Faux Tile Floors

[Czech]

Or is it fuax? Or foh? You get the idea. I was planning on doing true 16" travertine tile in our 3/4 master bedroom bath, we also need to do the larger main bath too. I've been eye balling prices and such, and then my wonderful wife pointed out the newer vinyl (?) tile that uses grout between and looks pretty darn good. Originally I was appalled at the thought, but after seeing this stuff laid down finished I must say I'm really pretty impressed. That and the fact that we're on a limited budget like everyone and it is warmer to the feet is getting appealing. So thoughts gang? This isn't the typical cheap peel and stick stuff, you actually grout in between with vinyl grout stuff. Looking for opinions!

 

[fossil]

I've never even heard of it, but it sounds intriguing. Rick

 

[firefighterjake]

I've used two different kinds of the groutable self stick "tile" with varying results . . . can't remember the exact names of the brands though. For us the main reason we went with the self sticking tile look alike was not the price, but rather our concern over the shifting in our house and how even with floor leveler the floors are still not perfectly level . . . we felt this product might flex a little more. Time will tell.

The first one I put down was much harder and honestly I like the look of this one better -- bought this one at Home Depot. If you look at it carefully you'll see it almost has a pebble-like look on the surface . . . I like the look and feel of this one better since the company (for some reason Armstrong sticks in my head, but I could be wrong) was very careful to not have a repeating pattern . . . at least not that I could discern . . . I've looked at this floor many times and tried to pick up a pattern and to date I cannot find a pattern that repeats. I also found that the self-stick backing went down great and has stuck with zero problems on the floor leveler I used. I think the main reason I like this tile better is that to me being barefooted it feels more like real tile and looks more like real tile. Grouting this tile makes all the difference to me in making it look like actual tile.

The tile I laid down in the dining room and soon-to-install in the kitchen is groutable as well, but I found that this product from Lowes feels more like vinyl. It looks good and has a tile-like look, but you can tell when barefooted that even with the grout it is vinyl as it is notably softer. I also was sorely disappointed with the self-sticking aspect of this "tile" . . . some tile went down and stuck fine on the floor leveler . . . many others did not. I ended up pulling up every tile and using vinyl "glue" to insure a good bond in the end . . . something that wasted a half a day or so for me. In addition, I found that the tile I purchased had a repeatable pattern that I picked up on right away . . . the company wants you to rotate the tiles and attempts to provide enough variety so that your eye doesn't pick up on the repeatable pattern, but to me there just isn't enough variety.

If I was to do this project over . . . I would have gone with the tile I bought at Home Depot . . . I prefer the look and feel of this "tile."

 

[Czech]

Thanks Jake! Just what I was looking for. If you can confirm the brand on the first one, let me know please? I'm still shopping, the jury is still out. Now about brown paper bag walls.....