Porcelain or engineered wood for kitchen/diner with underfloor heating

[poobumwee]

That's the questions really. Looking for pros and cons from your experiences. I would prefer porcelain tiles as I think they will be easier to keep clean (kids not too young so no worries about falling and bumps on floor) husband prefers wood. what's your experience? Thanks in advance

on porcelain, every cup, glass and bottle you drop will smash. When you drop your iron casserole, the tile will smash.

It will be reasonably easy to wet-mop, though, as long as you use a dark grey grout (white will never look clean)

wood will feel more homely. I don't know how long it lasts in a kitchen before needing refinishing. If you have pets, it will warp round their waterbowls.

I have engineered wood over underfloor heating in a kitchen/diner. It feels much nicer than tile but after five years it needs refinishing. You have to get up anything with oil/grease straight away or it stains the wood. I'd go for a meant to look beat up parquet to hide any stains etc. The lighter the wood the harder it is too keep looking nice. And do place mats in front of the sink/cooker or those bits wear faster.

Thank you both for your insights!

I have tiles in my kitchen with underfloor heating. I drop very little! Nothing has ever smashed a tile. If you are a complete butterfingers, you could damage a tile, but it’s rare I think. A glass would break on a wood floor quite possibly. Ceramic is easy to clean and I would say the heat gets through that little bit better.

We have engineered wood with ufh elsewhere in the house and it’s great. It would stain with heavy use and I don’t think it’s as robust as tiles for a kitchen.

porcelain is what is used in shopping places like trafford center and lakeside etc.
it wouldnt be used if things could smash the tile easy when dropped.
we have had porcelian in 3 houses with underfloor heating and has been good.
Porcelian retains the heat. eg we would have it on for a few hrs and will be warm most the day.
regardless of floor type if you drop anything the chances are it will break (unless its plastic cups)

both will be good so chose what will go with the room and wahat else your planning

Bubbles and Diseno thank you that's good to know

How about porcelain tiles that look like wooden planks? Everyone's happy!

Porcelain is definitely more hard wearing and low maintenance, IF you choose dark grout.

Have you considered Karndean or other luxury vinyl? Not sure how it works with UFH.

I have porcelain wood effect tiles. They look great and work really well with the underfloor heating. Easy to clean and I very rarely drop things so few breakages. Some people mistake them for real wood.

We have just gone for wood effect tiles with ufh and no regrets. I was sceptical as I wanted wood but didn't think it was practical for a kitchen. I like that the floor can be mopped down easily! It transmits the heat well too.

We are extending it into hallway as we like so much!

We have engineered oak in our living room and porcelain tiles everywhere else downstairs, both with underfloor heating. The underfloor heating works a lot better with the tiles than it does with the wood, you can feel a noticeable difference going from room to room. The tiles warm up much quicker. We've dropped things on the tiles plenty of times and none of the tiles have smashed. The tiles are also easier to clean and the engineered oak scratches very easily.

Do the tiles feel cold in summer when no ufh is on?

Thank you for the info everyone. Lots to consider

They feel a bit colder in the summer when the underfloor heating isn't on, but not freezing.

Thanks Whereareyouscooter.

I hate cold on feet and (endup having leg muscle pull if i stand on cold surface for long) and everyone seem to suggests ufh for warm floor. But i dont want to run ufh in summer.
Dont know what to choose
Ufh+eng wood
Ufh + tiles
Radiator + eng wood

I'd go for porcelain that looks like wood.
My solid wood kitchen floor looks wrecked after a couple of years despite caring for it. I'd never do it again. Hindsight is a great teacher.

We're going for vinyl tile, they look very realistic. Hardwearing but soft underfoot and not cold. Order some Amtico & Karndean samples; they're very realistic

Thank you going to visit a few stores at weekend

I'd go for the porcelain tile with underfloor heating. We're really happy with ours.

Thank you whereareyouscooter

Re the cold floor - the ufh is on when the weather is cold, and a cool floor is nice when the weather is hot. So the issue is those in between days when the weather is not cold enough to trigger the ufh but not warm enough to want a cool floor. Two solutions 1) set the ufh up as a separate heating zone and have it set to come on at a lower temp than the rest of the heating or 2) have slippers just for those in between days!