Q: We have a living room which is completely bordered with 3+ feet of 12X12″ ceramic tile. The center (about 220 sq. ft.) of the room has been covered with carpet insert. We want to replace the carpet with solid oak parquet wood tiles.
In an adjacent room (dinning area) we have solid oak parquet installed, which butts up smoothly with the same ceramic tile at an arch between the dinning room, living room and (opposite wall – standard door) kitchen.
We have had no problem with expansion of the wood tiles butted up against the ceramic in this room. Should we expect an expansion problem in the living room where all four wood tile edges will be butted up against ceramic tile? We would rather not use transitions around this for obvious reasons. Are there installation tips that could help us in installing the oak parquet and minimize potential expansion problems?
A: I wouldn’t expect a problem with this installation. If your climate control is in question, you could leave a space and use caulking between the ceramic and hardwood.