Kitchen Flooring
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Kitchen=Tile.
My wife talked me into hardwood (against my better judgement) when we built our house 9 years ago. It is really showing wear with dings, nicks, water and other faults since it is so heavily used. I even dropped a knife once and of course it stuck in sticking straight up-then the tip broke off in the floor trying to pull it out.
My wife talked me into hardwood (against my better judgement) when we built our house 9 years ago. It is really showing wear with dings, nicks, water and other faults since it is so heavily used. I even dropped a knife once and of course it stuck in sticking straight up-then the tip broke off in the floor trying to pull it out.
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A nice floating laminate floor is the way to go in my book.:thumbup1gif:
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If you go laminate, make sure its a good quality product (25yr-lifetime warranty). Most brands make multiple levels of quality (and corresponding price), i've installed a fair amount of laminate and tile, the good stuff is pretty darn durable. A kitchen environment is typically harsh, with spills and dropped utensils/tools- floor needs to be able to take that sort of abuse. Many laminates are ok for spills (cleaned up quickly) but others should be avoided, as moisture can get into the joint and cause blistering. For ease of installation, hard to beat laminate. But my preference is a porcelain tile- very durable and impervious to moisture. As others have mentioned, with tile the preparation is key. You have to have sufficient rigidity in your floor, and then it helps to use a cbu board on top of a sound subfloor, which creates an excellent bonding surface for the tile, and isn't impacted by possible moisture.
If you plan on going with tile, I agree with Scotty and Rockshaft in that, preparation is key. Instead of going with a hardy-board or concrete underlayment, try using Schluter DITRA underlayment. I've used this over plywood subfloors several times and provides a great stable base for tile. Easy to size and install and they sell it at HD and Lowe's.
I'm always one for the warmth of wood but tile provides a great surface for kitchen and baths, and easy to clean as well!
I'm always one for the warmth of wood but tile provides a great surface for kitchen and baths, and easy to clean as well!
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How about this? My wife and I are putting this in about 80 percent of our new house. I love the color and texture.
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We had 12x12 ceramic on our floor in our last kitchen. They used the Schluter DITRA underlayment which really surprised me for a (mid range) builder install back in 2001. We were in that house 9 years and I can honestly say most of the same things that Kenny said. I was really not impressed with the condition after only 9 years. I had some cracked tiles, some grout that was cracked, and some issues with tiles that were in motion. We just started over again last year (new house) and did hardwood this time. I have already dropped a knife and had it stick in the hardwood. Luckily it did not break like Kenny's. I don't have the 9 years of history to compare for the hardwood. But, I will say that I prefer the hardwood for both appearance and comfort. I should add that we did a finished in place hardwood. I had a Bruce pre-finished in the foyer at the old house. I was not pleased at all with how it held up. Many argue that the pre-finished hardwood has a much harder finish. We prefer the appearance of the finished in place hardwood. But have been warned that it will not hold up as well. Ask me again in 5 years. But for now, we are happy with hardwood in the kitchen.
Lee
Lee
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Hard to know w/o close examination, but from your tile failure description, sounds likely to be an insufficiently rigid floor.
Tile feels cold and hard compared to some wood floors, but this can somewhat be remedied by installing floor heating element.
Laminate also tends to feel more similar to tile than wood. The better products are quite good, but they mostly look like fake wood to me! I prefer the aesthetics of real wood, but i've never installed any in a kitchen.
Stay away from deep shag carpet for your kitchen
Tile feels cold and hard compared to some wood floors, but this can somewhat be remedied by installing floor heating element.
Laminate also tends to feel more similar to tile than wood. The better products are quite good, but they mostly look like fake wood to me! I prefer the aesthetics of real wood, but i've never installed any in a kitchen.
Stay away from deep shag carpet for your kitchen
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I prefer tile in wet areas like kitchens and baths. Knock on wood our tile is holding up just fine considering the builder of our place is a royal cheapskate. I like the cool feel of tile during the summer when I walk barefoot through the house. I don't care for it in winter for obvious reasons.
I know a couple of people with laminate in their kitchens, and so far they're happy; but as another poster said...get the good stuff for wet areas, and wipe up spills ASAP to minimize the chances of blistering.
If you're sensitive to sound as I am, you will notice that any hard surface is going to reflect sound all over the place, and in some cases amplify the noise. Just go into any coffee shop and try and have a conversation with friends.
I know a couple of people with laminate in their kitchens, and so far they're happy; but as another poster said...get the good stuff for wet areas, and wipe up spills ASAP to minimize the chances of blistering.
If you're sensitive to sound as I am, you will notice that any hard surface is going to reflect sound all over the place, and in some cases amplify the noise. Just go into any coffee shop and try and have a conversation with friends.
may I suggest cork. I put it in the kitchen of my old house, about 150 sq ft, yeah, small ranch house. The floor was always warm, natural antibacterial, and very nice to walk on. Installed like a floating floor. We never had any issues with staining or wear. We just had to clean up any spills as the happened. and if you drop a plate, it will not break like it would on tile, or even chip the tile.
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Well we were all set on Hardwood but are now on the laminate stuff. Either Quick Step or Armstrong, as of this writing. If we did the Hardwood I would need to remove the bottom cabinets and my wife (bless her soul, (pretty good aye Kennyd)) wants maintenance free.
I'll have to call and ask the brand, by my mom has the floating laminate in the downstairs of her house. It has a layer of something (don't recall what) on top of the concrete slab, and then the flooring. She has two big slobbering Golden Retrievers, and while they have put some dents in the floor, the finish is holding up great. It has been in place for at least 5 or 6 years. I seem to recall it was about as expensive as the pre-finished hardwood (like the Bruce stuff).
I think I'm going to go with something similar in our kitchen as my wife doesn't like tile.
I think I'm going to go with something similar in our kitchen as my wife doesn't like tile.
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I recall my wife saying that her brother and his wife put cork in their kitchen and liked it for all the reasons you mention; but they removed it because of the smell.
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Is it foam padding? When I installed floating floors in my bedrooms, I rolled out 1/4" foam padding. You can get the flooring now with the padding already on it.
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