I'm thinking of putting hardwood floors in my kitchen instead of tile. Wondering what your experience has been if you did the same in your home, let me know the positive and the negative of hardwood floors in the kitchen.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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. (858) 274-0372
Jenn n Jesse
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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!
We bought our home with hardwood in the kitchen. I like it.
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.
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 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 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.
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,Jenn
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!