A Guide On The Best Flooring For Kitchens

No matter what type of home you have, having the best flooring for kitchens will always boost your mood every time you walk into it. It doesn’t matter if you have friends or relatives over, someone is always bound to comment on your kitchen floors. Everyone wants to be eating in a warm and cozy environment, and doing your kitchen right will ensure you’ll be feeling as good as you can every time you enter the kitchen.

Kitchen renovations are one of the most common renovation projects that people do in their homes. A full kitchen makeover will increase your return on investment, make the kitchen feel more functional, and will just make the entire atmosphere feel much better. A new kitchen renovation will have you wanting to spend more and more time in your kitchen in comparison to before a renovation where you might have never even wanted to step foot inside of it.

Creating a functional kitchen all boils down to how you design it. There are many different factors involved in crafting a kitchen that will feel just right. It involves:

• The right countertops
• Sinks
• Faucets

In addition to these things, you’ll need to consider what flooring for kitchens you’re going to go with. Many people like to use kitchen tile flooring, but kitchen hardwood floors are quite common, as well.

Kitchen Floor Ideas

It can sometimes take a bit of research to find the right kitchen floor that’ll work for you. Everyone has their own personal tastes and visions for how they want their kitchen to look, and the right kitchen floor will go a long way in ensuring your vision will be fully satisfied.

People spend a lot of time on their kitchen floors compared to other floors throughout their homes. You’ll be standing on your kitchen floors while preparing meals, talking with family, and moving to and from the kitchen table. Because of the amount of time you’ll be spending on your kitchen floors, you’ll want the floors to look aesthetically pleasing and very comfortable.

It’s no surprise that kitchen floors will be subject to messes and spills over the years, so you’ll want a kitchen floor product that’s not super difficult or tedious to clean. If you enjoy using your deep fryer, the oil will end up splashing on your floors from time to time.

Subfloor

Many people don’t give the subfloor a lot of thought, but they should because the subfloor is what supports your floor. Homeowners don’t really think about the construction that goes into their homes. If your subfloor is off-level and constructed poorly, that can affect what flooring options will work in your kitchen.

What Kitchen Flooring Options Are Available?

There are many kitchen flooring options you can choose from:

• Ceramic
• Porcelain
• Natural Stone
• Tile

Many people like to go with tile kitchen floors because of how durable it is. It’s also known to be extremely easy to maintain. The design options with tile are endless and it works well with many different kitchen elements. Tile floors in the kitchen can also range in budget depending on how much people are willing to spend.

Tiles are fairly easy to keep clean. The grout will get dirty from time to time, but it doesn’t take that much effort to clean up. With porcelain tile, you’re getting a product that is manufactured to look much like natural stone. It’s more durable than ceramic material. Natural stones are a little more expensive and you’ll have to use sealant on them every now and then.

For tile products to work well in the kitchen, you’ll need to have a subfloor that’s leveled nicely. If the subfloor isn’t level, then tiles can become quite an annoyance to install accurately. Sometimes homes can shift from time to time, and this can result in tiles cracking. If you get lucky, the crack will occur right on the grout line, but people have reported their tiles cracking right through the middle. Another thing to keep in mind is that the subfloor needs to be stable and sturdy to support heavy tiles.

Sometimes tile can end up chipping if you end up accidentally dropping heavy objects on it. Over time, ceramic tile is subject to wear and tear. Tile can get cold on the feet, and for that reason, it helps to have a heating supply built into it. This will raise the costs of it, but you might have regrets later down the road if you don’t do it.

If you’re standing on the tile for long periods of time, your feet can tend to feel sore after a while. Those that have joint issues or arthritis might want to think of getting a different type of kitchen flooring installed. If you’re fixed on tile no matter what, try getting a silicone mat and situate it in the places that you spend the most time standing.

Hardwood Flooring In The Kitchen

Hardwood floors work with many different kitchen designs, and you can usually never go wrong with this in your kitchen. Hardwood floors will be around forever, and they are also very long-lasting in your home. Even if you damage your hardwood by repeatedly dropping things on it, you can get the hardwood refinished and then just restain it later on. You can sand out scratches and if you have large ones, they can just be filled. If you have arthritis and your feet get sore after standing for long periods of time, then a hardwood floor is a wise choice to go with. It doesn’t hurt your feet as much as tile or stone.

One thing to note about hardwood floors is that your humidity levels need to be consistent so that the hardwood won’t end up warping down the road. Engineered hardwood is a bunch of layers of wood that are glued together, so that might not always occur, and it depends on what product you’re getting.

The maintenance for hardwood floors is higher than tile floors. Over time, you’ll notice debris and dirt getting into the gaps between the hardwood. You’ll have to reseal your hardwood every couple of years, and this can become frustrating for people that don’t want to spend a lot of time with the maintenance of their homes. If you’re dealing with a major spillage, that can turn into a nightmare and might even cause you to have to start pulling out hardwood planks. Red wine is one such product that can wreak havoc on hardwood floors.

The difficulty of installing hardwood floors can vary from one product to the next. If your hardwood is engineered, then it’s not too complicated because the planks will just snap together. If you’re getting pure hardwood, then they will need to be nailed right into the floor to reduce the chances of any warping.

Laminate Flooring In The Kitchen

Laminate flooring in the kitchen is another popular product that many people enjoy using because it can replicate the look of stone, ceramic, or wood. Laminate is one of the easier kitchen flooring products to install, and most of them just click together. The durability of laminate is known to be quite high, and most will find that it doesn’t scratch too easily. You’ll want to get a high-quality laminate flooring product to reduce the chances of deep scratches occurring.

The price range of laminate can start off to be fairly affordable and stretch to be expensive, but most people find that laminate is cheaper than going with tile or wood kitchen flooring.

A major disadvantage of laminate flooring in your kitchen is that it’s not always the best product if there is tons of traffic throughout the area. If you have 7 people in your family and people are always walking on the floor, then it might wear out faster in comparison to if you were the only person living in the house. Another thing to keep in mind is that laminate isn’t always the best product if you live in humid and wet living conditions.

Cork Flooring For The Kitchen

More and more people are considering going with cork flooring in their kitchens because of how earthy and natural it looks. It’s an eco-friendly option because it is manufactured out of tree bark, and trees will grow new bark every decade.

Additionally, you can get cork flooring in full boards or in tile form. There are a variety of different finishes and stains that you can choose from, and if you seal the product in the right way, it’s pretty good at resisting wet conditions, even as much as wood. The one main disadvantage of going with cork flooring is that it can be quite pricey. There also aren’t as many different designs that you can choose from with cork flooring.

Vinyl Flooring For Kitchen Floors

Vinyl is the easiest flooring to get installed. It’s convenient to clean and is also the cheapest product that you can purchase for your floors. You can get vinyl in full sheets or in tiles that come in different levels of thickness and durability.

You don’t need a fully level subfloor in order for vinyl to work properly, and that makes it ideal for older homes that don’t have a level subfloor. The vinyl will just roll right over the subfloor, but if you’re going with vinyl tiles, you’ll still want to ensure that the subfloor will be somewhat level.

The major downside of vinyl flooring is that it’s not too resistant to tear or scratches. If you always end up dropping products on the floor, you might want to think of considering a different kitchen floor product. For those that are on a budget, vinyl flooring is a good product to go with.

Before you go out and blindly spend a ton of money, you’ll want to get a few samples of different products to see how you like them. Getting a tiny sample piece of the flooring you’re interested in will help you test out its durability against scratches, tears, spills, and other types of damage.