Vinyl vs laminate vs tiles

movilogo

What are pros and cons of each?

In lounge, which one is suitable - vinyl or laminate (don't want carpet).

Similarly, in kitchen/bathroom floor - slate or vinyl?

DigForVictory

Our kitchen appears to be flagged, but is a fact surfaced with a nice thick heavyduty vinyl.
In the lounge, I'd stick with what I know is nice under toes & scrubs up easily & use another vinyl, perhaps even a wood effect.

I'd point out that what words for us may not work at all well for dogs & cats & someone with pets may have a better idea.

phoenix_w

Laminate

Pro's: Can give the effect of a nice wooden floor
Hard wearing
Easy to keep clean

Con's: Prone to bubbling when you have spillages that aren't immediately cleaned
Most laminate looks & feels really cheap and nasty

Vinyl:
Pro's: Cheap to buy & easy to install
Good vinyl can look really good (been fooled more than once into thinking a floor is real wood on entry to a room only to discover it's good vinyl)

Con's: Can wear/fade unevenly in busy areas
Softer ones can be damaged quite easily by impacts (dropped kitchen knives, pulling appliances over it etc.)

I've never had slate, so can't comment. I would, personally, choose carpet in a lounge. We had reasonably nice laminate in our last house, but carpet makes the room feel so much warmer. Laminate or real wood floor with big fluffy rugs is almost as nice, though.

In a kitchen, I'd probably choose vinyl by choice, just because vinyls are cheap and a doddle to change (stanley knife and a tube of silicone as long as the floor is concrete/screed or covered in hardboard) so cheap way to freshen up the room every few years.

marcusbee

My wife said laminate is better on a lounge. She said it is just better. I asked her and she said it is so easy to keep clean and looks beautiful.

phoenix_w

Just notice the subject says "tile" but the post talks about "slate".

FYI... I'd only ever consider tile over a properly level surface (preferably screed) that can cope with the expansion and contraction of the floor that will occur over the seasons. I tiled our conservatory and was amazed with the hardness of the tiles - had a few drops that would have shattered or cracked wall tiles, but didn't make a dent in the floor tiles.

The big con, of course, is that tiled floors are unbearably cold under foot. If you're having wet UFH, it's a no brainer, but otherwise I'd stick to vinyl.

movilogo

What is the difference between tile and slate?

I understand vinyl might be easier for kitchen. What about bathroom? Should I go for tile or vinyl?

atolaas

Tile isn't immune from damage either. As a child I remember that our kitchen floor had not long been professionally tiled when my Mum accidentally dropped the iron on the floor, it landed toe (pointy bit) first and made an impressive chip and cracks that spread across 4 tiles...this was not as impressive as the language my Dad used when he was doing the repair work...he hates tiling!!

jennifernil

How about this.....

http://www.factory-direct-flooring.co.uk/waterproof-flooring.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiA6ounBRCq0LKBjKGgysEBEiQAZmpvA-DhCx_JDSeVmPDwzjsLf72mEwLDNGFRdKt5clHh-RoaAsJ18P8HAQ

Personally, for a lounge I would have real wood, but this stuff looks pretty good . My daughter has it right through her ground floor.....family room, hall, cloakroom, utility and kitchen.

And she has the copper slate one in her bathrooms.

Waterproof, unlike laminate, warm underfoot unlike tiles, dishes don't shatter on it, unlike tiles, and the planks or tile-effect pieces are much easier to handle than a sheet of vinyl, especially in a bathroom where there will be lots of cutting.

Easy to lay and hard-wearing. Her Dad did all the floors, the oak plank ones he has used diagonally, more work but looks really nice and cuts out any problems with squint walls.

The expansion gap needed is minimal, and instead of beading, as used with laminate, the small gap to the skirting board is sealed with silicone.

We have since used the oak plank ones in our utility, her fiancee's kitchen, and the vestibule in a flat she rents out.
And the tile-effect ones in the bathroom in the flat.

When we re-do our bathrooms, we will use similar.

Be aware that ceramic tiles can crack if the floor prep is not good enough.

phoenix_w

Tiles are normally ceramic (although you can get natural stone tiles), whereas slate is, well, slate from a quarry... Natural or slate tiles sometimes need more TLC on installation (suitable cement & grout, potentially sealing so they can cope with moisture).

In a bathroom I'd prefer vinyl or a non-shiny tile (it's quite difficult not to go head over ar*e after stepping out of the bath/shower onto a sniny tiled surface). If you're considering tile the most important thing is the quality of the floor in your bathroom - many bathrooms are on the first floor and are on old floorboards that may not be in great condition - you'll need to board out and potentially level the floor with compound and even then the original floor may change shape enough that the tiles become dislodged after a few months/years. Certainly don't just tile onto the floor or a small bit of hardboard - otherwise it can become dangerous quickly (think cracked tiles that bare feet can get cut on easily).

Tyler_Du

I put wood effect vinyl down in my living and dining room last year, people assume its laminate / wood flooring. Unfortunately even though we got a super hard wearing one I've noticed a few places were something has punctured the surface of it

arbrighton

We've had vinyl throughout downstairs for a couple of months now- it's higher end stuff, and made as 'tiles' or 'wood planks'. Looks good, easy to clean and the skilled fitters did a fabulous job with our less than level floors and less than square rooms.

It has got a couple of scratches where the washing machine has been pulled in and out to finally fix the heating up.

We have underfloor heating in the extensions under the vinyl but it's not cold in the other rooms.

The bathroom floor which is ceramic tile however, is chilly. But it's not big and a bath mat does the job