Flooring - Which One?

[coffeelover]

Hi all

I am new to owning a house in the tropics and new to this forum. I did a search on flooring options but I am really at the beginner stage i.e. which flooring should we choose.

I would love dark wood throughout except the bathroom and kitchen (solid engineered - the flooring guy said wood would be soaked in an anti termite solution) but having lived through termites in our rented property in a neighbouring country I am very wary of how effective it is in real terms. I have to give final answer soon. So with your experience would love advice?

The options as I see for my particular taste seem to be 1) dark slate tile (through out the house) or 2) take a chance with such anti termite wood?? I am thinking long term for this property.

Thanks for any advice.

[WorldwideALOHA]

Long term - tile all the way.

I don't know if it can be found here, but a nice Mexican 'terracotta' ages nicely and gets character with age.

Aloha

[malcolminthemiddle]

Nowadays, you can get a tile designed to replicate numerous types of wood. Last saw them in the tile solution shop in Cha Am.

[robbiecia]

If you like the AC on ..........teak flooring is a winner

If not.....tiles are the way to go

[p_brownstone]

I have 2 homes here in Thailand for over 30 years, both with Teak parquet flooring and wall paneling; I have never had a single problem with Termites in Hardwood.

Of course you will have them attacking softwood, plasterboard, MDF etc. etc..

Ceramic Tile looks OK and is certainly easier to look after – but a few drops of water spilt on it from a melted ice cube or a random accident and it’s a skating rink.

Look to the future, at 30 a broken bone is no great problem – when you’re 60+ it’s not so benign.

Patrick

Edited September 15, 2008 by p_brownstone

[G54]

Tiles are so much cooler.

I curently have a mix of wood and tile and prefer the cooling effect of tile. Add to that the wood floors can scratch and scar over time and need more work, I would opt for tile.

[johna]

I also have parquet flooring, problems with termites in door and window frames only. I had some guys in to drill and spray into concrete paths and pillars around house. every thing OK now. Tiled flooring can be very dangerous when wet.

[geriatrickid]

For the climate, I am a big believer in tiles. You can get finishes that are less slippery and they are easy to keep clean. (One hint, if putting in tiles: always buy extra to replace cracked or damaged tiles so you will have the same shade.)

Without doubt, the wood floors are beautiful. I love them too, but they can be just as slippery if they have been varnished. What concerns me are the glues, resins and insecticides used in alot of the wood chip, pressed wood creations. Just because it's in an inert product today, doesn't mean that it won't radicalize with time as the engineered wood breaks down. That stuff vaporizes over time.

[LooseCannon]

If you want cool...

Marble - a bit more expensive but still relatively cheap in Thailand. Much nicer than tiles.

[G54]

On the slippery point :-

Wood flooring can be equally dangerous when you are dripping and wet from, say, having a shower. I know, I went head over heels until I learned my lesson

[coffeelover]

Hi all

Thank you very much for your replies of experience and advice. There really are pros and cons to both in this climate - it is good to get your opinions. My husband says we go for what I would love and as it is wood then we deal with termites IF they do get the munchies. I am guessing I will go between both options until the 11th hour

thank you

[Scott]

I would stay away from wood in heavy traffic areas like the living room. It scratches quite easily and requires a lot of maintenance. I have wood in the bedrooms and that's not too bad, but have had to refinish the floors every 6 years or so to keep them looking nice.

[Gary A]

I would hope that all parquet floors are not the same. I rented a two bedroom house that had parquet floors. The extra bedroom was used for storage. When we moved, I moved the boxes and bags and uncovered a LOT of saw dust. The floor in that bedroom was totally ruined. The strange thing was that I didn't notice any problems in the other rooms.

[mickba]

I just love wood and had 2 b'rooms, living and dining areas all in varnished "teak" - awesome!

Moved in and a day later went away for a week. Outlaws invaded and there are scratches everywhere from suitcase feet etc etc - the second b'room needs re-doing - or should I put down some cheap straw matting for when they come to wreck it again.

At present separation/"divorce seems the likely result.

I'm told marble can be just as heartbreaking, so if you can't keep the b******s out of a particular room go for tiles - they ooh and arh about how wonderful wood looks and then, smiling as they go, they proceed to wreck it.

Maybe wood without the varnish?

[GungaDin]

I just love wood and had 2 b'rooms, living and dining areas all in varnished "teak" - awesome!

Moved in and a day later went away for a week. Outlaws invaded and there are scratches everywhere from suitcase feet etc etc - the second b'room needs re-doing - or should I put down some cheap straw matting for when they come to wreck it again.

At present separation/"divorce seems the likely result.

I'm told marble can be just as heartbreaking, so if you can't keep the b******s out of a particular room go for tiles - they ooh and arh about how wonderful wood looks and then, smiling as they go, they proceed to wreck it.

Maybe wood without the varnish?

They obviously have no respect for you or your property.

Solution: Keep them out, regardless of a ruck with your partner.

It's a no-brainer.

[torrenova]

Personally I would go for wood if the budget allows and you can get the information you need on future maintenance. I had wooden floors in Europe and Japan and love wood far more than tiles, even good tiles.

As for the outlaws, well just keep them in the outhouse with the other farmyard animals.

[sbk]

moving it to the housing forum

[mdechgan]

Hardwood flooring in BKK is very expensive.

For high use areas I prefer high grade porcelain tiles or quarella tiles. Maybe even granite.

For bedrooms i just prefer laminate floors or plain carpet. Because after a few years one can decide to remove and remodel easily without much hassel. If its hardwood or tiled remodeling will be a pain.

[torrenova]

Laminate would be the way to go I think. I've recently stayed in a couple of hotels who have gone down this route and it is very easy on the feet.

[stupidfalang]

Go for Marble, its cool and the best alterative for the boring tiles. Forget about wood, laminate etc.

Just make sure that you get the right workers. The common “chang” does not know about marble and will land you in a nightmare. Go to a marble shop, who offers the installation, if they don’t go to another shop, it’s that simple.

[Dave the Dude]

Hi

I have granite floors throughout my home with the exception of the bathrooms(for safety reasons). I also used the same material for kitchen worktops. As mentioned above it keeps the house cool, looks good,easy to clean, no bugs get through it and after 4 years, the only down- side I can see is if you drop anything it usually breaks.

Dave

Edited January 30, 2009 by Dave the Dude

[mdechgan]

Try not to have granite or marble in the bedroom for health reasons.

Marble and granite have natural radiation and can cause some people to be sick and sleepless.

Other areas are ok.

It is also bad feng shui to have bedrooms with tiled, granite or marble floors. If you do its nice to put a rug near the bed. It just bad to hae to wake up and step on a cold floor.

[t.s]

i went for polished concrete, love it.

Edited February 2, 2009 by t.s

[eddiemonster]

i went for polished concrete, love it.

Hi t.s

I just want to say the polished conrete looks great. Can I ask how long has it been down and have you had any problems with cracking and/or spillages?

[mdechgan]

Polished concrete looks great.

Is there a way to coat it with urethane or something to keep it shiney and dust free?

I think concrete has to crack someday. Is there a way to keep it from cracking?

[BillyBobThai]

I am thinking about this stained and polished concrete also. Back in Atlanta we had a shopping mall close to home where the whole place was done with various color stains and it looked great. After 5 years it still looked good.

t.s. - Could you give us a short list of what to look for??

Thanks

[t.s]

i went for polished concrete, love it.

Hi t.s

I just want to say the polished conrete looks great. Can I ask how long has it been down and have you had any problems with cracking and/or spillages?

sorry for the late reply.

its been down for 2 years and we have had no problems at all.

It seems to become more burnished with wear. The house is a beach house and the floors have proven very practical.

we waxed the floor with an electrical polisher but did not seal it as we wanted the wear to further polish it, so far it has worked.

As for cracking, there are very fine cracks forming as it ages, but to date nothing has come up like i have seen in some other installations.

I suspect the problem installations occurred where people tried to cheap out withy a very thin topping.

[torrenova]

Try not to have granite or marble in the bedroom for health reasons.

Marble and granite have natural radiation and can cause some people to be sick and sleepless.

Other areas are ok.

It is also bad feng shui to have bedrooms with tiled, granite or marble floors. If you do its nice to put a rug near the bed. It just bad to hae to wake up and step on a cold floor.

So if you are exposed to "radiation" from granite for 16 hours a day in the living room it is ok but not for 6 hours at night-time ?

As for feng shui then we're in Thailand, not China.

Cold floors ? cool perhaps, but cold, not for most of the year.

[globalhopkinations]

I realize this is an old thred but, where did you have this done / who did you have do this for you I've been trying to find somebody in the Pattaya area that can do or even understands what I'm talking about with getting polished or stain concrete floors in the shophouse were getting redone. Everybody just keeps saying OHH TILE BETTER. Any suggestions thanks From your pic it turned out pretty good.

[jcon]

Old thread I know (I posted a ''polished concrete'' thread before) but I'm currently going through some flooring options. I had initially wanted to use polished concrete floors (that looks nice t.s. - banned I know but maybe you still read) but I've decided on slate. Nobody I've spoken to knows what the heck slate is and everybody keeps pointing me to tile floors instead. Anybody here have slate flooring - if so, what is the Thai word for slate??? Thanks