Hi..I own www.tileofluxury.com . the tiles you have are too thin to drive over..you need at least 1.5 inch thick tiles and then put in mortar over concrete. Here is a link that might be useful: tile of luxury

Thanks , we considered that but had two concerns . First , given that it's a cottage , there will be times when the whole system , heat, water, etc will be shut down , mostly in the winter and we were afraid that the expansion and contraction associated with that could affect a glued down floor also , again because as a cottage , people will be in and out a lot , there could be a fair degree of wear that would mean re-finishing which , as I understand , is a problem with engineered flooring . I was hoping tha there was a new application process for hardwood that I didn't know about such as a sheet underlay with a plywood overlay or something like that . If not , we may have to consider tile throughout .

Things fall towards the ground, water is wet, and concrete will crack. These are some essential truths. The reason some installers prefer to use a concrete base is that rather than wheelbarrowing and compacting gravel, they find it quicker and easier to form and pour a slab. I could see this as an advantage in a tight urban lot like a rowhouse. That said, I still prefer pavers over a compacted gravel base. It's what they were designed for. If the base is deep enough and properly compacted the patio will take vehicular traffic without blinking, although they would likely have to excavate deeper (more $) to get a proper gravel base than they would for a sufficiently strong slab. It's a toss-up. Both methods will work. The only other thing I would say is that water penetration for the vine is irrelevant. Unless you opt to use permeable pavers, there's very little difference between a paver patio and a concrete or asphalt pad. Between the compacted-hard-as-concrete aggregate base and the polymeric sand in the super tiny joints, water's not getting under those pavers. It's running right off.

AND.....the hits keep coming............ I have not seen any further activity in the house. I keep checking...but nothing. Holding my breath but hopeful. HOWEVER...today I decided to clean out my shed. It is an all wood 8x12 structure that I built myself in the corner of my backyard. It is built upon four 6x6 posts (embedded in concrete) and is four (to six) inches above the ground (suspended). I had a large hardwood tabletop and a big piece of butcher block countertop stored in there. As I was removing items I noticed a large blemish on the tabletop. I thought I might have scarred it with a bicycle that I'd had hanging next to it. Nope....termites. I pulled the tabletop (and butcher block) away from the wall and they were prettly well chewed up. I soaked them with bug killer (because I didn't want to unleash live insects into the wild) and hauled them to the curb. Then I noticed that tremites had chewed up the plywood inner wall of the shed. Mud tubes (might as well be..mud WALLS) were erected in the corner of the shed. One single mud tube went all the way to the ceiling. It had all been hidden by that giant tabletop. There was damage in one other area as well....and I could HEAR the termites munching away. The damage is pretty harsh but IS salvageable (and does not appear to be structural). I doused all the affected areas with Termiticide. The termites also munched on other pieces of scrap project wood I'd been storing in there. I trenched around the back and side of the shed and (in the back) found a LIVE cluster of termites and mud tubes centered around some decorative stones I'd placed around the base of the shed. This area is CONSTANTLY moist (due to rain and shade). I soaked the trench in termiticide (including the backfill) and will complete the treatment for the front and other side tomorrow. I am exhausted. If anyone else has gone through this...I feel your pain. The destruction of these little buggers is unreal. I am confident I can patch my shed up...but man....what a frustrating pest to deal with. Cheers.