Kitchen Flooring

[DawnM]

Our kitchen floor needs to be replaced.  

 

Currently we have some sort of a wood floor laminate (you know the wood flooring with a thin sheet of wood on top that you can't really refinish?)

 

I want tile, possibly Travertine like we have in the bathroom.  It is durable, looks nice, and did I mention durable?

 

It buts up against the hardwood floor in the living room.  Dh wanted to replace the kitchen with a real hardwood.  

 

So, we came home from our trip to Florida last week and found that the fridge's drain thingie had overflown.  It has buckled and completely ruined the hardwood flooring in front of it.

 

We are looking at replacing it sooner than later now.  And I may indeed get my tile now that my point about water in the kitchen has been proven.  (haha!)

 

What would you put?

 

Dawn

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

Cork might be interesting, and some manufacturers claim water resistance.   Would be nice underfoot.

 

Tile or sheet vinyl would be the most water resistant.  Nothing that has seams or grout lines is waterproof forever.

[Happy]

There's a new tile product you might like...it looks like wood, but it's tile. I've seen the boxes at Home Depot. Just the other day, I saw this in a house one of my clients liked. It looked good! The warmth and look of wood (sort of) with the durability of tile.

[kitten18]

Love my tile floors!!!

[RoughCollie]

I would not put in anything that is not glued down.  Reason:  We put Pergo in our kitchen.  Three months later, *5* hidden leaks sent water under the flooring. We discovered it when the flooring seemed bubbly underneath when the kids walked on it. The floor, the cabinets, 2 walls, and the ceiling had to be replaced.  Counters were replaced too but only because the cabinets had to be replaced.  Our homeowner's insurance covered it, and then canceled our insurance.

 

This disaster had a silver lining -- I got a new kitchen!

 

So, were it me, I'd go with either tile or linoleum (actual linoleum, not vinyl floor covering, although there is some nice stuff out there.)

[Annie]

I go back and forth on this topic all the time. I need to replace the kitchen floor, but I really don't know what I want. Tile seems like the best choice, but I spend soooo much time standing in my kitchen that I'm afraid it will be too hard. Plus, I'm clumsy and drop stuff that I would rather not have break into a hundred pieces. :-P Cork would solve those problems, but how durable would it really be with little kids, two cats, and high traffic? Wood would look bad unless it matched the rest of the main level...

[Ellie]

I have hardwood in my kitchen--the whole downstairs is hardwood, real hardwood, not Pergo-type stuff--and I love it. There have been multiple spills on it (although never a weekend's worth of standing water) and it still looks good. It's about 15 years old.

 

We remodeled the downstairs bathroom last year, and put hardwood in there, too. :-)

[Chris in VA]

Random thoughts:

 

I'd go with ceramic tile, and get a little cute but cushiony rug for by the sink, so it's not so hard on feet.

 

I loathe my sheet fakey vinyl tile crap. It's got a texture so it isn't slippery when wet, but that means it's impossible to keep clean.

 

I like to steam my floor, or scrub by hand, and hardwood doesn't hold up to that. I do like the look, tho. I've seen some home improvement shows use a vinyl that looks like wood, but IDK how it *really* looks.

 

A friend has cork--it's warm and lovely, and holds up to her active dog and kid well. 

[Camelfeet]

Tile all the way.  Easier than hardwood to keep clean and the lighter tile colours don't show dust as much.

[Ali in OR]

I think different flooring materials are popular in different places. We have family in FL and CA and tile is popular there. In our town in the Pacific Northwest, real hardwood is the preferred option. I'm thinking it's because tile would feel cold and chilly and just feel WRONG here, but those attributes make it a good choice in warmer climes. We've had no problems with our 11 year old wood floor. I don't clean it often; can vacuum it with the built-in vacuum and a brush attachment, and I spot clean spills with a rag and a squirt bottle of vinegar/water. It looks good with minimal care, doesn't bother my feet to stand there a long time, and dishes don't shatter if they drop.

[magnificent_baby]

We had Armstrong faux tile in a previous house. LOVED it. So many people thought it was tile. Cleaned up beautifully, not cold at all and very, very durable. It's very thick. Can be grouted or just placed all together. We have real wood throughout our entire first floor (except bedrooms). I love the wood, but if I were ever replacing or building, I'd get the faux tile hands down. Have also had laminate wood in the past, it got so many grooves in it from people getting in and out of their chairs. 

[LaxMom]

I have cork that is 8 years old with three kids and a dog, in the kitchen that is our most frequently used entrance, which means perpetual sand tracking. It needs to be re-sealed (because we're idiots and didn't seal it after it was put in) but has held up really well.

 

I was convinced of its durability when I found an "ask the handyman" site that discussed a 100+ year old cork floor in a cathedral that was still going strong. I figure if it can stand up to a century of public use with dress shoes, my family isn't really much of a threat.

[Ellie]

I like to steam my floor, or scrub by hand, and hardwood doesn't hold up to that. I do like the look, tho.

 

 

 

I steam my hardwood. It's *real* hardwood, you understand, not laminate. Mostly I don't need to steam it, though, because I use Bona to clean it with most of the time. :-)

[nevergiveup]

I had really wanted porcelain tile for the longest time.  I love the  look and durablity.  However, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and am getting older so was wondering about the wear and tear on my joints.  Plus, I don't relish cleaning grout, it is cold underfoot, heavy, and labor intensive to install.

 

My grandparents had cork and it was beautiful.  However, furniture eventually left dents that would not come out.

 

I am going to get rubber flooring.  Specifically, Nora flooring.  It is used in commercial applications, soft underfoot, easy to clean, and I can put "grout" lines in it.  I was told that it will outlast my house, which is saying something since we overbuilt portions it.

[Happy]

I have tile in my kitchen. Because we do a lot of cooking, we went to a local restaurant supply house to purchase a couple of squishy mats. I have one by the stove and one by the sink. They are wonderful mats! As long as I wear shoes (for support) and stand mostly on the mats, my body handles tile very well.

 

And...surprisingly, I've dropped things that did not shatter on the tile...depends on what it is and how it hits.

[gardenmom5]

I had hardwood - my dishwasher leaked and destroyed the floor.

we now have quartz tile.  love it.  it's warmer than porcelain tile too.  nothing will hurt it.  acids, oils, etc. being spilled on it will not hurt it.  it things are dropped - it can defend itself.  (I had gouges in the wood where knives had been dropped.)

[SwallowTail]

Travertine marble in your kitchen is a disaster, especially if you have kids or pets.  We have it in our bathroom and in our kitchen and dining room and foyer.  It still looks perfect in my bath, but the high traffic areas - not so great.

 

It stains really easily.  It cracks.  You can't clean it with bleach and steam cleaners are not really recommended, so the grout gets dirty.  It gets dull and requires frequent re-sealing, which is hard to do in such a busy space.  It scratches and gouges.