Wood effect ceramic floor tiles...educate me...
Discussion
We are installing UFH in our new house, and our builder has advised the only two real options with this are either carpet or ceramic tiles. The area is about 80sqm, and he says even expensive engineered oak will eventually "cup".
At the moment, I'm leaning towards wood effect ceramic tiles like this...
...for reasons of practicality and looks. I think the wood effect will work in the kitchen, whereas a more traditional square kitchen tile will look odd in the living room. I can also have the whole ground floor in the same finish which will make it "flow" and look bigger.
However I do have some concerns, and was just wondering if anyone has any experience...
Durability...if a piece of gravel gets wedged under a door will it score an arc? What about a dropped saucepan lid in the kitchen? Dining chairs being "swung" on or scraped back clumsily? Bear in mind the floor is block/beam with a load of screed on it, so it absolutely will not flex or crack.
Warmth...no doubt it will be toasty when the UFH is on in the winter, is it just too cold in spring etc? I do intend to have some rugs etc, will these just become a skidding liability?
Do they look convincing in real life? Or is there too much repetition?
Cost...I've got some samples from an online place with costs of between £18 to £26 per sqm, has anyone got any recommendations? The builder recommends Porcelanosa, but I'm guessing it might be a bit "bend over sir".
Any comments/experience, and of course alternative ideas much appreciated!
At the moment, I'm leaning towards wood effect ceramic tiles like this...
...for reasons of practicality and looks. I think the wood effect will work in the kitchen, whereas a more traditional square kitchen tile will look odd in the living room. I can also have the whole ground floor in the same finish which will make it "flow" and look bigger.
However I do have some concerns, and was just wondering if anyone has any experience...
Durability...if a piece of gravel gets wedged under a door will it score an arc? What about a dropped saucepan lid in the kitchen? Dining chairs being "swung" on or scraped back clumsily? Bear in mind the floor is block/beam with a load of screed on it, so it absolutely will not flex or crack.
Warmth...no doubt it will be toasty when the UFH is on in the winter, is it just too cold in spring etc? I do intend to have some rugs etc, will these just become a skidding liability?
Do they look convincing in real life? Or is there too much repetition?
Cost...I've got some samples from an online place with costs of between £18 to £26 per sqm, has anyone got any recommendations? The builder recommends Porcelanosa, but I'm guessing it might be a bit "bend over sir".
Any comments/experience, and of course alternative ideas much appreciated!
Muncher said:
Engineered wood works perfectly well over UFH.
I agree with muncher. It'll be fine as long as its done properly. Similiarly, cermaic tiles can crack and lift if not properly installed with UFH.For your floor I would opt to glue the boards to the substrate with UFH compatible adhesive from Sika or F Ball.
Make sure you allow the boards to acclimatise to the room humidity and temp before laying - the longer the better.
After install you MUST ensure stability of the environment. Cupping will occur if you let the temp and humdity swing wildly....
stanwan said:
Muncher said:
Engineered wood works perfectly well over UFH.
I agree with muncher. It'll be fine as long as its done properly. Similiarly, cermaic tiles can crack and lift if not properly installed with UFH.For your floor I would opt to glue the boards to the substrate with UFH compatible adhesive from Sika or F Ball.
Make sure you allow the boards to acclimatise to the room humidity and temp before laying - the longer the better.
After install you MUST ensure stability of the environment. Cupping will occur if you let the temp and humdity swing wildly....
Hard-Drive said:
OK, so assuming it's a brand new build, with first fix happening just after xmas, what's the best plan in terms of actually fitting? The house is presumably going to stay cold and unheated as doors are left open as the guys work away on it, what happens come spring when we move in, or the following winter when the UFH gets used in anger?
You want to have all wet trades finished. UFH needs cycling and slowly brought to temp. Store the flooring on raised pallets in the same home to acclimatise. You should avoid shock heating any kind of flooring with UFH - no matter if it is tile or wood or even karndean - it won't react well and will buckle, shrink or crack depending on what you have...I have just had these wood-effect tiles fitted - Cornish driftwood from Topps. They are actually very good quality, and look very convincing. No problems with repetition. Also, they have quite a rough feel to them which, to me, makes them warmer to the touch then shiny tiles.
As they are in my bathroom, though, I cannot tell you about stone arcs / saucepan drops etc, but they are heavy buggers!
Edit - £50 per square meter, mind
As they are in my bathroom, though, I cannot tell you about stone arcs / saucepan drops etc, but they are heavy buggers!
Edit - £50 per square meter, mind
Edited by phil1979 on Tuesday 6th October 14:05
I have this sort of stuff in my kitchen and entrance hall (see build thread) and it's going in my conservatory eventually too. Ours is wood effect, but it's a dark grey so it's obviously not wood. It looks really good without having to try too hard to look exactly like wood. It was about £20 a square metre from a local shop and it's this stuff:
http://www.caprice.ro/eco-dream-edm-sandalo-225x90...
It's great, was easy to lay and pretty cheap.
It's laid onto a concrete floor in a cold room, no idea if there's insulation under the concrete, probably. I have to say if you check it it does feel cold, but not enough to notice through socks. I'm sure it would be a better option with UFH than wood. Wood is a pretty good insulator, so it's just going to slow down the response time of the system isn't it?
http://www.caprice.ro/eco-dream-edm-sandalo-225x90...
It's great, was easy to lay and pretty cheap.
It's laid onto a concrete floor in a cold room, no idea if there's insulation under the concrete, probably. I have to say if you check it it does feel cold, but not enough to notice through socks. I'm sure it would be a better option with UFH than wood. Wood is a pretty good insulator, so it's just going to slow down the response time of the system isn't it?
Pistom said:
The advice not to go for engineered wood with ufh was good advice.
Yes, if it is done correctly then there shouldn't be an issue but I've never seen it done correctly but seen many jobs where it hasn't.
Hmmm. That's a worry...sounds like you are in the trade or something and know about this?Yes, if it is done correctly then there shouldn't be an issue but I've never seen it done correctly but seen many jobs where it hasn't.
Pistom said:
The advice not to go for engineered wood with ufh was good advice.
Yes, if it is done correctly then there shouldn't be an issue but I've never seen it done correctly but seen many jobs where it hasn't.
We are 2 years from installation and have had no problems at all, I'm not sure how you could go wrong unless you don't clean the subfloor properly or don't use the proper adhesive?Yes, if it is done correctly then there shouldn't be an issue but I've never seen it done correctly but seen many jobs where it hasn't.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
We've been looking at Mandarin Stone who do similar. The range is not as comprehensive as Porcelonosa so they may not have what you are looking for. But at 20/m2 less it may be an option. Porcelonosa always seem to have the big sales in January/June also, usually at 40% off.
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