Flooring conundrum

[Loowit]

We are going to be replacing the flooring in at least the downstairs of our house, and potentially the stairs, upstairs landing, and master bedroom if we can fit it in the budget.  We currently have laminate, but it was installed poorly and is buckling.  The stairs and upstairs are carpet that we would like replaced due to allergies.  I would like to do hardwood floors but that is out of our budget, so we are looking into engineered hardwood right now.

However, I am concerned about having wood flooring in the kitchen because of water issues.  Would it look odd to have a different type of flooring in the kitchen of a mostly open floor plan house?  My brother suggested we could do vinyl in the kitchen, but I do not want vinyl floors for a number of reasons.  I am not sure what I would want though.  I fear tile floors would be a lot of upkeep and potentially expensive.

If you have different flooring in your kitchen that is open floor plan, how do you get it to flow smoothly?  If you have wood flooring in your kitchen has it been a problem with water damage?

[Tap]

Have you looked at waterproof simulated wood flooring? There are some really nice options available 

[Bambam]

Our current home has something that looks like hardwood planks in the dining room, foyer, and living room. There is a break point going into the breakfast area and other kitchen entry were there is ceramic tile. The edge is a smaller slighter darker tile (like the 4" square ones) coming from the hardwood to the large light ceramic tile.  I don't think these are real hardwood, but given the previous owner, I would guess some sort of high end engineered wood stuff.  I think it looks fine, our floor plan isn't totally open (wall with one door between dining room and kitchen) and a partial wall/cabinet bar between the kitchen and the living area. 

The ceramic tile is easy to take care of. I really need to get down and scrub the grout, but it doesn't look bad. The large ceramic tile is a light tan (very light), and I wish it was a darker tan (aka hide more dirt). 
 

[Jean in Newcastle]

We have the Ultra Smartcore lvp in our kitchen and dining room.  It is waterproof.  I suppose you shouldn't let it sit in a foot of water, but that would be true for any type of flooring. 

[Loowit]

5 minutes ago, Tap said:

Have you looked at waterproof simulated wood flooring? There are some really nice options available 

Thanks.  I have, but DH doesn't want "fake wood".  It doesn't help that our current laminate flooring looks pretty fake and hasn't lasted well.  It was already in the house when we moved in, but is only about 8 years old.  He is pretty set that it has to be hardwood or engineered hardwood.  I will be lucky to talk him into something different in the kitchen, if I can find a way to convince it it won't look awkward.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Go to Lowe's.  Look at the lvp (luxury vinyl plank) flooring.  I know that we were able to see displays of it so you could see how a larger section would look.  It really doesn't look at all fake like the old laminate floors did. 

[Anne]

I have engineered hardwood throughout most of the house and LVT in my kitchen.  The LVT doesn’t look like wood, but like tile.  We love it.  

[Annie G]

We had original wood in our 1880 house and in the 26 years we lived there had no issues with water in either kitchen or bathroom. Current house has pine flooring and the house is 15 years old and again no issues with water in  kitchen or bathroom.  No experience with engineered wood. 
 

 

[Pawz4me]

We have engineered hardwood in the main living areas of our house. We've lived here over six years and I have no idea when it was installed before we bought the house, other than it had some signs of wear (dining room chair type scratches, etc.) so I assume it had already been down for awhile when we bought it. And it's fine. We've never had a big water leak, but drips aren't a problem. I'm not the neatest cook and our dogs drip after they drink. We wipe up drips whenever we get to them. The floor handles it fine. We're housebreaking a puppy right now and I'm sending up lots of "thank yous" for whoever installed this floor! I also have LVP in the rest of the house and love it, too. It also handles a little water w/o a problem.

[Ottakee]

29 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

We have the Ultra Smartcore lvp in our kitchen and dining room.  It is waterproof.  I suppose you shouldn't let it sit in a foot of water, but that would be true for any type of flooring. 

Well, 2 years ago my basement flooded and the LVP flooring was floating and soak and sitting In water.  We took it all up, dried it, and laid it back down and it looks like brand new 

[BusyMom5]

We have hardwood in living area, but I didn't want it in my kitchen.  I also didn't care for a hard tile, so we did a tile-look laminate.  Its almost 15 years and still looks good.  If I had to replace,  I'd probably get LVP that looks like tile (i have looked a bit).

[Clarita]

When I redo my kitchen floor I'm choosing ceramic tile. The textured vinyl tile is really hard to keep clean.

[bolt.]

We have ceramic tile in the kitchen and wood floors for the rest of that (open plan) level.

The tile area serves to define the kitchen as a discernable 'zone'. Therefore the difference of flooring looks purposeful and aesthetic. (The tile coordinates with the countertops.) The tile area is more-or-less a square, minus one corner that has a 45% angle cut. It connects the edges of the cabinets/countertop area from side to the other side of the kitchen.

[Toocrazy!!]

I've had real wood in my kitchen for the last 25 years. Maple first, mahogany second. No issues with water, but we haven't had a flood or any water issues. If something spills, we clean or dry it up. I am NOT a good housekeeper, so nothing special was done. My DH isn't a fan of LVT or LVP either. It looks wonderful, and lots of people LOVE it. It is low maintenance and lasts forever, but it's not real wood - with the natural warmth and all the scratches 🙂

[BeachGal]

Go to a good quality flooring store or a big box flooring store such as Floor and Decor if you have one in your area.

For your kitchen, you could use a porcelain tile with a medium to dark tone grout, depending on the tones of the tile. They are pretty easy care. Some stones are, too.

For the engineered wood, a thicker layer of wood would allow you to sand it in the future if it needed it. I’m a fan of Kahrs engineered flooring, which can be sanded two times, but you could probably find something similar at flooring stores. 

See if you can buy individual tiles and boards that you like (stores often do sell individual, full-sized pieces), take home and see how they look in your home. It’s worth the small expense and bother because the last thing you want is to discover your new flooring doesn’t look quite right in your space.

[Storygirl]

We've also had wood floors in our kitchens, in three different houses. Water has not been a problem at all. Small drops dry by themselves with no issues, and we just wipe up larger spills. In fact, the recommended way to clean wood floors is with water. I know everyone has their own opinions about things like this, but wooden floors in kitchens are really fine.

[kbutton]

2 hours ago, Loowit said:

Thanks.  I have, but DH doesn't want "fake wood".  It doesn't help that our current laminate flooring looks pretty fake and hasn't lasted well.  It was already in the house when we moved in, but is only about 8 years old.  He is pretty set that it has to be hardwood or engineered hardwood.  I will be lucky to talk him into something different in the kitchen, if I can find a way to convince it it won't look awkward.

I would look at LVP tile--some of it is smooth, which would mitigate the issue Clarita brings up about texture and cleaning (though I find that our textured LVP planks are easy enough to clean with a microfiber mop that can be wrung out).

I would also consider loose-lay sheet vinyl. If you get a manufacturer that does high end vinyl, a lot of it looks really nice. My parents have that where they don't have engineered hardwood, but that part of the house isn't open floor plan.

I know someone that has two kinds of hardwood (light and dark) in an open floor plan home--it looks great and makes a nice visual boundary to break up the open-ness without adding walls. I like it a lot. I think it's original to the house vs. something someone tied in as an afterthought or to fix a problem where flooring was damaged.

2 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Go to Lowe's.  Look at the lvp (luxury vinyl plank) flooring.  I know that we were able to see displays of it so you could see how a larger section would look.  It really doesn't look at all fake like the old laminate floors did. 

Agreed.

2 hours ago, Clarita said:

When I redo my kitchen floor I'm choosing ceramic tile. The textured vinyl tile is really hard to keep clean.

I found this mop works really well on my textured vinyl in my kitchen in case that helps you out (and I use a Bona mop/spray for the textured vinyl in the rest of the house). I will readily admit that effectiveness can vary depending on the color of the floor and the lighting--if dirt is well-camouflaged by the pattern, it's harder to clean no matter what because you can't see it. I use this in my kitchen with textured vinyl, and I have extra mop heads so that I can toss them in the wash from time to time. I keep the old mop heads for scuzzy basement/garage stuff. If hovering over a spot and using the pole to add torque on a piece of grime doesn't do it, I put my foot on the strands and rub hard that way.

 https://libman.com/products/wonder-mop

[Harriet Vane]

I think both options will work fine:

--My sil has a wood floor in her kitchen. She keeps a spray-mop and a dustmop handy to get spills right away. The floor has held up fine.

--I think tile is fine. I've seen it as a square or with a big, curvy or round boundary between the tile and the wood floor.

[Selkie]

Our entire main floor, including kitchen and bath, is hardwood (hickory). I love it and we've never had any trouble with water damage.

The kitchen floor used to be ceramic tile, and I was not a fan. The grout looked perpetually grungy, and the tiles got cracks and chips over time. 

We have a very open floor plan, and I think it does look better now that the kitchen floor is the same as the rest of the main floor.

[Acorn]

We have original 1960 hardwood floors for most of the house with linoleum (yes modern linoleum) in the kitchen. The kitchen had vinyl when we bought the house. There are two doorways and we have small wood threshold between the two styles. I love having both types of flooring. 

[KungFuPanda]

I’ll be happy when they make entire kitchen floors out of that gel mat stuff. 

[Loowit]

Thanks for all the thoughts.  It will give me a lot to mull over this weekend.  I might talk DH into going to a couple flooring/home improvement stores to look around if they aren't too crowded.

[Clarita]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

I’ll be happy when they make entire kitchen floors out of that gel mat stuff. 

If I had infinite funds it would be self healing lab flooring. 

[Clarita]

4 hours ago, kbutton said:

I found this mop works really well on my textured vinyl in my kitchen in case that helps you out (and I use a Bona mop/spray for the textured vinyl in the rest of the house). I will readily admit that effectiveness can vary depending on the color of the floor and the lighting--if dirt is well-camouflaged by the pattern, it's harder to clean no matter what because you can't see it. I use this in my kitchen with textured vinyl, and I have extra mop heads so that I can toss them in the wash from time to time. I keep the old mop heads for scuzzy basement/garage stuff. If hovering over a spot and using the pole to add torque on a piece of grime doesn't do it, I put my foot on the strands and rub hard that way.

 https://libman.com/products/wonder-mop

Mine is 9 years old I don't know if technology has advanced in the textured vinyl. I've given up if it gets too grimy I'd be happy to replace it. My thoughts are mine is too textured kitchen dirt just gets stuck into all those textures.

[Amethyst]

I was reluctant 25 years ago to have hardwood in our kitchen. "Hardwood in a kitchen??! That's crazy! What about the water?!" 

It has never been an issue. 

[Ting Tang]

Following.  Real hardwood is the only material that adds value. We have four kids and a dog, so I've been looking at durability.  I've been able to dent, gouge, and scratch my samples of engineered, bamboo, and hardwood. I was considering vinyl plans until my SIL and BIL said they didn't like theirs.  We will have so many different types of flooring in this house when it is all said and done, boo. 

[gardenmom5]

how about porcelain wood plank tile? (my daughter has it through the main level of her house, incl. her kitchen. It was installed when they bought it - or they would probably have gone with a lighter color - but otherwise it's great.)

I wouldn't find it odd - but I used to have wood in my kitchen . . . . . Now . . . . I have quartzite tile.

[gardenmom5]

2 hours ago, Amethyst said:

I was reluctant 25 years ago to have hardwood in our kitchen. "Hardwood in a kitchen??! That's crazy! What about the water?!" 

It has never been an issue. 

My dishwasher leaked - and destroyed my hardwood floor.

[Selkie]

2 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

Following.  Real hardwood is the only material that adds value. We have four kids and a dog, so I've been looking at durability.  I've been able to dent, gouge, and scratch my samples of engineered, bamboo, and hardwood. I was considering vinyl plans until my SIL and BIL said they didn't like theirs.  We will have so many different types of flooring in this house when it is all said and done, boo. 

Look at hickory. It is very hard and durable compared to other hardwoods. We have kids and a big pack of dogs, and the floors still look good as new after several years.

[Ting Tang]

11 hours ago, Selkie said:

Look at hickory. It is very hard and durable compared to other hardwoods. We have kids and a big pack of dogs, and the floors still look good as new after several years.

Thank you!  I will do that.  One issue is everything wood in our house is honey oak.  As much as I dislike it, there is no changing it right now, so I am trying to find products that will match or compliment.  But this is reassuring!  I worry we will put something in and shortly after, something very disappointing will happen!

Edited June 19, 2022 by Ting Tang

[BlsdMama]

On 6/17/2022 at 11:59 AM, Loowit said:

We are going to be replacing the flooring in at least the downstairs of our house, and potentially the stairs, upstairs landing, and master bedroom if we can fit it in the budget.  We currently have laminate, but it was installed poorly and is buckling.  The stairs and upstairs are carpet that we would like replaced due to allergies.  I would like to do hardwood floors but that is out of our budget, so we are looking into engineered hardwood right now.

However, I am concerned about having wood flooring in the kitchen because of water issues.  Would it look odd to have a different type of flooring in the kitchen of a mostly open floor plan house?  My brother suggested we could do vinyl in the kitchen, but I do not want vinyl floors for a number of reasons.  I am not sure what I would want though.  I fear tile floors would be a lot of upkeep and potentially expensive.

If you have different flooring in your kitchen that is open floor plan, how do you get it to flow smoothly?  If you have wood flooring in your kitchen has it been a problem with water damage?

We lived in a home with wood flooring in the kitchen. The dishwasher has a slight drop that we didn’t notice immediately. Damage. No, I’d never do wood, not ever, and we’re putting in hardwood currently. 
 

We did loose last vinyl plank - it’s about 1/2” thick and I love it for the kitchen though I wish we had glued it down and I suspect we will. 
 

Why not vinyl?

 

 We have vinyl, LVT, (replacing) carpet, hardwood (new) and real tile plank. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Most modern dishwashers have leak alerts, some, like the Bosch, have leak pans. More of our houses have had wood floors than tile in the kitchen, and it hasn’t been an issue. 
 

Tile can “age” more due to trends than wood, I think. We had the 12x12 look for a whole, then the 18x18, then the rectangle look. Upkeep is easier than wood, imo, but tile is rather merciless with dropped dishes. 
 

I hate engineered floors and I hate anything vinyl. I don’t want petroleum products offgassing in my home. 

[popmom]

I currently have solid red oak throughout my downstairs except for laundry and master bath. It’s in my kitchen and powder room, too. The only water issue we have is where the dogs’ water bowl is, but that is easily prevented. We’ve just been careless. Also, if we ever get a big spill that sits causing the floor to cup or buckle, we put a fan on it for a few days. That has worked every time for us.

We had an angry cat once that peed repeatedly in one spot in our dining room before we realized it. I repaired it myself. Sprayed the area w an enzyme solution for odor. Dried thoroughly. Used an orbital sander to sand off the damage. Found a stain that matched. It’s fine. No one would ever notice. 

Engineered wood floors have come a long way, and I wouldn’t hesitate to install them. They are more forgiving of weather and humidity changes. My only beef with them is that the vast majority are prefinished. I would never install a prefinished floor. They tend to have a thin top layer that will damage/scratch easily. 
 

We had unfinished (sand and stain in place AFTER install) engineered oak put in our house in San Antonio. The solid top layer was a thick as traditional solid hardwood and could be refinished just as many times. If we ever move and build, that’s what I’ll put in my next house. It also adds value. 
 

Get lots of estimates on install costs plus material. Do you have Nextdoor? If so, ask the neighbors for recs. You may find that the cost to install engineered or solid wood isn’t ((that)) much more that good LVP or tile. 
 

btw, not knocking LVP at all. We put it in our upstairs bedrooms recently and LOVE it. But it wasn’t cheap.