Hardwood Floor in the Kitchen????

I love my wood floors & have had no problems...also in kitchen. My two little boys have spilt everything on them. Especially over flown cups from the fridge, but we wipe it up. Mine are 9 yrs old and look great. My sister inlaw has the distressed, and those are really nice too. Good Luck,J.

Hi ES- I haven't done it, but my parents did. I think the only negative would be if you let water sit on the floor a long time. Hardwood floors are nice, because they're just not as "hard" as tile is. If you like the look, go for it. I would have liked to in my house- but it would have been too expensive, as this is a new place and the wood offered by the builder was exorbitant. So I went with upgraded tile in the kitchen area. My last house I had a high grade laminate put in, and actually I liked that flooring better than anything- because it looked like tile ( even fooled a tile man)- had wood look put throughout the rest of the house- and it looked very nice too. Also it was cushier because of the padding underneath. You might want to consider it. Have fun.

We have had it for over six years (3 children ages 6 to 6 months) . . .

Pros ~
*Easy to clean +++++ no grout lines - I usually sweep every day and just use a damp microfiber cloth on it at least weekly. A couple times a year, I use a wood cleaner.
*Looks good
*Easy on feet - not as hard as tile
*Have dropped dishes and glasses and most have not broken

Cons ~
*Do not let kids bang pot lids on the floor - it will leave dents in the floor. (I think bamboo is extremely hard, so this might not be an issue with bamboo flooring)
*Same goes for moving in fridge, oven and dishwasher - if not careful, the wood can be dented.
*Possible water damage - if it spills, you need to clean it up right away.
*I suppose staining is possible, although we've never had it.

You've gotten lots of great responses here, everyone has their favorites. I've had houses with both wood and tile in the kitchen and I'd choose ceramic tile over wood every time. The rest of the house can be wood, I love the ease of cleaning and the look. I wouldn't choose wood for the kitchen or bath. Water damage is costly to repare or replace. Ceramic tile does crack, but if you choose to replace a section, it can be easily done without having to replace a huge section of the floor. You can also seal the grout so that you don't have staining or cleaning issues. Tile is also easier to clean in the long run. Hot water, amonia and a cotton mop and your tile floors will shine. Wood has to be maintained, carefully mopped and spills have to be taken care of right away.

My parents recently re-did their kitchen and put in hard wood floors. I watch my dad, (who is slightly obsessive about these types of things), go behind anyone and everyone who comes through the kitchen and wipe up foot prints, drops of water or juice, etc. It's kind of hard for me to relax with my kids in the house, knowing how careful we have to be on his new wood floors. With a young family, I'd choose an easy care product that doesn't require constant attention.

I have been a professional house cleaner for many years, I've cleaned all types of kitchen flooring. In my opinion, tile is the way to go.

Good luck, I hope your kitchen turns out beautiful.

There was a hard cold tile floor in my kitchen. We tore it and all of the carpet out and painted the concrete which was much more comfrortable than the tile.

We now have cork floors throughout and we love them. They are very durable our dogs play on them daily. The only thing is that you need to make sure and put an extra coat of seal on them for the kitchen. They are warm and hide everything, it comes in many patterns. Easy to clean and soft on the knees. A great source is ifloor.com

I LOVE hardwood floor in my kitchen. have had it in my last two houses, it is the perfect flooring for all living spaces. it is, in my opinion, the easiest surface to keep clean! it is important to get a "harder" hardwood. maple is good, hickory is better.engineered flooring is better than solid hardwood. we have two large indoor dogs and two kids, and floors look great after 3 years of hard traffic.
best of luck!

Cant think of anything that can happen to wood that couldn't happen to vinyl. Vinyl scratches and rips, tile breaks/cracks. Wood scratches but you can put stain in a scratch or gouge to make it less noticeable, unless you have a pristine mono colored floor. Go with a character grade, there is more variation in color and more "character" to the wood, hence it hides scratches. My family owns a flooring business. We have Hickory throughout our house, and a tropical wood in our bathroom. 3 boys and 2 dogs. Unless your dishwasher leaks when you are not home there really isn't a difference in wood vs vinyl. Plus Vinyl and tile age, looking dated sooner than wood does.

We have hw in our entire home, except bathrooms (although we used to have it there too!). We love it. I don't have problems with swelling and dents like others mentioned. Perhaps they chose a cheaper wood or finish? Do your homework and pick a nice hard wood in a medium tone with a good finish. Light woods show the dirt more. Dark woods show the dust more. Medium tones hide it all! The hand scraped woods also hide any scratches that should occur later. Don't get a high gloss finish as it always looks dirty unless just polished.

i did laminate instead and it was a terrific decision. the beauty of wood (except for the splinters and warping) but you can mop it, all spills come up easily. lots of faux grains and colors to choose from. kitchen gets messy. check it out. it's a great idea.

I advise against it. The week after we installed our, we had a pipe leak and ruin three boards infront of our sink. Every time you do the dishes you have to make sure you wipe up the floors. If I had to do it again I would go with tile.

We have pergo (engineered wood) throughout the house. I love it for kids (if they spill it is very easy to clean up). The floor guy at Lowe's told us (to help make it waterproof) to seal it by putting glue down at the same time. If you want more info on that send me a message and I'll find out the exact steps. It seems to be very water tight and not be affected (even by my 22 month old who is obsessed with filling his cup up in the refrigerator and spilling it everywhere!)

We have a very hardwood, Brazilian Walnut from Lumber Liquidators in our kitchen and LOVE IT! It is very durable and maintenance has been easy and it looks great. At the time we put it in our son was 2. We haven't had any problems.

They've always worked for me!

We LOVE our H.W. floors. easy to clean...no problems.
You will love them!!

Hi ES

Hardwood flooring is a good choice in a kitchen if you are working and standing a lot while preparing and cooking. It is much easier on your back.
If you have a young family with pets it may not stand up as well as tile or stone. If you choose distressed this will be less of a problem.
If you do have a leak this could also prove a problem if water gets under the hardwood.
Many of my clients choose hardwood for their kitchens and are very happy with the results.
If you have further design related questions, I am an interior designer and have a free service on my website. You can ask a design or decorating question and receive an answer within 48 hours at no cost. Visit www.coloursandconcepts.com
Good luck!

J.

I have cherry hardwood floors throughout. The 2 negatives about my hardwood floor are:

1. it's too dark - it shows ALL crumbs, etc... I vacuum & then not long after, there's crumbs or something showing on the floor.

2. it scratches - and again, having dark wood, it shows all the scratches.

If I had to do it again, I would either go tile or a light hardwood.

Good luck!

Currently I have tile in my kitchen-and there are cracks in the tile. A previous house had light wood floors. it looked great. I loved it. But, there was a dishwasher leak....and a warped floor. It was sanded and "fixed" but, it was still a bit off. I never cared. But, someone else might. My parents have a house that is 85 yrs old and have 85 year old wood floors every where BUT the kitchen and baths. They look fantastic. about 25 yrs ago they tore out the carpets and had the wood floors sanded and varnished? (what do they do to wood floors?) and they have remained perfect. No rugs, no refinishing. I know when they tore up the rugs they had to replace some wood-and they found out water stains can be sanded out-but, urine stains (I assume from pets) can't. There is never a perfect flooring option, or countertop, just what will work the best for you. Good luck, and I wish I had a new kitchen!

I LOVE WOOD FLOORS!!!
Tile is too hard for me.
If you drop anything glass or pottery chances are it will break on tile, not so on wood. If it does break, in my expiriance the piece tends not to shatter. Very important to me in the clean up department around my little ones.
Wood is also gentler on my back and knees! Wood is easy to clean too.
Good Luck!

We put hardwood floors in the kitchen and then had a kitchen flood. The wood sopped up all the water and the bottoms of the cabinets got wet. We had to pull the cabinets off the walls and dry them out. They were saved and 7 years later we had another kitchen flood, but this time we had Spanish tile on the floor and there was no damage at all. We also put tile vertically under the cabinets instead of wooden kickplates and there was no damage to the cabinets either. I found the wood to be easier on the feet and a dropped dish was not always a broken dish, but after the first flood, never again. That's just my experience.

loved hardwood kitchens.

I have hardwood floors in my kitchen. Love them. Tile is not as forgiving if you drop something, it your kids trip, or on your feet and knees if you cook alot. I had them put one extra coat of "finish" on the kitchen floor.

Had hardwood in the kitchen, until there was a flood. Now, we have tile. I did enjoy the feel of the hardwood better, and if I were to put it back, I would put on 4 or more waterproof coats, so that spills won't ruin it, and it won't scratch easily.

I would do neither, linoleum is the answer. Tile is very hard and if you spend any amount of time cooking and cleaning, your legs will get tired from the standing and working on tile. Not only that, a dish will occasionally slip and drop on the floor, it will break on tile and hard wood, perhaps causing damage on either, not with linoleum. But linoleum doesn't have the look lots of people want, so good luck.

I have 6 little ones, 13y-20months, I have Hand Scraped maple with a medium finsih. I LOVE THEM. I don't worry about things dropping, it adds to the look. I use crayola or sharpie to fill in the color, and any brown or black works fine. Spills, wipe up, not a big deal. I have it everywhere but the baths. The animals don't hurt it either. The hand scraped made the difference. It has dings and grooves in it intentionally and kids play h*** o* it, and it looks great, I always get compliments on it! I use water and vinegar to clean it...simple!

I would LOVE hardwood floors in the kitchen but would NEVER do it.. too many things could leak... dishwasher, fridge, sink... imagine if that happened. Not to mention just regular spills and what not. We just had our A/C worked on and the repair man commented on our tiles and how much he liked them and wanted to do them in his kitchen, I mentioned that I like it but would love hardwood floors, that's when he said, "don't do it!!" his water filter in his fridge leaked and it ruined his floor. So the positive, it's pretty, the negative, it can be damaged easily by spills/water damage.. All that being said, I've never had hardwood floors so just speaking from what others have said.

We have hardwood, tile and Alloc (similar to pergo, but we liked it better) throughout our home. We have tile in the kitchen and SO glad we do. The wood, even the Alloc can scratch and water can/will damage it. I know too many people who have had just ONE kitchen flood, whether it be a pipe break or their dishwasher slowly leak and they have to replace the entire wood floor.

It's never a good idea to put wood where there is water....kitchen or bathroom....unless you have extra money to keep replacing it.

I have a plasticized wood floors that work just wonderful A. no. Ridge

hello,
as a professional housecleaner, i do not like wooden floors. they are pretty when its freshly cleaned the right way, which takes awhile. moisture can buckle up a section of the foor, especially near fridge, dish washer, laundery room, bathroom, not to mention doggy and kitty urine messes.
moving heavy chairs or tall stools, couches, tables will scratch, unless you put felt protection on all leggs. alot of my clients end up putting large area rugs, defeating the purpose of showing off the woodn floor.

Ok, so my husband is a contractor (really good at kitchens and baths by the way) and he says NEVER do hardwood in kitchen and baths due to water damage. There is a lot of water contact on the floor in a kitchen, and it will warp your floor. Have you thought of stone (slate is nice)? Hope your remodel comes our nice, we love ours, we used basic ceramic tile and it came out nice. It does all depend too on the interchange from your dining room into your kitchen too. Make sure you hire a good contractor that understands design and flow. Call my hubby if you are looking for someone with both design and building experience. ###-###-####
Jenn n Jesse

I have hardwood in the house I'm renting. It has some damage that was already here, plus some boards have been replaced. Mainly I can see that the problem areas were in front of the sink and the refrigerator.
I have not had problems with warping and such, as I am careful to clean up water.
The wood is susceptible to getting damaged though.
I do like the look of it, and the fact that it makes a continuous flow of the same floor throughout the house, but it's really not an ideal material for a room that uses water.

Aside from potential water damage, watch out for sharp objects. My sister dropped a food processor blade on her cherry wood kitchen floor... Now she has a throw rug over the place where it left a huge gouge. It's a pain to get it repaired, costly too. This clumsy cook would take tile over wood in a kitchen any day!

I have bamboo flooring throughout my home and even in the kitchen. It works fine and is great on the back if I'm standing for a long time cooking.
C.

We have hardwood floors in our kitchen and I would never do it again. We had them in a house we rented once and they were great, so we wanted them in our new house. We have since learned that the hard word floors of the olden days were really really hard in that they were made from old trees. Now, hardwood flooring is made from very young trees and it is very soft. Drop a soup can - dent in the floor. Drop a lid of a pot - dent in the floor. Come inside with a small pebble in your shoe - scratch on the floor. Some people say this adds character, I disagree. Also, it seems like the floors are always dirty looking with a film caused from cooking. We have hardwood floors in other parts of the house that do not have this dirty look to them. I have to admit when you first see the kitchen and see the floors you think they are beautiful, but when you live with them everyday you think they are just a dent filled, filmy mess. Can you tell that I regret putting hardwood floors in my kitchen!!!!! Good luck with your remodel. I'm sure it will turn out great.

Our house came with hardwood in the kitchen. I absolutely LOVE it. No grout to get stained, wipes up easily, etc.... I just put a floor mat in front of the sink to help keep water off the floor because it can be very slippery.

We have hardwood flooring in our Kitchen... it is no problem
But, we did Varathane it, with 2 coats. This protects the wood from spills and seals it. We just mop it clean. Easy.
Ours is not laminate, but real tongue and groove wood flooring.

My friends have "Pergo" flooring, and it looks great and they love the ease of use.

All the best,
Susan

Easy clean up but you must wipe up spills immediately, especially water. If you have a flood (a broken pipe or whatever), then you probably would have to replace your floor. We love ours. Much better than linoleum.

Don't do it! I have hardwood floors in my kitchen and they are ruined. Water drips off the counter, dishes, the fridge, wet hands, etc, and any water that sits on the wood soaks in and swells.

I have them in my kitchen and I LOVE THEM. They are easy to clean and very forgiving re: the dogs and kids. I spend a LOT of time there and it is way easier on my back and legs than the tile we had previously. I would recommend that you get them alreay distressed and not in a super dark color. I hope you do it and I hope you love them.

I don't like hardwood for the kitchen -- too much upkeep. I had Pergo flooring in my previous home's kitchen and I loved it. It won't dent or fade like hardwood can, but it can be damaged by standing water (like if a pipe breaks, etc.) I was doing a craft project and spilled ink on the floor, any other flooring would have been stained, but I wiped this up like water. I have tile floors now that I also love; but have dropped a few glass bottles and a corelle bowl (supposedly unbreakable) -- incredible how many little pieces they shatter into. With small kids and pets I would look at the laminates, cork or bamboo. Good luck, I'm sure whatever you choose will be beautiful.

We remodeled about 5 years ago and have carpet in the bedrooms and tile in the bathrooms. Everything else (including the kitchen) is hardwood. We really like it. The continuous flooring makes our small but open home seem larger. It's also kind to my back. Standing on tile for any length of time makes my feet hurt and my back ache. Another plus is not having to deal with grout.

We did have an issue several weeks ago when our refrigerator's water started leaking. Luckily we caught it right away. It slightly damaged one or two planks but nothing too bad at all...had the water sat for a while though it would have been disastrous.

The only other issue I can think of is denting. If you look carefully, you can see little dents where we have dropped things on the floor. It's not an issue anywhere else but, because the kitchen is such an active place, there are little dings (especially by the flatware drawer, apparently we drop forks and knives on the floor a lot...).

I would put hardwood floors in again in a second. Good luck.

I do not have hardwood flooring in my kitchen, but do have a friend with it. She has been dissatisfied with the flooring in her kitchen. She also has it in her child's bathroom. She has said that the moisture associated with these two areas has been a problem. She has bamboo flooring and that could be different from actual hardwood in terms of moisture, etc.

We love our HW. I got the hand rubbed so that when my 5 y/o and 2 y/o drops anything it won't matter. We have a raised foundation and the HW is so much kinder on the feet and back. It's also not as bad if one of the kids should trip and fall. I would highly recommend hand rubbed. We have a traditional look in our house and it looks great. Very easy to maintain. Our floors are cleaner because we respond to spills quicker.

good luck

We bought our home with hardwood in the kitchen. I like it.

Hardwood and Laminate are very different so if you are going to put wood in the kitchen please be sure that it is the real stuff and not the laminate. Laminate or engineered wood does not do well with moisture and tends to separate. Wood holds up better than laminate, but it can still get damaged should your dishwasher flood.

Pros:
~Wood is beautiful and enhances any room.
~It is easy to clean.
~Dirt/Dust do not build up the way they do on carpet making wood a healthy choice for those with allergies.
~When properly maintained, wood can last for years and years. (probably longer than any other flooring)

Cons:
~Real wood is pricey. It is one of the most expensive floors.
~Because it is smooth, it can become super slippery should there be any liquid on the floor.
~Too much water will damage it, making it not the best options for kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms.
~Wood requires maintenance and care in order to keep it looking good.

I love my hardwood! Much better on your feet and legs, it is much softer than tile. Also I have experienced things that would normally break on tile have a chance of not breaking on the wood. I am just careful to wipe up any spills to prevent warpage, but for the last 8 years we haven't had any issues. Enjoy!