What kind of kitchen floor

[cakesnkids]

BTW, I am a cake decorator, so I stand in my kitchen for hours on time, to combat that I'm going to put those rugs made for hospitals, with the impact cushioning on them, and just put them down when I need them, and in my post cake clean up that will be one step, to take them outside and hose them and pu them away.

 

[LoveWDW]

We have an Armstrong laminate that looks like stone tiles. We've only had it since December but so far, so good. We really like it. We considered tile but ruled it out for 2 reasons: we live in New England and it's cold, and the bigger issue was that logistically, it would have been very difficult to have the tile installed (staying off it for a day or whatever it was).
This is our floor http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/laminate/en/us/prod_detail.asp?itemId=74426.0

This is very close to what we have. I am very happy with it. We've had it a little less than a year. We had tile in the condo where we lived before we came here, and I hated having to clean between the tiles. With this floor I run a mop over it once a week, and wipe up spills of course when they happen, and the floor looks nice.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

We live in southern New England and IMHO tile tends to be too cold for our climate. Down south, it is fine, even welcomed, but here in north it gets cold in the winter unless you install radient heat under it. Also, tile can be tough on the feet if you are standing on it for a long time and if a dish falls, it will definitely break.

That said, we have hardwood. We too were advised by everyone not to do hardwood in the kitchen 13 years ago before it became really popular to do it. Now every new home has it. We love it. It is beautiful to look at and warm and comfortable on the feet. I would not have anything else. Our 13 year old floor is looking a bit beat after years of abuse by kids and our dog, but we can just have it refinished whenever we want and it will look as beautiful as the day is was installed. I love the warm look and the warm feel on cold inter days too.

You are the one who is paying for this, so install what you like. Good luck. Jay

I totally agree. We just put hardwood in our kitchen. We have it in the rest of the house. It is easy to clean, and very forgiving. If vinyl get scratched it looks awful...with hardwood, it's very organic and looks ok even when it gets beat on a little. Of course I live in a very old house and cracks in the plaster here & there just lend to the old look. If your house is very modern, tile may be great but not in an old New England colonial!

 

[DisneyStar006]

We have ceramic tiles in our kitchen. They are easy to keep clean, especially with 2 dogs and cool in the summer (They are not too cold for us in the winter because the kitchen is generally quite warm. We also have them in our conservatory, where we have underfloor heating which is very warm and cosy!) The downsides are that if you drop and plate, cup etc it breaks immediately, and also the dogs go sliding accross the tils when they run!

 

[CEDmom]

We recently moved into new construction. When picking out our kitchen floor I knew I didn't want tile because it's not comfortable to stand on for long periods and will shatter anything that's dropped on it. One of the options our builder offered was Armstong vinyl flooring. The one we chose looks like large tannish tile. We've had people actually touch the floor because they didn't believe it wasn't tile. It looks beautiful and really hides dirt. It wasn't cheap though. Some of the tile flooring would have cost less than what we got.

 

[miss missy]

We have an Armstrong laminate that looks like stone tiles. We've only had it since December but so far, so good. We really like it. We considered tile but ruled it out for 2 reasons: we live in New England and it's cold, and the bigger issue was that logistically, it would have been very difficult to have the tile installed (staying off it for a day or whatever it was).
This is our floor http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/laminate/en/us/prod_detail.asp?itemId=74426.0

We have a dog and we enter our home right onto the floor. We have had no issues with scratching and it is super-easy to take care of---vacuum or Swiffer and a damp mop.

Love it!!!

 

[scifihippie]

We have engineered hardwood in all rooms except the bathrooms and laundry. We didn't do tile in the kitchen because a) our kitchen intersects our family room at a weird angle and using all one material straight through looks best, b) we have a baby and falling down is easier on him with the hardwood than with tile, c) standing on cold tile for extended periods of time was not something I wanted to consider.

I like the engineered hardwood. It's NOT laminate that can easily get messed up. It's wood planks with about 15 coats of poly on it. Very durable and it looks great!

 

[mckryan]

Take a look at cork flooring. It has some give and is pretty durable. You may also want to consider bamboo flooring. Both are great because it's an easily renewable source, unlike trees for hardwood.

I have a slab with engineered (thin hardwood veneer over plywood) hardwood floors. They are so soft that every little thing scratches and dings them up. I can't wait until I get to replace them. I am probably going to go with cork because of the way it gives.

 

[kdibattista]

We have ceramic tile and love it. I do have to clean the group 3 or 4 times a year but I use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and it's so easy.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Have ceramic in kitchen.
Pluses: sturdy, looks nice.
Minuses: When spill food (especially broken egg or juice), seeps into gravel. Spend forever cleaning. Guy said will be tough to fix if break a tile, but not impossible (just expensive). Hard on feet when standing at sink for extened period (got mat.) Also very cold on winter mornings.

If I had it to do over, I'd put down old-fashioned vinyl. Looks nice, easy to clean, warm.

Am not a fan of wood floors, but don't see any reason not to have them if you like them!

Get what you like. You have to live with whatever you get, so you should be happy with it.

 

[Choc_marg]

Take a look at cork flooring. It has some give and is pretty durable. You may also want to consider bamboo flooring. Both are great because it's an easily renewable source, unlike trees for hardwood.

I have a slab with engineered (thin hardwood veneer over plywood) hardwood floors. They are so soft that every little thing scratches and dings them up. I can't wait until I get to replace them. I am probably going to go with cork because of the way it gives.

We used to have tile in the kitchen & entryway, vinyl in the bathrooms & carpet everywhere else. Last year we pulled out all of the tile & replaced the carpet. The tiled area & some of the previously carpeted area became covered with cork. I LOVE everything about it. We did the tongue & groove planks and it was fairly easy to install. We did 1000 sq ft in a weekend. I love the way it looks. I love way it feels. It isn't hard like tile. I like to cook & standing on the tile was just killing my back. It is easy to care for (just sweep & damp mop). I also like the fact that it is harvested from the bark of a tree & not the actual tree, so it keeps growing back. It also a repellant to certain insects. Termites are one of the insects that don't like the cork flooring. We have also noticed that we haven't seen a scorpion in the house since we installed the cork.

It is soft, so it does get slight indentations. Since cork is full of tiny air bubbles, the compression is supposed to go away in time.

Here are some pics of the installation and finished floor.

http://www.taborkids.com/2004/oct/floorprogress/

 

[azgal81]

I have laminate in my condo I would probably get either hardwood or ceramic tile if I was looking to replace it.

I don't see any problems with having real wood in your kitchen as long as you seal it properly. My parents have had it in whole bottom floor of their house excluding the bathroom and have never had a problem with the water damaging their floors and their fridge leaked all over a year or so ago!

 

[TiggerStac]

choc marg...

It looks like you tore up the tile that I just put down!!

We did a bunch of improvements this winter/spring. The tile in kitchen and 2 baths. Laminate in dining room (choose that over hard wood because of 3 dogs and a DS) new carpet in the living room. New fridge, stove and dishwasher...and lastly finished 2 weeks ago a corian countertop!! What a difference I thought the new floors made. Once the countertop was in..oh my. I have a new house!!

Next, hopefully after our DCL vacation in September...carpeting on our stairs, upstairs hall and DS bedroom and new babies bedroom. We are going to do Laminate in our bedroom upstairs in the winter/spring...then we will have replaced everything that was original in this house for flooring. The stuff that the contractors used (we bought at it less than 3 years old) was already coming up when we purchased the house. We finally decided it was time to get everything done!!

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I've had laminate, I've had tile. I wouldn't do tile again. Too cold, too hard, and I hated cleaning the grout. Laminate is hit and miss - there are great laminates, there are bad ones. I really wanted a wood floor, but several of our neighbors have real wood and wish that they hadn't. It gets banged up and scratched pretty easily. I still think they're beautiful though! This is what we're putting downstairs in our house. So far only the downstairs powder room is done, but the rest of it will be done soon. It's a laminate, and the brand is Mannington Revolutions, color is Louisville Hickory. I absolutely love it! My girlfriend has it in her entire downstairs including the kitchen and can't say enough good things about it:

 

[Choc_marg]

choc marg...

It looks like you tore up the tile that I just put down!!

LOL! Too bad I couldn't have saved it for you We needed a change & the grout was disgustingly dirty & I really always disliked the tile anyway, so we made a drastic change.