I've been seeing this showing up in a lot of Houzz pictures lately. I'm really liking it! https://www.houzz.com/photos/woodgrain-tile-phbr0lbl-bl~l_61504

I have seen it at my hair salon. They have a grey color, and it's very nice looking and seems to be wearing well. I am not sure why you would do your entire house in one type of surface... If you're concerned about how wood will wear with 3 active children, choose a wood and finish that can stand up to them. As you said, you don't want to regret your decision in 5 years. You can refinish the wood, but it would be highly disruptive to pull up the tile. Have you considered cork or bamboo?

If you are looking for an authentic wood look, tiles are not the way to go. The grout inevitably gives a significantly different look that authentic wood floors. It is typically used in more commerical rather than residentail spaces.
If you like the look of wood floors but are concerned about the cost, I would suggest looking into vinyl planks. They will much more closely resemble wood floors and will be significantly less expensive. Here is a link to armstrongs Vinyl planks but there are many different companies that offer them. The sky is the limit.
http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna/products/lvt/natural-creations-arborart/_/N-6uxZ1z141xv

Not that cost isn't an issue but the price isn't our biggest concern. (ha, my husband would love to hear that - point is, some of the travertine/tile/wood we're shopping are similar in price)
Anyway, I've lived in Florida my whole life and tile is much more typical here. With the humidity, pool and 3 active boys, I'm afraid wood wouldn't stand up to the beating. I would love advice from anyone who has had real wood...
If we were to opt for wood, I would do a matte finish that's hand scraped....

Hello! I understand your concern about a nice flooring that is almost commercial yet shows like the warmth of wood. I am looking into the same for my next home- a porcelain tile that has a look of wood. I have "been 'round the block a few times" with flooring/ass't surfaces as we have moved frequently. Our first home, custom-built by us (3,500 sf, about $400k in the early '90's) had wood floor in the foyer, hall and family rooms. It was me and then a newborn (DH worked all the time), so this floor didn't get a fair amount of use to really judge. It was one of those floors that are pre-finished at the factory, with a thin layer of real wood on top of the plank. My only concern with this one was that the wood boards did shrink width-wise over time, and if you stood and looked along the lay of the boards, you could sometimes see the white little gaps between boards. SO I wonder if it had spills, what would happen if the spill got in the cracks and under the wood. This was a name brand wood, though which brand I cannot remember now. Jump ahead to two houses later, and a almost 11,000 sf home (about 2.5mil back then). Handscraped solid hardwoods was what we choose to replace carpeting in the office, library and conference area. It was aggressively scraped and was lovely... and the installers did sand it to take out the "picks" or little pieces of wood sticking up, but it was difficult to clean due to the very uneven coarse texture (hair or pieces of mop fiber would get stuck in the picks and crevices.). This home also came with honed limestone in both formals, master, master sitting room, master bath, hall, laundry room, kitchen and family room. What a horrible idea to put the softest stone in the high traffic areas! I would jump and clean up any mishaps, but it would still invariably get "etched" which was basically a change in the gloss. And I did have it re-honed before moving in, and that is a mess as it is sanded with a lot of water- the stuff sloshe

(continued) all over. Fast forward to this home, a spec home that I customized, a 5500 sf home. Have hand-scraped and they can scratch, but the touch up sticks blend the scratches in fine. For the most part, though, Oriental carpets protected the wood floors... until the home stager took out all the carpets. Have travertine in master bath on floor, and it got "divots" or little caved in spots after a few years. Again too soft- hired a pro to fix and he filled them in with a mix of ground up stone & something else. Fine now, but something I would like to avoid. Also would like to avoid my master bath travertine counters. They etch and I have to put my bottles of hand soap, etc, on towels. I hate having to put the stuff on towels to protect a too-delicate counter. You need to think of how rambunctious your boys are (and I do not know their ages), and also what is the usual for the comps. If you don't care or won't be selling for a long time, then just choose what your prefer and chalk it up as a quality-of-life decision for you. Sorry for the length of this note, but I wanted to share my experiences~

Thank you so much for your response - very helpful!!! So my question to you would be....what would your flooring suggestion be for the main areas? My boys are rowdy! (so is husband!) ... the boys are only 4,2&1 yr old so lots of years ahead of us. Would really love to hear your suggestion. We've also been tossing around the idea of travertine but the upkeep kind of scares me... Do tell!!

OK, so now I know with such young ones, that you need something that will really hold up over time. Question: Is your "main area" the kitchen and family room? I guess the choices to consider (for me) would be:

1)Hardwood. Pros: can be redone in time. Can be "touched up" with marker-like product. Adds value to almost any home. Cons: I would never put it in a kitchen. Softer to walk on than tile. Can be scratched by large dog (nails). I would stay with a hand-scraped, matte finish as scratches tend to show less than on glossy finish.
2) Tile. Pros: I love it in the kitchen. There is a relief when I can tell my daughters "no problem" with whatever they spill. Really touch and stands the test of time for a family. Cons: harder to walk on, cheaper tile will not be favored by future buyers. Grout, which must be scrubbed on occasion. Choosing the right grout color (not too light) and sealing the grout helps prevent staining.
3) Travertine. I have this in my bathroom. Does not stand the test of time. I use the master bath 2-3 times a day, and usually without shoes. The deal with travertine is that, also, it needs a special cleaner. Although it can be found at big-box stores, the cleaner is very mild. I like to disinfect and know no "cooties" are floating around. This is why I do not like the travertine in my shower. I cannot use the usual shower cleaners.
to be continued...

4) Laminate. My mom had this, though I do not have any personal experience with it. It wore well in her kitchen but was hard to walk on (not soft) and had a hollow sound when walked on with shoe soles other than rubber. I see now they have improved this, with a backing of a cushion. It is probably a softer feel under the foot and without the hollow sound.
5) Porcelain tile. It looks intriguing to me, but I didn't see any at the big box store that really looked like woodgrain. I read that it wears even better than ceramic, so this should be good for a family.
6) Bamboo. No experience with this, but in my recent house-hunting, I have seen it in homes. I have not seen it wearing well over time, but that could be these individual cases.
to be continued...

7) Carpet. I put a berber in my first custom build, in the upstairs with all the bedrooms (except for the game room). I ordered it directly from North Carolina and had a carpet man install it. I showed my builder the sample and he said he could not match the quality and price. Now I would definitely not put this in the high trafffic areas of the kids, but it would be an option for something like a guest bedroom & master closet (assuming it is a walk-in, off the tiled bathroom).
8) Vinyl Plank. I saw some really nice realistic vinyl plank at HDepot today, but I have not had any experience with it. It looked great on the sample board, but I looked at an open box and it looked so thin and flimsy, but I really don't know.
Whatever you use, I would try to break up the hard flooring, even if most of your house is hardwood, then put a nice tile in your kitchen. Do your homework: visit homes in your area & price range and see what they are putting in, and decide if the look would be family friendly.
I remember that in my 2nd home (about 7,000 sf in Austin), my 2nd child was born and I had my first still in diaper. So there were sippy cups with juice everywhere. We had a tile kitchen, wood in the foyer that went into the formals, and a carpet that was more or less commercial, so that worked. The kids would look out of the window, as the living area was on the 2nd floor. I put a synthetic "oriental-type" sculpted floral area rug right next to that window. They dribbled so much juice from their sippy cups, but I didn't worry. That carpet was only $200 on sale, and I would take it out in the driveway and wash it with a hose. It lasted and lasted and I got rid of it when the sippy-cup stage was over. So the reason for this long bit of story is to think of a cheapish area rug that is easy to clean (ie driveway scrub!) to get you through the cookie crumbling stage.
I hope this gives you a bit more to ponder.

Meredith495- nice job on the floor choice! Would you mind sharing the brand & color of your floor. Looks great...

Lovemyflowers,
Glad you like! This was bought at a local store in NY. As for the brand and color, I don't recall but over here there are so many that have the same look! Some are less gritty than others in their texture and some are more color varied than others. You need to find the kind you like both texture and color. Genterally speaking the darker you go the better it looks in my opinion! Hope that helps.

Personally, I would choose the wood look porcelain tile. Looks great, easy to maintain, durable, water proof. Having lived in Naples Fl. for 22 years, I have to say that if you are looking for durability, you want to choose tile, stained concrete, terrazzo, or something else along these lines..especially with kids(or animals). Cheers to you!. MB

Thanks! Where in Naples do you live? I grew up there - was actually there this weeekend, Do you recommend any places in Naples that have a good selection of travertine or wood look porcelian tile? I have exhausted all of the areas in Orlando but this could be a fun excuse to see my parents and do a little floor shopping

I usually start with hadinger on airport. I live near downtown. the closer you get to 5th ave...the higher the prices..you know how it goes! Naples is the best city in the USA in my book! I LOVE it here. cheers :-)

In Singapore we took off our shoes when we are at home. We are always barefoot at home. Most Singapore homes (apartments) are using homogeneous/porcelain tiles for living,dining and kitchen. Bedroon are generally parquet, thou the in thing is now laminated flooring. I like to rearrage my furniture (always gives a fresh look to ur home), so personally I'd opt for tiles as its more scratch resistance (I'd just push my furniture ard).

zombie thread any update from nicolezw?

I have just done my whole downstairs in tile hardwood. No need to worry about grout. The grout used matches the color of the tile, so it does give it a real hardwood look. So easy to clean and beyond durable. NO HARDWOOD is durable to kids, animals,moving furniture, stains, fading and water damage. I've had them all. I also have a pool so when kids come in wet...no worries...looks amazing and had a HUGE wow factor. Go for it...coming from experience

I agree with Merri Interiors. I did the same thing, and it looks great.

I hate the look. I think it's too trendy and hardwood is classic. The designer I had years ago (when I could afford one) taught me that fake anything is not good. That's why I don't like laminate either. You could do carpeting and change it as often as you need to for what you would spend on tile or laminate. Sorry to be so opinionated but I think the concept deserves some thought.

I somewhat agree...but all classics started as a trend at some point in time. Only after having proved themselves worthy are they considered a classic. That is why I am seriously thinking of using wood tile in my downstairs.

I am replacing carpet in dining room, office/den, and living room. I live on an island in southeastern USA, and we have a pool. This is not a carpet friendly area, and I am afraid I will have the same problems with engineered hardwood, which I have been told by the experts in the area is the only wood floor to have for concrete slab homes. My concern is resale value in 5-10 years. In this area which would negatively affect the sale, scratched and damaged engineered hardwood floors or wood tile???

I love hardwood and went round and round with flooring decisions. I wanted hardwood but I have a German Short Haired Pointer who has eagle talons and runs through the house, leaping over furniture like a horse and I spoke with designers and specialists at every flooring store and home improvement store and everyone said that no hardwood or laminate floor would hold up to my GSP and my options were tile or carpet and I loathe carpet. I love the grey hardwood so to GSP proof my home, I chose the wood look tile that was like had scraped wood with texture and not slick so my dog wouldn't slide and have hip issues. The stamping on the grey wood look tile is gorgeous. I was still concerned but the designers and all other professionals assured me it is oka . They all talked about durability and how it is selling all over the world and purchased for its look, durability and especially because it is greener than cutting down trees. I absolutely love my floor to death the only thing I don't like is that the sound when you walk on a real hardwood floor is a sound that I love and you obviously don't get that same sound.

Flupnscot, We are currently searching for porcelain wood look floor tile for our first floor (foyer, dining room, living room and family room areas.) We have carpet and hardwood flooring in these areas but with three dogs and a pool, it's simply not conducive to replace our existing flooring with hardwoods (which would be our first choice.) Would LOVE to see a picture of your your new hand scraped wood look tile floors! Would you mind posting a picture? Thanks!

I've had real hardwoods - dark stain and it got scratched a lot by a couple of large-ish dogs. A month after we moved in a pipe burst on the north side of the house and a lot of that flooring got replaced. The same dogs did nothing I could see to "engineered wood" floors in a previous house. I haven't found a vinyl that I really like. We are building again and we are considering a lighter colored "wide plank" wood-look porcelain tile floor. We were in Floor and Decor today and none of the engineered or vinyl flooring looked as nice as the tile. I found this searching the 'net for opinions about the porcelain...Barraques Castagno is the tile we liked.

Whoops just saw it on a floor in a house on Floor and Decor's website. Too busy.

I found myself in the same position as many others after a can ran into my home. Had carpet and found it requires lots of maintenance in a busy home. I chose the wood like porcelain tile, most folks can't tell the difference and becomes an instant conversation piece. So far so good, although my renovations isn't completed yet

I'm really looking to replace my floors, ripped out beige builder carpet and I want to replace it with Wood flooring but I'm intrigued with the tile and durability, my problem is I live in a ranch style home I can put tile throughout kitchen and living area's but what do I do with the bedrooms if I hate wall-to-wall carpeting, I also prefer area rugs and I live in Florida and have a pool?

finished

Shaun Dotson is this tile and is it throughout house or just this space?

It covers the 1st floor except the master bedroom

Some more pix

a few more

I am absolutely stumped as far as what to do with our new house. I love love love hardwood flooring. Our new house is a 2800 sf craftsman style ranch with a full basement. Now, I am considering doing the wood-look tile throughout the entire house. We have pets and we live in a very sandy area of Michigan. I worry about the sand tracking in constantly. I love wood but I have an issue of pets and sand and then the flow of the look through the house..... what to do????

Hi Shanda!

We too are building a Craftsman home in rural Pennsylvania. The design is an Alan Mascord. I have designer friends who most likely would disagree with my using anything other than real hardwood or natural stone, but those two products just don’t fit with our lifestyle. I do animal rescue and currently have 8 fur babies so low maintenance home materials are a must for me. In our last home we removed all the carpet and laid hardwood on site, but I hated the upkeep with scratches, chips, not to mention “pee pee” on the wood, seeping into cracks. This drove me insane. Way too much work. Hardwood is absolutely stunning if you live without pets, kids and high heeled friends stopping by. Just not practical in my opinion. So “wood look” porcelain tile for me this time. It’s improved “quality of life” aspect trumps the beauty of real hardwood for my lifestyle. You need to choose what fits for how you live. I hope this helps.

Lisa Paponetti

I know this was an older post but I wonder if anyone has used the heater system you can put under the tile floor?

if so what do you think, has it lasted and do you actually use it or is it just there but the cold tile didn’t turn out to be a big issue after all? Thanks

i put in beautiful wood grain tile thinking it was the healthier choice for allergies and sealants but after a month noticed all kinds of joint pain. i wear tennis shoes and still my feet are killing me. plus we are expecting a baby soon and they thougth of a little one running around on such a hard surface scares me. i regret it and it was more expensive than wood and also very expensive to demo out. i hope to do that soo and go with real wood