depends on your lifestyle if you want the durability of tile or the warmth of wood-- since you can get wood look tile the visual is pretty close

i would heat the tile to take off some chill in the winter months even thought your in fla at least in the ba and kitchen

I'm in South Florida, you will absolutely love tile for 98% of the year! The memory of those few cold days will fade quickly when your house is nice and cool in the summer and you don't have to take out a second mortgage to pay your electric bill! We put Travertine throughout our home except in the bedrooms and office, wood and carpet there, haven't regretted it for a minute although it does hold the cold when the temperature drops.

I'd rather vacuum/dust a hardwood floor than mop a tile one and have to deal with dirty grout. To each his own!

Hardwood will always give you a warmer/earthy ambiance. With prefinished hardwood the price for an entire first floor isn't what it used to be, and it it has a very positive effect on your resale. If your worried about high traffic, pets or kids I would suggest something that has some distressing to hide any marking that does occur. Your only concern will be humidity, as it is necessary to maintain a consistent humidity of 35 - 55%. Anything out side of that zone may cause gapping or cupping.

We have hardwood now.. because of severe water damage we have to tear it all up and put down new flooring. Undecided with putting down hardwood again or tiles... with minimal/thin grout ;)

Since you had wood before- aside from the flooding- did you ever wish you had tile? That would be the way I would gage the answer for myself.

I think large format tile--fewer grout lines to clean--for your locale will be a better choice. And if you get rectified tile, you'll be able to make those grout lines very tight. As someone pointed out above, you'll appreciate the ability to keep the house cool. If you want to splurge on radiant heat to put under the tile for when the weather gets chilly, that's always an option. Or, get yourself a gas fireplace which is both cozy and helps with heating during colder periods.

We've had tile in parts of our home for over 12 years and have yet had a difficult time cleaning them. Maybe if the grout was light colored? Ours is a medium gray, cement-ish looking color and not wide.

They also offer Vinyl Wood Planks - people seem to either love them or hate them.

Wood look tile, when done right, is awesome for Florida homes. We live in south Florida with kids, a dog, and a pool, and I couldn’t imagine dealing with real wood.

That’s gorgeous flooring. Would you mind sharing the name and color etc.