I've been in the market for tile flooring, too, and have considered wood-look tile. I have gone through several stages -- like the seven stages of grief -- over the last couple of months:

1. Not sure if I like it, but it's interesting.
2. Lots of choices and some of them do look pretty.
3. Lots of people seem to be installing this; maybe I should consider it.
4. Wait...do I really like materials that look like something they are not (denim pattern formica, vinyl "wood" siding, etc.).
5. Maybe it's going to look dated in 10 years.
6. Glad I didn't rush into this.
7. I'm definitely done considering this.

Once I got to the last stage, I decided to go with a tile that actually looks like tile. I know many people are happy with their wood-look tile, but I don't think I would be over the long term. Go with your instinct. Tile flooring is something too permanent and too expensive to go with a look that may end up becoming dated too soon. There are many interesting, but simple, tiles that have subtle texture and patterns that are more classic and will not become passe. Just because you don't go with a wood-look, doesn't mean you have to choose something that looks like travertine or some other stone.

For those who love your wood-look tile, that's what counts. Just my 2 cents. De gustibus non est disputandum.

I have it in a guest bathroom, and on the floor of a shower. I considered doing more of it but I didn't want to overdo it and I personally think, while it looks like wood, it's absolutely tile. It is hard on the feet, cold, etc. I put it in places I wanted wood, but couldn't do to wet conditions.

I believe there can be too much of a good thing. I wouldn't tile that big of a space with it. Use this stuff sparingly. Especially because Kudzu9 might be onto something with it being trendy and looking dated in 10-20 years. Hopefully I'll still like it then, but fortunately the bathrooms aren't very big and it's easy to take up.

Here is a pic of it in my steam shower...

I hadn't thought about putting it in a shower, especially a steam shower which somehow is better with a woodsy theme but of course wood is impractical...

Anyway, yes, I'd worry about it being a passing fad in a large area, but it is pretty neutral so even if it looks "dated" it still won't be harvest gold. It's probably something that can fade into the room and be a background floor.

I'm also trying to pick out tile for a large chunk of house and it really is hard. I think I'll go with something that's been unfashionable for so long that I know how dated it'll be when it's out of style because it already is. Not everything dated looks bad!

Thanks for the input. I looked at dozens of styles of tile but kept coming back to the wood look. Of course husband is really impressed with it. It is hard almost to distinguish it from hardwood. I had an entire house in PA with cherry wood while beautiful was not scratch resistant.

I could play it safe and pick a neutral tile but many of those are designed to look like another material ie. travertine, slate, marble etc.

If I stall too much longer on a choice I'll have to choose from the next popular trending item. Too much pressure!

fori: yeah I really really wanted something "natural" looking. But I didn't want to install teak at the insane price that it costs. This was a much cheaper/easier solution. Only downside is, like I said before, is that it is cold. Even with the steam room on full blast the floor never really warms up. Should have done in floor heating :P

cmm: have you considered hickory flooring? That stuff really good at handling a lot of wear and tear. Obviously not 100% resistant to everything, but it can take some abuse.

IMO ... things go in and out of style and you have no idea whether or not something new will become timeless or another passing trend. Trying to guess about that could keep you on the fence indefinitely.

Ccm,
I live in So. fl and we have wood look tile throughout our home (except for the bathrooms). Same tile everywhere since this is a relatively small home. We had it done about 4 years ago. There are a lot new styles that have come on the market since giving even greater options. We love the tile and the the cold that jgopp mentioned is a plus down here!

Jgopp
living in southern florida its not too practical to use wood flooring. Now hickory might be a choice for the kitchen cabinets. Even though white cabinetry is seen in a lot of homes our contractor has seen a lot of maple cheery and hickory.
Tile is pretty much the top flooring choice.

Ahh, got you I didn't think about that. Well it could work, the only thing I think that is a downside right now about a lot of the tile options is that their max is 30inches per 'board'. Without the long flowing lines of regular wood it feels like it shortens (I guess) the space.

We did our kitchen in the wood tile and love how it came out. It's called Earthwerks Boardwalk Plank - color Venice Beach. We did two rows of 8inx4ft tile and one row of 6inx2ft tiles. They are very long. The installer cut and installed at random lengths and did really small grout lines to give it that wood look. The only problem is that at some points, since the tile is so long, you can feel the edges of some tiles because they aren't perfectly straight. But it doesn't bother us. I don't know if I would want it all over the house, though.

Thanks for the input.

What makes the decision difficult is the open floor plan. This is a fairly common layout in Florida home plans especially in a 1990s era home.

It's a huge misperception that Florida homes can't and don't have wood floors! With the advancing technologies and especially for engineered hardwood, it's a great choice down here.

I live in Miami and my entire house except for bathrooms and florida room is oak hardwood. It was not cheap but the stuff is bulletproof. It handles water, dirt, grit etc and looks fantastic. And there are plenty of people down here who have hardwood ranging from 'antique' homes (which around here range from 50-100 years old :) to brand new construction. In fact higher end houses use hardwood a lot; it is yet another way to upgrade from the endless-and much cheaper-tile flooring that indeed is pretty common in this area.

Maybe back in the day 50 years ago tile was better for Florida houses. However air conditioning is now ubiquitous so the temp/humidity factor doesn't really come into play. Add to that as mentioned wood flooring now comes factory finished with impregnated and very powerful coatings that repel a lot of life's usage.

If you love wood you might not want to rule it out immediately. Just get ready to spend some serious coin to get quality materials that will really hold up a long time.

Having said all that I do think the wood look tile, while it may be trending, has advantages that especially in areas like SoFla make it a very logical choice. Given the popularity of the product, you can probably do the wood look tile for less than high end real wood so if cost is a factor that might come into play.

I am almost embarrassed to say that I like the wood tile look. I have been trying to look for a "safe" choice but find the plain beige tile a bit boring. I plan on being in my house for a while so I can't worry about resale. After all I bought this house 90s white tile and all!

There were some styles at the store installed on the floor that I actually had to touch to see if it was really tile.

I just got my kitchen and bathroom bid back today and it was heart stopping. A real wood floor will have to take a back seat to a Sub Zero!

Cmm, the "look" of wood-look tile will never go out of style, just as hardwood has never gone out of style. Stay away from trendy colors or finishes (they actually make a "hand scraped" tile now, yikes) and you'll have a floor that stands the test of time in every way.

Choose plank style tiles, not squares, keep tile spacing to manufacturer minimums, chose a grout the same color or slightly darker than the tile, and don't lay it out like tile (offset or equally spaced) lay it out like wood so those grout joints don't line up (image below) - and make sure your installer understands what you want. It'll be lovely. Longer planks look best, but they are more expensive and can be difficult to install due to lippage, so be sure you know your tile before you buy it. Good luck!

Thanks EAM 44
I appreciate the help.That is a nice looking floor in that photo. I would be happy with that look!

totally agree w/ EAM44. it is a great look. our home is two floors and we did hardwood throughout (except for kitchen & bath) and i sort of wish we did the wood tile on our first floor because of the practicality.

TexasP,

we also did the "venice beach", by mediterranea, boardwalk series in our family room and it came out awesome....

we set it on a herringbone pattern and it looks fab.... will it be dated in 10-20 years, probably but who cares...we love it and that's all that matter right now....who knows where u will be in 10-20 years....live in the moment and get what u love!!!!!
life is too short to have those worries !!!

just my 2 cents HTH

We saw it in gray in a showroom and fell in love for our basement kitchen. My husband wanted hardwood in the basement. I said no way - what if we have a flood? Tile is the only thing that seems bulletproof. But we didn't really want a tile look. I would compromise with carpet as it was cheaper than hardwood. Then we stumbled upon this wood-look tile. That's what we're planning on going with.

We have wood-look porcelain in our den in Florida.

It gives it the warm look but withstands our dogs running in from the pool and shaking gallons of water on the floor.

Only problem it that it is very dark and one of our dogs is a yellow lab so we have lots of fur--but that would happen with real wood also.

We are very happy with our wood look flooring.

I love the wood-look tile so much! If I lived in a warm climate, I would love to have this in my home!

cmm1964:

If you're on a concrete slab like most folks in Florida, you've got to install an uncoupling membrane between the concrete and tile. I highly recommend Ditra.

You may have heard of "tenting" and I get calls about it all the time down here. This is when the concrete and tile have a fight about moving and the tile loses every time. Customers say they heard a loud "pop" and find a row of several tiles doing a pyramid imitation. It's now too late to install the uncoupling membrane. You may reset the tile, but whether or not the grout lines line up is a crapshoot and there is no guarantee they won't pop again.

Most cracked tiles are from substrate movement here. I got a call to replace cracked tile and noticed the newer grout. It would have been the second replacements in a home less than 10 years old. The homeowner passed and is going to live with it.

I'm guessing it'll add $3.00 per square foot to your job, but anyone who knowingly installs tile directly to concrete deserves exactly what they're going to get.

We too are considering wood-look tile for our S.Fla home. The tile will extend a few feet outside onto the patio before transitioning to a less slippery flooring near the pool. I would love real wood, but it's just not practical for us. This is the look we're going for:

Thank you kudzu9 for your post. I found your reasoning to be cogent and it convinced me to no longer consider wood-look tiling for our kitchen.

Then I saw TexasPenny's floor, and I went back to #2.

Andy.

Eah- what are those floors?

Thanks for all the help. I tnink if anyone has a chance to see this tile installed they would be very surprised at how it looks.

if tnis is what I use I will be sure to post pictures.

We will be installing Florim's Ecowood in the Rovere colorway in our basement. Our basement has low ceilings, so we wanted the floor to be somewhat light in color. The walls have a faux-stone stucco texture (must have been done sometime in the 60's), so we wanted to keep a sort of rustic wine-cellary feel to the space. The Ecowood tile has a weathered look to it that should complement the walls nicely.

cmm1964, what is the style of your house? As with many things, the trick in material choice is having it complement the overall look and feel of a particular space. If your home is florida-style spanish, then I think the wood-look tiles might be great.

I have wood look in my tv room right off the garage. We put it in when it wasn't as popular as it seems to be now. I love it.

There is always the discussion of if it is fooling anyone. The ones now look even more like wood. But, that's not the only reason. If you want wood, as stated above it is now an option for you.

But, in Florida you might want something cooler under foot, and that's one of the biggest reasons you would choose it over wood.

I think a large expanse can look fine. Especially if you are adding area rugs.

cstr
The house has really no style right now. It was built in 1994 and it's original kitchen and flooring.

The tile I pick will set the tone for the entire house since I need to tile almost the entire house.

Maybe I am working backwards and should pick a style first.

I recommend that you look search "tile floor" on Houzz and look at various spaces -- living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms. It should give you a good idea of how different tile colors and designs look in different applications and rooms.

I actually think designing and decorating a home built post 1970's or so is pretty tough! It seems that prior to the 1980's homes tended to have a very distinct architectural style. In the 80's, builders started to mix things up. This makes narrowing down the infinite choices in materials and fixtures so hard! Good luck!