Herringbone floors - date quickly?

[mrsm43s]

We're having an extension built, and whilst we're doing it, we're looking to extend wet underfloor heating to the whole of the ground floor of our house. So the whole ground floor will need reflooring.

Currently we have laminate floors down, plus quarry tiles in the galley kitchen (which will be going as the kitchen is being extended and underfloor heating installed).

We have teenagers in and out, two cats and a dog, so I'm thinking of tiling the whole downstairs, as I think this will be practical for keeping clean, and with underfloor heating, tiles won't feel cold in winter (but actually might be nice and cooling in summer). I have to mop loads with the dog and cats and frankly the teens aren't much better!

I'm thinking about having wood effect tiles laid in a herringbone style, but I'm a bit worried if they start to look really dated, then the whole downstairs will need retiling, which will be a big and expensive job.

We're definitely not "cutting edge" decor types of people, but equally wouldn't want to be stuck with something that was "of its time" 10 years ago in 10 years time IYSWIM.

Our house is 1930s for reference.

So herringbone style (like this - not necessarily these actual tiles, but this effect), is it likely to date quickly? And do you think matching fully tiled floors (with wet underfloor heating) throughout the whole of the downstairs (living room, dining room, kitchen, utility, downstairs loo and hallway) is a bad idea?

Herringbone is a classic style and won’t date but personally I wouldn’t use tile. It’s cold and you can only take the edge off with the heating (but you won’t want the hearing on all the time)

I love herringbone, I am building a new build and doing herringbone hardwood floors in the front hall and dining room. It seemed a little much to do it for the whole thing, plus it is more £££.

Herringbone will not date....herringbone tiles does not sound a good look though.... wood or LVT would be far better

We considered this but in the end what put me off is that the grout will inevitably go dark over time and then you end up with lots of black lines. Or endlessly cleaning the grout. We went for large plank style wood look tiles instead. But we put real wood in the front room.

I don’t think it will date as it’s already classic.

We just got herringbone lvt and it's my favourite part of the new extension.

Mine is herringbone parquet bamboo. It’s fab

I've got wood effect tiles with dark grout. They look great. No underfloor heating unfortunately.

Parquet was very common in 1930's houses so I think it's quite appropriate actually. I wouldn't go for tiles personally, but would stick to a smaller tile if you're sold on them rather than the big "planks" which I agree are more likely to date.

Any friends that have have the herringbone style put in have commented that the tilers flooring guys have moaned how much more work it is, but I'm not sure if that's reflected in the fitting costs!

I had a very old herringbone floor in small woodblocks in the kitchen and living room or my first flat and I absolutely loved it, it was one of the reasons I fell for the place.

The modern huge fake herringbone in grey, or any colour laminate, or plastic I think will date quickly.

@cloudtree

Herringbone is a classic style and won’t date but personally I wouldn’t use tile. It’s cold and you can only take the edge off with the heating (but you won’t want the hearing on all the time)

I think I'm probably being really swayed by the idea of something easy to keep clean!

Kitchen/breakfast room, utility and downstairs loo would usually be rooms that were tiled anyway, no? So that just leaves hallway, living room and dining room. Dining room has back door plus food spillages, plus is the room where the animals are fed currently (although that might move to new utility room), so is probably the room that I mop the most after the hallway. Living room would have rug in central area (need to check that would be OK with UF heating).

Which rooms would you tile, and what other flooring would you suggest?

I do like the idea of the same floor throughout.

We're still at the planning permission stage, so a while yet to make my mind up...

Put bamboo all the way through. It’s easy to clean and twice as hard as oak. We don’t have the climate for tiled floors

@picklemewalnuts

I've got wood effect tiles with dark grout. They look great. No underfloor heating unfortunately.

@picklemewalnuts Do you find them cold? A PP did raise the point of when the heating isn't on! And do you have them in kitchen/bathroom or in living spaces?

I would go for dark grout with wood effect tiles as think it looks really good.

1930s hallways would have traditionally been tiled as well but I'd not have wood effect tiles. If you're having herringbone in a 1930s house please do wood (it'll have to be engineered with underfloor heating). LVT is horrible and all that plastic is bad for the environment.

@JaninaDuszejko

1930s hallways would have traditionally been tiled as well but I'd not have wood effect tiles. If you're having herringbone in a 1930s house please do wood (it'll have to be engineered with underfloor heating). LVT is horrible and all that plastic is bad for the environment.

@JaninaDuszejko I'm talking about wood effect ceramic tiles, not LVT tiles.

Same floor throughout looks good. Rug in lounge is fine over underfloor heating.

They are cold, but we had them in the kitchen, so adding them to the hall, dining room study and loo seemed sensible. We don't have the in the lounge. We wear socks or slippers in winter- but we don't have underfloor heating. I'd think it's be great while the heating is on, and cool in summer when the heating isn't on.

I wouldn't think twice!

As for cleaning... I'm embarrassed to admit how rarely I wash the floor. It shows no marks at all! So a regular vacuum for dust and grit, and a spot wipe if there's a spill.

With a wet system, it's fine to just keep the heating on.well, it was before this gas business! Electric is a bit pricier.

We have wood effect porcelain tiles laid in a herringbone pattern. I love them. Lovely and cool in summer, toasty with underfloor heating they hold the heat really well, easy to clean, doesn't show bits easily, no shine (I hate shiny floors)
Originally we chose LVT but to the great annoyance of DH and the fitters I halted the process because I didn't like it at all and switched to tiles.

@mafted Do you have them in living areas as well as kitchen/bathroom etc. Also do you know the benefits etc of porcelain over ceramic tiles?

Parquet floors are absolutely typical of the period and will only enhance your home. I would be delighted to find that under carpet.

We have a 1930’s house with the original parquet flooring which is laid in its original herringbone pattern
It’s glorious, fits with the style of house and hasn’t ages in 70 plus years. Think it’s pretty timeless and doesn’t date actually

Same as Ruby, our herringbone parquet is 95 years old and is gorgeous!

Sorry, I do want to be clear here.

There's absolutely no way the budget for proper parquet flooring (totally would if we could!)

I'm talking about ceramic or porcelain wood effect tiles laid in a herringbone style over wet underfloor heating.

Decent wood look tiles will cost more than engineered wood parquet tbh. The cheaper wood look tiles look a bit… printed.