About to build home: Tiles or Wood flooring ?

Siatros · Mar 10, 2007 7:02 pm

Hi all,

We have been lurking for a while on these forums and we find them very informative so we hope someone can help us decide!

We are in the research phase of our new home and we are split 50/50 over tiles or wood in the living areas.

We'd like to hear from people who have made the choice and what their expeirences have been. Two things are key for us:

1) How are tiles with small children. We are worried our kids will slip and hit their head on the very hard floor?

2) Wear and tear and cleaning - we know wood can show up scratches etc but at least (real) wood can be sanded. We feel tiles will be cleaner and easier to maintain ....

Any insights kindly appreciated!

The Siartros

Michelle · Mar 10, 2007 7:43 pm

Hi Siartros,

I guess my questions are, what is the design and scheme of your home?
Do you have a lot of timber furniture?
Is there going be timber throughout your home?

These questions will depend upon which flooring will LOOK the best in your home.

Your children will only be small for a short time however your floor will down a long time.

I have tiles and love them, but after a period of time, and dropping frozen food out of my fridge they now have chips, unrepairable!

Timber is timeless, and always looks great; it gives a home a really warm cosy feel.

I think this is a personal preference only you can decide on…..but thumbs up for the timber!!!!

Siatros · Mar 10, 2007 9:56 pm

Thanks Michelle for your prompt reply. You raise some great points. I heard one can add an additional layer of protection on tiles - or indeed buy tiles which are hard to chip. But as you say timber is warmer.

Thanks again,
The Siatros

First_Timer_Ray · Mar 11, 2007 3:52 pm

Bearing in mind that the timber floor is the original timber under the other floor coverings, but the place we are living in at the moment (guesstimate of about 40-60 years old) has timber floors, and they have been done for almost 2 years (the carpets got ripped up and the floor sanded and polished just before we moved in) and the timber is shrinking and gaps are starting to form between the planks. I guess this wouldn't be a problem with concrete slabs and floatiing floors, but thought I'd add it.
Also with a 2 year old, we have that many scratches on the floor - especially from when we used to wheel the change table-come-baby bath (on casters) into the bathroom (no where to keep it in there). It has dug wheel marks into the floors. Also in the kitchen there are heaps of dents and especially where we had a plastic chair break and it dug into the floor ( :cry:

).
I guess there are pro's and cons of every sort of flooring, but thought I should tell you of our experience with wood... needless to say we will be getting tiles in our house!

Ray.

Siatros · Mar 12, 2007 12:22 am

Ray,

Thanks for your insights! Just interested: i always thought the wear and tear would add 'character' to your floor. I look at old wooden floors and if they are properly maintained, they look good with the evidence of life!

I guess you have to put up with it everyday so I can understand your perspective

Steve

maddas · Mar 14, 2007 4:05 pm

If you go with a subduide finish in your polyurethane ,i.e, satin down to a matt finish,you will have a floor that will appear to look better for longer than a gloss finish,
gaps and shrinking in floors are normally caused by seasonal movement
and the reason the floor will mark easerly after sanding is due to the hard surface of the timber been removed,you can help to minimise this by lightly steaming the floor after the main drum sanding but before the final disc sand, this will cause alot of grain rise in your timber ,but running a disc sander over with a 100-120 grit sand paper will smooth it up again

NeilD · Mar 14, 2007 4:28 pm

I have both, tiles in the kitchen/dining areas, laundry, toilet, and soon to be bathroom; and wood floors in the rest of the house, except the loungeroom which is carpeted. Tiles are so easy to mop when they are grubby, easy to dry when they are wet. The wooden floors can be a bit of a pain to clean, but the feeling of warmth etc is so much nicer.
So, it's really just a matter of personal choice. Like Michelle says, tiles can chip over time, but I like both....and it doesn't really have to be 'either/or'

Siatros · Mar 17, 2007 12:36 am

Thanks all for your comments. Based on your feedback and our research, our plan is to go for tiles in the entry and wet areas and wood in the open plan kitchen, dining, living. All else will be carpet. This makes the place a little more kid friendly while keeping maintenance down.

Thanks again for your insights!
Steve

royalblue · Apr 21, 2007 12:38 pm

Just to throw another option into the equation..............

I am constantly in people's homes talking with them about their floorcoverings. I get lots of feedback and one surface that is often overlooked that I feel should be considered is................CORK.

Of all the homes I've seen with cork floors, the owners have reported being very happy with their floors.

It is a very friendly and practical surface in those areas that hard floors are traditionally chosen. They are warmer, quieter, more forgiving and hard wearing than many alternatives.

ONE IMPORTANT FACTOR in living on hard floors is they are not kind on our feet or backs. Any people with back troubles here?...... this is statistically a big problem for many people. If you spend long hours on your feet at home, you'd do well to consider cork.

Aesthetically, the usual honey golden finish is attractive and is naturally timber-like in tone. Or there are alternative whitish or pinkish tones as well. All quite attractive.

Ash.