Materials that make us fall in love (1): wood-effect stoneware

With this post in Construcciones Cholbi we want to talk to you in detail about some of the flooring, wall tiles and construction materials that we like the most, with which we work best and which are best suited to the houses we build in the area of Jávea and the Marina Alta .

In particular, today we focus on a wood that is not really wood. It looks like it, but it's not, of course. We are referring to wood-effect porcelain stoneware, which has been gaining ground in a matter of a few years. We explain why.

The appearance: although at first the imitations were not so successful and it was obvious that it was not wood, now they are and a lot. If you don't touch the material, there are floors that, once laid, look like real wood: the pieces simulate the veins and irregularities typical of wood, the color and even the texture. In many brands, what they do is vary the pieces, so that each one seems unique: there are several models and when we place them we alternate them, thus increasing the credibility of the floor.
Maintenance: undoubtedly, the maintenance of a porcelain tile is much easier than parquet or laminate flooring. No need for special products, or stabbing every so many years. Mop, water, floor cleaner and that's it! This easy maintenance means that we can also put it in kitchens, bathrooms, terraces or even on floors of busy shops.
The price: although there are also different qualities, the price is usually lower than that of a good parquet. In the market you can find imitation wood porcelain tiles at many prices (sometimes it exceeds parquet), but to give you an approximate idea, in our usual supplier of flooring in Jávea, Azulejos Eurogres, you can find them from 25 to 50 euros per m2 .
Resistance to humidity: just as humidity is always feared in parquet (wood absorbs everything), stoneware is a non-porous artificial flooring, it does not absorb anything through the top layer. With which for houses very close to the sea and humidity problems, as in Jávea, wood-effect stoneware is perfect. It is also ideal if you are thinking of heating the home with underfloor heating, since with this type of heating some humidity is generated in the floor. And if we add underfloor heating with wood-effect stoneware, the result is a warm floor on all sides.

Against it, we can tell you that the installation is not entirely easy: they are narrow pieces, sometimes they are even 1.20 meters high (they are made that way to simulate wooden slats), and it is a rectified material. So you have to level the ground very well, do the locking well and be careful when placing the pieces. Luckily, at Construcciones Cholbi we have a good team of pavers who have already laid this type of stoneware on many occasions with excellent results.

As you can see, wood-effect porcelain stoneware is a very resistant, durable and aesthetically very successful material, which can add a plus to the interior design of your home (just take a look at the photos that accompany the post, all with wood-effect stoneware). It is clear that when you walk barefoot on it, it does not offer the same warmth as wood, but luckily for us, winter in Jávea is very mild and short-lived. In Construcciones Cholbi we are going to place this type of floor shortly on the upper floor of a house between party walls in the Historic Center of Jávea, in a very interesting reform and expansion project of which we will show you photos soon.

(Photographs of environments of the Rocersa, Metropol, Casa Infinita and Fanal brands, for sale at Azulejos Eurogres)