yvonne Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We need to replace our kitchen floor, and I was wondering if hardwood would work or if it's no match for water spills/drops, etc.. We have it in most of the rest of the house, and I love it. If you have hardwood in your kitchen, would you do it again? How do you clean it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I had hardwood. It was mostly fine for all the everyday stuff. - much depends upon the finish. what surprised me was the aluminum oxide finish chipped when certain things were dropped on it. but, my dishwasher developed a leak and the water went under the floor. by the time it was caught, the floor had to be ripped out. the good news is, my homeowners insurance paid for it all. (except the new dishwasher . . . ) oh - and my fridge didn't like being moved (it was in the dining room while the kitchen was torn up), so when we finally went to put it back in the kitchen . . . I got a new fridge too. (granted it was older) I now have stone. (I purposely didn't put it in the first time because I was afraid of breakage.) whatever you decide, put trays under your fridge and dishwasher to catch any leaks . . . .  1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We need to replace our kitchen floor, and I was wondering if hardwood would work or if it's no match for water spills/drops, etc.. We have it in most of the rest of the house, and I love it. If you have hardwood in your kitchen, would you do it again? How do you clean it? My whole downstairs is hardwood, including the kitchen. Love it. Will always have it. I sweep/vacuum as needed, wipe up spills as they happen, use Bona when necessary. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I have hardwood in the kitchen, and it still looks reasonably okay after fifteen years of hard wear with kids. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 This is the second house in which I've had hardwood in the kitchen. I love it. You just have to be sure to mop up spills when they happen. In this house we have even had the dishwasher leak, but caught it right away...so no damage. You will have some nicks and scratches from dropping things, but that is just par for the course with hardwoods. I use Bona to clean. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieSong Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We put hardwood in our living room, dining room, and kitchen over two years ago and I love it! We had vinyl in the kitchen, carpet in the dining and living rooms. I much prefer hardwood. I sweep and vacuum, and damp mop with a microfiber mop as needed, with water, a splash of vinegar, and a few drops of lavender essential oil. The mop is just damp. I don't slosh a lot of water on the floor. We have hickory. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squawky Acres Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We also have a hickory floor. It is quite low maintenance. I swiffer it a few times a week, and do a proper mopping with Murphy's Oil Soap -- um, maybe once a month. It doesn't show dirt very much, so looks reasonably good most of the time. We did have a fridge leaking problem, and the wood became warped, but it went back to normal after a while. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We had a dishwasher leak too. Ours didn't have to ripped out, but it did have to be refinished. I wouldn't put it into a kitchen on purpose. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I don't like it. We have had it in this house. I would much prefer a very durable tile. When we move, that is what I want. I had it in my previous house and it was indestructible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We have it. I like the look, and it's held up well. The little grooves drive me crazy for spills but it cleans up ok. I just make sure the grooves are cleaned well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I like hardwood. I've had it in every house but one. That one was concrete and...never again. It is so hard that it wears you out to stand on it. In this house, I put a rug by the sink because my faucet likes to spray everything in sight, and the rug catches the water. Easy maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We have hardwood throughout our house and I absolutely love it. But I personally would not chose to put it in a kitchen given the wear and tear and moisture and mess our kitchen sees. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFwife Claire Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We put hardwood in our kitchen 7 years ago to match the other hardwood on our main floor (before, the kitchen floor was a really nasty linoleum). I love it! We'll have to refinish it before we sell it, but well, we have 10 kids. Scratches, etc. are to be expected, and they really don't bother me. It still looks good! We had tile in other houses, and I hated that when things dropped, they just shattered into a million pieces. I much prefer hardwood. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We have hardwood in the kitchen, and I put Flor carpet tiles down in the kitchen area. I just recently got rid of the 9 year old soft green sage carpet tiles and replaced them with a deep purple Flor carpet tile. Protects the wood from my dropping things on it which would doubtless cause dings. ETA: We did the hardwood so it would create a consistent look from the family room and dining area into the kitchen. It's all the same wood. If your kitchen flooring area doesn't abut with other wood-like flooring, you could also look at some of the new Pergo-type laminate wood looks. They have some beautiful stuff available now, more economical than wood and won't suffer as much damage from crazy cooks. A friend just put some of this in large areas of her home and the wide plank is just beautiful and I suspect it's less damaged by water and dropping things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We have high-end vinyl flooring in the kitchen that looks like hardwood, and I think it's the best of both worlds. It looks great, is easy to care for, and isn't phased by water. It feels warmer on my feet in the winter than the hardwood we had in our last place, too. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Our house is 135 years old and has original hardwood floors. The kitchen had ceramic tile but we removed it and under it was the hardwood. Super easy to take care of! I sweep every day or two, Bona when needed, and a rug in front of the sink catches most spills. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Another hardwood fan here. This is our third house with it in the kitchen, and I've been very happy with it. We've also had a couple of dishwasher leaks and thankfully were able to wipe things up right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted July 19, 2015 Author Share Posted July 19, 2015 Our house is 60 years old. When we pulled up all the carpet, we found hardwood everywhere but in the kitchen, bathrooms, and a back room. Hm. So I think we'd be looking at the Pergo type flooring rather than true hardwood for the kitchen. My husband put in something like Pergo but supposedly a slightly higher quality. (Maybe it had something to do with the finish? I'm not sure.) If we can't swing real hardwood, would Pergo like flooring work? Thanks for mentioning the floor carpet tiles, momacacia. That might be good for under the snack/work table we have on one side of the kitchen. Our dining room has a real wood floor and we have the large, heavy table on a rug to protect the floor from chairs, etc. That type of rug wouldn't work in the kitchen, but those Flor tiles might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I think we'd be looking at the Pergo type flooring rather than true hardwood for the kitchen. I would never consider pergo/type product in a kitchen/bath. when it gets wet - it will swell. it takes far less water to damage it than real wood. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2samlibby Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We have hardwood in our kitchen. It's a new build. We had it in our last house too. I have a rug in front of the sink. I've never had problems with fridges leaking. We vacuum a few times a week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted July 19, 2015 Author Share Posted July 19, 2015 Sounds like it will have to be real wood. I'll have to look into costs.... Thanks so much everyone! Any other thoughts/experiences, please post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I would never consider pergo/type product in a kitchen/bath. when it gets wet - it will swell. it takes far less water to damage it than real wood. I've had a product like pergo (laminate tile) in both kitchen and a half bath. I would not put it in a full bath. I had to replace it in the kitchen when we had a flood that was damaging enough that all footing had to be pulled out on that level and the basement of my house. We replaced with hardwood throughout that level. It's great. I use a damp swiffer to clean. We have not had trouble with water damage in the kitchen. In the half bath we have laminate tile. No tile at all. We aren't going science experiments or otherwise throwing water around in there. Our hard wood was prevarnished before installation. That was supposed to make it more durable. But I am not an expert. IME you go with either hardwood or a good quality laminate tile. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We installed 3/4 inch red oak in our new kitchen a year ago. I've had hardwood in previous kitchens as well and I've been happy with it. I've had Pergo and didn't like it -- it chipped and scratched much more than hardwood. I had ceramic tile in one kitchen and I would NEVER do it again. NEVER. The grout was sealed, but still showed dirt and it was a nightmare to clean. My understanding is that the pre-varnished hardwood floors have a super-hard finish baked onto them, but you do tend to get grooves between the boards when they're installed. We needed to sand and varnish ours after we installed it, which is a huge amount of work, but it is a completely flat finish, so there are no grooves or crevices for spills to puddle in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We have high-end vinyl flooring in the kitchen that looks like hardwood, and I think it's the best of both worlds. It looks great, is easy to care for, and isn't phased by water. It feels warmer on my feet in the winter than the hardwood we had in our last place, too. I think this is what I'm going to go with throughout our entire house when we build. I detest hardwood. I can't stand the dings and scratches that inevitably develop, and (especially with multiple pets) I don't like feeling paranoid about every drop of water they drip across the floor or bring in on wet paws. Wood look luxury vinyl tile seems to be the perfect flooring choice for us. Our last house had hardwood throughout the entire lower level. The kitchen wasn't any worse than the rest of the house, but thankfully we never had any leaks while we were there. See above for my general dislike of it. My sister in law has hardwood in her kitchen and can't wait to put something else over it. We have laminate in our downstairs half bathroom now. It's okay. I vastly prefer it to hardwood. But I don't know that I'd want it in a room more prone to water issues like a kitchen, laundry room or full bath (thus the reason we're thinking luxury vinyl tile for our next house). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Oh, I have some of those thick rug/mat type things that are cushiony and easy to wipe up in several areas in the kitchen. In front of the sink, in front of the fridge, and in front of the stove. It helps your feet, and catches a lot of the drops and spills. Our hardwood in this house was pre-finished Bella wood in oak. Love it. Our other house had a dark wood that was finished in place. Fewer grooves, but the dark wood showed dust and dog hair like mad.I would avoid laminate if at all possible. My SIL has it in her kitchen, and it was ruined rather quickly due to water. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We have laminate in our kitchen and it has held up wonderfully! When we were considering laminate vs. hardwood, the flooring people told us that the nice thing about laminate is that if part of it gets damaged, the damaged part can be popped out and replaced with a new piece. (But the manufacturers change sizes, so we bought extra to have on hand.) With hardwood, you will have to refinish the whole floor. I have wide plank cherry and I think it looks nice. I couldn't justify paying so much extra for hardwood. However, if I had it to do over again, I would get a medium color. It doesn't show dust as much. We have three kids and two dogs and it still looks brand new. We've had fridge and dishwasher leaks and it is still in great condition. I sweep occasionally and damp mop with vinegar water spray and microfiber mop once a week. I wouldn't have to do it that often if it were not for the dogs. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 My understanding is that the pre-varnished hardwood floors have a super-hard finish baked onto them, but you do tend to get grooves between the boards when they're installed. We needed to sand and varnish ours after we installed it, which is a huge amount of work, but it is a completely flat finish, so there are no grooves or crevices for spills to puddle in. referred to as pre-finished or finish on site. I much prefer my finish on site. (we had it professionally done with a Swedish finish.) I think this is what I'm going to go with throughout our entire house when we build. I detest hardwood. there is also porcelain tile that is made to look like wood - comes in several colors. very durable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squawky Acres Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Wait - so what is this Bona everyone is using on hardwood? It looks like a mop system, similar to Swiffer. But is it better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I like it much better than swiffer. The mop heads are washable. I have three that I rotate through. The mop squirts the Bona solution on the floor and you just mop it up. Leaves the floors shiny. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaBlue Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 We had hardwood in the kitchen in our last house, and I loved it. We have tile now, and it's cold, hard, and not any easier to clean because of the texture. And while wood will dent, there's a decent chance that a dropped plate or glass will survive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I love hardwood in the kitchen! MUCH easier on the feet and legs for hours of kitchen work each day. Personally, I don't mind the sorta-shabby-chic worn finish look, so little scrapes and dings don't bother me at all. If I see drips I wipe them, have never had any problematic appliance leaking. If your fridge has an ice/water dispenser, you may want a mat under that area. Stray ice cubes can go unnoticed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I have a friend who is a contractor. He said that hardwood is far more sensitive to ongoing leaks than laminate would be. He has beautiful laminate floors in the kitchen, that look and seem just like hickory hardwood. Honestly I didn't realize they weren't real wood until he told me so. He said that the underlayment is more important than the quality of the laminate in making it all seem 'real'. FWIW. Having said that, I'm getting engineering floors in our kitchen because it's part of a great room--kitchen, living room, dining room--and I don't want to have fake floors throughout. Our flooring contractor suggested that engineered hardword is more stable laterally than plain hardwood, and for the long runs we have it would be less likely to deform. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.