Today’s Ask the Readers question comes from Melissa and I am hoping you all can share your thoughts.
What type of flooring do you prefer in your kitchen? I am going to redo my floor-currently have linoleum and I really don’t like it.
A few years ago when we were remodeling our kitchen I did a post on hardwood floors vs engineered hardwood floors. I loved all the tips I got from you all. The comments on that post are very helpful. If you are considering wood floors at all that is a great post to read.
I ended up getting engineered hardwood and so far I love it. I have it throughout most of my downstairs. But I have only had it for a couple of years, so I can’t tell how well I will like them in years to come or how well they will hold up.
In previous houses I have had linoleum and was not a fan of it. Although I will say that the linoleum I had was inexpensive builder grade type linoleum, so part of it might have been a quality thing. Before we redid our kitchen we had laminate flooring. It was okay and actually held up okay for how old it was, but it was not my favorite.
I have never had tile in a kitchen, so I don’t really have thoughts on tile in a kitchen.
Now I am hoping that you all can help Melissa.
What do you recommend for kitchen flooring? What do you love or hate about what you currently have or have had in the past?
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No tile. I hate trying to keep all the stuff out of grout lines. We have laminate wood floors and they are holding up well. They are going on 14 years. I’m actually getting tired of the floor/look but can’t justify putting new down just because I want a different color/look. We have dropped one thing just right and got a gouge. I bout some awesome stuff on Amazon that matches the time and filled the gouge. No one knows about the spot but us.
We currently have hardwood in our kitchen. There are lots of damaged places under the sink and refrigerator (from water) and under the chairs (wear from sliding). Our previous home had porcelain tile in the kitchen. Yes, the grout did stain but we picked a grout color which made stains less noticeable. Tile was easier to clean and held up better than hardwood.
The house we moved into last spring has laminate floors and I think they are at least fourteen or fifteen years old. They still look great and are easy care. We have them all throughout the first floor, including the powder room. It really does double duty in there, and has held up really well. I am wishing for some new flooring but the old product is holding up beautifully, so we have no plans to change it currently. If I did, I have my eye on porcelain tiles that look very much like wood floors, but because our first floor is open and each room flows into the other, we would have to do everything with that,.and honestly I am not sold on that for the entire level. When we do have to replace it, we will probably go with more laminate. There are so many nice colors and looks these days. For us laminate makes the most sense. Our second floor family room and stairs are hardwood, so I am guessing that when the house was sold at some point, the laminate was installed to replace damaged hardwood. Our third floor is carpeted except for the bathrooms which have manky old peel and stick tiles. Those will be replaced, and probably with more laminate. It’s just so easy to take care of. I would love porcelain tiles, but I hate grout lines and cleaning them!
We have ceramic tile which cleans well but the grout is extra work to keep clean. It’s a cold, hard surface but it looks great. If anything breakable is dropped on the floor there is a good chance that it will break/ shatter.
When we built our house, the one upgrade we splurged on was to have the builder install upgraded vinyl flooring in the kitchen. I absolutely hate the vinyl in our bathrooms (typical builder white) but the vinyl in our kitchen is dark, has a stone look and is 16 years old and looks just as great today as it did when it was installed. In fact, our appraiser noted that we had tile in our kitchen and didn’t even realize it was vinyl. It’s much easier to clean than the engineered hardwood in the rest of our main story. When we put the engineered hardwood in, we bought enough to do the kitchen so it would all match, but after living with the wood for a few years, we ended up installing the extra in a guest room because I didn’t want the hassle of cleaning in our kitchen which is the most used room our house. I think our vinyl has a 30 year warranty on it.
We’ve been in this house for 22 years and have only had tile. The original tile was white with white grout (what was I thinking??? but I was young and inexperienced). We replaced it about 6 years ago with a terra cotta colored porcelain tile with a darker grey grout. It’s worked out great. No chips or any issues and having the darker grout really helps keep it looking clean. Personally I wouldn’t put real wood in a kitchen as I’d be worried about water spills or damage.
Polished n plain surface Ceramic tiles? mainly they are stain resistant and easy to clean. But wearing anti-slippery footwear is a must
We have built 2 houses in the last 8 years. In both houses, I chose Laminate wood flooring for my kitchen and entry ways. I LOVE IT! I love the look of wood, but don’t want the damage potential or upkeep real wood floors require. In our current home, we chose a rustic looking wood laminate, so it has shades of dark brown, black/grey, beige. We live in the country, and this brought a bit of the country aspect into our home, but kept the kitchen very modern. It paired well with dark cabinets and stainless appliances.
I will note that there are different grades of laminate though. We have higher end stuff in our new house now, compared to the last, and I can totally tell the difference. These clean very easily and always look marvelous. I simply mop them with a homemade solution I make of white vinegar, rubbing alcohol, dawn, water.
We chose laminate for the first home. It worked so well for us and has the look/feel we want in our home, so we kept with laminate in this house. They have held up well, even with 4 cats with claws and a baby. And I often pull my fridge and stove out to clean behind them. I have had no problems doing this with my GE Cafe Appliances.
I do not like tile flooring, it’s too cold and cleaning the grout would put my OCD into overdrive. We do have linoleum flooring in our baths and laundry room, but again, I upgraded those and the difference is noticeable. Ours has a dark brown color scheme and looks like actual tile, but isn’t cold to the feel. You just have to be very very careful moving heavy objects on linoleum (think fridge, stove, washer & dryer), because if it catches you will instantly have a gouge…no matter what level you got with.