Slate floor vs porcelin tile fllor.

Both slate and porcelain tiles have the benefit that the color goes throughout the material (chips are less visible), but I find that porcelain tiles are virtually indestructible. We have porcelain tiles in our kitchen that look as good as when they were installed 10 years ago.

JeffD

 

we have a slate entry and i love the look. . it is a bit rough in bare feet and little pieces come off now and then. there is virtually no maintenance, but you can oil it up once in a while if you like it shiny!

 

Whatever you choose, make sure you put in a electric floor heat!! The cost of the installation is cheap compared to the use you will get from the heated floor.

 

It's rock, how much maintenance does it need?

Don't put in electric heat unless you insulate underneath it very well (and you have cheap electricity). If the house is well insulated the floor will never get warm enough to feel warm to your bare feet without overheating the house. And if it is fact a sunroom and getting heat from the sun, you definitely don't want to heat it.

 

How thick are the tiles ? You might consider the heat capacities (good for a sun-room.)

 

Are you installing the tile or hiring someone? Porcelain tile has uniform thickness and is usually very square. Slate tends to vary in thickness so requires some of the tiles be floated which requires a bit more work. So you might want to compare cost of installed floor for each type. Depending on manufacturer all the slate tiles might not be truly square requiring larger grout lines. If you go with slate there are enhancers and sealers and combo of both. An enhancer will give the slate a darker wet look. If you want that look enhancer before you seal. Miracle brand sealers/enhancers are very good and worth the extra expense IMO. Under tile heaters are usually installed only where you will walk or where your feet will be most of the time as oppose to the whole room. You can turn them off when it is warm. Home Depot sells Miracle products. Think about what the floor will look like with the rugs and furniture and how much tile will actually be exposed.

Miracle Sealants Company

 

I actually love the feel of rock under my feet... tile is ok, but I love the feel of natural stone because it doesn't last.

 

Slate every time for me. No question about it.

 

Consider dyed and stumped concrete. You can dye and stamp concrete to look like slate, or blue stone are all kinds of things,, including tile. You can stamp in a tile pattern and grout just like tile. You MUST use a good concrete guy to do it. Also, insulate the slab, and use hot water radiant heat if you can,, and insulate with blue foam board. As UN room should have thermal mass to absorb the suns heat. Mine is 6" of concrete over 2' of peagravel, over blue board. Also pin the slab to the foundation walls with rebar, and include a wire mesh reinforcement.

You will find it is much cheaper, since you are going to have to pour concrete anyway, then pay for the tile//slate and it's installation

Concrete Dye - Photos, Application Techniques, and Information on Concrete Dyes - The Concrete Network

http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/stamped_concrete/

My sun room cost me ~$150/yard, plus ~$1000 for labor to set up, our stamp and dye

Normal concrete is close to $90/yard. The labor was probably 25% more.

16x10 and looks exactly like bluestone, in color and texture. Pretty impressive

Icarus

 

Porcelain is great to walk on in bare feet..but it's quite cold in the winter.
I've recently installed it in two bathrooms and it feels very smooth and natural, not like ceramic.
The selection you posted is beautiful.

Have you considered laying it in the off-set layering style instead of square/corner to corner? Think castle or brick walls. I always lay tile this way. Looks great in 20 sq ft or 1000 sq ft applications.

 

My father's house had hot water radiant heat in the concrete slab. It was terrible: Took forever to warm up and forever to cool down. Are you really going to spend time barefoot in the room where the dogs are constantly tracking in mud?

 

our plumber told us we need to leave the radiant heat at a constant. otherwise, it is less efficient and costs more to bring it back up to temp every morning. but this is counterintuitive and similar to accellerating quickly in a prius, i just can't bring myself to do it! plus. we like it cool at night to sleep.

 

Counter-intuitive, and wrong. If anything is cooler, the heat loss from it to the colder outside will be less. Therefore letting it cool off HAS to save energy. Plus a boiler is like a prius engine, it wants to burn at peak load, running it at constant low load will reduce its efficiency (AEBE).

 

In which case, I wouldn't bother with the in-floor heat.

Pocket door are notorious for being huge air leaks. Make sure they are well sealed and insulated if plan to isolate it in the cold.

 

that's how i feel, but i have to set it to come on at 4am just to get it to 58 by 7am. i just don't have the heart to leave it at a constant 64 24/7 and compare it to previous years. plus, no two years are alike.

 

Yikes, sounds like there isn't insulation under it or around it. Might be possible to fix that. You can compare to previous years by looking up the degree-days ( Heating & Cooling Degree Days - Free Worldwide Data Calculation ).