Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Aug 20, 2014 1:49 pm I am currently in a dilemma as to which flooring type to go with for the new house I am building. After doing some research, it seems the prices will not be dissimilar between the porcelain tile I am looking at, or the solid hardwood boards, this is including installation (for tiles, screeding and grout, for hardwood boards, particle board as this will be on concrete slab). From what I've read online, porcelain tiles require less maintenance, will not fade or stain easily, but are colder and harder (for crockery and legs), whereas timber seems to be generally more popular, looks more welcoming and warm, but needs more maintenance, fades under sunlight, gets scratched and stained more easily. There are pros and cons for both types, would appreciate if anyone could share their experiences of living with solid hardwood floors, in terms of maintenance required, whether you observed any fading due to sunlight, did you need to sand and polish after a certain amount of time etc. I currently live in a house with porcelain tiles so already have experience with those. Re: Porcelain tiles vs hardwood flooring 2Aug 20, 2014 1:58 pm I've had polished Jarrah, and it has been reasonably trouble-free. My floors never got any sunlight so I don't know about fading. Maintenance-wise, it's OK but not great. It tends to show up the dust in brightly-lit areas but I think the same would be true of dark polished floor tiles. I didn't worry too much about scratches and wasn't particularly careful, it was fine, though I wouldn't drag any heavy furniture over it - I used those felt pads to stick under couch legs etc. You can get different sealant strengths apparently, don't know what I had but it seemed fine for the most part. I had them for around 10 years and didn't need to sand/repolish them. Re: Porcelain tiles vs hardwood flooring 3Aug 20, 2014 2:13 pm Thanks trixee, if I may ask, how did your floors never get any sunlight? When you say you had them for 10 years, did you move out from that house, or replace the floorboards? Re: Porcelain tiles vs hardwood flooring 4Aug 20, 2014 2:23 pm It was a cold, dark house, which is why we're knocking it down Actually, now that I think about it one of the east-facing rooms did get some sunlight, but I never noticed any fading. I got the floorboards done when I bought the house about 15 years or so ago. During that time, I've both lived in the house and rented it out to tenants. The worst damage that I got was from inadvertently moving a couch without realising that the felt pad had come off the foot. It was a pretty deep gouge and if I was to continue living there I'd get it fixed. Re: Porcelain tiles vs hardwood flooring 5Aug 20, 2014 2:25 pm We're also intending to get floorboards in the bedrooms of the new house. I'm putting felt pads on everything, even the bed. Except for things with castors, obviously. Re: Porcelain tiles vs hardwood flooring 6Aug 20, 2014 2:28 pm I've had them, loved them, getting them again. Mine faded slightly but it wasn't really noticeable. I sanded and re polished after 7 years and they came up like new. I'm getting spotted gum as there is a huge variation of colour in the different boards and fading will be less noticable I hope. I'm also going to get a cordless vac which I'd light and easy to run over the living room every day. I find I'm a bit slack if I have to pull a whole vacuum out of the cupboard, plug it in etc lazy I guess!! Dust is noticable when the sun shines over but that might be the case with all floors. Re: Porcelain tiles vs hardwood flooring 7Aug 31, 2014 10:38 pm KDR_newbie I've never had tiles but always wanted them and am for my new house. I'm thinking polished porcelain. The ones in the Beaumont Tiles showroom. I figure if they look great with that much traffic, they'll be fine in my home. I have a black dog though. Worried how the hair will go on a nice putty/mushroom colour tile. Any thoughts? Easy to sweep and mop and still look fab? Will the dog scratch them? TIA Re: Porcelain tiles vs hardwood flooring 8Sep 03, 2014 2:58 pm TomCat, we have polished porcelain currently and will also be getting them in the new house now. They're very much easy to sweep and mop, can also vacuum them if you want, as long as you use the attachments for these (soft bristles to prevent the metal from scraping the tiles). If its porcelain, or even ceramic, tiles its highly unlikely your dog will scratch them, they are quite hard. Thats a note of caution too that, most fragile things you drop on them WILL break. Re: Porcelain tiles vs hardwood flooring 9Sep 03, 2014 3:01 pm For cement grouts, you may also want to consider sealing it every year or so, I am currently considering whether or not to get epoxy grout which is more expensive, however does not need to be sealed. Hi All. I'm currently resurfacing the hardwood floors and when removing the old layers that there's a long dark line running across the boards. Does anyone know what or… 0 267 1 12684 1000000% definitely add insulation. I have in my home and it makes a big difference minimising sound transfer. Insulation is pretty cheap and definitely worth it 2 3668 |