Either will work. Hardwood will shrink and expand with the change in temperature. But, with radiant floors, there won't be a lot of expansion. Hardwoods will show more wear and tear.

I like the tile. I always thought I would prefer hardwood, but somehow I never seem to install it when push comes to shove. I don't drop that much that breaks on the floor, it's easy to clean and I don't notice any problem with my back on a tile surface. The rest of my house is hardwood.

The bottom line is quit stressing. Get what you like. They are both appropriate for the application. Find out how much they will cost. That might make the decision easier!

It really depends on your back and knees. If you have any back or knee problems, I would definitely get something that is more forgiving than tile. I find that even the gel mats don't effectively help. I have wood floors and have had them for 6 years with no problems.

If you're concerned about a possible water leak, they make a product nowadays called a "water cop" which can be installed anywhere there might be a leak. It will alert you if there is a leak so you can catch it before it becomes a full fledged flood. However they are not cheap.

homechef - i am actually leaning towards hardwood for the aesthetics, but my major reservation is the shrinkage/expansion and poor conduction of heat. do you have any radiant heat under hardwood floors? i just wonder if it would be harmful or silly to install. cp - i have not heard of water cop but will definitely look into it. good to know that your floors have held up nicely for 6 years!

I had radiant heat under hardwood. I didn't find that it worked that well for me (perhaps the Canadian winters have something to do with it?), and I didn't like what it did to the floors. I don't recall exactly what it was that happened to the hardwood, but I ended up taking out the hardwood and putting in tile. Fortunately it was a small room that I did. I've been happy ever since.

sherri, that's what i was wondering! i suppose i may need to consider hardwood without radiant heat vs tile with radiant heat. do you have radiant heat under your tile?

We have pine floors 12 - 24 inch boards with radiant heat. Ours is hot water tubing.

Yes, I have heat under tile and love it. I'm actually quite happy with hardwood floors that are not heated, but the warmest (non-heated) is my cork flooring which is in the basement. It is very comfortable in bare feet in the middle of winter.

We have radiant heat throughout our house and for that reason have never had hardwood anywhere. I would think it would dry it out and also not conduct the heat as effectively. We have had ceramic tile throughout for 20 or more years now. I have two artificial hips (birth defect, not the floor). I just get myself a good pair of house shoes and I do use orthotics because I have a high arch. I can go for hours in the kitchen on my feet. LL Bean is a good source for some nice comfort mocs that are slides. Kind of open at the back and slide on with a mesh fabric to breath. I have used that style for many years. Then when I sit down and want to put my feet up they just slip off and back on when I want them. I rarely ever walk in the house without shoes and I think it makes a huge difference. Even if you don't have a slab floor or tiles, its likely easier on your back and legs.

silken do you enjoy the heated floors even with shoes on?

Well, My feet don't get much satisfaction. But our guests do! They love it. And if we are sitting on the floor you certainly feel it. Or get up to run to the bathroom, middle of the night. But overall, what we like is the very even heat whereas forced air heat (common in Canada) can be drafty or cooler until the furnace kicks in. This is always the same and no warm and cool cycles as the floor retains the heat for hours. If the power goes out I think it stays warm longer too. My feet get cold when I visit other people's homes in winter.

And in summer, our floors are nice and cool, which is welcome as well.

The original kitchen had linoleum, and while planning our reno we debated between hardwood, laminate or porcelain tile. I hate having hot feet, so radiant heating has never been a consideration. I live in southwest British Columbia, so it doesn't get too cold, and our forced air ducting runs in the crawlspace beneath the kitchen, so the floors don't get that cold regardless.. Anyways, hubby, the kids love the ice machine in our fridge, and they are always dropping crushed ice. The kids are always having spills and the floor almost always has at least a drip of water here or there. It's a well used kitchen! Because of my concern about water, we ended up installing porcelain tiles. I have always been aware that I should wear shoes in the house because I have a mild foot deformity that is at risk of worsening without appropriate support, but I've always gone barefoot in my home. The tile changed that, my feet become painful if I don't wear my house slides if I'm spending the day baking, but I suppose it's a good thing for me to support my feet. Hubby has dealt with plantar fasciitis prior to changing the floor, so he always wears house shoes as well. We haven't noticed any pain in our hips or knees, but we are still quite young, and I'm sure wearing shoes helps with our alignment. Right after we installed our dishwasher on the new flooring, there was a big leak, and I'm glad I went with the tile! It's easy clean, I don't stress about the kids sliding their chairs and stools across it, and it's an attractive tile. I prefer the warmth of wood, but I know for our family, tile was the best choice, and we are willing to wear house shoes. I've brought wood into the kitchen in different ways, with the stools, utensil "pots", cutting boards, etc.. There will always be pros and cons, you just need to decide which has the least cons and the best pros for your situation :). Also, when you are considering cost, find out if you need to install subfloor. We ended up having to install ditra, which definitely added to the cost. Good luck making your decision.

We have radiant heat under our quarter sawn oak floors for 6 years now. Good consistent heat for the whole room.

I am in New England, where it can drop to -20degrees F.

I have radiant heat (hydronic) under RIFT-sawn site-finished oak 3.5" wide hardwood in the kitchen and under tile in the familyroom.

Because I have a whole wall of windows and it's hardwood (which means I can't crank up the heat), the HVAC guy suggested that I keep my 1 wall of hot-water-baseboard as a back-up heat (for those really cold nights).

Because of radiant, I was suggested to get rift sawn or quartersawn which expand/contracts less than normal sawn wood, and definitely nothing wider than 4-5" planks, and nothing pre-finished (the contraction/expansion would ruin it).

I wished I had gotten the wood-look tile for my kitchen (another GW had great ones: will find name later; she had a u-shape kitchen w/ a landing spot for Trader Joe's shopping).

I love just how incredibly warm (even hot) that I can crank up the heat in my tiled familyroom.