Totally agree, ninigret, I also require "indoor sneakers!" But I still notice a difference with tile v wood (no magig bullet to be sure). When I was very young I was a bartender. One of the jobs at the end of the night was to roll up the huge, heavy, beer-soaked rubber mat and schlep it to the kitchen. I talked the other bartenders in to 86ing the mat altogether. It wasn't but a few nights on that tile floor without the mat that I was begging for it back!

You're right Strob06,

We do have unique situations. If things not the way they are at our home I'd keep my wood floors!

Thanks!

I think these floors are beautiful. Would you mind letting me know the brand and color?

After all my haranguing about how much I hate my brazilian cherry hardwood in my unique home environment, and how I can't wait to replace with wood-look tile..... I'm refinishing the cherry! Had a tile installer come out to give an estimate and he nearly cried about the prospect of covering the beautiful wood up. It really got to me. I may change my mind again as I still love the look of the tile, but it does seem a shame to cover the floors that we spent so much money on years back. If I still hate the wood after 2 years it's no great loss, can just do tile then. Part of me says I'm making a huge mistake, but it keeps my husband happy (even tho he's 50% of the problem of making the wood a mess), and it's not like I can't change my mind after the floors are refinished. Oh well.

I understand how you feel, I am going to have flooring that I cannot stand....but, I have worked to accept it.

Unlike you, I never had the money to do real hardwood floors, so it was always going to be a LVP fake wood floor, but what I would have chosen and what another family member living in the house wanted, were TWO DIFFERENT THINGS!! For a while, it made me sick in the stomach to even think about it (yes, first world issues), but I worked on myself very hard, and have looked to the fix.....AREA RUGS.....TONS and TONS of AREA RUGS!!!!!

So, lots of deep breaths, and start shopping for rugs :)

I am sorry you do not like it, I know how that goes. I am putting a wood look tile in my new home build as the only flooring in the house. 2250 square foot ranch. I would be ECSTATIC if it turned out like yours! Absolutely beautiful! Hoping I won't regret my decision.

I'm back. Well, after scheduling someone to refinish my brazilian cherry this September, doing a 180* and gone back to the wood tile plan. I sat for almost 2 months now watching the big dogs race and GRIND more into the floor. And husband who just can't seem to wipe his hands on a dish towel and drips across the floor into the dining and living rooms. Couldn't take the idea of freshly done wood floors with scrapes and water spots after a few weeks. Back to wood look tile. Called the installer today.

Petuniafish, what a terrible waste. It is gut-wrenching for me to even think of it. Especially because drips of water do not stain wood floors. If your drippy husband is causing spots those are spots that will also be visible (perhaps more so) on tile, so you will still be mopping up after him. I would just buy some beautiful runners for doggy traffic but that is me. As far as "wood look" goes, the name says it all. It is going to be the shag carpet of our decade, it will be reviled within a few years, having been coveted by trend-seekers for several years already. I think it works in a modern bathroom but as a wood floor substitute it is awful. If you must tile consider something with its own (a opposed to a borrowed) sense of style such as large format concrete.

If you are going to do wood look tile, at least put the cherry on your local Craigslist for someone to salvage for their own home. That keeps it out of the landfill, and gives someone an opportunity to own something premium on a budget.

Omg! I think you are me!! I could so relate to everything you just said! I'm so sorry! I'm literally going back and forth on this bathroom floor for two weeks now and time is up, and the pressure is on! So all I can say is I hope it give you some consolation to know that you sharing this experience has helped at least one person, ME, and probably many more! I'm NOT doing the porcelain fake wood!

Nurture - since it's been a few months since you first wrote this, I hope you are coming to peace with your decision, or at the least, less regret.

I think we've all experienced that life is all about compromises. In a perfect world, we would always get what we want.

So you made a compromise because you're not the only one living in your house, and honestly, while your designer may have been a bit pushy in pushing you toward the tile, she does have some reasons for doing so. Knowing that you're in Texas, I think it is the best choice for the climate. You have young kids and a dog. You don't have to worry about them being beat up.

Sure there are people that have had wood floors for a long time that will say that their floors are in great shape, but as someone that had hardwood in my kitchen and foyer, that hasn't been my experience at all.

My house is 20 years old, we are not the original owners. The builder put oak hardwood in as this was a spec house. When we moved in, the house was 4 years old so everything looked pretty new. 16 years and now with 2 teenagers, these floors are definitely showing their age and quite frankly, I'm ready to rip them up.

When the kids were little, my husband and I would freak out a bit every time there was a ding. We both grew up middle class where vinyl tile was the norm, so we considered ourselves so lucky to be able to afford a home with hardwood floors! But looking back I wish I wasn't so OCD about keeping things (not just the floor) pristine. Looking at the floors, you'd think we had several 100lb dogs - we have had none. The floor is most scratched up by a couple of chairs that get the most use (even though they've all had felt feet over the years), by the back door to the patio, and by the kitchen sink. They are in desperate need of refinishing, but that means moving out for several days, which is really hard to do with my husband working from home the majority of the time. And because we didn't refinish them sooner, due to finances and other things, they need a deep refinish. My cabinet guy told me that due to changes in EPA regulations regarding VOCs and carcinogens, the finishes they use today don't hold up today nearly as well as they used to, even as recently as 10 years ago. I have a friend that refinished her floors 2 years ago and they're already wearing down fast. We also have allergies and 2 people with asthma and the smell alone would bother us for a while.

So in other words, nothing is perfect. Seeing that you really wanted the hardwood, nothing else was going to do. Hopefully since some time has past, your tile floors don't seem as bad as you originally thought. Your floors turned out beautiful and your kiddos look happy. I hope you're able to focus on the positive instead of looking back with regret.

Thank you chocolate bunny ❤️ Still hate the floors hubby said we can move as soon as all the remodeling loose ends are done if I want but he said WE will not be taking them up lol. But of course we have the best neighbors and love the location :) the tile floors are a daily reminder to stay humble and happy ;) this won’t be my forever home and I’ll be sure to get those floors in the next house. I’ll be sure to chime back in a few years with an update and pics

I hope your floors turn out beautiful Megan!

I had wood in my old home, but moved recently to one with wood look tile. Not my dream floor either, but they are nice enough, so not worth replacing. Dream for the (maybe) next home! Does anyone ( not rich) ever get their total dream home?

Thank you for your post, didn't have time to read all the comments but the few of yours described exactly how I feel. I want hardwood and myself and others keep taking me out of it but every time I go into the floor store to find the one I can live with it literally tugs at my heart. Every HGTV show I watch I can spot the hard wood floors (real ones) and again it tugs at my heart that is what I LOVE but have been made afraid of the scratches, dings etc as well as cost. I am doing 1700 sf and I think at least $1.00 per SF more in material plus $1 per SF more in labor + $ 2 per sf x 1700 which is of course $3500 and I think well I could spend $3500 more in the kitchen or elsewhere in the house so I keep talking myself out of it. Meanwhile I have not been able to find a floor I do like/love and can live with so I have done nothing (waiting for samples from Modin).

Thank you for sharing your story!

Karen Lee, DONT do it!! If there is another type of floor you like, do that instead, but don't force yourself in to a fake wood look-it will never not bother you. I can not imagine fussing over dings and scratches in a wood floor unless I lived with velociraptors. I have always had them in the kitchen. Well placed rugs are all you need. If you believe these people, maybe there is something you like other than fake wood, like large format concrete tiles which are my latest love, as I posted just a few comments up. Be strong and stand your ground!!

Karen, yes, I totally understand! There is definitely a balance in finding the right product. My sister has hardwoods and HATES them. She and her floors were a huge driver in my ”fear of wood dings, damage etc) BUT after this whole flooring fiasco I look at floors everywhere I go! So many of my friends have oak and no problems. Also there are so many great options right now that already have a “patina” that are beautiful that would let you live care free. So one thing I will say, if I would have got floors in this remodel, I would NOT have gotten exactly what I wanted because what I wanted was reclaimed floors... so I probably would have got a decent engineered hardwood substitute. My cost per SF was about $9/sf and I probably needed 15-16/sf to get what I REALLY would have been happy with! So moral of this post... save up and get your hearts desire if you are in your forever home :) if you’re not in your forever home, you might be more cost conscious but can still get a quality, affordable wood option. When people say you can’t replicate the warnth of wood... it’s just so true. Honestly, if I weren‘t going to get wood... I should have went with a vinyl or laminate product (which was substantially cheaper than the porcelain tile). Getting large stone tiles weren’t an option because I like the look of wood. Albeit “fake” wood is less beautiful :p

https://www.houzz.com/user/nurtureme-birthservices Yes that is what I am looking at Luxury Vinyl Planks to look like wood. I was going to go with Core Tec but hear it scratches so easily so then I think what is the difference if I am going to have scratches anyway?

i agree with Rhonda. If you want wood get wood. Will you have some scratches and wear marks? Maybe. But we have never had them to where it ruins the look of the floor. we like the finished in place vs engineered, and know we will have to refinish them at some point. But it was never a choice, we knew it was what we wanted after having them for 10 years in our old house. And we also have a 65lb dog.

Rhonda, too funny! 21 sf would be cozy ❤️ Love your floors and agree with you! So much of my problem stemmed a lot from “overthinking it”! My heart wanted wood but my head heard all the fears and warnings. But I am 100% in the “patina” camp! I love the look of something cherished, cared for, and loved! Most of my design inspiration is a cleaner/newer French home. In Europe, I don’t think they don’t stress as much about superficial things us Americans do. :p They use beautiful materials they love... and it just gets better with time! I wonder if I keep my wood look tile long enough it will be retro and cool and “patina-ed” in 20 years lol

Karen, I will absolutely say the core-tec DOES scratch easily!! I would say easier than Oak! A local coffee shop just install Core-tec... it was a dark “Ipe” and it is destroyed. Nothing scratches my dark “oak” tile haha

You won't like lvt any better than tile.

https://www.houzz.com/user/nurtureme-birthservices TY and wow what a coincidence that is the color I was looking for and have not been able to find any pictures of it besides the stock photo and I do not think I will get it, 99.9% sure I will not I will either go with Modin or real wood but out of curiosity (since I was searching so long for them) if you are there could you take some pics of the IPE for me please!

Stumbled across this thread and wanted to let you know that I'm so sorry you feel such remorse. I hope now that a bit of time has passed you've grown to at least not hate them, or even somewhat like them?! I think they look fantastic. Your installers did a great job and you picked a very nice product.

And that is why you should go with your ‘gut’ feeling on these things... in the world of design there are some who are always over-the-top about practicality, so much so that I wonder how they have landed in design at all...

I’m so sorry. It’s devastating to put so much emotion (and money) into something and come out disappointed. We’ve had some regrets in our build too, as is the norm. That said, as it’s not your forever home, enjoy the low maintenance aspect. Invest in furnishings you will take with you when you move.

We have wood look tile floor because it was a no brainer for our climate and are quite happy with it and appreciate it for what it is more than what it isn’t, BUT it is obviously tile and not fooling anybody. (That wasn’t our goal though. It’s also practically white it’s such a pale cream color. In the desert, cool light tile that doesn’t draw in more heat makes sense. So instead of trying to mimic natural dark hardwood we got something that was obviously a tile to try and make it more of a design feature and less of a mimic.)

Yes, but you can also get cool, light tile that looks completely like tile and isn't trying to look like something it's not.

I couldn’t agree more! Nothing beats the look and feel of real wood. Real wood lasts hundreds of years. Laminate wood or tile wood will never measure up to real wood. Real wood planks are a bit of a splurge, but well worth the cost! Nonsense to all the people who say that real wood isn’t practical due to kids, pets, water, snow or other elements. I live in a home that I love and enjoy. I refuse to lay any type of inferior flooring just because it’s “practical” or “affordable”. We live in a 100 year old home with original solid white oak wood floors throughout the entire home including the kitchen and 3 of the 5 bathrooms. The wood has never been a problem in the bathrooms or the kitchen. If you spill water on the floors, you wipe it up with a towel. We have 2 large 65-85 Lb dogs and 3 teens/young adult children. Real wood stands up to the test of time. We also own a number of investment properties. Nothing but real wood in all our homes. I always save the original hardwood floors regardless of the age of the home or the number of layers of vinyl. Hardwoods can almost always be saved, patched and refinished.

" Real wood lasts hundreds of years. Laminate wood or tile wood will never measure up to real wood."

Really?

Really! I’m renovating a 100 year old home right now. Original pine floors covered by 4 layers of vinyl. The floors need some patching, but the vinyl preserved the wood in many respects. Guess you’re a lover of laminate Joseph! You’re entitled to your opinion, but I think tile and laminate are Cheap substitutes.

I ADORE my wood look tile. I replaced Brazilian cherry that we had put in when it was new in kitchen, great room, entry and bedrooms. The wood had to be refinished 3 times for them to be kept looking decent. Between dogs, a messy husband they were always scratched and stained. When it came time to refinish again we said to heck with it and went with wood look tile. Found samples at multiple tile stores but what we ended up with was under $3 square tile from HD! It is easy care and we think stunning. Even a home appraiser thought it was wood and had to get down to touch to be sure it was tile. These are the new tile floors....the light makes them look brown but they are gray as you'll see in the next post's photo.

They look more brown than gray in artificial light. But they are gray.

I agree that your floors do look very nice. I think cherry is difficult to keep in good condition do to the darker color unlike pine and oak which is more forgiving.

@Rae Holan

Real wood lasts hundreds of years. Laminate wood or tile wood will never measure up to real wood. Real wood planks are a bit of a splurge, but well worth the cost!

I understand that you don't like tile, I too prefer wood. However, your claims are unrealistic. Tile is far more durable than wood, by a rather ridiculous amount. Wood is not really a splurge compared to tile, as any decent tile installation is likely to exceed a wood floor installation.

Furthermore, you don't need a floor to last hundreds of years, if longevity is your sole criteria then install a stone floor as they last thousands of years. I like wood floors in old houses because I can patch them out and refinish and have some character, but I have also lived in areas where wood floors were a bad choice. I have yet to live in an area where tile floors are a bad choice.

"I agree that your floors do look very nice. I think cherry is difficult to keep in good condition do to the darker color unlike pine and oak which is more forgiving."

Actually cherry is a hardwood like oak. It's pine that's a softwood like cedar, spruce and redwood. Pine is less forgiving than cherry but as you say it's a lighter color and shows the stains and scratches less. I've had my wood-look tile for over a year now and no scratches/no stains/no chips and easy care. I run a wide mop over it and it's clean. I think the trick is to choose the right tile, installer and grout.

The old pine we find in historic homes is often 150 years old. In 1920 they used heart of pine from 50 year old, mature trees. It’s incredibly hard unlike the pine we have today which Is very soft and comes from trees that probably aren’t older than 2-3 years old. We try to buy 100-150 year old historic pine or oak wood that has been salvaged from homes that were torn down. It looks brand new after it is sanded and stained.

I have a friend who is a cabinet installer and knowledgeable about woods. Wood hardness is measured in Janka strength, the higher the number the harder the wood. Brazilian cherry is actually harder than both oak and pine heartwood from 100 years ago.

B. cherry is 2000, Red heartwood oak is 1250, heartwood pine is 1225 on the Janka scale. That's the strength required to imbed a steel ball in the wood. Janka strength higher than 2500 is terribly difficult to saw and used in few applications. That's why Brazilian cherry has been so popular. It's downside is water staining and it's propensity to show ground in dirt, light scratching. Your aged hardwood salvaged pinewood is I'm sure spectacular and doesn't have the downside that my B. cherry did.

My cabinet maker friend said that the tile we used is nicest wood-look tile he'd ever seen and he primarily installs in new custom homes. Sure it doesn't have the warmth of my old wood floors but looks like it came from a barn and it always looks CLEAN. There are trade offs with every flooring choice. Everytime I'm away from my house for a few days I walk in and look at the floors and say WOW. I love them as I'm sure you love yours.

Good grief. Tile is NOT a "cheap substitute" for wood. And wood certainly does NOT last longer than tile.

Nothing wrong with having your own preferences, but kinda silly when you start making absurd claims based on that.

Get real.

Ok everyone settle down. A wood floor (the old ones that were 200 years old and made from 3" planks) have certainly outlasted a large amount of today's tiles. And some of the world's oldest tiles (3" clay tiles made in England and France, etc) have survived in medieval churches since the 900's.

Comparing 3" thick pine to 5/8" solid wood sold at LL is like comparing apples to apple snap cereal.. Not even the same type of products.

And today's ceramic or porcelain tiles CAN live much longer, but they RARELY DO. Why? Because fashion change and people rip them out.

Today's hardwoods have a finish on them. The FINISH lasts about as long as today's ceramic tile (15-20 years). As soon as you sand and refinish the hardwood, it will then go another 15-20 years. By that time, the ceramic tile of the same age has been replaced with something equally trendy and disposable.

So for those of you who wish to argue...feel free. Both wood and tile have a LONG lifespan. The HUMANS who choose them often rip them out because they aren't 'trendy' any more. So blame the human not the material.

I won't argue except to explain that I have walked on 2000+ year old tile from the Roman Empire in Italy and Grecian tile in Ephesus. Not that today's tile is as durable as the ancients but it does stick around for awhile.

I got tired of my tile after 1800 years and changed it out... ;-)

Agreed. Tile is almost freaking forever. It's a LOT of trouble to remove, so I would probably never buy a home with tile in the kitchen as the chances that their tastes match mine, are slim to none.

I feel your pain about your faux wood floors. Unfortunately, I don't have a choice, I am an apartment dweller. 🫤 When they first put them in, I was thrilled, they seemed so "cool," "modern," and neutral (yep, in that fugly "greige" that's so popular now for some strange reason).

Shortly thereafter, I discovered the awful truth: they're cold... in look, feel, and insulating properties (I'm in the Midwest). They're very hard and uncomfortable to walk on without shoes or squishy slippers (did they even put an underlayment down first?), they make me sound like an elephant when I walk on them, they have a weird rough "grit" to them that I can't seem to get rid of (is it because they're new?); there's no shine, they always look dirty (probably because they ARE); and every drop of water leaves a mark. It seems I'm constantly sweeping, Swiffering, wiping, vacuuming...and my apartment always has that weird "new car" smell from either the glue or the plastic itself (yay, health hazards). Not only that, but the installers were very haphazard: there are many areas of the floor that sound literally hollow when I walk over them.

I then made the mistake of seeing the type of flooring that my next door neighbor has. Because her apartment is older, she has the "older" style of faux flooring: warm, gorgeous, honey colored, and inviting. It was such a marked difference from what I have, I was shocked...and very jealous. 😭 Even my former apt in another state had darker "wood" floors, but they were fabulous: soft underfoot, didn't show water or stains, easy to clean. But not these. So I'm stuck with these until I happen to move again....and since I just moved in, that will be awhile. Sigh. REAL WOOD RULES!