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transition between herringbone plank tile floor and hardwood

10 years ago

I may crosspost this in kitchens - apologies for duplications.

Kitchen floor in progress. Here is a pic of the floor at the new 10 ft opening between kitchen and dining room (and liv room beyond). It was a loading wall that has recently been removed.
Kitchen herringbone floor (to be) is Exotica porcelain wood plank -Oak- (not rectified) from Floor and Decor.

Not yet grouted. I'm struggling with whether to have grouted with dark brown in order to transition better between herringbone and the linear hardwood oak floor in adjacent dining room. Colors don't match precisely. That's okay. We will be staining floors (probably) in a year or two. Maybe a darker grout would add a little "striation effect" to the herringbone that would blend better with adjacent hardwood? Or should I go light with the herringbone since my kitchen lower cabinets or medium gray and light kitchen floor would work a little better than darker kitchen floor with the gray. Probably "6 of one and half dozen of the other" or "hair splitting" but feel free to voice opinions.

Our house is 75+ years old and has lots of places that show remodeling decisions based more on function than form so I'm trying not to get too hung up about this but your opinions are welcome, especially strong ones. And no, I'm not trying to fool people into thinking my kitchen floor is wood. I like the practicality of tile and natural style of wood - as simple as that.

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Comments (7)

gregmills_gw
10 years ago
Based off the picture it looks like the tile and white oak are at same height?
And im assuming you would rather not have something that would not be flush between the two floors?
TxMarti
10 years ago
The tile looks great. I'd go with a shade darker than your darkest tile for a couple of reasons. One, the darker the grout, the less it shows stains. Two, your wood floor has dark areas between the boards and I think they would have the same look then. JMO
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jgirl, I was referring to Bill's beautiful pic of the finishing piece that runs perpendicular to the other planks, which if it weren't there, would butt up against the tile. I'm sure your finished product looks fine, though. and donna, maybe you could sand down the bottom of the transition strip piece to be flush with the floor? A few passes with a belt sander should bring it down -- do it from underneath and you won't have ruined the finish.
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no the slate is on order and am ripping out the hardwood floor area where the slate is going. I hope to be level with the hardwood and was looking to use one of the flooring strips to butt up against the ends of the run of boards in the hallway. I am 3/4 way down the hall now and need to define the end where it will go to slate. not a reducer, but was wondering if I should router a 1/4 inch channel in the ends of the boards I am using in the hallway and use the slip tongue strip of wood to lock the ends with the board across the ends. Or should I just cut the ends of the boards and butt the perpendicular board against them. end result should be something like this: http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e157/mbclk320/Hardwood%20Floors/31-front-kitchentransition.jpg
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Vertise
10 years ago
I think you should have planned for your transition piece before the install. Your options are probably limited now, or probably not quite right spaced for whatever you choose.

The tile looks beautiful. Looks like it will be a very enjoyable and practical floor.
elphaba_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
snookums -

I did plan for the transition, it was going to have grout that was "invisible" but at the last minute (notice when I posted, midnight the night before after we had already done some testing in the closet a couple days before), I had "second thoughts". Actually these were third thoughts because I had already changed my mind - originally wanted "invisible", then wanted "darker", then wanted "invisible" again. Hate those "second thoughts" so where else to turn when one has "second thoughts", this forum, of course!
Four times is a charm - hopefully. I think it would have been beautiful either way but that is when considered as a "stand alone". Problem here really can't be resolved unless I had experience of a designer and could envision what the whole kitchen will look like with each option. (And yes, I already have diagrams and elevations and 3d, etc. -- for those of us who are inexperienced, only the real kitchen is going to resolve my indecision. IMO.) But thanks to those who were willing to voice their "gut reactions".
Vertise
10 years ago
Sorry, I completely misunderstood your post. I thought you meant a transition piece between the two floors (ie, schluter, t strip molding). Don't grout that joint between the two floors. It needs to be caulked if you go that route. Otherwise, the difference in expansion/contraction between the two materials will cause the grout to crack.

As far as grout color, look at lots of pictures. I would think you'd lose a lot of the beautiful herringbone pattern if you tried to match the dominant color. The tones of the two floors are very similar, so they already connect on that level. I don't think you have an issue of transitioning in terms of grout color. I guess the more natural selection for a wood look would be a little darker than the main color, like a shadow between the boards. A lighter color or a gray will look more like a tile floor with grout. I wouldn't do something lighter, as in peachy. You can kind of see what it would look like lighter right now. The higher the contrast you have with the tile will affect how busy or pronounced the floor pattern will look. Maybe you could cut strips of colored construction paper to lay over the joints to see what appeals to you more. You've got some variation in the tile colors, but when you use a grout color that matches the flooring, the floor becomes one big solid mass of color.

Here is a link that might be useful: herringbone tile pictures

This post was edited by snookums2 on Thu, Aug 8, 13 at 23:15
Vertise
10 years ago

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arook31
8 years ago
just coming across this post, we seem to have a similar situation. Do you have "finished" pictures??

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