Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Dec 21, 2009 2:38 pm Hi builders... What are the pros and cons of tiles vs floorboards for an open plan kitchen/family room? I'm a tiles fan and hubby is a floorboards fan - we need some feedback from those who have been there before us. I'd love to hear your thoughts.... Re: Tiles vs floorboards 2Dec 21, 2009 2:56 pm I went floorboards as I have tiles in my current house and the grout is a pain in the butt to keep clean. And I love the look of floorboards so went with them. Even though I have dogs and I know they will scratch them I love the look Forum thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22300 Re: Tiles vs floorboards 3Dec 21, 2009 3:02 pm Here is a link about this topic when it was discussed before viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10263&hilit=tiles+v+floorboards I am a total tile fan myself they are easy to clean, you can get some nice colours in them, they don't get scratched like boards, I actually like how cool they are underfoot but I also noticed in winter when we had our fire on or the air cond, the tiles held the heat as well Re: Tiles vs floorboards 4Dec 21, 2009 5:16 pm If you seal the grout then you won't have the grout cleaning problem. I've had both in houses and currently have vinyl (hate to admit but maintenance wise the vinyl is the easiest) Floorboards show up crumbs and dust more easily than tiles do (which of course depends on the colour of tiles). Floorboards need minimal water to clean, although so do tiles. Floorboards need sanding again because they get scratches on them but eventually tiles may need regrouting too but that would be much longer than when floorboards would need resanding. I found floorboards felt warmer underfoot than tiles in winter. Re: Tiles vs floorboards 6Dec 21, 2009 7:39 pm We loved the idea of floorboards, but with two labs - that consideration went out the window fast. ...and so tiles it was. Stefan Building the M3tr!con Liberty 42 at Stonecutters Ridge. The New Build Blog - "Life, In Progress." Stonecutters Ridge Community Website | My photos Re: Tiles vs floorboards 7Dec 21, 2009 8:19 pm I wouldn't recommend putting floorboards in a kitchen... Much as i love floorboards, i'll be having tiles. I work in Insurance and a common problem is water damage (whether broken pipes, flooded sinks, storms etc) to wooden floorboards. And they have to get ripped up and replaced, which causes no end of inconvenience to the owner!! Whereas tiles don't get that! But i still love floorboards My parents have them (AND they have them in the kitchen!!! ) and it looks beautiful viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: Tiles vs floorboards 8Dec 21, 2009 8:36 pm We are doing flooring after handover and we were deciding on either floorboards or tiles. Floorboards look great, but if you scratch them, you can only sand them back around three times, that’s if you have those floating floorboards. When we were told this we went for tiles, also the water issues was another reason for tiles. Builder; Big M Design; Soho 32 Facade; Ascent Blog; http://mickeyb-soho.blogspot.com Trend; viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23990 Re: Tiles vs floorboards 9Dec 21, 2009 8:56 pm Hello We had beautiful, stunning floorboards in our old house that we sold (which was 30 years old). I loved the character of them and we got so many comments on them as soon as people saw them (they were Blackbutt timber with a matt polyutane finish). BUT I couldn't stand when I got a dent or scratch on them cos I am kinda OCD and everything has to be immaculate!! Plus as soon as you scratch them they look terrible in the light! So if you can live with scratches and dents, then go for it, but if not don't bother. The first thing hubby and I agreed on in our new house is easy to clean tiles! I can use a vacuum straight over them and not worry about scratches etc. Couldn't use a vac in our last place cos I was worried about scratching them so my procedure to clean them was - sweep floors, dust floors and then mop them - took me forever!! Plus I used to HATE asking everyone who entered the place to remove their shoes cos some people never used to bother !! At least with tiles I can kinda let that slide! Re: Tiles vs floorboards 10Dec 21, 2009 9:00 pm People will be taking their shoes off if they come in. High heels especially a big no. We are getting solid timber floors. Re: Tiles vs floorboards 11Dec 21, 2009 10:44 pm We are completly in love with our new floating timber floors, we don't have dogs inside, nor do we or our visitors wear shoes inside, so these were non issues for us. I use an industrial size broom and mop and get a large area done in about 45mins total (every 2 days) which is fine by me, as the end result is worth the (little amount) of time they take to clean, they look amazing!!! They are lovely underfoot, not cold, not warm, just soft and spongy compared to tiles. I have also had tiles and vinyl and found the vinyl an absolute nightmare to keep clean and it marked REALLY easily, also non removable, just like "if" the floorboards get scratched/marked. My fav' by far are the floorboards, they have a real "homey" feel also, it's all personal preference I guess! Go with what you like! Building Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13002 Site start: 8th July 2009 Handover: 11/12/2009! 5 months total build time. 40 sqs of luxuary...Bliss! Re: Tiles vs floorboards 12Dec 21, 2009 10:46 pm If solid timber, floorboards! If floating, then tiles.. Personal preferance Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: Tiles vs floorboards 13Dec 21, 2009 10:57 pm I love the look of floorboards they are stunning!!! but we will be sticking with tiles when our house is built. I lived with my Mum for a week while renos were being done to our place and i freaked everytime my daughter played with a toy on the floor. Within the first day she scratched the floor. Also Mum and Dad had a party and some lovely person with high heels put little holes all around their floor Also another friend who has floorboards now refuses to have any parties at her house after her last party where yet again high heels caused hold all over her house. I think that is kinda sad. I don't want to restrict guests to my home to remove shoes and I don't want to worry about my daughter playing with toys around the house. So sticking with tiles we shall Building in Perth. Celebration homes Oasis. Pre-start complete 25th March 2010 Titles due April 2010 Re: Tiles vs floorboards 14Dec 21, 2009 11:31 pm Depends a lot on what you want to do with them... If the solar orientation of your house is right, tiles can be used to help heat or cool your house. Especially if laid over a concrete slab. We're using a natural stone tile in a dark charcoal colour. We have masses of northern glazing, so in the winter they will just soak in the heat like it's going out of fashion and distribute it into the slab. This stored heat will then continue to heat the house in the evenings when there is no more sun coming in the windows (and can continue to heat the house for days during inclement weather when there's little or no sun during the day to warm the house). In the summer we can keep the sun off the tiles, which in turn should prevent the slab from heating up. This will then allow the cool of the slab to emanate through the tiles and hopefully keep the house cool (or at least at a pleasant temperature) during hot summers - day and night. The tiles are very large and thick, and will also add thermal mass. Using tiles should allow us to not need any heating or cooling within our home - we have yet to find out just how well that works in practice Had our house not been designed to be as solar passive as it is, we would be using timber. Oh, and we've gone with 600*600mm tiles as I wanted to minimise the grout for cleaning purposes. Timber is not a good conductor of energy, so you cannot utilise the thermal mass properties of the flooring product itself or of the slab beneath. They provide a more even temperature underfoot - they won't be FREEEEEZING in winter, nor too hot to touch in summer. They will still get warm and cool, but not likely to such extremes that tiles would. They look beautiful, and if you're after something that will last and last (and last and last and last), isn't likely to scratch so easily, and sustainability is important to you then you should look at bamboo flooring. Stunning. This is what I would have if we weren't doing the thermal mass thing! Re: Tiles vs floorboards 15Dec 22, 2009 6:59 am If I was made of money, I would go bamboo throughout, but just can't justify it (besides, it can be renovated at a later date). I will definately get tiles in wet areas and kitchen, but will go click laminate throughout the rest of the house. When I have a bit more cash to muck with down the track I will change out the laminate for bamboo Cheers Rob Re: Tiles vs floorboards 16Dec 22, 2009 10:38 am We are having strand woven bamboo boards throughout the living areas in our place. Timber was the only choice for us, I am not really a fan of tiles except for bathroms and the laundry. From my research the strandwoven bamboo is rock hard and one has to live, so if we get scratches we will just have to live with it and sand them back and polish them every 5 to 7 years Blog: http://funmore-residence.blogspot.com/ Forum: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21109 Construction Start - 19/09/09 Slab Poured - 21/10/09 Frame Completed - 25/11/09 Lockup - 22/12/09 Fixing - 22/02/10 Handover & Moved In 30/04/2010 Re: Tiles vs floorboards 18Dec 22, 2009 2:31 pm I run the vaccumm over mine and then move to bedrooms..... i never take more than 15min tops to vaccumm/mop rumpus/lounge where floorboards are... I think the darker the timber the more they show up dust etc...ours are a golden colour and we have two long har cats and they dont look dirty... Re: Tiles vs floorboards 19Dec 22, 2009 10:33 pm With a dog that lives inside, plus the kids we are having tiles....love the look of timber floors but I don't want the stress of looking after them, Cheers Lou http://take2-customdesigndownslope.blogspot.com 07-10-09 omg they have cut the block 14-05-10 we finally have the keys Re: Tiles vs floorboards 20Dec 23, 2009 8:41 am As part of our renovation we were going to strip everything back to our hardwood floor and lay tiles over the top. Main problem was the weight, if tiles are to be added then a lot of extra weight needs to be engineered into the structure. As it stands already we are needing 3 tonne of steel in the place and did not look forward to having to beef up the beams under the kitchen, living and dining, thus removing height from the underside of the house. So we decided on Boral hardwood flooring. Either Blackbutt or Tassie Oak. My parents also have this wood through out, as long as there is correct ventilation under the floor (in the cavity) you wont have any problems with warping. Our house is on posts so thats fine. So my main concern is weight. If we had a slab, we would have gone tiles. More choice of colour and feel. Hi All New to the forum and looking for some advice, has anyone else renovated an old miners cottage in or around Ballarat and been able to identify the flooring? We… 0 8759 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 7744 Our house was completed 8 years ago. Builder did not leave any spare roof tiles behind. Just found out that one tile is cracked. Wanted to replace the tile but most… 0 2774 |