Tiles in whole house

ManUnited123

Hey Guys -

i'm thinking of getting the floors of my whole house floored with tiles. I've been told that its not a good idea as they can crack and that house will always be very cold. Can someone advise what would be the advantages / disadvantages of tiles? I really like the look of tiles and wanted to go for it so just want to be aware of any potential issues and see if they are avoidable?

Thanks

herbalplants

Too cold is the main con I can think. Ireland is not the type of country to have tiles all over your home.

Leg End Reject

Cold and not really done here so might be an issue if you go to sell. Tiles date too, and it would be a nightmare changing them all.

Look at vinyl flooring, it has designs like tiles and wood effect, it's warmer and softer underfoot and far easier to change.

https://deskelly.ie/product-category/vinyl/

https://treacyscarpetsandfurniture.ie/product-category/shop/floors/shop-floors-vinyl/

Dan Steely

From experience coldness is a serious problem.

HeidiHeidi

Without underfloor heating I wouldn't dream of tiling anything other than the bare minimum (ie kitchen, if even that)

Underfloor heating would solve the coldness.

But if you have a baby, or if a baby is in your future, maybe something less harsh.

RichardAnd

In my opinion, it's not suitable for houses in Ireland. There are some advantages in that tiled floors are much cleaner than a carpet, but they will suck the heat out of a house without underfloor heating. Another issue is that anything that falls will almost certainly break.

For me, wooden flooring or carpet is best suited to homes in Ireland. We're not in Italy :)

SuperBowserWorld

Tile the kitchen, bathroom(s). Maybe hallways. Wooden floor, laminate, ... elsewhere. A tiled floor will be cold, slippy and dangerous if someone falls.

angel eyes 2012

We have laminate flooring in the sitting room, would something similar be a good idea in the kitchen and hall. We currently have tiles but they are 90's taracotta style and unsuitable for our soon to be crawling baby. Our budget wouldn't stretch to underfloor heating.

ManUnited123

Ah, I’m confused now because me and mrs had our heart set on tiles.. we were going potentially with these here: https://www.worldoftiles.ie/bathroom-tiles/306-luxury-beige.html

How much does under floor heating cost? I might look into that if we are going for tiles.

cnocbui

Perhaps consider cork. It's warm underfoot and forgiving to dropped things.

Xander10

It comes down to personal taste at the end of the day.

Personally I find them a cold look, apart from the kitchen and bathroom where they are essential with water spills etc

Calahonda52

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058325417/tiles-in-whole-house

What is the make up of the floors?

Tiling bedroom as well?

Will certainly rule out some activities

Ezeoul

Kitchen, bathrooms, utility rooms, yes. Anywhere else, I'd look at different options.

My entrance hall was tiled when I bought the house - supposedly "non-slip" but they were lethal when coming in from outside after rain, and I ended up having to put a runner down until I eventually got them taken up and replaced with wood.

I wouldn't be keen on tiles everywhere, and it would put me off buying a place with all tiles, knowing what a PITA it is to get them taken up.

John_Rambo

I'd 100% recommend natural stone that won't go out of fashion. (it's been used for centuries) not man made tiles.

We renovated years ago & have the full open plan ground floor in travertine stone with electric underfloor heating mats. We keep the electric mats on at their lowest setting in the winter and the cost is minimal, particularly with solar.

Unlike porcelain tiles the stone is natural & non-slip and doesn't have that awful repetitive patterns you see with the manmade tiles trying to look natural. It's very naturally irregular with fossils and contrasts and it's not slippy, even when wet. The house is open plan & we cook a lot, so the less soft furnishings like carpets the less smells. Furniture is all leather so not much absorption there too!

We've lots of kids and the floor hasn't been a problem and it's super easy to clean, irobot combi does it all. Upstairs is all natural wool, comfort and Hygge!! So different story up there!

Calahonda52

"We renovated years ago & have the full open plan ground floor in travertine stone with electric underfloor heating mats. We keep the electric mats on at their lowest setting in the winter and the cost is minimal, particularly with solar." 

Winter is max heat demand and minimum PV generation, not to mind the day/night demand profile so would be interesting to see what minimal cost looks like in what sound like a 200m2 house

Why other heat sources are there in winter?

What is the energy rating?

samcr440!

I have tiles throughout my whole house. Its a newbuild with underfloor heating. I wouldn't go with a lot of tiles if you didn't have a well insulated floor or underfloor heating.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121451450#Comment_121451450

I haven't done a BER test on the house, and I agree with your winter is max heat demand because it's cold outside, much colder than summer and PV generation is at it's worst because the days are much shorter than they are in the summer.

I'd say most people know this.

However, the house is very cosy during the winter. I'd recommend the set up.

Kurooi

I moved into a house where the entire ground floor was tiles, have since taken them off the living and dining room. I'd only consider tiles everywhere if I wasn't planning on having children and didn't plan to spend much time on the floor. I feel if I had cats or dogs I'd also prefer them to have a wooden floor in the living room so it's still easier to clean but they can lie down on it and feel comfortable.

Tile pros:

-Super easy to clean, and a lot more options for using harsher cleaning products.

-Durable against dirt, spills, scratches

-They will, in general, last you quite a long time if you choose to keep them. Just exercise some caution with heavy items. Carpet and vinyl or laminate will always inevitably wear off. Only comparable here is hard wood and that requires a lot more money and maintenance.

-No maintenance (as compared with hardwood or even carpet which you may want to deepclean sometimes)

-Great option for underfloor heating

-Generally modern clean feel

Tile cons:

-Cold to the touch, definitely need to wear shoes or slippers around the house

-Awful for any sitting on the floor activity. Board games, children's toys, some of my more casual friendly guests genuinely prefer to sit down on the floor over the couch and this wouldn't do.

-Can be slippery.

-Not so durable against impact damage

-Quite a nightmare to take off and replace in the future, lots of heavy work, dust, leveling.

-Hard to do a "Homely" or "Cozy" feeling around spaces that are tiled.

Tips to you:

-Do not get slippery tiles. You want something with at least some grip. A bit of texture. I got ones that feel like sandpaper to the touch, and there is a little drawback in that you need to put more back into cleaning them but they grip better than wooden floors.

-Tiles crack, yes, but properly installed they don't just spontaneously crack. They do it under very heavy impact. I can't think of any object in my living or dining room right now that could damage one. This is way more likely in the kitchen where an edge of a metal frying pan will or something like that , over 5,10,20 years will very likely meet them.

-Consider how lighter or darker tiles may show dirt, and how different patterns may conceal it.

-Consider grout colour

-Buy and keep a pack extra for future repairs

billyhead

I have polished porcelain tiles all downstairs and as long as you have rugs and runners I think there a lot nicer then wooden flooring or carpet.

We installed Luxury Vinyl tiles around 12 years ago. The pattern is like brown stone. They are as good as the day they went down. I laid them onto a floating insulated OSB floor over concrete. This is much warmer and softer underfoot than the tiles in the kitchen.

I was so impressed with their performance that I will be using them in our new homes kitchen. Since they are only 4mm thick we are going over levelled old fashioned tiles. I personally would never choose to have Tiles in any room - horrible feel underfoot and cold as hell (you can feel the cold creeping in as the winter goes on). The only reason they are standard in Med countries is because they are cool underfoot.

JohnnyChimpo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121454533#Comment_121454533

that "as long as you have rugs" is fairly telling. I have nice wood floors that stay warm all year round, rugs are purely optional. Installing tiling without UFH is madness imo

RichardAnd

Another thing about tiles is that if fashions change (and they will), pulling them up is a big and messy job. What today may look great could well look dire in 20 years.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121457275#Comment_121457275

Agreed. That's why I'd advise natural stone. Been used for generations!

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121457705#Comment_121457705

I'm sure these things looked great in 1982!

Rows Grower

I've worked in the homes of four different tile shop owners and none of them had more than the kitchen, hall, utility and bathrooms tiled.

No matter which tiles you choose or how well it is done it's going to look like you got the tiles cheap or for nothing if you tile the whole house.

Supercell

No offense OP but i think those look like something Conor McGregor might have in his living room. Unless this is your forever home and you don't mind the coldness, its going to put a lot of buyers off.

JohnnyChimpo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121457887#Comment_121457887

those look pretty nice tbh... in moderation

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121457887#Comment_121457887

No. That's not natural stone. They're stick on tiles with a distinct floral pattern on them, there's a big difference. Natural stone is irregular like Limestone, travertine, slate, granite, Liscanner stone, marble etc... However, those floral stick on tiles are nice in the right place but nobody is going to floor their whole house in that.

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121457275#Comment_121457275

That's why your better off with plain white floor tiles downstairs. As they say you ant go wrong with white. And white makes the room look bigger.

awec

We tiled only the bathrooms, we wanted tiles on the floor in as few places as possible.

Kitchen and hall (or porch) would be fine too, most tile here, but personally I hate tiles in living spaces.

herbalplants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121457995#Comment_121457995

Best comment so far!

lau1247

I tiled the Kitchen, hallway, downstairs toilet and utility room. The ensuite and main bathroom came tiled with the house, didn't change those. Living room is wood. Stairway and all of upstairs (bedrooms) are all carpet.

Regarding OP's concern:

• No cracks yet after 5 years, there are the odd chip which was caused by dropping things.
• It can be a bit cold in winter but a slipper will sort that very quickly.

From my observations/experience:

• Summertime is great without slipper (I've always used slippers either way)
• You'd be surprise how quickly a room get dirty with dust, hair, etc, very noticeable when it is tiled in a good way that it prompt you to clean it (i.e. not hiding it), I just can't stand the thought/idea of walking about barefoot picking up all those stuff and then go to bed etc.
• No creaking (or warping) unlike wood.
• Larger piece of tile in somewhat conservative colour does generally look nicer, If you have young children, tiles in kitchen is a godsend, so much easier to wipe and clean.

Padre_Pio

I have wood effect tiles in the entire downstairs.

Nice seamless look and I've a rug in the living room and hallway.

Underfloor definitely helps a lot, they're never cold to touch.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121458707#Comment_121458707

That's subjective and comes from a mindset of cost rather than taste.

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121458041#Comment_121458041

Each to their own!

Rows Grower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121460722#Comment_121460722

If you read it properly you'll see it's the exact opposite.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121458081#Comment_121458081

For the love of god, don't use white floor tiles. And definitely not white grout.

I made the mistake of installing white floor tiles in my bathroom and they show every speck of dust. I have to hoover and wash them every single day. I'm planning on redoing the bathroom next year, and cannot wait to get rid of the white floor tiles.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121460990#Comment_121460990

"No matter which tiles you choose or how well it is done it's going to look like you got the tiles cheap or for nothing if you tile the whole house"

You say "you got the tiles cheap or for nothing" I say "that looks amazing" or indeed, "that looks terrible", I look at it from an aesthetic point of view and you look at it from a cost point of view, but that's ok! It's what you think when you look at a tiled house.

galwaytt

I have all-tile in my house (previously1997, then 2007) to date.

UFH is your friend.

If you don't have that, they there would need to be at least 125mm, and preferably 150mm of floor insulation under your screed, otherwise yes, will be cold.

Rows Grower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121461465#Comment_121461465

If you read it properly you'll see it's the exact opposite.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121467201#Comment_121467201

No, you haven't mentioned aesthetics, practicalities, types of tiles (stone, porcelain), pros, cons, etc... You've been no help or given any advice. The one thing you concentrate is that it looks cheap if you tile the whole house which is of course untrue and the same goes for carpet and wood!! Nobody assumes someone has got carpet for cheap or for nothing if they carpet their house, nobody assumes someone has gotten wood for free if they floor the house with wood! These are ridiculous assumptions to jump to.

At least I've been helpful and given experienced advice!

If you answer with "If you read it properly you'll see it's the exact opposite" I'm going to assume you don't have a proper answer, are incapable of discussing the topic, remain unhelpful and are actually trolling at this stage.

Rows Grower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121467328#Comment_121467328

If you read it properly you'll see it's the exact opposite.

SharkMX

My parents tiled the hall, kitchen and living room about 20 years ago.

Never had a problem with cold or anything, but its a big job now to lift those tiles and replace with something modern. They really, really look terrible. Tastes have changed over the years and those tiles really show it.

Rows Grower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121469645#Comment_121469645

It's a messy job taking up properly fitted floor tiles but another option is you could put any new flooring (including new tiles) on top of the tiles that are there if the external doors of the house have enough clearance at the bottom or can be adjusted. Any internal doors should be easy enough to take a shave or slice off of.