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Wood look ceramic tile? Other options?

6 years ago

We're redoing our walk-out basement and have had some issues with drainage. We've never had a lot of water come in but enough to cause dry rot and mold--a bit of a structural mess right now in the walls and windows.

They're removing carpet and sheet vinyl (glued to the concrete) now. The contractor recommends ceramic tile that looks like wood as a replacement. Would engineered wood work the same? Vinyl plank? Does one choice add more valuable? Is one incredibly expensive? They can put it down next week, so I've got to get up to speed on flooring quickly!! Thanks for any advice! I'm clueless and rapidly becoming broke as well!

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Comments (5)

aprilneverends
6 years ago
if the water the issue i wouldn't recommend engineered wood. true it withstands moisture better than whole wood but it's still wood. Kitchen-yes. Smth like bathroom or basement-no. I wouldn't. It won't work the same as tile. Or as vinyl

Ceramic wood tile can be a great solution if installed properly, and if correlates well with adjacent places. Vinyl plank, I don't know about enough. I know people seem to love it

Neither of choices is incredibly expensive, not neccessarily very cheap either.

Tile should be very durable choice though, it being tile. So if already to change-I'd go with tile.
indygo thanked aprilneverends
indygo
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks aprilneverends! I'm off to the hardware store to check it out.
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I had the same dilemna. I have golden oak floors throughout the rest of the house, but I wanted a darker floor in the kitchen. I would have loved an rustic, wide plank wood floor. This floor would not have matched the floors in the rest of the house and I was warned that the transitions from one floor to the other would not look so good by the saddles. In the end, I decided to go with the wood look tile because it works better with radiant heat than wood. I am so glad we did. Between the children and dog it was a good choice for us. I still have to stain the saddles at the two doorways that lead out of the kitchen, but it will be fine. If I used any floor other than golden oak, I would have the transition issue anyway. Love my tile floor! So easy to maintain.
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Melissa, I agree. I would understand it if you are standing more than an hour at a time or walking throughout your house all the time. But, how often are you doing that? I always use rugs in main areas, and for standing while doing dishes, you could put a mat for comfort. But, really, if your standing, not jumping up and down, how much difference would the harder material make? Hmmm, I wonder if there’s a study done on it? Regardless, I never noticed any pain when living in my tile home (or my wood flooring home). I love the look of wood... but, never noticed a difference in the feel of it. I believe those that have, though.
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Absolutely go with 1/16" grout lines - you won't regret it....the look is fabulous! I researched HOUZZ to death when doing our basement 4 years ago and chose 6x36" porcelain wood look tile, and 1/16" was suggested by the pros and by our amazing professional tile installer. So very thankful!! Helpful Hint: it is a bit more challenging to lay and time consuming, so make sure your tile installer has done it before.
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Fori
6 years ago
Just remember that if you can do tile, you can do ANY tile, even one that isn't fake wood. :)
indygo thanked Fori
arcy_gw
6 years ago
We love our vinyl plank but we do not have it below grade. Basements are pretty tricky. Be sure what you choose is guaranteed for basements!!!
aprilneverends
6 years ago
Fori's right as usual. Many options out there..too many if you ask me-why can't they have just black and white? lol. No, really, flooring places are the worst unless it's creme de la creme of a shop. Major overwhelment. Anyway..I have a thing against fake stone more than I have against fake wood..I suspect everyone's different. real stone-I'll also get really picky though. In any case. important for it not to be slippery, I'd make it my first priority. So I'd be preoccupied with finding something slightly textured. Might be fake wood, might be porcelaine, might be slate I guess..
indygo thanked aprilneverends

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