Alternative to tile flooring?

[CLW]

What affordable alternatives other than tiles are available in Thailand?

I want to rule out anything with wood because of moisture and termite issues.

 

From what I have found by own research:

• Shera SPC (stone plastic composite) panels. Quite expensive with 4,500 THB per sqm and also with unsealed gaps between the panels
• Terrazzo or polished concrete. Haven't found out a pricing yet.
• Vinyl or PVC flooring in rolls. The high quality ones without VOC emission and / or formaldehyde are imported from US or Europe. Therefore, I guess it's more expensive than buying locally produced tiles.

 

Anything else that I might have missed?

 

[ezzra]

Thos look alike parquet floors that made out composite engineered wood marital without the fear of termites, look good and cheap to buy and install.

 

https://www.homepro.co.th/search?q=parquet+floors

[CLW]

16 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Thos look alike parquet floors that made out composite engineered wood marital without the fear of termites, look good and cheap to buy and install.

 

https://www.homepro.co.th/search?q=parquet+floors

Are you talking about the ceramic tiles or the engineered wood panels?

There is a huge price difference: tiles with wood decor 180 THB per sqm, engineered wood panels 2,000 THB per sqm.

Ceramic tiles look nice.

[Woof999]

Personally, where I don't want tiled flooring.... I place a rug over tiled flooring.

 

With the humidity and dirt of Thailand and the ease of cleaning / relative ease of replacing, plus the sheer variety of tiles available, I'm not sure I'd have anything other than tile here as the floor base. Rugs in certain places break up any monotony, echo and coldness of plain tiles.

[unheard]

@CLW

"Terrazzo or polished concrete. Haven't found out a pricing yet. "

 

Polished concrete is a great option but it's almost impossible to get one in Thailand, at least at reasonable prices.

The other possible option that looks like polished concrete is a paint on coating.

I think it's fairly cheap to apply and looks relatively good if you like that kind of a look, but it has nothing to do with polished concrete and doesn't offer any of its qualities.

Edited March 8, 2023 by unheard

[CLW]

25 minutes ago, unheard said:

@CLW

"Terrazzo or polished concrete. Haven't found out a pricing yet. "

 

Polished concrete is a great option but it's almost impossible to get one in Thailand, at least at reasonable prices.

The other possible option that looks like polished concrete is a paint on coating.

I think it's fairly cheap to apply and looks relatively good if you like that kind of a look, but it has nothing to do with polished concrete and doesn't offer any of its qualities.

Paint on coating is an option. However, the concrete must have very smooth, even and levelled surface. Not many contractors can do that. Therefore I might stick with tiles. Especially since nowadays there are many decors available.

[unheard]

9 minutes ago, CLW said:

Therefore I might stick with tiles. Especially since nowadays there are many decors available.

Also available in a variety of non-slip grades - recommended for wet floors.

Edited March 8, 2023 by unheard

[scubascuba3]

i have laminate type wood flooring, i prefer it to the tiles. Already here when i bought the condo so couldn't tell you type etc. Easy to clean like tiles, no termites

[unheard]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Easy to clean like tiles, no termites

And unknown levels of formaldehyde out-gassing.

[gamb00ler]

5 hours ago, Woof999 said:

Personally, where I don't want tiled flooring.... I place a rug over tiled flooring.

 

With the humidity and dirt of Thailand and the ease of cleaning / relative ease of replacing, plus the sheer variety of tiles available, I'm not sure I'd have anything other than tile here as the floor base. Rugs in certain places break up any monotony, echo and coldness of plain tiles.

I agree that using rugs is a great option.  However I have yet to find a decent vacuum cleaner in CM.  The ones I found don't have an electric motor to drive the brush.  Instead a weak air turbo driven by the suction of the vacuum is used.  There is a Danish company that imports vacuum cleaners with a motor driven brush.  But they're expensive and the reviews (from outside TH) are not that encouraging.

 

@CLW you can find vinyl flooring "planks" made to look like wood.  Boonthavorn has them (in the tile section) and probably others.

Edited March 8, 2023 by gamb00ler

[DrDave]

I had beautiful engineered wood flooring in a house - basically a plywood or composite substrate with a thick wood veneer topping. Termites loved it, eating large sections of the substrate, but leaving the wood veneer intact.

 

One good option would be a polished concrete floor as others have mentioned. My wife claims that there's a technique involving spreading and smoothing cement powder over the surface of concrete before it's completely set, giving the look of being polished. I would imagine a topcoat of concrete sealer with either a gloss or matte finish would then be applied. Powdered stains can also be applied to give some color variation and veining patterns.

 

Another option would be the newest generation of vinyl flooring, known as "luxury vinyl plank". It has the look and texture of hardwood flooring, but made from vinyl. I believe this is available from a few sources in Bangkok.

[unheard]

13 hours ago, DrDave said:

One good option would be a polished concrete floor as others have mentioned. My wife claims that there's a technique involving spreading and smoothing cement powder over the surface of concrete before it's completely set, giving the look of being polished. I would imagine a topcoat of concrete sealer with either a gloss or matte finish would then be applied. Powdered stains can also be applied to give some color variation and veining patterns.

But again that particular technique of spreading and smoothing cement powder, which is very popular and common in Thailand, has nothing to do with real polished concrete floors and shouldn't be referred to as a real thing.

There are also other techniques and materials which include resins and coatings to achieve the appearance of polished concrete.

Most of them are just cheap imitations but can be quite durable as a floor finish.

Real concrete polished floors are superior on every level, but very expensive in comparison and over here can normally be seen only in commercial buildings.

Edited March 9, 2023 by unheard