Bathroom and kitchen floors

[jimmychoos]

Am sure this has been done before but can't find.....
I am looking for advice.

We have a small bathroom which we are about to redo with white suite and those white brick shpaed tiles. It's very small but want it to look as bright and airy as possible. Floor space is fairly small - any suggestions as to what would be best? Like the idea of slate tiles bit not sure how the depth would work with the flooring outside the bathroom which is carpet.....

We are also redoing kitchen. It's a biggish room, north facing and can be gloomy but we are knocking out a bigger window to let more light in and refitting with white units and beech worktops. I want something practical for the floor, but not too dark. The rest of the downstairs has darkish wood flooring (walnut-ish).

Any suggestions? TIA!

[jodee]

Hi Enid, thanks!

[bunnyrabbit]

jc,
We have a bathroom with white suite which is half tiled with white tiles and black and white border. We opted for fllor tiles and have the hexagonal black and white which look great, but they do show the fluff/hair a bit too much for my liking. Luckily the CH pipes go underneath the floor so if the hot water has been on (which it generally has if I go in the bathroom) the floor feels heated.

We also have a very 'dim' kitchen which we refitted with offwhite units and a darkish granite effect surface. We opted for slate look flooring which clicks together (don't know what it's called but you can get it in B & Q) and it's been brilliant!! We went for the sort of greeny colour and it doesn't show the dirt at all, so if you very rarely clean the whole floor in one go (like me) you don't look like a slob!! Also, we put the very thick underlay down so its sort of soft and warm on the feet... oh and things tend to bounce not break, which is good for a klutz like me.

We're also looking for flooring for our en-suite so I will watch this thread with interest.

BR

[Twiglett]

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[enid]

jodee, our main bathroom has stripped and painted wooden floors and they are fine - cold though so we have a big cheapish rug in there that we replace every couple of years.

[enid]

We are having a nightmare finding floors for our house - having the whole cottage extended and redone. We have a special problem in that the ceilings are very very LOW...so we found out yesterday that means NO oak flooring or underfloor heating (they have to raise floor by 3 inches for both - dh would hardly be able to stand up!).

So we have gone from underfloor heated slate in the kitchen to Marmoleum - architect thinks its brilliant but after reading mumsnet will have to check whether it is the same as Amtico...in the hallway/utility area we are looking at concrete tiles which look very much like reclaimed limestone - they do look fantastic, our reclamation yard does them - much cheaper than limestone and easy to keep and clean.

Also looking to have marmoleum in the new kids bathroom. Rubber is also supposed to be a great flooring for bathrooms - not cheap though...

Gutted that I can't have lovely oak boards throughout the downstairs rooms - we have had a natural coloured very expensive carpet that looked s*e within a year so we think we might go for natural seagrass with loads of rugs instead. We have seagrass in one room and it still looks the same as it did when we moved in 6 years ago so pretty good really.

I am in Floor World at the moment (in my head!) so do feel free to chat endlessly about flooring...

[Fairyfly]

OOOOOOOOO

[ChicPea]

Jimmychoos, If you use slate or stone anywhere there is the option for using underfloor heating that doesn't heat the room, it just heats the tiles so that they are warm to walk on. When fitting this you have to take into account that it will add about 1.2cm to the height before adding the tiles and grout.

Re: stone and slate tiles, the thickness is usually larger than ceramic tiles so that has to be taken into consideration. You need a good tile shop and Worlds End Tiles in Battersea have a fab selection.

[jodee]

I'm doing my weeny bathroom at the moment too - has anyone just stripped and varnished the floorboards and left it at that? Did they warp, etc.???

[Davros]

I thought that carpet in a bathroom was a no-no (ask that Justin and his friend). I like ceramic tiles but theres lots now that look like "real" stone etc but are not so are easy to maintain. Don't like Amtico, had it and it looked vile very quickly, see other threads! IMO you should always think "what would an Italian have" in matters of taste and it would probably be tiles....!

[MrsFogi]

I love terracota tiles in kitchens as somehow the dirt doesn't show up (within reason!)

[poppyseed]

With kids I prefer carpet in the bathroom as it's warm and not slippery when wet. As the rooms are generally small it doesn't break the bank when they need replacing a bit more often. In our en-suite we have ceramic tiles and also have some gorgeous dark grey ceramic tiles in our hall leading through to the kitchen. I know what you mean about something not too dark, and I set off with the same thought but I wouldn't look back with ours as they doesn't show the muck . With the light maple units and a dark top it looks fantastic, and nobody would know it was all done on a shoestring(ish).

[Fio2]

I like wood or quarry tile/terracotta in kitchens. bathroom a bit of lino does it for me!

[jimmychoos]

Noddy - have just come back to this - how thick are the slate tiles? I've no idea of depth and how they would work with other floorings......

[noddy5]

I am having a slate tile floor laid throughout the downstairs of my new house kitchen/diner hall and cloakroom.Have had it before and it is v practical and looks fab vinyl never looks as good IMO
I live near you so come and look when its done about 2 weeks

[Chandra]

If you want the slate look but without the coldness Amtico may be the solution, it looks the real thing (it looks the real price though!) But what I find good about it is that is not cold and if I flood the bathroom or the kitchen nothing will happen to it (which is not the case of laminates and wood).

[janeybops]

We are doing our ensuite at moment and are looking at laminate which is especially for bathrooms. B & Q and Homebase both have it. Think we will probably go for one from B & Q. Hope this helps. My cousin has it and he thinks it is great - has 3 boys..

[tallulah]

The more expensive vinyl cushion flooring is probably the best option for a bathroom. We've been looking for some & it comes it lots of different styles. Don't think I'd go with slate in a small space but then it's down to personal taste.

We tried ceramic floor tiles in our small bathroom. DH didn't know you are supposed to use marine board on the floor first & put the tiles straight onto the floor boards. The cement cracked & they became uneven & wobbly!

I'm sticking to carpet in my ensuite because I like the feel of it on my feer, but vinyl in the main bathroom because we have boys.... (say no more).

[nutcracker]

Whatever you do don't buy the cheap lino from B&Q. We had some for the kitchen and bathroom.
The bathroom one so far has been fine, but the kitchen one is like paper. Anything you drop on it leaves a dent and it rips very easily too.

[jimmychoos]

bump...anyone?

[jimmychoos]

Madgirl - is your kitchen floor waterproof/ heat proof? Has it been treated?
Agree slate tiles might be a bit chilly - looking for any ideas really.

[madgirl]

we have a light wooden floor in our kitchen- sort of beech/birch and it is lovely. will slate feel cold do you think??