What are the pros and cons

[Jazzy]

What are the pros and cons of using wooden flooring over tiles?

 

[Josiah]

We have wood floors everywhere but the kitchen and baths. I HATE them. They are hard, cold and make the house noisy.

Advantages? Hard to think of any.... easier to keep clean, I guess.



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[tango]

We have wood floors everywhere but the kitchen and baths. I HATE them. They are hard, cold and make the house noisy.

Advantages? Hard to think of any.... easier to keep clean, I guess.



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Doesn't the same apply to tiles?

Personally I like the wood floors in my house. The bedroom I renovated had nasty faded gray wood but when I ran a sander over it I uncovered a beautiful golden colored wood. Adding flooring lacquer to it resulted in a very rich golden color that I really like.

I will concede that they are colder in winter than carpets, but you can always wear socks or put down a rug. Personally I'd just wear socks in the winter to keep my feet from being in direct contact with a cold floor.

I can't help thinking tiles would be harder than wood, probably colder than wood and be less forgiving if you were to drop something breakable on them. In an area with heavy traffic, especially an area where you'd expect to be moving pieces of furniture around (e.g. sliding a chair backwards and forward to eat at the table) tiles could potentially offer a longer lifespan. You can also get them in a wider range of materials and colors. A friend of mine had his kitchen redone and chose some beautiful stone tiles. Each tile was 48x24" so there weren't endless strips of grout all over the floor. I shudder to think what he paid for those tiles though...