Wood effect tiles

mto

I've been looking at flooring for our kitchen diner extension and have come across wood effect ceramic/porcelain tiles. We originally saw these from Porcelanosa http://www.porcelanosa.com/uk/floor_tiles/par-ker.php but at over GBP100 psm :eek: it's a bit above our budget. I've now seen these from Homebase http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=737533 which are a bit closer to our budget. But wondering if anyone has any experience of them ... laying, durability, warmth etc...

I love the look of wood flooring but from previous experience don't like the wear and maintenance. Was hoping I could get the look of wood with the durability of a tile.

Any input welcome.

Thanks
mto

tpt

Glazed porcelain is a fit and forget floor. you wont have to touch it apart from a quick mop every now and then.

Fitting is quick and easy as long as the fitter has the right kit. Are you laying them onto concrete or wood?

Warmth wise - it depends on the floor your fitting them to. if its old badly insulated concrete then it can be an issue but on modern well insulated screeds its far less of an issue.

I personally have an oak floor and love it, but had a pine floor before that and it marked and scratched. Tiles may offer the best of both worlds for you and are cheaper than good quality laminate.

We sell 2 ranges, both porcelain at £24.99 and £20.99 and £37.99. i'd be happy to send you samples if you PM me your address. Personally i like the £24.99 range the best as it looks the most like our real oak.

tpt

i meant 3 ranges!

mto

Thanks for the that, the main part of the kitchen will be an extension so hopefully well insulated.

As you're obviously in the business, could you tell me the difference between ceramic and porcelain tiles. Is one better suited to kitchen and one to bathroom or one more durable.

Thanks
mto

tpt

Yes no problem. Both are well suited to either. Ceramic are hard wearing but are clay backed with a hard glaze on top. Porcelain tiles are made from a porcelain dust and are fired under pressure resulting in a harder and more dense tile, and most of them are suitable for external use as they have far lower rates of absorbency than ceramics. Porcelain tiles are the hardest wearing flooring you're ever likely to get.

porcys can be glazed or unglazed. Glazed porcelain, like ceramics have a glazed top layer which unglazed doesn't. unglazed can be great for slippy areas.

Most of the wood effect ones will be glazed as it is needed to introduce the pattern. The best ones are either inkjet printed (yes really) so that every tile is different or have several variations of the pattern which results a natural looking floor.

Porcelain can be a little harder to cut and drill, but if you have the right kit to hand they can be worth the extra effort.

Stay away from very cheap porcelain as it can be brittle and hard to cut well.

The porcelanosa ones are very nice, but its hard to justify the extra expense. You will find cheaper than both your examples without compromising quality IMO.

Feel free to contact me directly or on the forum if you have any more questions.