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Tiling living room floor — porcelain tiles

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Should I tile my living room floor? 0



    This is a question we have come across time and time again. From our experience we have found that people like the idea of having tiles on their living room floor but they worry about certain factors such as the coldness, the look or the feel.  

    Well here are 6 reasons why you should indeed tile that living room floor!

    1. Tiles are the cleanest type of flooring you can have

      In the UK traditional flooring over the years for bathrooms and kitchens has always been carpet. After this there was a period where lino was very popular as it was cleaner than carpet, but it still wasn't the ideal solution as it also had downfalls like its weakness. It wasn't very durable so it never really lasted too many years. Apart from this the plastic feel on our feet was never the nicest. Only in the last two decades or so did we move on to tiles and wood flooring for our kitchens and bathrooms and we haven't looked back since. The cleaning of tiles and wood flooring has always been much easier then carpet. If you have carpet all throughout your living room take a close look at it, there are bound to be small pieces of dirt and fluff even if it has been hoovered recently. It's the nature of carpet, there is no way around it. All tiled floors need is a sweep and a mop and they'll look as nice as the day they were laid (almost as nice)

    2. Underfloor heating exists

      This is probably the biggest worry customers have when contemplating buying ceramic, porcelain or marble tiles for their living room floor: "The coldness factor". Well the solution as the subtitle suggests has been on the market for several years now, and it works pretty well, it's called electrical underfloor heating. At Tile Ideas it's safe to say we have supplied hundreds of clients with tiles and underfloor heating for their living room or bedroom floor and 9 times out of 10 one of their questions has always been: "Will tiles be cold on my feet?". Out of all those clients not a single one of them has come back with cold feet and a sad look on their face. 

      The fact is once the underfloor heating has been connected properly and the tiles have been laid, most customers enjoy that smooth touch of the tiles combined with the cosy warmth rising through them . The beauty with modern underfloor heating is that you can decide the areas you want it in, set the temperature you want it at and set it to come on and go off whenever you want it to, very much like a water boiler. So the cold shivery chill you will get running through your body from the tiles is only in your imagination. 

    3. The running costs of underfloor heating are low

      Once people have entertained the idea of tiling their floor and putting in the heating they still have another worry which to be quite honest, is fair, this is the running cost. Most customers firmly believe that electric heating for floors will be expensive. The reality is the installation is probably the main cost. Below is a table of average running costs of electrical underfloor heating.
    We can see that the average daily cost of running it in a good sized living room and kitchen is about £1.32. We must keep in consideration that this number is an estimate made on an average usage of 16 hours a day. This frankly is over the top, the recommended usage is usually a few hours in the morning and some more in the evening. This all depends on whether you will have the use of central heating along side it, in other words if the underfloor heating is your sole method of heating the room or if you will be using central heating and you want some added warmth coming through the floor tiles. Either way, most customers who go ahead with underfloor heating do not consider an amount of £1.32 a day for 16 hours of heating a huge expense in when compatred with living costs.

    4. Tiles do not stain

      After some years of having carpets on your floor you will start to notice stains appearing. Whether it's red wine, tomato sauce or some other concoction stains have proven to be very hard to remove from carpets, it is the nature of the material and unfortunately it's just the way it is. Tiles on the other hand do not have this issue, most stains can be wiped or scrubbed off tiles even after they have dried. If basic washing up liquid won't do the job a tougher stain remover will almost definitely take care it. The same unfortunately cannot be said about carpets.

    5. Tiles are durable and last longer

      As mentioned in our 4th point, tiles do not stain. Apart from this they are strong and durable. A tiled floor is likely to look in good shape years after being laid. Even if there are breakages or cracks over time these individual tiles can always be replaced. With carpeted floors there are more negatives, in time they can look warn, shabby and tattered. The stains and dirt will eventually get ingrained in the fibers and these fibers themselves will get tired and warn out. All these factors put together will make your carpeted floor age much quicker then a tiled one.

    6. Tiles look great!

      This obviously is a question of taste but most customers believe that tiles have more choice in colour, texture and design when compared with carpets. This in turn means a customer is more likely to find a flooring suited to their taste when buying tiles. You even have a choice of materials in ceramic, porcelain and marble.  Colour is another important factor, tile colours can be so vibrant and uplifting and their designs can be so enriched in beauty and perspective. To sum it up the choice on the market for tiles far outnumber the choice for carpets.
     If this has given you something to mull over or has convinced you to tile your floors why don't you take a look through our range of floor tiles at Tile Ideas. You never know you might just see that flooring that you fall in love with.
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    How to choose the right tiler?

    How to choose the right tiler? 0

    You have decided to tile your kitchen, bathroom, hallway or conservatory, you have allocated the money, all you need now is the right tiler. This is an important choice because it's vital you don't mess up here with the wrong tiler. It could ruin your dreams of injecting that lovely new look into your home which you've been waiting years for. So before you book a tiler in there are some things you should consider.

    Are they actually a tiler?

    Make sure you’re looking for an expert who specialises in tiling, i.e. not a plumber or a kitchen fitter, as this is the best way to ensure a really good job is done. Is he a jack of all jobs and a master of none?

     

    Does their price include everything?

    Make sure their quotation includes everything you’ll need. Does it include all their materials? Does it include preparing the ‘site’ and removing existing tiles, if needed? Will they take all the rubbish away afterwards? 

    In the case of the tiler including the materials in the price you should make sure that you're not getting ripped off. Sometimes tilers can add in expenses which weren't actually used on your job to make a bit of extra cash. You just need to keep an eye out, or even better; supply the tiler with the material yourself.


    Are they able to supply the tiles?

    Although this may not be the main reason to choose a tiler, finding one who can source and supply your tiles at discounted rates for you is a definite plus! That way, they can also take delivery or collect them, giving you one less thing to worry about.

     

    Are they recommended?

    Nothing beats a word-of-mouth testimonial, so ask your friends and colleagues who’ve had tiling work done recently. If they were satisfied with the job, then they’ll be happy to recommend the people who did it. If you don’t know anyone who’s had tiling done recently, ask the company to see examples of their work, and testimonials/references they’ve received.

     

    Can you contact them easily?

    If you do contact the company, how quickly does someone reply to you with what you need? Do you have an address and phone number for them, as well as their email details or a contact form? Ideally if they have a website you could see photos of their past jobs and experience.

    Other things to look for

    Do they have insurance?

    If you'd like to know more about us or see our beautiful range of tiles visit us as www.tileideas.co.uk or email us at sales@tileideas.co.uk

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