Here is a picture of the porcelain tile in the kitchen/dining/family and then contrasting to the wood floor in the rest of the house. In real life they don’t look that different but in pictures the tile is shinier.
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@tx5athome, thanks for the pics! That actually looks really nice. I’ll put pics up when we get to some decision making of tile, or wood, with our existing entry flooring, etc. I’ll get some opinions from everyone for sure!
@tx5athome so that is porcelain and not vinyl plank? I’m trying to make sure I understand.
Yes, that is tile, not vinyl plank on the photo.
Yes @Youdon_tsay ours is porcelain tile not luxury vinyl.
I haven’t read all posts.
A friend redid her kitchen about 18 months ago and used very nice “wood” tiles. They were large (magazine sized), and the “grain” was pronounced. It looked super modern and chic.
Not long after that, we went to a new restaurant and the whole place had the same tiles. I felt badly for my friend. It was like someone had stolen her stylish idea and made it too common. I then felt that the look is a bit fad-ish.
I mention this not to be unhelpful, but to suggest choosing carefully so that you don’t end up with something that looks dated in a few years time.
ETA: the above pics look nice. The tile my friend has is more like a grey wood grain.
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Thanks all! I went to the Tile Shop yesterday to look. I would be having a company who has done work for me before do this, but they aren’t out until tomorrow and I just wanted to see what was out there. It really looks like wood and I like the color and look, but I’m not a fan of how wide the grout is. It really makes it look like tile. Here is an example of one I liked, and then also next to a tile of my entry.
The ones that
looked more like wood were dark with the grout dark, so it just blended in.
This is great information. We love our wood look porcelain tile. It is easy to clean, dog nails don’t leave scratches, and it looks great. However, Kelsmom is spot on with the cold and the installer. If you live in a cold climate, consider spending a bit extra on underfloor heating. It makes a huge difference during the cold months.
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Don’t worry about the grout width–the installer can make it closer. I’m just going to say that tile is HARD. Great for kitchens and bath but not as nice for living areas. The LVP has some really fab wood look that is super easy maintenance with a better foot feel and much warmer.
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That’s great to know they can reduce the tile grout. I imagine they could come closer to the the tile color, so it wouldn’t stand out so much. The rooms we would be using this in will be the formal dining room and “wine” room. The dining room will have a rug that covers quite a bit of it, as will the wine room. These will be used for entertaining only and everyone will have shoes. Being hard isn’t a concern for me as we won’t be living in there. I will post a before and after picture when they are done, will be several months out. This is our winter project since we are not doing anything else and have wanted to do it for awhile.
Yes, but different tiles have different minimum grout widths. We looked for one that had a really narrow minimum. The spacing in your picture is a bit wide. In addition, the grout color is really light. You may end up regretting a light grout color. Maybe try to use the darkest color in the tile.
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We currently have sheet vinyl in the kitchen and traditional colored oak hardwood in the rest of the house. Although I HATE the vinyl, it is good for it’s purpose, we need easy clean up of sand as this house is near the beach. Therefore, we don’t want grout where sand can get stuck in grooves. We are thinking of the LVP.
The kitchen has white cabinets with black-ish granite counters. We are thinking a grey is the best color option, but not too dark. The current floor is white and black checkerboard.
The biggest thing we think will be a problem is the installation. I would love if the new floor could butt up to the hardwood in the two connecting rooms without a threshold. Also the cabinets were placed on top of the current floor. The house is 50 years old. Some year we will tackle this in the offseason.
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Our grout is 1/8 width, I think. We also went with grout that matched the darkest color in the tile.
@Aguadecoco, thanks! That’s good to know. They are coming today. Anxious to hear what they have to say.
Make sure to select “rectified” tile with narrow grout.
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@kjofkw, thank you! I looked that up. I’ll be sure to mention it when they call with an estimate!
In my area of NJ, so many houses that have been redone have the faux wood tiles. I think it’s definitely a fad and will look dated in just a few years. My preference for kitchens is real wood - its so much easier on the feet, lasts a really long time and (in my opinion) never goes out of style. (Sorry!)
@HMom16 100% agree!
I actually don’t know anyone who has it here in the Midwest. The problem we are having is finding the color we really love. We are looking for a white oak shade, and they are turning pink in our room. The tile salesperson said we are much more limited than with regular ceramic tile as far as colors. We are thinking of Plan B. Use larger tiles, or a combination of different sizes for the flooring. I think the most important thing is the shade.
I think it’s all based on region. Where I live, no one has hardwood and every house is tile. Labor is pretty cheap around here so people retile if they are changing the look of the house.
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