I've never lived in a hot climate like AZ but it certainly makes sense that tile is a great material there. I like the look of that tile but have no idea if it fits with the market there. The wood look tiles to me are a modern take on a traditional look - is that what the buyers there want?

I live in central Georgia and have an entire houseful of a similar wood look tile. We absolutely love it! I love that it will not change in appearance over time....very durable and no scratching. Go with a very very dark grout and it will always look new.

Oh, and another benefit...it hides dirt extremely well!

We're just at the "discussing" stage of building a casita behind our house in New Mexico. One thing we agree on is that this kind of flooring would be perfect. It works well for a desert environment and should wear like iron.

I love that stuff and wish i had some place to use it!

DLM - that's what I don't know. I know most bedrooms are carpet in my area right now, but many of them have not been updated for years. I don't know that it is common enough that most people even know about it.

If we did it we would go with the dark grout, but we would butt them up next to each other so there would be as little grout as possible showing. (We understand we need to do something to the grout to do this.)

We are also concerned about water coming from the teenagers in and out of the pool and in and out of the family room. The tile would be much better than laminate for this.

I go back and forth on this. I love the look/coolness/water resistance of the tile, but the feel and possible sellability of the laminate. (The home isn't high end enough to justify wood for sellibility even without our other concerns for it.)

If it's going to add to the comfort of your living in the house for the next 4 years, for me that's long enough to go ahead and do it. If you do sell in a few years and it still isn't a popular choice buy a cheap area rug and put it in the bedroom or 2 smaller ones for either side of the bed. Do it for today and not for the what ifs of the future.

I used it in a powder room- I love it. I think that it is certainly a durable product that will wear well and age well, so I don't think it would be a deal breaker even if someone didn't love it.

I would definitely use it--- can't imagine it would negatively affect resale as compared to laminate... and, maybe in 5 yrs, there will be a whole lot more people in az using it!!

I would definitely use it. I can't imagine tile would be a drawback in AZ. I have a similar tile in our master bath and it is really nice. We are in NJ so I wouldn't tile the whole house but if I were in a hotter climate I would.

I don't know about the market there, but I do know I saw tiles like these at Lowe's a couple of days ago and remarked on how nice they look.

Definitely do not use laminate in any area you may have water!
We love the wood look tile and have been thinking of using it in the kitchen re do if and when that happens. I would think it would be a much better resale option over laminate any day. It wears wonderfully. The only problem with tile in an area where there is water is the slip factor but if you have tile that has a texture to it like most of the wood look tile does that lessens that problem.

So. CA here and we used a wood look porcelain tile in our guest house, about 1,500 sq.ft of it. The one we bought came in different lengths and we laid it "randomly". Many people don't realize it isn't wood when they first walk in. The space is mostly used as a man cave and I am so glad not to have to worry about what gets spilled by DH and the boys. This is the one we used - Cerdomus Barrique. Large tiles can have lippage problems when installed, so you need a good tile guy. The tiles we used were amazingly level and straight, which allowed us greater flexibility in not following the 1/3 offset rule for installation.

http://www.cerdomus.com/flex/AppData/WebLive/webCataloghi/9c22d15568c164c6b9f871076331d6bf/Barrique.pdf

I like the idea, and may consider for my bedroom (also in the Southwest -- with cats). But I heard there are problems with installation -- maybe I heard it here on GW?

No problems with installation as long as you buy good quality tiles (not bowed) and have a very good and experienced tile installer.

I have wood look tile in my family room. I live in CT and it gets cold in the winter so we put heat under the tiles which is wonderful. I absolutely love this tile. I can not say enough good things about it. Just be careful how they lay the tile down if you are going for a natural/real wood look. I had to be very specific with my installers. If it's not layed random like a hardwood floor would be it ends up looking like tile. If that's the look you want then great. Also make sure that the tiles are flat or you will get lippage.

One final thing, who ever said that it hides dirt well....YES!!!!

I actually have to remind myself to mop occasionally bc I can't ever see the dirt. And I have 2 messy sons, a sloppy husband and a big lab.

Ps, even with being very specific, I turned my back for an afternoon and they still messed up and didn't quite get "random" right. This is with a very reputable company. I'm still happy and most people would never notice what I am talking about but if you are a perfectionist make sure you micromanage every detail.

I can't think of anyone in the construction business who would be happy with a customer looking over their shoulder and micromanaging every detail of the installation. If you are a perfectionist, it might be wise to adjust your expectations because with these long format tiles, especially when using less than recommended grout spacing, there are going to be imperfections. And random means just that ... random. Forcing randomness means that it is no longer random. If I were a tile setter, I would charge extra to have a customer stand over my shoulder and tell me where to put every tile. Just saying.

BTW grennhavenrdgarden, I think your floors look lovely, and you are right ... I don't notice whatever it is that you see that's "messed up."

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2672472/help-our-wood-look-tile-was-not-laid-randomly

Here's a link to a thread that discusses in detail what I mean about laying wood-look tile. Not my thread but I found it to be extremely informative when I was researching this kind of tile myself.

It is easily done in a random layout but many tilers don't think random bc that's not typical for most tile jobs.

Because I stepped out for a few hours while the job was being done, half my room was put down in a stair step pattern--which is not what I paid for and not what the owner told the workers to do. The owner of the company was mortified (bc he and I had agreed how the tile would be layed and he knew EXACTLY what needed to be done). He offered to rip it out and restart on his dime but I chose not to since the heat was already put in and I worried it would damage it. Also I was in a time crunch so I kept it.

Regardless, I paid thousands for this job. I have every right to supervise the work if I feel it's needed. I had no intention of telling the guys where to lay each tile but even the owner wishes that I had. If someone in the construction business can't handle a homeowner checking on their work then feel free to pass on my job.

I knew exactly what you were talking about I saw your stair step sections right away but I too am very specific in the randomness of this type of tile and real wood or laminate. I was watching every piece that went down in the room we put wood laminate just to avoid any stair steps or side by side exact same pattern.

If I am paying that much money for the tile and the installation I absolutely have the right to be there to make sure it's looking like what I am paying for.

I love your tile can you please tell what brand and color it is?

I agree with Greenhaven about overseeing work that is exacting or unusual. It is all in how it is done, and whether it is indeed warranted. If you are pleasant and respectful and courteous, I find contractors do not mind. It is better than a client not knowing what they want or saying what the want and then complaining. Especially if you are doing something unusual, be very specific, and print out color coded diagrams or charts or whatever. I did on the main house at the beach, and my emails were printed out in color and taped up in the house in several spots. It really helped. The GC said he needed to hire me.

Many times GCs won't or financially can't fix problems. Even though you should not have to, it is wise for the HO to keep an eye on things.

My apologies if I implied that a customer shouldn't dictate how they want their job to look. Of course they should get what they asked for and it's smart to keep an eye on things to make sure they are progessing as intended. There is a difference between that and micromanaging and that is the point I was attempting to make. Hearing greenhavenrgarden's explaination of what happened on her project, I retract my comments. I do concede that unfortunately, micromanaging is sometimes in order.

"I can't think of anyone in the construction business who would be happy
with a customer looking over their shoulder and micromanaging every
detail of the installation."
Yes, and no. I can assure you that as a customer, I have no interest in and am also not happy about micromanaging a job. Unfortunately, I live and learn almost every single time when someone does work on my house. And these are all highly recommended and certainly not cheap companies. In fact, I'm sure the owners would have appreciated it had I micromanaged their workers.
(Like a "painter" not bothering to open the windows when painting windows on the outside and the still not only be half painted but all windows painted shut. The company owner was mortified and furious. Or roofers not bothering to cover up the outside faucets before removing the heavy cedar shingles despite my telling them. Well, yes, one faucet broke off; again, an unhappy roof company owner.)

Greenhaven, what tiles are these? Thinking about something like this for my finished basement.

I think I was more or less referring to experienced craftspeople, not workers who aren't skilled enough to be left on the job on their own. These mortified, furious, and unhappy company onwners should have had someone there to manage their employees rather than the homeowner. Nosoccermom, as you and greenhavenrdgarden have illustrated, "should have" isn't something we can always count on.

Agreed.
Or as Lenin (?) said, "Trust is good; control is better."

I like the idea of the wood ceramic tiles. I have a house filled with real wood floors. There are many applications where I think the wood pattern ceramic tiles would be superior. I wouldn't loose any sleep choosing this type of material. I would rather see this in a house than Saltillo tiles.

Be sure to specify the random pattern installation. Double check their work throughout the day. I'm a really nice, respectful person. While I would call the GC on an incorrect installation, I wouldn't hesitate to tell a subcontractor to stop until the issue is discussed and resolved to my satisfaction. Communication is often difficult and requires effort on everyone's part. In the end, I'm the one writing the check.

I absolutely love my wood look tile and ran it straight through the master bath. One of my worries though was how the wood look floor would jive with the double real wood doors and other woods. My concern was that it could look cheesy. I don't think it looks bad at all and I'm happy. I like that I can come in from the pool area wet , I also like that it hides dirt and dog hair. I'm in Florida and think it not only practical but pretty when used with a very dark grout and thin grout line.

The tile I used I got at Tile America here in CT. It's Sequolo 'Moro Rock'

http://tileamerica.com/tile-products/?category_id=23&product_id=257&action=colors

I usually give workers plenty of space while working in my house...Im pretty low-key...it's just with this particular kind of job it's best to stay on top of it. I thought bc the owner had explained to the guys in front of me what was to be done and the guys said that they understood that we would be ok. This is a reputable company in Fairfield County CT. It certainly wasn't cheap. They were one of the higher bids. I was surprised to find the stair step pattern. But now that my furniture and area rugs are in it doesn't really show. And in the end the owner offered to make good so I have no room to complain. I still love the floor :)

I actually have the wider grout lines and while it doesn't look true to wood, I am still loving it. And yes to it being extremely forgiving to live with.

We own/reno condos in Phoenix. I live in El Paso. IMO, the tile will help sell your property. Wood-look planks are seriously the greatest thing since sliced bread in our pool/outdoor living climate.

We're having a home built in Arizona right now and we're having wood-look tile in all but two secondary bedrooms. Hasn't been installed yet. I feel it would be a real feature for future resale here in the Phoenix area. I looked at some brand new model homes in the East valley last week and every home had wood-look tile. Best of luck on your project.