Vitrified, marble or wooden flooring for an Indian home

Double-charged vitrified tile is the default in Indian homes for good reasons: it is hard, near-zero porosity, tolerates daily wet mopping, and costs a fraction of stone. Its weakness is the joint. Get the laying level right and use a decent epoxy grout, and it will outlast the rest of the interior.

Marble is cooler underfoot, ages into something tile cannot imitate, and is a maintenance relationship rather than a purchase. It stains from turmeric, lime and oil, needs periodic sealing, and wants polishing every few years. In a household that cooks Indian food daily and mops twice a day, an unsealed marble kitchen floor will show it.

Engineered wood is the warmest of the three and the least suited to how most Indian homes are cleaned. Standing water at the joints is its failure mode, and a daily wet mop is standing water. It works well in bedrooms, poorly in kitchens, and should never go in a bathroom.

The honest recommendation for most flats: vitrified through the wet and high-traffic areas, wood or wood-look in bedrooms if you want the warmth, and marble only where someone has agreed to look after it.

Choose for how the floor will be cleaned, not for how it looks dry in a showroom.