Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 17, 2013 2:13 pm We're building with M3tric0n with construction set to start in March. I'm still torn between tiles or floorboards. I like the look of tiles, but I'm worried about keeping the grout clean (we definately want light coloured tiles). Husband prefers timber floors which I like the look of, but I'm concerned about it getting scratched with 2 little ones, and also the massive cost difference. Tiles are currently included, but I'm sure we'll end up having to pay for an upgrade anyway as I don't don't want polished ceramic as I'm worried about how slippery it will be. Any suggestions???? All display homes seemed to be tiled these days. We need to make a decision before the slab goes down. HELP! Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 2Jan 17, 2013 2:57 pm There has recently been a thread on this I think. Do a google search and I'm sure it'll come up. But tbh we are having a similar dilemma. I love the wood look tiles but I'm concerned about expense. We found an engineered floorboard with tomber veneer layer which is Eco friendly, cheap to buy and lay ($79/sqm all inclusive), has an awesome warranty (25yrs) and looks lovely. However, I read a thread where a kid had sat on a laminate type floor in a wet nappy or something and the floorboards had all warped and swollen. It freaked me out because I wanted the boards in the kitchen and our master suite, which will have our nursery in it. I don't want a bit of water ruining it. Anyway on the grout issue there are rectified tiles these days which allow grout to be only a few mms and you don't have to have white. You can also get grout sealed to prevent staining. Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 3Jan 17, 2013 3:25 pm I would say it depends if you have young children.....I would have floor boards if I didnt have young children. Whilst doing our KDR, our children trashed the rental property floor boards. I could see scratches from their toys. They were two and three at the time. Our first pre-child home had floorboards and we loved them. Next house we build will be floor boards... Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 4Jan 17, 2013 3:38 pm Our last place had original jarrah floorboards (it was on stumps though so bit different to concrete slab) and they held up brilliantly to two dogs with sharp claws, spills, sand under foot, dropped items and an idiot with an acidic spray to "clean" our couch with no protection for our floor. They were what sold our house as they were still stunning 3 years on. So I'm not concerned about kids scratching the floorboards as that will happen anyway and solid wood you can re-sand and re-polish. Tiles get damaged too especially highly polished ones and dropped items can especially be a problem. For me it's the water issue in timber/laminate/veneer floors on a concrete slab. I'd never considered it till reading that thread but now I worry. This is just yet another difficult decision in a long list of many Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 6Jan 17, 2013 4:50 pm Novice8 Oh no....what do you mean timber floors on concrete slab issue... Not timber floors on the concrete slab being an issue but water sitting on timber that is fixed to a concrete floor. I'm talking about where warping may occur due to water sitting on the floor for a period (such as overnight). In our old place though there was a subfloor so there was a place to go if there was excess water on the timber. With concrete slab there is nowhere for it to go so I'm wondering what damage may be incurred if something like that were to happen. With tiles you have no problems as the water just stays there till you clean it up and no damage is done. Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 7Jan 17, 2013 5:03 pm Hi we are building M as well and we are having engineered floorboards done through them. If thinking of upgrading to porcelain I would check the laying cost for that as depending on the size of your house could be pricey. I personally love wood and yep wood scratches. We are currently renting a house with tile and I hate it because of the large grout lines I can't keep it clean. We just sold our ten yr old house that had cheap laminate from Harvey Norman and twice whilst I was out our washing machine(top loader) flooded the house all over the laminate and it held up wonderfully, good enough that we sold with that laminate still in it and no scratches the stuff did not scratch just a chip or two there. Laminates get such a bad name but I found ours to be great and I am regretting we didn't just go with laminate again instead of the engineered which I know will scratch. Good luck with your decision. Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 8Jan 17, 2013 5:07 pm That's good to hear someone else's account Tash of the laminates and water. Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 9Jan 17, 2013 5:14 pm We certainly were lucky and we had no idea about any of this when we bought them. I just have this feeling that my more expensive engineered floors won't hold up as well to scratches though, go figure. As you said Smithy you can also if going tile go with the smaller grout line. We have white floor tiles inj the wet areas of our soon to be house and we have smaller grout lines with a grey grout. Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 10Jan 17, 2013 5:15 pm With modern timber floors, it is rare to see people use a wax finish or maintain them by using wax on top; this make sense because waxing is labour intensive and needs to be done regularly! However, it provided a *lot* of the scratch resistance of old timber floors; most 'scratches' were just in the surface wax layer and consequently could be polished out or would vanish with the next waxing. As a child, a lot of people I knew had timber floorboards and scratching was never mentioned as an issue. So... end point of that ramble is that if you want timber, it is worthwhile to look in depth at the various finishes offered and the available polishing products and see if you can match up the resilience you want with the amount of maintenance you want to do. Timber floors don't have to be super vulnerable to scratching from normal use (toys, dogs, shoes inside) but there will be a trade off somewhere, usually in how frequently you need to apply some sort or polish/wax. Tiles vary as much as timber, maybe more. If you went for tiles, my 2c is to choose a tile that is the same colour through the whole tile so if the surface gets chipped, you don't get this effect: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ That chip is about 34mm long and several mm deep at the deepest point, for reference; it came from someone dropping a plate edge on. Plate shattered, tile massively chipped. I have other smaller chips elsewhere too, from sources unknown. I still haven't determined how to 'fix' it given the tile cannot be replaced - always, always make sure you get a few spare tiles! Grout can be colour-sealed so it won't get stained and any dirt comes off with the mop or broom but it does cost additional so you want to allow for that in your costings. I'm planning on getting cork tiles throughout (or throughout the ground floor) and keeping the ceramic tiles to the bathroom/laundry only. Land settled May '14. Building the PD Hoffman39: 5/11=site start, 13/11=slab pour, 26/11=frame complete, 10/12=roof on, 12/12=bricking started. Blog: http://jyndeira.net/blog/ Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 11Jan 17, 2013 5:16 pm TashnStu77 Hi we are building M as well and we are having engineered floorboards done through them. If thinking of upgrading to porcelain I would check the laying cost for that as depending on the size of your house could be pricey. . Thanks for your reply. We will probably upgrade to porcelain as I don't like the slipperiness of polished ceramic. The area to be tiled is 200sqm. Now I'm wondering whether engineered floorboards are the way to go, or at least laminate until we can afford real ones. Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 12Jan 17, 2013 6:15 pm It's so difficult isn't it? I don't know if there is any right answer. Porcelain does sound like a good way to go though. Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 13Jan 17, 2013 6:44 pm Friends of ours have 4 children and have bamboo flooring - it's higher quality (from the range available) and it's worn really well - very few scratches, despite the young kids. We'll look at these or recycled floorboards when we build. Re: Timber or Tiles - Pros & Cons 14Jan 17, 2013 7:38 pm rubybrierley Friends of ours have 4 children and have bamboo flooring - it's higher quality (from the range available) and it's worn really well - very few scratches, despite the young kids. We'll look at these or recycled floorboards when we build. It's like you've read my mind - we've actually been discussing bamboo flooring for the past 2 hrs. If its cheaper than timber I think the decision will be made or us. Standard uninsulated double brick has an R value of around 0.7. An insulated standard 90mm stud timber frame can have an R value of around 2.7. Even if you insulate a… 17 12046 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15908 Firstly the ableflex that has been installed needs (manufactures specification) a sealant cap over the top, preventing water draining down between the slab and the… 3 7780 |