What is the best flooring - Porcelain Granite Marble or Travertine

[rodney734]

Apologies for repeating this thread but I put it in the wrong place first time.

Hi guys,

I am undecided on what to do and wanted some advice. The builders are in at the moment and we are having a reasonable size through kitchen/Dining Room. I am very undecided on flooring. At the moment I have 4 samples that I like, a porcelain tile (Porcelanosa), a granite tile (Kashmire White) Premium Grade filed Travertine and Marble.

My dilemma is that I do not know which to choose. The 2 I like the most are the Marble and Travertine but I am concerned that these 2 are the worst from a wear and stain point of view. There will be a dinning table and chairs on the floor and also some stools at the breakfast bar. However you look at it is a heavy pedestrian area.

There is 50 square M of tiles so it will cost quite a bit and in a years time I don’t want to regret my decision.

If it needs sealing once or twice a year I don’t have a problem with that.

Am I worrying unnecessarily about Travertine and Marble

[enduro]

If you want a totally maintenance free tile then go for the porcelain tile. All the others will need maintenance. You can get porcelain that looks like natural stone and once laid looks really good.

[jay]

personal preference would be granite you will need to seal

[GC-Terrazzo]

Granite or Marble

[Stewart]

You don't get better than a well laid quality stone floor, but as Enduro said... You do get done very good porcelain imitation stone floors that are maintenance free, though the best one's cost more than stone.

[Dave]

A Stone floor always looks top notch over tiles any day.. Might be wise to go with a honed stone if you decide on that product as that will look better for longer with less looking after.

[Gall.B]

Agree with Enduro, my favourite floor is Honed slate broken bond with a skiriting if maintance is not an issue. What is the surface your laying on to?

[Daz]

You should choose the one that you like the most. If you don't, you will always look at the floor and say to yourself "I wish I'd chosen .........".

A natural stone floor laid properly will look superb and last an age. If it is sealed with an impregnating sealer and cleaned regularly it will require little on-going maintenance.

I say "Go with your heart!"

Another small amount of advice....please use a tiler to do the installation and not a general tradesman as you will notice the difference.
I look forward to seeing the pics when it's completed.

Daz

[rodney734]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I will almost certainly go for some sort of natural stone. Maintenance certainly isn’t a problem and although there are only 2 of us living in the house we do quite a lot of entertaining. At 50 square meters I don’t want to spend a fortune but still know it won’t be cheap. I have quite a few samples now and will probably go out and see more.

It’s a screed floor but we have porcelain tiles in the kitchen which have got to come up. I don’t know what you call it but apparently they will be putting down some self levelling ‘stuff’. Obviously I am not tiling it myself but I do have to choose what goes down. We have taken out a wall between the kitchen and dining room and are also in the middle of an extension which is why it is quite a big room.

My dilemma has been that the ones we like the most are not as hard wearing as the others. If I have to seal them twice a year or so that isn’t a problem.

I will look at these honed ones. Do they wear better or not show the wear because they are matt?

[rodney734]

I think you are right and will go with the heart and look after it. Should go with advice from my namesake, I am another Darryl although a friend does call mr Roders after Only Fools.
Oh and it will definitely be a tiler not a general builder, I only made that mistake once.

[Daz]

You know it makes sense!

[doug boardley]

if you go for granite or marble, use LTP MPG sealer, it'll need resealing only every 2-3 years