# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  laminate flooring vs tiles

## dexx

My wife and i are building a new house. Its brick&tile with concrete pad floor. We are trying to decide whether to lay laminated timber-look flooring or tiles throughout. Of course we'll have tiles in bathroom and laundry.  
My wife is leaning towards laminate flooring. She likes the look or wood, the softer warmer feel underfoot, the fact that there's no grout to clean, and that laminate flooring is easy to clean in general. I am leaning towards tiles. They are more damage resistant, the same tile can be used through the whole house. They are more water resistant. And using a thin, dark grout also makes them easy to clean. 
 Is there anything else i should know about either choice?

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## Ang

Hi Dexx,  
Our house is about 1 year old and we decided to go with laminate flooring instead of wood. We have a young 3 year old who loves to play outside and often comes in with dirty feet and the laminate seems to keep up very well. Ours is a dark merbeu and looks very nice, was simple to install and is very easy to clean and keep it that way. I would advise on putting the best quality underlay beneath it.  
On the other hand I really love tiles simply because there is such a variety to choose from that can match just about any decor and or taste. We live in Jindabyne which means it gets well below zero every night in winter and find that our friends houses with tiles are very cool underfoot whereas we the laminate flooring is quite acceptable.  
We paid $39 per square metre and chose the uniclic brand.  
I don't know if this helps. 
Cheers, 
Angelo

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## Skew ChiDAMN!!

Just something to think about**: replacing broken ceramic floor tiles is a PITA, especially matching coloured grout.

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## mic-d

Hi,
Tiles have a lot going for them but some of the negatives are they are unforgiving on dropped items like glasses in the kitchen, and a bit tough on the body, feet, legs, back etc.  Have you thought about cork?  You can get it in laminate form these days as well as tiles. 
Cheers
Michael

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## Jacksin

Some years ago my then wife and I had 4 dogs, and with all the dogs dropping hair she decided to have all tiles, some 160 M2 of them! They are cooler on the feet in summer but colder in winter.  
We used a carpet square to take the bareness off plus mats along side the bed (especially in winter) and when they got worn, replaced them. 
I think tiles would last a lot longer.

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## Spelunx

Hey Dexx, 
I built a house four years ago and was tossing up between the same two alternatives. 
Then a mate of mine told me about Karndean, not sure about the spelling though.  Basically it's a lino that sticks directly down onto the cement pad.  However it is laid in planks, just like wood.  Each strip is individual, so the effect is pretty close to timber.  I chose one that looks similar to Tassie oak, then used Tassie oak quarter-round as skirting. It looks simply awesome.  There is none of the clunk, clunk sounds of floating laminate, plus the warmth of laminate, and no grout or hard tiles for little heads to land on. 
It was laid in a day by two blokes, the next day it was chemically stripped of it's factory finish, then a new sealant applied. 
You can get the finish buffed or stripped any time you want. 
The bits I liked about it was the flexibility, if you scratch a panel, you can steam it up and replace it easily, and the ease of cleaning.  Ours has food scraps and baby puke on it all the time, and it wipes up 100%. 
Go and check it out at most carpet shops or have a look at their website. 
You might need to check the spelling of Karndean though. :confused:

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## silentC

Tiles are kid proof, pet proof, spill proof and last forever. The finish wont fade or get scratched with wear. You wont have to sand and refinish them in a couple of years. 
We had this same debate for our place (currently building) and tiles won hands down. They're also cheaper - or can be. One thing though, if you go with tiles, try to use a dark coloured grout if you can because we used off-white cement and sydney sand once and it sucks up the dirt and looks terrible after a few months of kids and dogs.

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## Felder

What Spelunx said. 
I admit, I used to work for Karndean and although no longer have a barrow to push for them I still reckon their products are top-notch. I only left as I had a bit of a falling out with a few management-type folk there in regards to some new internal policies that were about to be implemented. Plus I got offered a job selling woodworking machinery :Biggrin:  :Biggrin: ! And well done on the spelling, Spelunx. Now the clincher......can you pronounce it?? :Tongue:  
The Karndean stuff looks excellent, and if you can get over the fact that you are laying a vinyl floor, you won't regret it. I have some in my house that I laid myself and often receive compliments about what a great looking timber floor I have. It is also available in a ceramic look, pebbles, etc. 
There are other brands that deal with the same sort of product too. Try Amtico and Polyflor. You can get all this at your local carpet retailer. 
If you decide to go for a laminate floor, just be careful of the cheaper brands. Most of these will not allow you to do a 'wet' clean ie with a mop. The core of the boards is a High-Density-Fibreboard and it doesn't like water!:eek:

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## Spelunx

> What Spelunx said. 
> I admit, I used to work for Karndean and although no longer have a barrow to push for them I still reckon their products are top-notch. I only left as I had a bit of a falling out with a few management-type folk there in regards to some new internal policies that were about to be implemented. Plus I got offered a job selling woodworking machinery! And well done on the spelling, Spelunx. Now the clincher......can you pronounce it??  
> The Karndean stuff looks excellent, and if you can get over the fact that you are laying a vinyl floor, you won't regret it. I have some in my house that I laid myself and often receive compliments about what a great looking timber floor I have. It is also available in a ceramic look, pebbles, etc. 
> There are other brands that deal with the same sort of product too. Try Amtico and Polyflor. You can get all this at your local carpet retailer. 
> If you decide to go for a laminate floor, just be careful of the cheaper brands. Most of these will not allow you to do a 'wet' clean ie with a mop. The core of the boards is a High-Density-Fibreboard and it doesn't like water!:eek:

  The clincher for me was that I play tennis with the bloke who owns the local carpet shop, he told me to come and have a look at his house, he had the expensive stuff with the beveled edges in his games room, it looked great, and I thought, if it is good enough for him, it is good enough for me!

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