[SportyandMisty]

See Porcelain tile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and and Tile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Also see PEI Rating Tile Information

If you go with tile, understand the difference between porcelain tile & ceramic tile, and understand the Porcelain Enamel Institute ( PEI ) hardness rating system for the glaze (on a 1 through 5 scale), and make sure you choose a product that is suitable for high traffic flooring areas.

You probably won't have a problem, but every now and then someone will use a tile they find attractive as a floor tile when its PEI rating wasn't up to the task. It can be an expensive mistake.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by skugelstadt

If you decide on wood, bamboo is a very soft "wood" and I would imagine it getting destroyed in short order.

That just isn't true. Carbonizing (darkening through heating) bamboo softens it, but natural bamboo is actually harder than any variety of oak on the Janka scale, and carbonized bamboo is only slightly softer than oak.

I don't know what the people who complain about dog nails scratching their flooring have on their floors. I've never had a problem with our dogs launching off of beds and other furniture onto our wood floors and scratching or denting them. We've got unfinished solid red oak (finished in the house), hickory with a factory aluminum oxide finish, and carbonized bamboo with a factory aluminum oxide finish our our homes, and they don't have a single mark from our dogs nails.

A good factory applied aluminum oxide finish is very hard. It's the same stuff used in sandpaper and other abrasives.

[skugelstadt]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

That just isn't true. Carbonizing (darkening through heating) bamboo softens it, but natural bamboo is actually harder than any variety of oak on the Janka scale, and carbonized bamboo is only slightly softer than oak.

I don't know what the people who complain about dog nails scratching their flooring have on their floors. I've never had a problem with our dogs launching off of beds and other furniture onto our wood floors and scratching or denting them. We've got unfinished solid red oak (finished in the house), hickory with a factory aluminum oxide finish, and carbonized bamboo with a factory aluminum oxide finish our our homes, and they don't have a single mark from our dogs nails.

A good factory applied aluminum oxide finish is very hard. It's the same stuff used in sandpaper and other abrasives.

Also depends on species, resins, maturity of the plant etc. if you know what you are getting, then ok.

[FrostyToasty]

Originally Posted by Packrat1

Onlyliveonece, how do you like the Carrara marble vs the Calcutta marble? I am doing a new main floor master bedroom that is off the back yard pool deck would you recommend one over the other? Also where do you buy it? Thanks in advance.

I would suggest looking into porcelain tiles that looks like marble instead. You can find porcelain tiles that replicate the look of both Carrara and Calcutta. Actual marble is extremely soft and very easy to scratch and chip. Marble tiles tend to have a MOH rating around 3. Which means virtually anything and everything can scratch it. It's also extremely porous so you have to make sure you seal it regularly. If you can find porcelain tiles that looks like marble with high PEI and MOH ratings, you can get the look of marble while having the near indestructibility of porcelain tiles.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by FrostyToasty

I would suggest looking into porcelain tiles that looks like marble instead. You can find porcelain tiles that replicate the look of both Carrara and Calcutta. Actual marble is extremely soft and very easy to scratch and chip. Marble tiles tend to have a MOH rating around 3. Which means virtually anything and everything can scratch it. It's also extremely porous so you have to make sure you seal it regularly. If you can find porcelain tiles that looks like marble with high PEI and MOH ratings, you can get the look of marble while having the near indestructibility of porcelain tiles.

If I were doing my house today (instead of 10 years ago), I would be looking for rotoprinted, rectified porcelain tile. All of the advantages of porcelain and impossible to tell from marble/travertine without a magnifying glass. (And anyone looking at my floor that closely can leave...)