help me pick out flooring for my kitchen

[Anonymous]

We're remodeling with white cabinets and dark greenish black granite countertops (uba tuba) - anyone have recommendations on what to do for the floor? I'm leaning against hardwood because it would be a pain to try to match the surrounding rooms. Also, we don't want to spend too much money because we're moving in a couple of years so our main concern is getting as much of our money back on the remodel as possible. And for what it's worth, it's a small, galley kitchen in an old, historically preserved (and traditionally decorated) townhouse. Any advice is much appreciated!

P.S. Oh, and while we're at it, backsplash ideas would be great too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're remodeling with white cabinets and dark greenish black granite countertops (uba tuba) - anyone have recommendations on what to do for the floor? I'm leaning against hardwood because it would be a pain to try to match the surrounding rooms. Also, we don't want to spend too much money because we're moving in a couple of years so our main concern is getting as much of our money back on the remodel as possible. And for what it's worth, it's a small, galley kitchen in an old, historically preserved (and traditionally decorated) townhouse. Any advice is much appreciated!

P.S. Oh, and while we're at it, backsplash ideas would be great too!

Something that cleans up easy.

Ceramic tyle or those fake cement floors that look something else (wood, linoleum).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're remodeling with white cabinets and dark greenish black granite countertops (uba tuba) - anyone have recommendations on what to do for the floor? I'm leaning against hardwood because it would be a pain to try to match the surrounding rooms. Also, we don't want to spend too much money because we're moving in a couple of years so our main concern is getting as much of our money back on the remodel as possible. And for what it's worth, it's a small, galley kitchen in an old, historically preserved (and traditionally decorated) townhouse. Any advice is much appreciated!

P.S. Oh, and while we're at it, backsplash ideas would be great too!

Something that cleans up easy.

Ceramic tyle or those fake cement floors that look something else (wood, linoleum).

Not cement -- you want something that will be easy for the next owners to replace.

Genuine linoleum -- ideally with some sort of custom cutout.

[Anonymous]

slate or a gray porcelain tile with a black granite accent tile. Match the backplash to the floor tiles in a different shape/size.

[Anonymous]

We have black and white vinyl tile floors. Very easy to maintain, super comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Linoleum or cork.

[Anonymous]

The best advice I can give you is not to go too busy with the backsplash when you use a busy pattern like uba tuba for your counter-top.

[Anonymous]

Cork

[Anonymous]

Slate

[Anonymous]

When we redid our last house for resale, we put in a linoleum that looked like slate tile. It was amazing. It looked so much like actual tiles. They did the coloring in the "grout" areas so that it look shadowy and gave the illusion of depth. It was relatively inexpensive and the buyers thought it looked great. This gives fantastic bang-for-the-buck especially when you're thinking of selling in the relatively near future.

[Anonymous]

i do not recommend tile. OUr old kitchend hadwood. New hom has tile and it is a killer ot stnad on for long periods of time. If I have a day where i do a lot of cooking.spent a lot of time in the kitchen my feet ache by the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we redid our last house for resale, we put in a linoleum that looked like slate tile. It was amazing. It looked so much like actual tiles. They did the coloring in the "grout" areas so that it look shadowy and gave the illusion of depth. It was relatively inexpensive and the buyers thought it looked great. This gives fantastic bang-for-the-buck especially when you're thinking of selling in the relatively near future.

Was it local? Can you recommend the company who did the work? I love linoleum and would love a decent company to install!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we redid our last house for resale, we put in a linoleum that looked like slate tile. It was amazing. It looked so much like actual tiles. They did the coloring in the "grout" areas so that it look shadowy and gave the illusion of depth. It was relatively inexpensive and the buyers thought it looked great. This gives fantastic bang-for-the-buck especially when you're thinking of selling in the relatively near future.

Was it local? Can you recommend the company who did the work? I love linoleum and would love a decent company to install!

Actually our house had water damage from 2 pipes bursting and the contractor assigned by Allstate agreed to use any materials that we found and only charge us the difference between what Allstate covered and what we bought. It was something like this one:

http://www.efloors.com/product/4680/1202/laminate-flooring/brand/shaw/shaw-majestic-grandeur-ocean-shore-8mm-laminate-sl206-501.htm

We gave the contractor the ordering information and he ordered it from Lowe's and got us a discount on his contractor rate, so it was cheaper than we priced in the store. He installed it and Allstate paid for the labor. They're more of a general contractor so I don't know if they'd only do floors or not. But the contractor is:

Mike Smith, owner
Smith & Sons Contracting Co., Inc
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
8131 Solley Rd, Pasadena, MD 21122-1110
[e-mail]

The have a fantastic rating with BBB:
http://www.bbb.org/greater-maryland/business-reviews/contractors-general/smith-and-sons-contracting-in-pasadena-md-19010194

and we thought they were fantastic. Plus I trust Allstate who has always given us top-notch referrals when needed.

[Anonymous]

Look online at Lowe's or Home Depot to get a better idea of the costs of each type.

Tile--most people like it pretty well, and it is not expensive, particularly in a small area. Costs vary widely by type of tile. It doesn't have to be expensive to look nice. Tile is easy to clean and doesn't get water-damaged. If you are going to be on your feet a lot in a kitchen, get a gel mat to stand on.

Slate--more expensive, can flake over time.

Linoleum and vinyl--I don't like these. Vinyl just looks cheap and ugly to me.

Hardwood--I agree that it would be hard to match your other floors, and it would probably look a little off. Hardwood is not as tough as tile.

Laminate/engineered wood--most of this stuff can't take the abuse of being in a kitchen. The previous owners put this in our kitchen shortly before we bought, and it's all dinged up. The layers can come apart if it gets too wet.

[Anonymous]

Your dark greenish black granite countertops are dated
before they're even installed. Rethink this.