Laminated Flooring - simulated ceramic tiles

[Gigi]

Has anyone has ever seen - in French DIY stores - sheets of simulated ceramic tiling, like the Floormaster Tile Loc laminated flooring range sold in the UK? I have just found wood laminates (at a price) on the Castorama website but not the ceramic effect. I would be grateful for any information.

[Liz]

This is rather negative but I have never seen this stuff in France, and we do keep an eye on what's what in the French DIY market. I remember seeing it in the UK and thinking at the time that it is not something that would catch on over here. I think the attitude would be why have simulated when you can have the real thing for a modest outlay, ceramic tiles being generally loads cheaper in France than in the UK.

The best (IMHO) national DIY shop in France is Leroy Merlin so you could check with them although everything they stock is not necessarily on their web site.

Liz (29)

[Piprob]

We are extremely pleased with our Amtico 'slate' tiled floor in the kitchen. Its expensive but we haven't seen anything better.

You may find Amtico in Paris has its own website giving distributor contacts. Haven't tried.

Good luck.

Amtico International SA
25 Rue De Sevres
92100 Boulogne
Paris
France

Tel: +33 (1) 55 38 9570
Fax: +33 (1) 55 38 9571

 

[Russethouse]

>>>Its expensive but we haven't seen anything better. <<<

You can say that again.......I was quoted a ball park figure of £75 per square meter in the UK ........no chance its any cheaper in France is there ?

However, I have to agree its a superb flooring.

[Piprob]

Yes Gay, and maybe importantly for Gigi, you can't 'do it yourself'!

[Gigi]

[quote]This is rather negative but I have never seen this stuff in France, and we do keep an eye on what's what in the French DIY market. I remember seeing it in the UK and thinking at the time that it is n...[/quote]

I agree that ceramic is brilliant - and normally the best solution.

We're just wondering whether, for an upstairs bathroom, there might be any problems about using the real thing. The current flooring is carpet, which we don't like, over chipboard which is covering oak floor boards. The chipboard must have been laid over the oak floorboards to make the floor level enough to accommodate the bathroom suite.

Would you anticipate any problems with laying a proper ceramic tiled floor, given the surface Ihave described?

[Bobc]

To answer you questions:

Clic flooring in simulated ceramic tile finish is available from Lapeyre - p.264 of their l'extérieur/l'intérieur catalogue. It is not however, suitable for bathrooms.

There is no reason that you cannot use ceramic tiles over a wooden floor, providing that you make suitable preparation:

You will need to remove the existing chipboard and replace this with  hydrofuge treated OSB (oriented strand board) panels. This needs to be glued with construction adhesive and also screwed down. The joints and junctions with the walls then need to be sealed with rubber tape using tile adhesive and then the whole floor sealed with a tiling primer.

You can then tile using a flexible tile adhesive and joint (grout) with a a flexible joint.

Forget the DIY sheds for materials - you will need to go to a specialist carrelage supplier.

My best advice would be to get a copy of 'Le Guide' from any Weber et Broutin stockist - this will tell you how to lay tiles in any possible situation.

www.weber-broutin.fr

If you need more advice then please e-mail me directly.

Kind regards,

Bob Clarke

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/grindoux

[Jackie]

I am sure that I have seen this stuff at Monsieur Bricolage but when I put in a new shower room upstairs I just screwed 15mm plywood down over the floor boards. Lots of screws so it does not move. Could have used Ring Nails but had a lot of spare wood screws at the time. Sealed it with something recommended by Castorama, a sort of resin I think and tiled on top using a slightly flexible adhesive. The joints are also sealed with protecteur de joint, a sort of varnish applied with an artists brush to the grout lines, to stop water getting in. Don't use a sponge as recommended as it is terrible stuff to get off the tiles. So far, after 2 years of constant use, no problems...........................John in 79

[Gigi]

[quote]I am sure that I have seen this stuff at Monsieur Bricolage but when I put in a new shower room upstairs I just screwed 15mm plywood down over the floor boards. Lots of screws so it does not move. Sea...[/quote]

Many thanks for all the replies / advice. Will probably go with the ceramic tiles. I was quite surprised that the bathroom was carpeted rather than tiled, in view of the fact that the previous owners (and all those prior to them) were French.