Kitchen floors - hardwood or tile?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So how does hardwood work with possible water spills or leaks? I had never seen hardwood in a kitchen until a few years ago and I thought it was laminate.

So in my neighborhood the hardwood floors (oak) seem to all look like sh*t if you actually cook in your kitchen or have kids. The water destroys the look of the wood, as well barstools.

Drips around the sink, dishwasher dumps (or kids taking dishes with water in them still out of the dishwasher), the ice cube maker from the fridge spitting a random cube on the floor in the middle of the night, etc. all destroy the wood. The only wood floors (not laminate) to hold up are those that don't use their kitchens. Also tile is cleaner and easier to keep germ free.

Tile is meant for water spillage. The only argument you hear is "comfort" I have never known the difference between the feel of tile or hardwood (but I wear good shoes and maybe these people cook barefoot). I also wonder if the comfort thing is an old person thing, but my 86 year old mother has tile on her kitchen floor and she too, is fine.

You can always throw down a ruggable or something for warmth/comfort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hardwood floors have several coats of polyurethane on top - water, pee, soup, or whatever else you spill or drop or whatever, doesn't get inbetween.

The seal wears after a few years and needs to be redone. There is a maintenance factor.

We had our wood floors sealed with commercial grade sealant, but water will work through that rapidly. Floor people will tell you that. Every drop/drip of water will destroy the floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tile. It is easy clean and sanitary in a kitchen.

You can mop up grease and splatter with light vinegar and water.

How do you get wood clean in a kitchen setting or do you just accept having some level of grease on the floor?

Also how do you handle dishwasher leaks and water drips? Liquid spills etc on wood? Are you all replacing the wood?

My cooking doesn’t involve grease splatter in the floor.
Not much deep frying.

Sauces splatter, cooking an egg can cause splatter, stir frying causes splatter, mixing can cause splatter, splatter happens. When someone thinks of only deep frying I am wondering how much cooking they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how does hardwood work with possible water spills or leaks? I had never seen hardwood in a kitchen until a few years ago and I thought it was laminate.

I mostly see hardwood in kitchens instead of tile. If we spill water, we wipe it up. Does anyone just leave spilled water on their kitchen floor? Have never had a leak and we have leak detectors anyway. This is our 3rd house/apt with hardwood kitchen floors in 20 years. There is no groove between the floorboards for anything to get caught in. I let the roomba vacuum and then clean with water and a drop of dawn with either a mop or cross wave. The areas that get the most traffic have an antifatigue mat.

All hardwood (real) has grooves between the planks. Wood expands and contracts and it is how it is installed.

[Anonymous]

I think that wood in kitchens is nice. But, agree, if you want a richer looking kitchen go for tile.

[Anonymous]

We did tile that looks like hardwood from Porcenalosa

[Anonymous]

I had wood bamboo floors in my kitchen and it stil looked great after 5 years

[Anonymous]

Our hardwood floor is six years in and it looks great. We did have a dishwasher leak, but we mopped it up and there were no long term consequences. The floor in the dining room where the high chair goes terrible so it’s not like we have magic floor or are super clean. So far the poly just seems to be up to the task.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tile. It is easy clean and sanitary in a kitchen.

You can mop up grease and splatter with light vinegar and water.

How do you get wood clean in a kitchen setting or do you just accept having some level of grease on the floor?

Also how do you handle dishwasher leaks and water drips? Liquid spills etc on wood? Are you all replacing the wood?

My cooking doesn’t involve grease splatter in the floor.
Not much deep frying.

Sauces splatter, cooking an egg can cause splatter, stir frying causes splatter, mixing can cause splatter, splatter happens. When someone thinks of only deep frying I am wondering how much cooking they do.

In your case keep the tile.

[Anonymous]

This is going to be an unpopular choice, but we did LVP. It has the look of hardwood without the disadvantages of hardwood. We previously had tile and I did not like it because kids (and myself) often dropped dishes and they broke on the tile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is going to be an unpopular choice, but we did LVP. It has the look of hardwood without the disadvantages of hardwood. We previously had tile and I did not like it because kids (and myself) often dropped dishes and they broke on the tile.

I think you also need to make the decisions based on where you are and what is expected in the kind of house you own. Our is a rowhouse in Georgetown. We put LVP in the basement, but putting it on the main floor would really devalue the house. Hardwood everywhere above ground is what seems to be expected in the neighborhood. You sometimes see tile in the kitchen but it seems rare. I am surprised at people who say tiles give the "rich" look. I do not like how it feels underfoot and I really enjoy the wood we have in the kitchen. You need to be careful with spills but I would still do it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is going to be an unpopular choice, but we did LVP. It has the look of hardwood without the disadvantages of hardwood. We previously had tile and I did not like it because kids (and myself) often dropped dishes and they broke on the tile.

I second this. The new versions of LVP look very good.

[Anonymous]

I have hardwood across my full main floor (bar 2x entry and 1x half bath) for 10 yrs now and love it. I've never had a major leak or spill, we clean up any spills quickly. When I built my house, tile in the kitchen was standard, it was extra to put hardwood throughout. It's open concept though, I'd probably be less picky with a separate kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how does hardwood work with possible water spills or leaks? I had never seen hardwood in a kitchen until a few years ago and I thought it was laminate.

I mostly see hardwood in kitchens instead of tile. If we spill water, we wipe it up. Does anyone just leave spilled water on their kitchen floor? Have never had a leak and we have leak detectors anyway. This is our 3rd house/apt with hardwood kitchen floors in 20 years. There is no groove between the floorboards for anything to get caught in. I let the roomba vacuum and then clean with water and a drop of dawn with either a mop or cross wave. The areas that get the most traffic have an antifatigue mat.

All hardwood (real) has grooves between the planks. Wood expands and contracts and it is how it is installed.

PP. I’ve only had real hardwood floors and the spaces are filled with a mix of the sawdust from sanding and resin/adhesive. So there are no grooves. I’m not particularly neat, but we haven’t had any issues with wood in our kitchen even when the kids were toddlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you do hardwood buy raw wood and have it finished onsite. I think people who are talking about stuff getting between their floorboards have the prefinished wood. You can also opt for engineered (also finished on site). It looks the same as hardwood but is more stable in a most environment.

PP. This is true, our hardwood was prefinished. However, I don't think the gaps between the boards are unique to prefinished boards. It's driven by the shape of the planks.

I can see where some rectangular plank shapes might fit more tightly together. But in general the gaps are related to the workmanship and subfloor design as well.

Regarding stains...in Year 1, I dropped/spilled a cup of hot miso soup and for whatever reason, it permeated the polyurethane and made a stain. This was like a grease stain on light maple plank. I wiped it up immediately.

My experience is that liquids do puddle on the surface but I can see some going down into the small gap if there is a big puddle.