tile vs. wood flooring for tiki room???

I need to lay down flooring in the new tiki room.....initially i was going to go with hardwood flooring but was considering laying down vinyl tile.....anyone know of any cool tiles with possible bamboo pattern or look to it??...maybe an interesting wood grain look?? how about pricing?? would tile be a cheaper solution than hardwood??..ben??? .... ben??..... anyone, ben???

-thanks!

Go for Bamboo flooring, it's widely available here so should be in the states. Comes in a range of natural colours and styles, also it is solid, no veneer crap and tough as hardwood.

Hey Tipsy, yeh, hit up the Bamboo flooring. You can get it for good deals at Home Depot when they get Special Buys and it's not a bad price. You can also get it in the natural colors and darker as well like Cheeky said.

I would stay away from tile for a Tiki Room. Even though it is nice and durable, it lacks that cozy, warm, exotic look. Keep it in the Kitchen! A nice laminate floor in wood grain or bamboo which, like I said, can be found for good deals!! Lot's of choices in finishes other then tile.

Good luck!!
TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2009-01-26 06:57 ]

If you don't use bamboo, Bill Winger of Daddy Katz has an area rug of real bamboo that might give you authentic texture in the middle of a vinyl/ceramic floor, kinda soften the neg impact of less-than-optimum materials. He's using it for his office, but I assume they're commonly available. It's so big that for a second I though he'd had his floor done.

I personally think slate has the most tiki feel to it. The dark gray/black flooring contrasts nicely with all the bamboo and matting. Wood flooring is just too much of the same color IMO.

If you don't want to use real slate you can find vinyl that looks like slate.

Dark slate is an excellent choice and looks perfect in a tiki room. The Mai-Kai floors are slate. They used to be a vivid green (kind of like the Tiki Central background color), but have faded over time and millions of footsteps. We wanted slate for our room, but opted for a large 18" ceramic tile that has a natural looking rough texture like slate but of course without the irregular edges like slate. It's a nice natural looking material and contrasts well with the bamboo and lahala. But of course, it is really up to you and your personal tastes and your plans for the rest of the room's decor.

You can also consider saltillo tile. Common in Mexico and the Mediterranean, it's a rustic earth color that would go well with tiki materials. Then, like Robb says, you can add some mats for warmth if you want.

Oh yeehhhhh......forgot about slate!! That stuff does look real nice and authentic!! Damn durable as well!
Good one guys.

Dave,

Take a drive out to Schaumburg... check out the bamboo floor panels IKEA has.

I've had my eye on them for a couple of years, but have yet to get some since my basement gets a little humid.

You can pick it up yourself and take it home.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40080877

thank you all for your advice.....some good ideas you all have......here's the deal though......my tiki room is being built in the attic of the house and will pretty much run the entire length one day.....i'm building it in sections so i can add more space to it if needed but for right now i'm working with half the attic.....i want to try to stay away from stone, ceramic or slate tile options.....the ceilings are lower and with 1/2 inch of plywood subfloor and a 1/2 inch of wood flooring i would lose another inch in height.....not the end of the world, but if i can get 1/8 thick vinyl tile or 1/4 inch tile that would help.....the subfloor will go over the exisiting wood floor. I chose not to remove the old original wood because whoever owned the house before remodeled the attics to be used for a spare room so the new construction walls and drywall are already in place......there will also be floor coverings in the form of rugs here and there....i'll have to get some pics up here so you can see what i mean.....

lake, i'll check out those panels at ikea.....they may work but i am always leary of ikea quality as it tends to be flimsy stuff..

Here is just one example of what I meant by vinyl that looks like slate:

http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/sheet/en/us/prod_detail_enlarge.asp?itemId=107763.0

Tipsy, have you seen these ?

http://www.flor.com/service/flor/shop/tiles.html

Carpet tiles...you can do a whole room with them, or just an area. They are super easy to install, and ar rubber backed, so, if someone spills a drink on them (inevitable) you can pull up the one tile and wash it out in the sink.

Also, they have some really great Mid Century Modern styles...the "housepet" is particularly cool...it's like a Mohair....very Mid Century Modern.

http://www.flor.com/service/flor/shop/item/House-Pet/60900609171.html

They are a little on the pricey side, but not too bad. The ease of self installation cuts on the cost a bit.

On 2009-01-27 04:57, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
lake, i'll check out those panels at ikea.....they may work but i am always leary of ikea quality as it tends to be flimsy stuff..

No worries, and I hear ya. There's a mix of good and bad at IKEA... depends on what ya get there.

You might want to look at cork flooring.

http://www.corkfloor.com/pics.html

Friends have this in their Tiki room in alternating dark and light and it has a great natural old school feel to it.

On 2009-01-27 12:07, Murph wrote:
You might want to look at cork flooring.

It does hurt that it's one kick ass bar.

Check out http://www.Murco.net . They are having an auction Sat.

It's dat broad from Planet Green.

Holy crap, Murph! Is that a TCer who owns that bar?

On 2009-01-27 18:41, Big Kahuna wrote:
Holy crap, Murph! Is that a TCer who owns that bar?

That is Alan and Michael's fantastic home bar the HaleKahiki.

HaleKahiki#1

HaleKahiki#2

HaleKahiki#3

They were uber cool and signed on to be one of the five bars on the 1st Annual LA Home Tiki Bar Tour
that I put together this past summer.

LA Home Tiki Bar Tour

LA Home Tiki Bar Tour #2

[ Edited by: Murph 2009-01-27 21:58 ]

Hey Tipsy - saw this at my local Petco. Vinyl tile that looks like water.

http://www.mythicalmatters.com/Tiles.html Toronto, Canada
Did a quick internet search but didn't find a US supplier

I'll offer three things for your consideration:

First, vinyl or cork have better accoustics. Tile, slate, or any hard surface is going to sound 'louder' both in the room and below the room (you did say attic, didn't you?)

Second, vinyl or cork, or anything that goes down in sections or pieces is a good idea for a bar area. If you damage a bit of floor, you can repair just the damaged area.

Third, with a little imagination and a lot of patience you can get pretty creative with vinyl tiles. Look up the book PAD by Matt Maranian in your local library to see what I mean.

What ever you decide, take pictures and keep us updated.

thanks for all the info!!...i'm really diggin the cork tiles.....that look is is the closest to what i want to do.....now i have to do some research and some math....

Hey Tipsy....you might want to look at Traffic Master Allure Vinyl flooring. Home Depot carries it. We installed some in a couple of bathrooms and the entry last year. At the time they only carried it in Oak and Cherry. It comes in 4" X 3' "planks. They overlap instead of butting against each unit, making it waterproof. It looks like real wood, but easier to install, does not glue to floor (floating) so easy to change if you get tired of it. I was in HD yesterday and they also have it in Teak, Hickory, and Dark Bamboo! The Bamboo looks good. They also can special order Light Bamboo and any other of the 22 finishes (from their brochure). I think it runs about $1.74 per square foot.

I'm sure I will get flack for posting this link to the photos of my home Tiki lounge on TC yet again, but you can see the flooring we put in when you look at them, particularly Photo Nos. 11, 19 and 20: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drzarkov/

This was a stone tile with an irregular pattern that looked a lot like drifting sand. It may be hard to discern from the photos, but we used tiles in different shapes and sizes and laid them down in a pattern that looked random.

If you buy bamboo flooring, be careful. Some of it is quite good, but some of the cheaper varieties are too soft and damage easily.

[ Edited by: Dr. Zarkov 2009-02-05 09:11 ]

On 2009-01-31 14:15, Tipsy McStagger wrote:

thanks for all the info!!...i'm really diggin the cork tiles.....that look is is the closest to what i want to do.....now i have to do some research and some math....

Cork tiles are awesome. Forgot about those. They can be a little pricey tho'. Good choice.

Bongofury posted about the Trafficmaster vinyl/tile from HD.

I used the Oak plank in the Living room and couldn't be happier with it.
It's free floating, not overly expensive, and fairly easy to put down. I just striped the carpet pulled the staples, vacuumed and started laying it out.
It's been holding up well for 3 years now.

The other half wants to put the Slate style down in the Basement/Bar.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100595258&N=10000003+90401+500335#reviews

[ Edited by: Beach Bum Scott 2009-02-05 10:12 ]

We used the Cherry, but may use the dark bamboo in the kitchen and dining area. This small guest bathroom was first and only used one box of planks ( about $40.00) Just painted the tract house cabinet and added pulls. 5' green granite top was $108.00 at HD Supply (owned by Home Depot) + a 70.00 faucet and a little apint on the walls and just like new.

We removed the existing vinyl that is on a plywood subfloor. The old vinyl was not coming up but we tokk it out anyway.

[ Edited by: bongofury 2009-02-06 17:39 ]

I saw some bamboo flooring at Costco the other day and I was wondering if any of you had used it in a bathroom? We need a floor in there, and I had considered some retro sheet vinyl until I saw the bamboo. Does anyone have any experience with it in a bathroom?

:drink:
Tacky

On 2009-01-27 08:11, TikiPhil wrote:
Here is just one example of what I meant by vinyl that looks like

Oh yeah i love vinyl flooring! I have such an armstrong vinyl flooring for my basement and I am really satisfied. I mean i would not take it for my bedroom but for the basement its great!

[ Edited by: Hakalugi - link removed - 2013-08-30 09:52 ]

I personally would prefer the bamboo flooring!!

Nice before and after on the bathroom Bongo! What a difference.

Laminate flooring can be with bamboo grain. Various bamboo wood grain such as verical grain, horizontal grain or strand woven grain can be with laminate flooring. The second layer of laminate floornig is mainly made up of decorative paper.

[ Edited by: michellol 2013-03-15 20:22 ]