Sigh...stone...

I bought porcelain tile that looks like wood in a dark gray, grouted it, looks like real wood! Home depot product

Ceramic wood was the winner, it will be installed next week! Thanks for all of your input. Flavinger Dakota Natural.

thanks for coming back with the update. next up, your photos!

I'm sure it will be beautiful!

Marie Hutson, do you mind sharing what home depot product you used?

And jmvman, your floor is beautiful! Thanks for the picture! Do you mind sharing the manufacturer/color?

Thanks!

Went with tile. thanks for the help.

Looks beautiful!

We have a beach house in Carolina Beach. We're only there on weekends in the summer and we keep the ac on only when we're there, otherwise the rest of the week it's off and it gets very hot & humid in the house. We're rarely there in the winter and we leave the heat set to 50 just like you. We have 3/4" solid red oak floors, stained natural. We have an outdoor shower so we really don't track all that much sand in the house, but after 5 years we don't have any worse for the wear on our floors & they have held up very well. No cupping or warping despite the changes in temp. Hope I've helped!

Ha! I Should have read through more carefully. I see you went with the beautiful gray tile - nice choice!

Love your choice. The wood look tile has come a long way. The color works so well in there, too!

Building a small cottage by RI oceanside. We will have window AC in summer, but no heat in winter. Cottage is closed. Would engineered wood by OK in this situation?

Funny.... I live on the beach in So California, have had hardwood floors throughout with absolutely no issues. They still look like new, even with a dog & 2 grandchildren visiting often. Personally, I prefer the warmth of real wood. IMO wood look tile, especially in gray, looks very commercial. A few of my neighbors have it.

Just like wood floors there are really good porcelain wood products and some cheaper less attractive versions.

Based on our 40 plus years of experience, if you purchase wood flooring it is our opinion that you should stay with narrow flooring. The type of the cut is rift sawn. With rift sawn the grain expands up and down instead of toward the width. Otherwise, I'd recommend WPC, which water proofed vinyl material. National hardwood Flooring in Van Nuys has a vast selection from which you may very well find the product you need. Contact us: 818-988-9663 or since you live in the Valley, pop over see us: 14959 Delano Street, Van Nuys, Ca 91411

No how about tile that looks like wood.

Shelley, what brand did you end up choosing for your tile floor?

The floors in my grandmother's house 3 from the beach is pine. Never cupped or refinished, built about 1927. Still look good, no cupping. Seem to have a bit of patina

I know this is an older post but wanted to follow up and ask a couple of questions because I'm in the same situation right now trying to decide on floor. Your floors look great! Was your tile ceramic or porcelain? I have the opportunity to get some ceramic wood look tile I like at a really great deal but was concerned that ceramic wasn't as durable as porcelain. Has this held up for you?

Here is your answer:

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/porcelain-vs-ceramic-tile-a-5-scenario-showdown-stsetivw-vs~68000956

Sand has worn down the finish of several ceramic floors, but not my porcelain tiles. Always check wear rating number on tile for sandy areas.

Porcelain tile is definitely the "gold standard"!

gritsnh63, the tile was Flaviker dakota tile. 3 years later it is amazing, the texture feels like real wood, and everyone comments on how beautiful our wood floors are. We don't tell most that they are tile. They aren't even cold like tile normally is, maybe bc of the texture. The best part is the patterns don't repeat, making it really look like wood. They come in 3,4, and 5' lengths, so we mixed it up making it look even better. Good luck. http://www.qualityflooring4less.com/flaviker-dakota-tile-flooring.html 

Thank you

Shelley- How's the tile???? Still happy? I'm deciding between Avana and Natural. Thank you for the picture. Do you have any more photos?

One thing about this Flaviker Dakota, it is self leveling, a revolutionary technology it seems. The large format tiles are flexible and level themselves with their own weight. If interested one can google for the videos. Shelley, my only reservation is the megapixel or clarity of the picture vs. some of the latest edition tiles. Anyways, thank you again for the picture and if you get this and want to show off more I'll be looking.

Shelley - Any chance you can post more photos of your tile? We are considering it for our beach home as well and would really love to see more photos. Also, can you tell me about the grout you used if it needs it? Thank you in advance!!

I went with the same Flaviker Dakota tile in my waterfront vacation home.

Strong recommendation. I went with the Avana color and also purchased from Quality flooring 4 less. You can see more pictures of the tile on my vacation home's website. www.GuadalupeLodge.com There is a proprietary process used to make this tile which allows it to bend. Check it out on youtube. It is Porcelain, but much more flexible than any other I have seen. Big thumb's up!

This is Flaviker Dakota on the shower wall.

That looks amazing - thank you!! I will google it for the videos - bit did you need to grout or no? And did you use the same product on the stair treads? I saw that they sell full treads as well.

A few more questions 😊 - did you also buy varying lengths like Shelley above? And how was it working with quality flooring 4 less? Thanks again!!

Thank you.

I worked with a lady named Michelle at quality flooring 4 less. I got a great discount for the asking and the price with shipping beat my local Texas suppliers.

I am building another waterfront home now and will use this tile again. It is the best wood look tile I found and I searched every manufacturer- hundreds if not thousands of tiles.

The flexibility I see that I have mentioned twice now was an added bonus because I built on piers as required for my waterfront location. I think my engineers overcame any future movement but I went flexible just in case. It also makes it easier for the installers to get a really nice smooth install despite longer tiles. Here's that video. I think it is amazing and it makes for a more seamless install.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofFj1RCUrz4&ab_channel=FLAVIKERceramiche

On that note- I used the grout that a tile manufacturer said was the best at anti staining and flexibility- It was Mapei but I forget which. I did the thinnest grout lines possible and had them use this installation method.

I used just one size to keep it simple. I think it was 8"x67".

I had the builder just do wood stairs and they were stained to match the tile. Good luck with your project! As you can see I am a huge fan of this product and I hope it sticks around for my current build and any future builds I do.

For ackat15. pics of the flaviker tile. still love it 5years later and used it again in a rental property.

Shelley - thank you SO SO much!! That looks so good!! Can you tell me about the grout you used? And we have two sets of stairs in our house so I've been worried about what to do there... Flaviker has full stair treads that I can purchase, but they are pricey and square so I wasn't sure.... It looks like you may have done wood and stained to match?

Sand and driftwood....LOL

4jacksdad, are you located in the Houston/Galveston area? I would like to visit a showroom in the area to see the Flaviker tile. TIA

I am in Houston. My vacation house is in New Braunfels. If ever by New Braunfels I'll have someone open the door for you to check it out. I'm not sure I saw the tile anywhere in a showroom on a floor, but Thorntree had a nice "board" of it that allowed me to see the look with some tiles as opposed to trying to visualize from a few tiles I laid together- https://thorntreeslate.com/ 10105 West Gulf Bank, Houston, TX 77040.

They had 2 of the color choices on big boards- the boards were like walls of maybe 4'x6'. They had "Naturale" color as well as the "Avana" color I selected.

They were nice and it's a nice place. I'd have purchased from them but their pricing was approximately double that offered by michelle@qualityflooring4less.com . Michelle was amazing to work with and she found me stores in Austin and San Antonio that had Flaviker on floors but I never made it to them. ( i am not affiliated with michelle or quality flooring 4 less. I just like the best deal). Apparently they are like brokers and just find the best pricing and figure in shipping to you and work on smaller margins which I can appreciate.

FWIW- I probably searched many hundreds of tiles looking for the most realistic wood look. I searched every store and manufacturer showroom I could find in Houston for 9 months as my build progressed. In my opinion, there were only 2 that had a quality that satisfied me. This Flaviker, and another from Eleganza Tile which is very close to the Thorntree location.

As you can tell, I am sold on Flaviker. It's probably the best there is. My current build's budget is evolving to 1.2 mm and I will be using this again without hesitation. Do yourself a favor and buy it! https://www.qualityflooring4less.com/flaviker-dakota-tile-flooring.html

Finally- if you purchase this- you'll see quality flooring is the best price but don't pay their asking price. Get a better discount.

Thanks so much for your quick response. I will look at Eleganza and Thorntree to start. BTW I am a New Braunfels High School graduate. Spent many an hour on the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers. Enjoy your vacation home there.

Thank you. I can't believe that you moved from there to this metropolis!

4jacksdad,

Kicking and screaming! Lol! Just spoke to quality flooring and got the ball rolling.
Thanks for the info

4jacksdad,
How perfect does my slab have to be to get a good installation? My decorator is questioning the Flaviker

No more perfect than any other surface, and even less so given the flexibility of the Flaviker.

You do NOT want SPC if your house has some value- if you have a designer I am guessing it does. Any SPC or floating floor of any type will have air pockets and sound tinny or hollow. I despise that.

The Flaviker is flexible. Scroll up and watch the video I posted.

Also scroll up and look at the installation/ tile laying method I posted. I made my installers use it. Research it. It is the ultimate way to lay tile at this time. Perfect uniformity, spacing and height. I have zero high corners.

Having dealt with designers, builders, and architects a few times now myself, I am kind of glad i am a control freak as all I've dealt with need some guidance.

Here ya go- Wild stuff. Absolutely porcelain tile...but flexible/auto leveling. This stuff is the best and my installers loved it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VEz-M5s_G4&ab_channel=FLAVIKERceramiche

With all my research I discovered this tile laying method and made my builder's installers use it. They'd never done so before and they were shocked. This is the method to use. (many manufacturers make these clips) Combined with Flaviker, some leveling float if you need it, and you're in the money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOKLa2eIWsQ&ab_channel=PeygranTileLevelingSystem

Tks so much for the info. I have spoken to Quality. Waiting to see if I can get a sample or box of Avana.

I'm sure you can. I have a box in West Houston if you can not.
Best bet though is to see it on that board at Thorntree if you get to the west side. Something about the boards wit grout at Thorntree helped me finally decide.

4jacksdad
Have an appointment at Thorntree tomorrow. Very interested in seeing the tile. Tks again.

If you ever get back to new braunfels you can see it in my rental #GuadalupeLodge

4jacksdad
Got the samples today. Beautiful. Hubby likes the Avana despite his traditional ideas!
At the fireplace and the walls, was it grouted or something else? Did you have to do any transitions? If so, how was that done?
Waiting to hear from Quality.

That's great! I chose Avana also. Do the flexibility test with a pencil in the middle. It's wild. Reminder- I preferred Michelle at Quality. She seemed laid back and honest on the discounts.

No transitions. Mine was new construction so it all went in at one time and I did it throughout the whole house upstairs and down except for the wood stair treads and except for different tile on the bathroom floors. I guess the different tiles were similar thickness. Use a flexible stain resistant grout, matching grout color, and use that clip system to ensure minimal grout lines and no uneven tile heights. That's my recommendation anyway.

I can't recall which clip system I made the tile guys use. I researched it at the time and chose one that I thought was best reviewed. May've been this one. May've been another. Good luck! https://www.amazon.com/Raimondi-Leveling-joint-180BASE500-clear/dp/B00BC2FGQ8