unless we tell them) and it is virtually indestructible. We heard too many stories about wood getting destroyed by pets and kids and didn't want to spend so much money and it be ruined in a short time. Good luck!