Has anybody used wood-effect ceramic floor tiles?

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I need to replace old carpets & started wondering about alternatives. From considering wood floors, I wondered if anyone made wood-effect tiles like garden stepping stones I've seen - & they do! There's quite a range of colours & designs, & to me they look like a great idea. (Easy cleaning etc - & we don't tend to drop things & would put some rugs down anyway.)

Does anyone have any experience of getting them installed & living with them? I think underfloor heating is a good idea, as my tiled kitchen doesn't have it & it's not nice in winter with bare feet. The floors I'm thinking of tiling are all concrete.

What can I do about the stairs coming down into the living room? Everything's carpeted at the moment. Would I need a new, designery wooden staircase? Would it look OK to have carpeted stairs going up to a carpeted landing?

Will floor tiles support heavy furniture (e.g. bookcases) without cracking?

We have a fully tiled downstairs and I wouldn't have it any other way! They are so easy to keep clean and they stand up to kids banging toys on them, walking in rugby boots on them etc. You will need to put felt under things that are likely to move across the tiles (chairs for example). We're just about to totally gut our downstairs and we're replacing the current tiles with beautiful wood effect ones

Sorry, forgot to add, our stairs are carpeted too, with a plain beige/dark cream carpet and it looks perfectly fine.

Thanks, @amyboo!

The only installation pic I've seen showed the construction of a false floor, presumably for underfloor heating. Do you have any idea of installation costs versus tile cost? The ones I'm looking at are £33 per sq metre.

We don't have any underfloor heating (I'm not a fan and wear sheepskin slippers instead). Our current tile floor - and the new wood effect one - is laid directly on a concrete screed. With the new floor we will hopefully add some insulation under the screed. No idea on installation costs I'm afraid as ours is being done as part of an all-in building works quote as we're extending at the same time...

I have wood effect ceramic tiles in most of my downstairs and I L♥️ve them. Look really good, easy to look after. I don't have underfloor heating and it's not an issue. They help keep the house cool on hot days.

I would recommend getting a load of samples and trying them out as colours can really vary.

I have these, but in real life they look like light oak.

www.ctdtiles.co.uk/gemini-tiles/aspenwood/p-7556-aspenwood-beige-tile-1200x200mm.aspx?catid=2878

Mine were laid on top of a layer of insulation which was placed on the concrete floor. Costs, again hard to say as part of a bigger project, I'd reckon £20-£30 per sqm? Does vary though - I had my planks laid end to end so minimal cutting of tiles which makes things quicker. If you wanted Herringbone I expect that would cost more...

We have wood effect ceramic tiles. My views

• I would definitely only have them with underfloor heating as they are cold in winter without ufh
• They are lovely and cooling underfoot in summer
• they are incredibly practical. Easy to mop, don’t scratch, don’t mark, don’t show the dirt (much), don’t crack (so far)
• Be careful with which ones you choose. Wood effect tiles will look much better if you get ones which are (a) longer, so look more like actual planks (b) have lots of variation of pattern between the different tiles, so you don’t get the same pattern repeated over and over. But these ones also cost more.
• Also be careful with how they are laid. IMO a random pattern with lots of different amounts of overlap looks best, most like real floorboards. Avoid a very regular layout.

However. When all is said and done I slightly wish we had got wood. Tiles are way more practical, bombproof, but just not as beautiful or nice feeling as wood. I think maybe (maybe!!) I’d rather have had scratched and dented wood than pristine tiles? Only you know which you prefer though!

I have Selection Oak by Rex Tiles

We have them in one bathroom. They looked lovely when they first went in. And then the plasterers came. And we have never been able to get the plaster dust out of them. They just look, well, kind of dusty.

I’ll be replacing them with different flooring soon. Sad as they were fabulous and perfectly non slip too.

Outside of bathrooms, I’d go for engineered wood in any other room.

Porcelain Wood effect plank tiles. Random layout.
My only regret is we didn't use darker grout or stain resistant resin grout

We have wood effect tiles on our bathroom floor abd we love them, they look really nice in real life xx