Why Choose Wood Effect Tiles Over Real Wood Flooring?

If it’s high time your floor spaces had a makeover, then why not try wood effect tiles? Adored by interior designers and architects up and down the country, wood effect tiles are the latest flooring trend! Let me introduce you to them! Click on any image in this blog to visit the tile…

Zero maintenance

Whilst a wooden floor fits in with two major design trends – the natural look and the country farmhouse look – natural wood requires constant treating and maintenance. It needs sanding and waxing fairly often, to prevent the edges from splintering. With wood effect tiles, you don’t have to worry about that! They’re a durable, zero-maintenance alternative. You simply install them, and leave them alone.

Lifelike

Wood effect tiles are extremely lifelike! You wouldn’t believe the process that goes into making them. High definition images are taken of natural wood – complete with every knot and grain! These images are then printed onto the face of tile! Grooves are often scored into the surface of the tile, too, to give them that naturalistic texture.

Each tile has a multitude of different prints, so that there’s a good variance across a floor space; just like with a natural wooden floor!

Above: Swoonworthy Wood Effect Tiles

Durable

As I’m sure you’re aware if you’ve got pets, natural wooden boards scratch very easily. Even so much as pulling out a chair at a dining table can leave unsightly scuff marks. With wood effect tiles, you can forget about scratches. They are far more durable than real wood, and won’t succumb easily to claws or chair legs!

Above: BoCoCa Wood Effect Tiles

Anti slip

If you’ve got natural wooden flooring in your bathroom, you might notice that you’ll occasionally slip when stepping in and out of the bath or shower. This is because the combination of wood wax and a smooth, sanded surface results in very little friction, which is dangerous in areas where the floors get damp, such as in a bathroom. Lots of wood effect tiles come with a gripping anti slip finish, to help add safety to slippery bathroom and wet room floors!

Above: Vintage Wood Tiles

Stain resistant

If you’ve ever had a party guest accidentally kick over a glass of red wine onto your bare wooden floor, you’ll know that removing the stain is no menial task. Often, it leaves an unsightly pink mark. With wood effect tiles, however, you simply mop up the wine and are free to party the night away!

Sun resistant

In a bright conservatory, or a sunny patch beside a window or patio door, you’ll notice that the sunlight bleaches natural wood. It will lose its colour, and fade to a dull, muted tone. Wood effect tiles keep their surface colour, even in the brightest sunlight! They’ll stay as vibrant as the day you first laid them.

Above: Madagascan Ipil Wood Effect Tiles

Perfect for use with underfloor heating

If you wanted to heat wooden floorboards, you’d have to fork out thousands to install a wet underfloor heating system. However, with wood effect tiles, you can fit effective electric undertile heating mats at a much lower cost!

Above: Antique Wood Plank Tiles

Ditch the decking

Love spending time in your garden? Want to create a patio, or refresh an old one? Decking is a traditional option for outdoor spaces, but it’s actually not a great choice. Firstly, when it’s wet, decking is extremely slippery and dangerous. Secondly, decking loses its colour incredibly quickly. Thirdly, it really doesn’t take very long for the wood to start to rot and crack; even after treatment. That’s why porcelain wood effect tiles with an anti slip finish are a fab alternative! The Parlor Wood Effect Tiles below were used to create an ‘outdoor space’ in the Good Homes Room Sets at Ideal Home 2017!

Above: Parlor Wood Effect Tiles

Walls

Wood effect tiles aren’t only for use on floor spaces! You can carry the look onto your wall spaces, too, to tie the room together. Wood effect split face tiles are perfect for creating a captivating, textured feature wall in a bathroom, kitchen, living area or bedroom.

Above: Split Face Wood Effect Tiles

Rhys used wood effect tiles to create a cabin look in his annex, which he transformed from a disused outhouse into a rustic chill-out-zone. We interviewed him about the project.

Huge variety of wood effect tiles

At Walls and Floors, there are over 250 wood effect designs to choose from – in a multitude of different colours, shapes and sizes. Ordering from us, your tiles will cost half what you’d pay on the high street, so visit our range of Wood Effect Tiles and order some sample tiles.