tegwin
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 05:48 PM |
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OT: Kitchen floor
I am having one of those moments where I am overwhelmed with choice..
Anyone have any views...
New kitchen going in shortly... but what to put on the floor..
Tiles, stone, vinyl, laminate.... none of the above?!?
Obviously want to keep the cost as low as possible, but it needs to be durable and easy to clean... what do you have?
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steve m
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 05:54 PM |
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We have stone tiles, and thats how we/i like it,
personley i would not have laminate, or plastic floor covering, or even carpet
Downside to having stone tiles, is when you drop your favorite mug, it smashe's
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tegwin
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 05:57 PM |
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Do you not find the stone a little cold? (unless you have under floor heating?)
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Hellfire
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 06:07 PM |
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We have a tiled kitchen floor and don't really find the floor cold. It does have approximately 100mm of concrete beneath it which insulates it
quite well and we've never had to consider under-floor heating.
Like Steve M says though, most things that you drop on it smash. Even expensive crystal wine glasses 
Looks as good today as it did when I laid it about 11 years ago and is easy to clean.
Phil
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steve m
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 06:14 PM |
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As Hellfire said, i dont think its cold, and its not heated
Steve
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mark chandler
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 06:20 PM |
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Large tiles, without underfloor heating you do not know what you are missing... its brill.
Make sure they are bedded in well, cracked tiles are a PITA, this is not a cheap way to go.
dark tiles an grey grout, pale tiles and pale grout always look dirty, made that mistake and had to rip and replace once before costing £££ as the
heating gets destroyed in the process.
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drury318
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 06:28 PM |
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Stone tiles are the best, it`s just my opinion but I have tried laminate flooring in the bathroom & I wouldn`t touch it with a barge pole EVER
AGAIN! Dennis
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JoelP
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 06:36 PM |
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i have tiles in mine and it is very cold and unforgiving. Mine has air space below with no insulation at all, hence the cold. If i redo, it will
definately have good insulation and underfloor heating. I suspect i would do tiles again. It does annoy me that they break anything that falls on
them, but i suppose thats par for the course really. The granite tops are just as bad.
One big issue for me is draughts, make sure when the units are out that EVERY gap is filled, nowt more annoying than a nice new kitchen with bloody
draughts out of the doors.
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westf27
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 06:39 PM |
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garage floor paint,that comes in various colours 
555
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tegwin
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 06:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by westf27
garage floor paint,that comes in various colours
I like your thinking.... Non slip... easy to clean...
Heheeee
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Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
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mcerd1
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 06:57 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
quote:
Originally posted by westf27
garage floor paint,that comes in various colours
I like your thinking.... Non slip... easy to clean...
Heheeee
^^ and its oil and brake fluid resistant for when its getting too cold in the garage
-
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interestedparty
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 08:23 PM |
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I echo the advice to avoid light colour grout, it will quickly look like (not very nice)
Other question is whether to tile before of afterwards.
Tile before uses more tiles, tile afterwards means you can't change the kitchen layout if you want to, and if the appliances aren't
integrated getting them out might not be so easy (depanding on the tile thickness and the worktop height)
As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list-- I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed-- who never would be missed!
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macc man
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 08:30 PM |
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May not be the cheapest solution but I fitted solid wood oak flooring. Warm to walk on and some give when dropping items on it. Can be sanded many
times. Can be sourced on internet for not much more than good tiles.
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 09:52 PM |
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My you're a clumsy lot!
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MikeR
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 10:12 PM |
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first figure ...
out how long you're likely to stay,
how much you want to spend,
how long you're likely to keep the flooring,
how likely what you're going to fit is going to date
how likely the other half will want something different in x years.
once you know that, you'll rule in / out a few options and hopefully make the decision a little easier. I've got cheap laminate, its been
down 10 years and has chipped in lots of places. Plan is to throw down some vinyl at some point.
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tegwin
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| posted on 3/11/10 at 10:32 PM |
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Looking at the prices of various things it seems that a travertine effect floor can be fitted for about £8/sq meter.... Thats a lot cheaper than
"good quality" vinyl flooring... Not sure what the quality of the tiles will be like, but they should be hard enough not to fall appart
on me! I hope..
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coozer
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| posted on 4/11/10 at 12:48 PM |
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I have ceramic tiles bonded very carefully to avoid any air gaps on my solid concrete floor.
The whole floor was tiled right to all the edges before the kitchen went in.
As said above they are grouted with a dark cement based waterproof grout that has now been down over 10 years and still looks as good and does a good
job in the kitchen.
If I was doing it again now I would install a better base, ie: 100mm concrete, 100mm celetex or kingspan with 50mm screed embedded with a wet
underfloor heating system.
I am seriously considering updating the dining room floor with the above system but the thought of the mess is making wor lass shake her head. She was
the one who suggested it in the first place!
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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pewe
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| posted on 8/11/10 at 10:34 AM |
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Serious point - ensure whatever covering you use can't be damaged by stiletto heels (rules out those Sat specials then Teg!).
The laminate flooring we used in our flat was seriously damaged by a rather large lady who had a penchant for high heels.
Loading is in terms of tons per square inch!
HTH. Cheers, Pewe 
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02GF74
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| posted on 8/11/10 at 04:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by drury318
Stone tiles are the best, it`s just my opinion but I have tried laminate flooring in the bathroom & I wouldn`t touch it with a barge pole EVER
AGAIN! Dennis
hmmm, I thnking of doing one of the above in the bathroom - either floor tiles or laminate tile look-a-like.
Tiles is preferable but I am concerned about the increase in height of the floor. I will be able to trim down the doors but then how to deal with the
"step" from hallway to the bathroom floor?
Secondly, the floorboards in the bathroom are poor - I nailed down hardboard on top to level the floor to put carpet tiles on top which works well but
there is some give in the surface - if I were to lay the floor tiles (thinking of ceramic, slate or stone), then what will top the tiles from
breaking or more likely, stop the grout in between then from cracking as I expect the tiles will still be able to move relative to one another?
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 8/11/10 at 07:05 PM |
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Siple, replace any dodgy boards, make sure they are well screwed down, I plane the high edges if needed then use "tile on wood" stuff.
Brilliant, been down a good few years now in kitcen and bathroom, suspended wood floors. The grout had a "pva" based additive to prevent
any cracking. Works perfectly.
As to the step, a bit of hardwood, finishes the job nicely.
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