Wood look tiles

Anyone have experience with the Wood look tiles. We saw them in the tile shop yesterday but unsure if the grain grooves would attract dirt? I guess they are longer lasting than real wood. Don't get us wrong. We want timber flooring but just that these wood tiles have thrown us off!! Any thoughts? And what is a realistic price range installed? I am wondering because they are rectified tiles. We found base price of tiles varying between $85 to $130.

I like them when they are not trying too hard to be wood. Cleaning wise like any tiles, cleaning with neutral ph products and preventing dirt ingress will keep them looking good.

Just don't go for my pet hate which is a combo of tile and real wood.

May I please ask how much you ended up paying for the tiles (installed)?

We got some for our bathroom feature wall $65m2 cash and carry down from about $90. Love them!!!

The market is now full of choices. But the quality differs somewhat as well as the prices. Italians and Spanish are leading the way in producing best timber look tiles. You’ll find them from around $30/sqm. http://www.tfo.com.au/tiles/buy-timber-look-tiles. The maintenance is very easy as they are glazed and non-porous. Please let me know if we could be of any help.

Hey TFO do you know the approx install prices for these tiles?

Thank you for your response. The price of laying really differs between tilers. But for timber look tiles, the minimum may start around $40-$50 per square metre in Sydney. I'm sorry about the vague answer. You'd want someone who has some experience in laying timber tiles as there are some pointers to keep in mind.

Following this one for future reference... How do they compare in price to having real timber floors?

The price to lay either timber or timber look tiles will depend a lot on what they are both being laid over. If it is a concrete slab that is pretty straight and level then the tiler may simply prefer to glue the tiles directly to the concrete. If they are trying to match floor levels in other rooms or the slab has a lot of high spots and troughs then he may want to lay a screed first adding to the cost.
If you are laying a real timber floor over a concrete slab the layers may want to put down ply sheets first or do direct stick. Once again it adds to the cost.

Stewie

you're looking at about $85 per m2 to lay them, as opposed to $65 per m2 for normal rectified.

beware of the cheap ones they bow and will be hard to lay... problem is they are long say 900 and skinny say 150 so they bow alot .. with these price does really command quality

Thanks for the response... Stewie D is it common for newly built homes to have uneven slabs (novice question, I know!)
MrBee I assume you're talking about timber? Tiles wouldn't bow? Are your costs for timber laying or tiles?? Sorry I'm not up with the lingo!

I'm talking tiles. Not wood. Yes they bow believe me. Cost is laying wood look tiles

That's amazing... But as you say, their shape and length have an effect on that? Thanks for coming back to me... Would like to see some in the flesh as I've only seen photos. I'm in melb if anyone has suggestions... Thanks.

Get a couple from the box of the batch you are buying and put them face to face not one on top of another and rest down and look and see if they are bowed it's more the cheap Chinese ones that happen. Also that they are straight the grout lines for these are 1-1.5mm if tiles are exactly straight it will look terrible.

What is a combo of tile and real wood?

We have been importing timber look tiles from Spain for the last 17 years. The key is the detail in the print and the frame rate. This is the number of individual prints in each range. This variation is what makes it look like real wood, if every 3rd or 4th tiles look identical it doesn't work. Now on some ranges this variation can be rather dramatic to emulate lets say a weathered timber, while on other subtle to look like a newer timber floor. With the subtle look it is important that the variation is not just in the grain but also in the tone and hue of the tile to look realistic .
Regarding the bowing. ALL tiles have a tolerance in manufacture and one is bowing. Yes if a tile has a 3mm bow in it over say 900mmm thats way out of tolerance. But it is possible for a good quality tile to say have 0.5mm or 1mm in it. This happens even with wall tiles...and that why we should never brick bond tiles as we put the high spot of one tile next to the low spot of the other..therefore doubling the offset. With timber look tiles we need to offset to make it look authentic but each manufacturer will specify a max offset..in our case 200mm. Now when we check for bowing we never put tiles back to back as this will show you double the bow.
Imagine two bananas placed with the arch back to back...it give you double the true deflection. The true deflection is using a straight edge from the two high points of the deflection.
Attached some pictures of projects we have done hope it inspires...






Cheers

Thanks for that. Where are you based? Are you in Perth or can suggest anyone that installs to the standards you mentioned

Sydney only sorry...
Make sure the supplier makes these points too you and that the tiler is fully aware.
Cheers

All slabs will have a bit of variation in height - some more than others. Then there are those where the concreters rush the job or don't give a rats and you have a lot of peaks and troughs or should I say a big difference in height between the high points and the low points.

Stewie

we are acutally doing the timber look tiles thoughout the house, using timbertech. it looked good installed, and hopefully it won't be too cold upstairs.