Terracotta vs Ceramic tiles

[Nutsy]

Been discussing with DH about putting down tiles in the kitchen, rumpus room and hallway and the choices are Terracotta tiles or Ceramic tiles. There is one more choice, but I don't want it..............floating wooden floor (can't put in furniture on it for 24hrs once it's down).

So, I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with Terracotta vs Ceramic.. we have Ceramic in the bathrooms, but they are very cold in winter and slippery.

Terracotta are more expensive, but are non slip and to my mind would be much better for the front door and back door areas.

Any suggestions, experiences, or even alternate suggestions?

 

[icebrat001]

great question!

 

[Horseshoes]

I think Terra cotta is a great idea as far as wear and tear.

I have ceramic tile and even though I chose a darker grout, it still looks dirty to me. If you have a darker tile and darker grout, you may not have that problem.

I, on the other hand, wish I had put hard wood floor down for my kitchen. I just cant keep the tile and grout clean.

 

[safetymom]

I have ceramic tile all through my house. One style is very slippery when wet, the other is not. I love the tile. I have a dark grout and it always looks nice.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Although I have ceramic tile floors, and I have no personal experience with Terracotta, I know a lot of people who have it and complain that the tiles are not completely flat and therefore their furniture tends to wobble a little. They love in hallways, but find it a bit of a problem to use in rooms where there's furniture.

 

[Nutsy]

Good point Simba's Mom............hadn't occured to me about the Terracotta not being as flat as the ceramics. I've seen the terracotta ones and I really like them, but now that you mention it, they are slightly raised.

Back to the drawing board maybe. We have cork tiles down at present, but are finding they are not as good as we at first thought. They need to be sanded back every couple of years and re-sealed. Not quite as simple as is led to be believed. We have an 8x4 slate pool table that can't easily be moved, so need a floor that once it's down it just needs to be swept, washed, whatever.........not sanded back and re-sealed.

 

[Brendita]

I have both 1 time or another.
I would go with the terra cotta.
It may cost more.
It's not as slippery.
Easier to clean.
Takes a lot more wear & tear.

 

[EthansMom]

DH just finished tiling the kids' bathroom in ceramic tile. It's brown and creams and golds that kind of reminds me of terra cotta, but more durable. If you go here, our tile is the Nova Bell Scura on the right: http://barefootfloor.com/ceramic-tiles/novabell/Terra/index.html.

DH made a design with the 6" x 6" and the smaller mosaics -- looks great! Now, if we can just get the tub and toilet hooked up, we'll have our masterbathroom to ourselves again.

 

[Nutsy]

We have ceramics in the bathrooms. I've always like teraccota as it's just such a different texture. I know it's more expensive than ceramic, but I like the fact that it's not high gloss and slippery and cold underfoot.

Thing is, we have cork now and the cork has to come up to put anything else down, making the project more expensive again..........the only thing that can be laid on top (excluding carpet) is the floating wooden floor (we have a cement slab), but with that stuff you can't put any furniture on it for 24hrs after it's laid. That option is no good to us.............pool table, kitchen table, fridge, freezer. I've nowhere else to put these things for 24 hrs.

DH likes the floating timber, I'm not as fussed.........I'm still hoping for tiles...hopefully terracotta.

Will need to do some research to see what is what and compare prices I think, then maybe we can make some sort of decision.