There's no wrong answer here: its a subject that occasionally leads to some pretty heated battles, for no good cause. Consider the pros and cons of each as it applies to your own situation, choose accordingly, apologize to no one. I'm using mostly tile for two reasons: First, I know I'd stress over damage to a wood floor, even though I'd try not to; and second, I have a radiant floor and that restricts your wood choices to engineered and quarter sawn. I have seen some nice engineered floors-- check out Khars-- but the wood species selection tends to be fairly narrow, and its hard to find knotty, 'character' type woods. The 'rustic' ones usually means they have sort of a wavy texture that I don't care for. Quartersawn is more dimensionally stable, and I love qs oak for furniture. It's on the soft side for flooring, though, and it's very hard to find a harder wood like hickory in quarter sawn. The tile works for me on several levels. I'm all for low maintenence, and I don't want to worry about potential damage from pets, kids, other people's shoes [I'm a proud member of the Society for Barefoot Living], over watered plants or Christmas trees, aquarium leaks or snowy boots. Wood isn't hard to maintain, but you do need to keep at it on a pretty regular basis. You need to sweep up the inevitable grit etc. frequently so it doesn't act like sandpaper. Tile is much more forgiving of what I like to pretend is 'benign' neglect. I do plan to keep a big persian carpet in front of the LR fireplace most of the year. A simple way to add some visual warmth, and easy to change out as circumstances dictate. Wood will be a little softer for the kids to fall on, but will also be more slippery. A 'shoes off' rule will be almost mandatory while they are small and not able to judge for themselves when the shoes are dirty. Nothing matches wood for visual warmth, but nothing beats tile for long term wearability and ease of care.

I like the tile and would def use it in an area that called for it. However, i think i may be alone in liking wood look tile that doesn't actually look like wood, e.g. Is not the color of adjoining wood or wood elsewhere in a house or even one of the polular wood colors. I like the product in pale gray, weathered grayish white, white, beige-y white, etc.. (But not pink, Chispa, lol!). I think the tile looks best when it is a kind of take off of wood floors but not meant as an actual substitute for them, iykwim. adding, as all the new flooring options are refined i think "real" wood is fast becoming just one of many options. I would never have thought things like wood look tile and vinyl plank tile would ever be as popular as they are, but they are each perfect for certain situations, houses and customers and they look great on their own---not simply as a wood substitute. I think more such options are in the future, which will take the environmental pressure off with respect to wood.

This thread is a replay of everything I've thought about for the last three months while deciding on new flooring. Thank you for all the great pros and cons on this topic. It's been over a year since this thread started...has anyone purchased new flooring in the last year and if so what did you choose? Key west: have you enjoyed your LVP? Any suggestions on brand etc? We're in N FL coastal region so many of your needs are spot on in our decision process. I'm looking at NAF, Hallmark and Marcello engineered and some high quality gorgeous lvp's.

I can comment on Pergo flooring. I had it installed about 12 years ago through Lowes. We had a very experienced flooring installer put them in. He did lots of prep work first: screwed down all the floor boards prior to installing the Pergo and all my flooring squeaks went away. My Pergo looks as good today as the time it was installed. I have dropped items on this flooring over the years: no dings or scratches. My brother who is a real estate appraiser for expensive properties was surprised it was Pergo and not wood. I can not say enough about Pergo. Best of luck in your decision. Always research and read lots of reviews on any projects you plan to do. The time you spend is worth it❣️❣️