Here's another question i have.

We are trying to figure out whether to put hardwood or tile in the kitchen. Dh really wants the hard wood. I do love how it looks. But i keep hearing that it would be hard to take care of, and that it would scratch easily. Ds would probably end up playing with his matchbox cars on that floor. I just dont want the floor to end up looking bad and scratched up. And i am not one to remember to wax it and whatever else you have to do to keep it up.

Tile would be nice. I would get a sort of darker or maybe a terra cotta colored tile. My sister has a tile floor and she says that after standing on it a while, her feet and legs start to hurt.

Any thoughts? I'm guessing someone on here has hardwood floors in thier kitchen. And i'm sure someone here has tile.

TIA!!!

By Debbie on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 08:56 am:

We have hardwood in our kitchen, I love it. We have real wood floors with a swedish finish(it is a hard commercial finish) and they don't scratch. I swifter them every/every other day, and then use a vinegar/water solution on them once a week. I find them very easy to take care of.

I think it would really depend on the kind of wood flooring you put in. If you go with wood, then you would want to put a finish in that is scratch resistance.

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 09:03 am:

Ditto Deb. As long as you get laminate flooring or hardwood with a GOOD finish it should be OK. We have hardwood on our entire first floor, including the kitchen. Unfortunately the builder did not use a commercial, scratch resistant finish. Our house is only 8 yrs. old and the floor in the kitchen looks awful due to normal family life and frequent cleanings. We will need to have them refinished at some point but are dreading the cost and the nuisance of doing so. When we do we'll be sure to have a very good finish put down!

By Kate on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 09:11 am:

Hardwood. EASY to take care of, ditton Debbie on the swiffing and vinegar and water cleaning. THEY DON'T SHOW DIRT OR CRUMBS!!! I go a looooong time without actually mopping them. I just spot clean whatever falls on the floor. I have ONE scratch from my DD roller blading in her brand new still clean roller blades on the floor, and then falling and the skate really dug in. Other than that they are from 1994 and look great. I recommend a commerical MATTE finish, as a glossy will wear in the traffic areas and start to look bad way faster than a matte finish. I would not do tile due to the pain and fatigue of standing on it, plus it's SUCH a hard surface that kids can really get hurt on it and if you drop a dish or something, it will shatter. I have dropped several of my dishes on my hardwoods and they bounce and are just fine.

By Debbie on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 09:33 am:

Ditto Kate, about the matte finish. When we refinished ours, I was advised not to go with a glossy finish, it does wear more. Also, I have had tile in the kitchen before and keeping the grout clean was a pain, even with a so called sealant on it.

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 09:50 am:

I have tile in our bathrooms and yes, the grout is a PITB to clean! (FWIW, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are good for this. )

Kate and Deb, thanks for the matte finish tip! I'll remember that when we get our hardwood floors refinished.

By Amecmom on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 09:57 am:

Yes, a good laminate in a matte finish is a great alternative to tile and easier on your feet and anything you might drop.

Ame

By Conni on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 10:37 am:

I would go with hardwood. We have grown to love ours. Our next home will have hardwood throughout. You might look into the Bamboo... Friedns have it and it is really pretty.

By Heaventree on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 10:44 am:

I have tile and I hate it! If you spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking your back and legs will get sore standing on the tile. Also it's cold on your feet in the morning. If I had it to do all over again, I'd do something else.

But just so you know I'm barefoot most of the time so that would make a difference. If you were shoes or rubber soled slippers the tile won't be a problem.

By Kaye on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 10:47 am:

I have always had tile in my kitchen (up till this house). I would never consider wood in the kitchen. We are a clumsy family, lots of spills. I can't imagine how wood would hold up in the event of a dishwasher malfunction. I had hard wood in my entry that just go so yucky from the rain and snow. We currently have tile and I love it. You put plush rugs by the sink and stove, but i wear shoes and the hardness doesn't bother me. Go with a darker color grout. I vacuum my floor so sweeping grout is a non issue.

By Happynerdmom on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 10:53 am:

I have tile. I love the way it looks, it's easy to clean, it takes a lot for it to look dirty. (Ditto Kaye on the darker grout and rugs by the stove and sink.) If I have time later I'll post a picture.

By Bellajoe on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 11:17 am:

OH man, it's split like 50/50! LOL

Here is what my dh really wants. I think it looks beautiful.


http://www.sheogaflooring.com/flooring/prefinished/?species=2

By Cat on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 11:28 am:

We have laminate in our kitchen now (we installed over vinyl). Our new house will have tile in all the bathrooms and the kitchen (except what's carpeted in the master bath). The wood gives our kitchen now a really warm look. We went with tile in the new house because we wanted something VERY durable. We plan to be in that house for at least 10-15 years. I think either will work well. Whatever your taste is.

By Kate on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 12:12 pm:

It's not split 50/50. It's six people for hardwood and only two for tile. Cat is neutral. You have kids...TRUST me when I say you won't see the dirt!! Okay, confession time...I wash my floor about THREE times a YEAR. Hanging head in shame.....but it doesn't show the dirt and I spot clean and no one wears shoes in the house...

By Bellajoe on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 12:39 pm:

Kate, that's great that it will not show the dirt but what about scratches? Won't the matchbox cars and other toys on the floor scratch the wood? My kids do not usually play with toys in the kitchen, but my ds does play with his cars in the kitchen.

Some of you have mentioned laminate. Do you mean Pergo? Because that is not REAL hardwood. I know Pergo does not scratch, and i would be all for it but dh wants really hardwood floor.

If we go with hardwood i will make sure it has a scratch resistant finish.
We will not decide for a few months. The house is not even started yet. I will let you all know what we decide!

By Shellyg on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 01:15 pm:

Bellajoe,
We have tile in our kitchen and entryway. The rest of the house has hardwood floors. We tiled over the hardwood floors in the entryway. The hardwood was such an upkeep. We had to refinish them once a year in the entryway because there was so much traffic in that area. I like my floors clean and shiny and it would drive me NUTS!
I guess you should put into consideration how much wear and tear that area would get. I have three kids, and three dogs. With the tile floor you can not see the dirt, but I still mop once a day. WIth the wood floors, I was constantly spot cleaning and polishing.

By Kate on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 04:52 pm:

Well, I guess I have scratches...I don't really SEE any if I glance around, though. I think that's another place the matte finish really helps. If you had glossy finish, a scratch would be noticeable. But with my matte, I don't see them. I should tell you that I have hardwood thruout my entire house, with just area rugs, and scratches are not a problem. I do have DENTS, though. Real wood like this does dent if you drop something heavy on it, or if you walk around in high heels. This is a girl household, so I don't know much about matchbox cars, but don't they have rubber wheels? I can't see them hurting or scratching the floor. My sister managed to drop one of those large, heavy Hess trucks that come out at Christmas time (she brought it for her son to play with while I babysat him) and she put in QUITE the nasty dents in my family room floor. Enough to break the surface finish and thus expose the wood. Honestly, I'd get vinyl before you get tile if you decide against the hardwood. If you research this, I have what's called 'Street Shoe' finish. It's water based and it's used in stores, and you know how much traffic and how little care goes into store floors! So it's a really good finish and one of the 'safer' ones as far as being around it. We didn't have to leave the house or anything.

By Reds9298 on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 05:21 pm:

When we considered hardwood for our kitchen, our flooring people recommended AGAINST it because of our dogs and scratching. (We have 2 nutty terriers that are always running through the house.) They didn't recommend a finish to us that would keep that from happening. We went with a laminate and LOVE it! Just a possibility on the pets.

By Conni on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 05:43 pm:

I think it depends on your floor plan and what *look* you are trying to achieve. Honestly, any type of flooring needs upkeep whether it be tile, wood, carpet, concrete...

We have tile now in the kitchen and laundry room. My tile has been chipped and scratched and the grout is icky. We did use darker grout btw and it still shows spots after awhile...

My dh is like yours in that he would only get hardwood floors. No laminate. We have hardwood throughout most of our downstairs and our stairs are wood as well. To answer your questions yes it scratches, yes you can see dust if you go a few days without swiffering, yes it dents. Can it be repaired, yes... Our thoughts were when we got it that we would refinish every 8-10 yrs. We have been here for 6 yrs and the carpet needed to be replaced after 5 yrs!!!! It is bad from a new puppy we had to keep inside for awhile and then 3 kids,dh and I have all done our part in messing up the carpet. lol

Ok, I am babbling. We have already decided that our next house will have hardwood throughout the entire house. At first I didnt think I liked it. But now I realize how simple/quick it is to swiffer and mop (i use a spray bottle w/vinegar and water and just lightly mist the floors when I mop). A bonus, my kids like to swiffer!!!

When we built this house dh wanted wood in kitchen and I wanted tile because of durability,spills,etc... I got the tile and I wish I had listened to dh and put wood in there. LOL My advice is listen to your dh.

By Conni on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 05:45 pm:

Wow- I am a dork, I just saw up above where I posted to this earlier!!!

By Kym on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 06:01 pm:

Well, seeing as how I'm popping in every 30 minutes today, because.............I'm steam cleaning my Grout, I'd say go with the Wood! We put Bamboo in our bedroom last year and Love it, just swiffer and mop w/ vinegar as stated above!
Tile is durable, but if you drop heavy items it can break and the repair is not simple. My entire house (2700 sq ft)besides bedrooms is tiled adn It's very cold feeling, the wood is so warm and inviting.