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?

Bamboo parquet is about the same cost as tiles. Less than £40 a square metre (plus fitting)

@mrsm43s

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.

That’s would still look lush and in keeping with your property

Sound great idea. I have underfloor hearing.

We have travertine marble in the kitchen and it's fine- barely notice it's cold before you have to put the heating on. Maybe tiles are colder?

In living room some kind of laminate wood with a huge rug!

@cloudtree

Bamboo parquet is about the same cost as tiles. Less than £40 a square metre (plus fitting)

Tiles I linked to were less than half that!

@mrsm43s
We have them in the porch, hall, kitchen, and conservatory/dining/family room.
I'm not too sure on all the pros and cons between the two for general living areas. I think porcelain is a bit more hard wearing but also more prone to chipping when cut for fitting.

I’ve just had new floors as part of a renovation and stayed away from herringbone. It has been hugely Insta popular for the last 5+ years and on the back of this will date. However no doubt it will come back in again.

@Hottubtimemachine

I’ve just had new floors as part of a renovation and stayed away from herringbone. It has been hugely Insta popular for the last 5+ years and on the back of this will date. However no doubt it will come back in again.

I think this is my concern. I wouldn't consider it in a modern house. But, the house is 30s, so quite sympathetic.

But, will it look dated in a few years?

I don't think it will ever date in a 1930s house. It's a pretty timeless design. It will probably become less popular as other fads become popular but won't look dated.

I know you are looking at tiles but we've just had Karndean fitted in our hallway. Really happy with it. I disagree with the poster above re LVT. I've been really careful to be true to ours house's original features, we've stripped back the floorboards, kept quarry tiles in the porch etc but we couldn't salvage our hall floor. LVT is a practical choice in a hall where wood is likely to get scratched and can be used on top of underfloor heating. Really happy with ours.

This is our karndean and I love it but then I also plan to replace our kitchen with a navy one with white marble or quartz worktops which will almost certainly date but I’m just going with what I like.

I don't think it will look dated in a 30's house, maybe if you chose grey tiles it would.

I’ve got a silkweavers cottage built in 1860 and went for herringbone LVT from Polyflor. It goes really well with the rest of the house, is cool to the touch but not cold (I don’t have underfloor heating) and as a walker, cyclist and allotmenter, it’s been bombproof. I love it.

Why does everyone say hardwood is so delicate and difficult to care for? We have three kids under 12 plus one dog and one cat and it’s been a breeze. (And we are not the most careful and tidy people!) We have hardwood everywhere except the utility room and and bathrooms with tubs/showers. We’ve done both engineered and regular hardwood, I prefer regular but it is more expensive.

Tile is cold and hard and grout lines are not easy to keep clean. Anything you drop on it will break immediately. I‘be only seen tiled houses in hot countries and I can see why they do it but in the UK I wouldn’t. If hardwood is too dear I would do laminate before having tile in a lounge or hallway.

Jackie I think it depends on whether you mind dents and scratches and the odd stain. If you don’t mind those then wood floors are easy. If you do…

@TheCraicDealer

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!

It is a lot more work. I'm a carpenter and have laid many many floors over the years. I find herringbone takes three times as long to fit if comparing (fairly average) 150mm wide planks with 75mm wide herringbone staves. There is more work in the initial setting out too, as ideally the pattern needs to be centred to give equal-sized cuts around the edge. Planks are far more forgiving, you just need to ensure you don't start or end with too skinny a piece.

I also agree with the size of the herringbone. The pattern done with larger planks, rather than a traditional-sized stave will date quickly.

It's only going to look dated to someone who follows only instafashion.

Herringbone parquet is timeless. Anyone with a wider awareness than insta will know that. It's not like grey, suddenly everywhere. It's more like white. Comes and goes, fashion wise, but always, always present.

Classic.

Agree with the others hardwood parquet won’t date. Grey herringbone tiles / plastic ones will.

I’d start by getting a sample of tile.

We have wood effect tiles in our bathroom and they’re nice. But we did struggle to find ones that were £30/sqm and not absolutely minging. And you need a certain size too. So maybe see if what you want even exists.

I think with underfloor heating they’d be fine if you can get nice ones. I’m looking at ours now and I don’t think you can tell they aren’t wood. I can always tell with Karndean etc.

Herringbone is beautiful and classical, won't date. Wood effect tile doesn't look good though. How about engineered wood? Or laminate like this: www.luxuryflooringandfurnishings.co.uk/nest-8mm-bracken-oak-laminate-flooring.html

these might be ok with underfloor heating?

I agree it won’t date but I wouldn’t lay tiles. Wood is the best option.. my parents did this and sourced the parquet from a church that was being demolished! Looks great 15 years on. Lovely and warm rich colour xo