Wood effect tiled

[Marcie1970]

Hi building a new extension. Kitchen living diner. It will have ufh so can not get a real wood floor. What are your thoughts on wood effect porcelain tiles ?

We have these in our rental. They are extremely hard-wearing, easy to clean and most people assume they are real wood at first glance.

The only thing to keep in mind is that they're not very cosy as the floor feels quite cold underfoot. I don't mind this as I live in a hot country but the floor is very cold in winter. We have lovely rugs to mitigate this.

I would absolutely get them in my own property.

We looked at these, but went for LVT instead. Works well with the UFH.

We fitted these in the ensuite of our main bedroom at a previous house way back in 2010. They looked great and when we sold our buyers assumed they were real oak till they looked closer/touched them. Haven't bought since, but would definitely get them again.

We put them in the bathroom of our last house. Absolutely loved them. Looked fabulous, hard wearing, easy to clean. Highly recommend.

You can have ufh with engineered wood

We were told you could have engineered wood up to 16mm thick with UFH. Haven’t decided whether to go with that, LVT or tiles yet. Tiles are the most heat conducting but are also the coldest to start with. I do wonder from an energy perspective what the difference is between ceramic tiles and LVT but haven’t got to the point in our renovation where flooring is the most pressing task so that’s research for another day!

With the underfloor heating, real wood can sometimes be a bit temperamental with expansion and movement over time, especially in a busy kitchen-living space. It makes hole and it is very unsafe to use we always has a fear of scratching or anything fell on it.
Wood-effect porcelain is popular, but rubber flooring is another option worth a look. It works really well with UFH, feels warmer and softer underfoot, and handles spills and heavy traffic without much fuss. It can also give you a nice seamless look if you run it through the whole space.
If you’re curious, there are some decent residential options here: https://www.slip-not.co.uk/
Just another idea to consider while you’re planning it.