Kitchen Flooring....what do you have / suggest?

[rocky41102]

We have a vinyl/laminate floor in our kitchen-not sure which, it was included when we built. It's by Armstrong. It has held up very well, but there are some small scratches/tears in it. We have ceramic tile in our hallway and foyer. The tile has held up wonderfully but the grout has been horrible. We have 2 extremely active, large, indoor dogs and their nails chip the grout constantly. We've had to keep the entire area of ceramic tile covered with rugs. The kitchen floor has held up much better and is easier to clean. If we redo our kitchen, we're going with a high quality laminate-one of the ceramic look alikes from Pergo or someone like that.

 

[Plantlady]

We have bricks.

Very interesting and different.

 

[chop456]

We had Pergo prior to our remodel. I liked it - didn't love - just liked it. It will buckle at the seems if water gets in. Our dogs dish is in the kitchen and any water that spilled over had to get wiped up or it would buckle. We now had hard wood and I love it. It looks wonderful. However, our 120 lb. dog and trashed it in some places. There are plenty of scratches. I wonder if we should have put a higher level of protectant on it. We have ceramic tile in our bathroom and love that, too!

Good luck with you decision!

 

[Misty89]

not sure if anyone has this, i have not seen it mentioned in the replys.
We have picked out ( NOT bought yet, still deciding which brand/store to buy from)
but DH and I both like the llok of porcelain tile..a rustic stone look. 20"X20" Tiles.
this is what will get, but wnated to see if anyone had porcelain ?
or knows of it?

we will go with a med/dark llok, and dark grout.

 

[nestlejean]

We have porcelain tiles (large 18 x 18). They are varieated colors if beiges and have a medium brown grout. Porcelain is like ceramic but can withstand the cold. We have the same tile in our kitchen and dining room, on the diagonal and will have it in the front entry way when it is finished. We also put the same tile in the sunroom, squared off because it is a step down. We have a diffrenet ceramic tile in the bathroom and downstaurs in the bathroom. I love hte rich llok of ceramic. The hardest part about it is cleaning the grout. It is a speck lower than the tile so you sometimes have to get down there and scrub it rather than just mop it. We have a dof, 3 sloppy kids and a hubby who is always tracking in stuff. I sweep as needed and mop usually once a week. I suggest the larger tiles because then there are less grout lines. Don't go with too rough of a surface, it can collect dirt in the pockets. Ours is smooth. The only problem with that is that it shows anything that was dropped on it when the light hits it right. I always walk around with socks on so I don't mind the cold of tile. We had vinyl before and this looks so much nicer and richer looking than that stuff did!

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

We have all white ceramic tile and I HATE IT ! I can't wait for the day we can replace it. It's hard, cold and impossible to keep looking clean.
You might want to consider Bamboo as an option .

 

[polyfan]

We have the Columbia Clic and love it.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

When we redid our kitchen, I was THRILLED to see the ceramic tile go. It was hard (shattered glasses, dishes), cold, and the grout was awful at trapping junk (it was sealed, so not so much a discoloration as it just collected dust, sand, etc). I was debating between Pergo/laminate and vinyl flooring and after months of research and talking with people, opted for commercial grade vinyl tile from Home Depot. It's by Traffic Master, looks like slate (matte finish), and I loved it so much, we did the whole new kitchen addition and common room with it. Super easy to clean, warm, quiet, softer on the feet (and the dishes). I've even had contractors come in and ask if it's stone. We laid it on the diagonal (it was 12" squares, SUPER easy for me to install) and it looks just like the first day we put it in, 7 years later.
When I re-did my office, I decided to go with Pergo. HUGE mistake and I've wound up covering most of it with area rugs. It's "slicker than snot" in sock feet and the dog has really scratched it up in places.

DH and I saw some very nice-looking vinyl squares in Lowes the other day--I was curious whether dirt collects in the tiny spaces between the tiles. The house I grew up in had those vinyl stick-on tiles. The vinyl was light-colored and no matter how much you mopped, you could see a darker line between the tiles. Has this been a problem for you at all?? Perhaps with darker tiles, a little dirt doesn't show??

What did you lay the vinyl tile on top of?? We have cedar decking as our subfloor (our kitchen is currently carpeted--yuck!), so I am thinking we would need to put down backer board.

 

[graygables]

DH and I saw some very nice-looking vinyl squares in Lowes the other day--I was curious whether dirt collects in the tiny spaces between the tiles. The house I grew up in had those vinyl stick-on tiles. The vinyl was light-colored and no matter how much you mopped, you could see a darker line between the tiles. Has this been a problem for you at all?? Perhaps with darker tiles, a little dirt doesn't show??

What did you lay the vinyl tile on top of?? We have cedar decking as our subfloor (our kitchen is currently carpeted--yuck!), so I am thinking we would need to put down backer board.

Here's a link to the one we used for the kitchen/common room: http://www.depot-tile.com/product/TM379.html

I butted the joints very tightly, so we don't have dirt in the seams issues. They fit beautifully. I detest mopping, bu hate looking at a dirty floor, so this has been the best of both worlds for me! We put lauan over the wood decking that was already in the house (and the addition was a plywood floor) No problems at all, it stuck and stuck WELL.

ETA, the beauty of this, too, is that if a piece does get damaged, instead of cutting or breaking it, you just heat it with a blow dryer and peel it up when the adhesive melts, then replace it with a new piece. Easy as pie. Ask the stove repairman...

 

[WDWorld2003]

We have high quality Pergo and really like it. We've had it 8 years and there is not a scratch with 2 dogs and kids and a partial kitchen remodel.

To the person who uses vinegar and water you need to buy an actual Pergo cleaner from Home Depot or Target, etc. and you will be amazed at how much better it looks! I tried the vinegar and water and it was just cloudy.

The one thing we don't like about the Pergo is it is hollow sounding so when the dog walks on it it makes a lot of noise! It also doesn't look like wood and you can see seams but it looks a whole lot better than what was there before.

We do have ceramic tile in the hallway right outside the kitchen and love it. I would love to have all wood floors but I know the dog would scratch it so I've resigned myself to either Pergo, vinyl or tile. The one thing about Pergo since it is a floating floor if you don't like it after a few years it's very easy to take up. Ceramic tile is another story

 

[decaff38]

We have laminate by Shaw. I love it!! We had a lab. She has since passed away. She never scratched the floor but I do have a few scratches that I use shoe polish on a paper towel to hide. Works great. The scratches are when a rock or sand gets ground by someones shoes. It cleans so easy. Do not use a self propelled vacuum with the drive on. It slips and if it catches a rock it will scratch. My vote is for good laminate. Cozy and warm feeling.