porcelain wood look tile. what are your thoughts.

[Steven Maduro]

I am doing a basement apartment and have settled on this porcelain wood look tile.  

I am choosing it for the durability and for the fact that I got a great labor rate on the job.

the apartment is pretty small with the kitchen and living room sharing the same 15x15 space

there is a laundryroom/ foyer and an open hallway to keep the place from looking too claustrophobic  but i wanted one flooring type throughout the whole apartment. 

so my choice was either tile, or vinyl plank because of the water from the kitchen and bath

my current concern even though I am going to continue with this project

is that after seeing it installed in a hotel room in Pheonix i was surprised that it looked more like vinyl  plank than tile or wood.

sort of a let down if you ask me.  it almost makes me think I should just go with a nice traditional tile 

anyone else had personal experience with the porcelain wood look tile are there some brands types or colors that are superior to others?

i am sure this super 8 motel didnt get the top of the line tile.

[Mike F.]

Have experience with a lot of it over the last 7-8 years, when it first came onto the market there were lots of issues with inferior product and it 'cupping'. This is still an issue with the cheap stuff. You always get what you pay for in construction materials so I'd recommend avoiding home depot materials, bargain retailers etc... and paying a little bit more for a name brand manufacturer of this product with a good track record for quality.

Think about possibly a 1/3 staggered joint instead of the 1/2 staggered joint, it looks a bit better with this product.  People who like hardwood but are looking for a more bullet proof product love this material.

If your basement floor is a concrete slab with control joints that will be layed over, I highly recommend looking into an anti fracture membrane to counter act the possibility of horizontal movements in the slabs at the joints, if there is any signs of vertical movement at the joints I would avoid any tile installations no matter what the product is.