Why am I being told not to like the floor?

[user1958493]

Please help me understand this.

I have moved house and am redecorating the whole house. I want to put tiles down through the entrance, kitchen, cloakroom and utility room. My parents (dad is doing a lot of the work in the house for me) are telling me this is a bad idea.
They aren't really giving me a solid reason why, just a few mentions of "people don't have large areas tiled", "will be cold", "if one gets damaged you can't replace it"

Is it a bad idea to tile an area like this? I dont know if this makes a different but I have 2 kids under 5.

Thank you

Tiles are fine...with UFH.

We have tiles in our kitchen/utility/cloakroom - but have underfloor heating (wet) throughout. It’s very, very cold in the Autumn/Winter without it. I like that the tiles are easy to clean etc, but like others have said, anything you accidentally drop will smash. We had a wood flooring in a previous kitchen which was really forgiving and crockery would just bounce off it 😅.

My advice would be only do tiled floor if you’re doing underfloor heating of some sort. Preferably a wet system. Although expensive to install it’s cheaper to run than electric mats.

We have solid oak in the hallway and reception rooms. I find it’s a softer look, much easier to incorporate into decorating schemes than tile.

It's not usual to tile whole area like that.

Well, it's not unusual 🤔

My hall, cloakroom, kitchen / dining area & utility are tiled. It's not a massive area tho, my house isn't very big.

I think it's practical. Previous owners had carpet in the hall - nightmare. I can wash the floors daily - and need to!

If I was doing it again, I would do the same but possibly put wooden floors in the dining part of the open plan kitchen, for variety, feeling of warmth.

I guess if it's a very large area, it might feel cold / stark - otherwise it's fine.

My entire downstairs is tiled or laminate. The kitchen has laminate which I massively regret,it’s so hard to clean because we got a slightly textured one and it’s impossible to clean with a normal mop. I wish I’d tiled it. We have dogs, tho, so it’s practical. (How do people toilet train on carpet?!)

My cousin with 4 dc has put down flags in her kitchen, looks fabulous. It’s just a matter of opinion. Have what you want, don’t let anyone tell you what to have in your house.

Of course people have large areas tiled! Super hard wearing and easy to clean. If you’re concerned about warmth put in underfloor heating. But even without that it’s really not cold if you have good central heating. Just wear slippers in winter rather than walking around in socks.

We’ve been here 20 years not a chip or a crack in sight.

LVT is vile and wood is a major pia to maintain.

@user1958493

Please help me understand this.

I have moved house and am redecorating the whole house. I want to put tiles down through the entrance, kitchen, cloakroom and utility room. My parents (dad is doing a lot of the work in the house for me) are telling me this is a bad idea.
They aren't really giving me a solid reason why, just a few mentions of "people don't have large areas tiled", "will be cold", "if one gets damaged you can't replace it"

Is it a bad idea to tile an area like this? I dont know if this makes a different but I have 2 kids under 5.

Thank you

it will be cold and if one gets damged are 2 solid reasons though , and they might well be a bit slippery and you have 2 littleuns who will be more likely to hurt themselves if they go down with a bang i would think you will be doing a lot of frequent mopping of them as well , much more so than wood or laminate

but its your house and so its up to you what you decide at the end of the day really

@Crowdfundingforcake

We're buying a house with a lot of tiled floor. The surveyor commented that tiles on timber underfloor are a bad idea because there is movement in the timber which will eventually cause the grout to crack.

Not if it’s been installed correctly on concrete backer board and the timbers checked first, repaired and correctly packed to ensure minimal movement. I have tiles on large areas of timber including upstairs. Nothing has moved a millimetre in over a decade.

The timber backing maybe what's wrong with mine where the grouting has cracked.

I wouldn't - not hard wearing or warm enough. Slippery and not kid friendly.

Repairing tiles is almost as expensive dive as a full replace when we've had quotes for the hall.

I have a larger tiled area and yes it’s very cold, everything breaks if dropped, kids have hurt themselves falling on it, takes longer to clean.

My friend has a really thick faux wood lino and I covet it!

I like tiles in bathrooms and utilities, nowhere else. It just looks a bit clinical and not warm or cosy at all. I have wooden floors throughout (except bathrooms), and that will always be my preference.

We have Victorian tiles in our hallway and in winter I struggle to walk on it even with slippers. It is freezing! When the DCs were toddlers they had a few falls in the hallway if it got a bit wet and it was incredibly painful. Oh, and it's noisy! I would never have my whole downstairs tiled.

I'm actually replacing my tiled kitchen diner with laminate. The tiles are cheap and tacky, though - I would have kept them if I didn't hate the look of them so much! Yes, they are cold, but slippers solves that issue. Anything breakable that drops on the floor shatters into a million bazillion pieces though, unfortunately. It's a pain.

It’s definitely personal preference so if you like them, go for it. I think they work in small, practical places like bathrooms and utilities.

I find them cold, both in the actual temperature but the look and feel they give the room so I’m not keen on using them for a big space. I was persuaded to tile my kitchen / diner in my old house and get underfloor heating. I still didn’t like them!

They might be easy to clean but I find they show up the slightest mark so it’s just as well. I think you can repair the chips though, I’m looking into having that done now.

Are you expecting your Dad to lay the tiles?
Terrible job to do as a DIYer.

That could be why!

Our house is a very modern architect-style build, and we have tile flooring in the areas like entryway, utility, bathrooms, etc. Not the kitchen/living/dining/bedrooms; those are wood. Wood throughout would have been my first choice, but the tile does look good and is more hard wearing than the wood. We use area rugs on landings and in the entryway to soften the look and make the space feel warmer.

I would say that generally, super large format 60x60 or 60x120 cm porcelain tiles (the super thick ones) look more modern and are still really sturdy even at that size. They have been indestructible for us with 3 young kids and two pets. They look like stone with some light veining and are a matt non-slip finish, so they feel and look like a natural material and they hide a lot. I think sometimes when people imagine a tile floor, they are thinking of ugly 12 inch square shiny white tiles with white-turned-gray (from dirt) grout. Tile doesn’t have to be hideous.

I wouldn’t do tile throughout as I agree that it is cold, but 1) you could always go for underfloor heating to solve that issue in the areas where you want it, and 2) they are the lowest maintenance of all the floors I have.

If you like it, go for it. Just get good quality porcelain instead of thin cheap ones and you should be able to avoid cracking and chipping.

You can get non-slip tiles, this is not rocket science.

People seem to be talking on here about cheap chippable badly laid tiles.

If you get good quality non-slip tiles correctly laid, the floor should last years.

In our old house the Edwardian tiled hall floor was still intact, indeed were so in many houses in the road. In old houses you get stone floors that have been down for centuries.

Xpost @MistyElla - quite.

@SpiderinaWingMirror

Are you expecting your Dad to lay the tiles? Terrible job to do as a DIYer. That could be why!

I certainly wouldn’t let anyone but an experienced tiler lay a floor.

But he may be a builder himself.

I lived in a fully tiled house for years, it was great. So easy to clean! I don't know what kind of tiles they were but they weren't slippery when wet. We did lose quite a few plates to the floor though!

However this was in a warmer country, but as long as you've allowed for that I think it sounds very practical.

I would get Karndean or Amtico, you can choose a pattern that looks like tiles bit will be more forgiving. Still wipe clean but doesn't chip, feel cold or hurt small heads.

I live in an old house , with tiles on the kitchen , dining room and office floor
It’s bloody freezing , so we have rugs everywhere ( and I have Ugg slippers )
I’d go for one of the new vinyls that’s available , looks like tiles ( or wood or many other designs ) and is warmer underfoot

@EarringsandLipstick

It's not usual to tile whole area like that.

Well, it's not unusual 🤔

My hall, cloakroom, kitchen / dining area & utility are tiled. It's not a massive area tho, my house isn't very big.

I think it's practical. Previous owners had carpet in the hall - nightmare. I can wash the floors daily - and need to!

If I was doing it again, I would do the same but possibly put wooden floors in the dining part of the open plan kitchen, for variety, feeling of warmth.

I guess if it's a very large area, it might feel cold / stark - otherwise it's fine.

I literally never understand why ANYONE puts carpet in a hallway. Last place I lived had a cream carpet!! Ridiculous.

OP we are hoping to do exactly what you are suggesting next year. Our WC is opposite our kitchen and the hall in the middle so would look odd to have a different floor in the hall and tiles are standard for WC and kitchen imo. It might be a little bit cold but I wear slipper socks in the winter and spend most of my time in other rooms so I’m not worried. The only issue might be that the thermostat is in the hall so the heating might come on too often.

We have a high price point laminate (couldn’t afford wood unfortunately) in our living room and offices (we repurposed two bedrooms) carpet in our bedroom and landing and a disgusting sheet vinyl in the hall kitchen and WC at the moment put in by the tenants that used to live here but changing it will have to wait until we can afford to remodel the kitchen which will be 2023 😫

My whole downstairs is tiled (also in Australia) and it’s bloody freezing in winter. In summer it feels weirdly clammy (humid climate, I think tiles are better in a dry heat).

It’s handy enough that it doesn’t matter what we spill but I’d go for wooden or bamboo flooring next time. And yes, things smash to smithereens.

SO cold. We have ceramic tiles in the kitchen, it's freezing. They're too new currently but will eventually change to LVT.

I would hate it, it’ll be so cold. I’d get LVT