POLL: Hardwood in a kitchen - Yes or No?

6 years ago

There seems to always be a discussion around about whether or not it is okay or wise to put hardwood floors in a kitchen, mostly due to the inherent moisture. What is your stance? Is hardwood in the kitchen a yes or a no for you?

VOTE and tell us about it in the comments!

Yes

Other - tell us about it in the comments!

Featured Answer

Sue 430

6 years ago

I had wood floors in my kitchen way before it was popular, very low maintenance and much more comfortable to stand on, not to mention that every dropped item doesn’t break. I think that once you try them, you would never go back to tile.

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Comments (393)

TBL from CT
6 years ago
We are a no-shoe household. My kitchen tile floor gets vacuumed, then dry mopped, then Hoover machine washed. The suctioned water is filthy - like mud. I cannot fathom living with a wood floor in the kitchen knowing that I cannot scrub it clean. You just can't see what's really on a swept wood floor. Bacteria lives everywhere.
bubbegreta
6 years ago
Has anyone used laminate in the kitchen? I need to be economical.
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jmm1837
6 years ago
@TBL - wood floors don't get any dirtier than any other floors, and they can be damped mopped. Bacteria do live everywhere - including in our own bodies, and in fact we couldn't survive without the ones in our digestive system. No need to get stressed out by some on the floor, just so long as you're not eating off it :)
Monti Group
6 years ago
I always damp mop my beautiful hardwood floors. I have 3 dogs....no problem! I am still healthy after 30 years of hardwood flooring.
mjkjrobinson
6 years ago
I love hardwood! I had tile to cold and I broke alot of dishes, and it hurt my legs!
yankeegen
6 years ago
It's funny to read that people say they had wood floors "before it was popular." What do you think floors were made of 150-200 years ago? I live in an 180 year old house. The heart pine kitchen floors are about 150 years old (I have researched all the work done on the house over the years). I have had them refinished 3 times in 30 years. and I am a messy cook and they are finished in dark walnut stain. Yeah, shows every speck of flour....but I always say, if it shows the dirt, that's a GOOD thing. If we couldn't see it, we'd leave it dirty.. My husband used to say if there were no wood, someone would have to invent it. There is nothing like natural material. Laminate isn't quite the same. For a newer house I think other surfaces can work. this is my 5th house with wood floors in the kitchen. They are very forgiving of all sorts of abuse.
Webado Webada
6 years ago
Kitchen floors might have been made of stone back then. Ours in the 60's in Eastern Europe were terrazzo. Cement really with little pebbles and sanded and shined.
carline2020
6 years ago
Yes, especially in cold climate states.
Bev
6 years ago
Our kitchen has hardwood underneath the tile. I like this the best due to spills or any accidents in the kitchen. Tile, IMO, is much easier to clean and unlike some woods, will not soak up the spill or smells.
Webado Webada
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Oh dear! Bev, Mom's condo had a kitchen sink leak which caused several of the floor ceramic tiles to rise up. I called my plumber and he said water had seeped under the tiles. He fixed the leak (and also the sink cabinet which was rotted at the back) and then sent a guy to tackle the tiles. As he removed the tiles which had popped up, we discovered that there was oak parquetry under the tiles! We couldn't very well dismantle the entire ceramic floor, so he removed just the tiles that were no longer stuck properly and reset them, but of course he said it may happen again. Ceramic must never be placed over such a wooden floor.

This came about because about 22 years ago when my parents first bought the condo, they struck a deal with the seller (original condo promoter) to put ceramic tiles in the kitchen as my parents could not accept it with the oak parquet floor. So they did but didn't tell anybody that they laid the ceramic on top of the wood. It's a miracle that it lasted over 20 years without problems. Hopefully no more problems will occur, but I have to touch wood.

Both my parents have passed so now it will be my sole problem if it should happen again.
artsyphartsy_home_maker
6 years ago
What a fun discovery about the wood under the tile! Like unearthing buried treasure!
Webado Webada
6 years ago
That was no treasure for us. Tile is what we have wanted all along, finding oak parquet underneath is no treasure whatsoever. Too late now to sue the seller who created this fiasco by taking a shortcut. He should have removed the parquetry and laid down the tile correctly, over a sheet of thick plywood and a thick layer of cement.
Laura Mac
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Webado, that's fairly standard. Most people 'back in the day' just layered flooring over other flooring. Think carpeting over hardwoods, tile over other tile. My kitchen had indoor/outdoor carpet, then a layer of vinyl on top of the original vinyl tiles....3 layers! UGH! Ripped it all up and have had hardwood for over 25 years now and always gorgeous!
Chessie
6 years ago
I despise the very idea of laying flooring on top of other flooring. It's absurd. Baseboards get smaller, appliances get stuck...and so on.
Webado Webada
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
@Laura Mac, this was a newly built condo at the time, it had been one of the model units. No reason to find multiple layers of flooring. As for having wood floors in the kitchen, for me that's a resounding NO. For an upscale condo, it's ceramic or marble/granite/slate that's expected in the kitchen and bathrooms. The hardwood that was found there was some designer's idea and it didn't sit well with my parents (or myself) which is why they asked for ceramic as a condition of the sale. This was one of several modifications they asked for. Another was to add glass doors to the kitchen so it won't be wide open to the entrance hall at one end and living room at the other end at all times. This is a style of open floor plan that neither my parents nor myself have ever liked.
elvisdogtn
6 years ago
Great conversation. Sometimes it is a matter of lifestyle and aesthetics and other times simple practicality. If there are clear areas of demarcation where you can transition from tile to hardwood then you have the best of both worlds. Sometimes the same flooring throughout is best. Don't be afraid of hardwood if that is your best option. Just remember, this is one of the most active areas of your home so maintenance is key. Has anyone checked out a company called Specifix? They have an app that lets you see product installed in your home with augmented reality - for those of you with an iPhone. It is pretty amazing. Pick a floor, point the camera, and see it "installed". They have a free 30-day trial if interested. www.specifixapp.com Good luck with your flooring choices, I am sure it will be beautiful.
Webado Webada
6 years ago
App or no app I'll never change my mind about the type of flooring for a kitchen. Nor about having the ktiche wide open to the living areas. Here I'm always battling my grown kids who THINK they'd like a totally open floor plan everywhere. I could see it in a very small apartment where there's no real room to have a closed kitchen and a proper dining/living room, but it's not the case with the condo I mentioned. It's really vast and the galley kitchen is big as it's abutting on a large dinette area, with plenty of windows.
artsyphartsy_home_maker
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Hey Webado, wondering how your kitchen reno is going? Did you start it yet? I remember you were talking about it in another thread. My kitchen reno is STILL NOT COMPLETED. Word to the wise, don't hire HD {the big box orange store} to do your kitchen if you haven't chosen a contracting service yet.

P.S. I understand now, how finding the wood flooring wasn't a found 'treasure' to you. I would be mad too if tile I had requested wasn't installed properly and what your parents had wanted was the tile to be permanent. One of the things that steams me the most is when contractors lie or take major short cuts.
Webado Webada
6 years ago
Nothing's started yet. Still waiting for somebody to come to give me a quote.

In the meanwhile I've drawn up some plans myself. But trying to fit any standard size cabinets doesn't seem to work at all. Damn my original builder with his "custom" butchery!
artsyphartsy_home_maker
6 years ago
Good luck, hope you get your quote soon!
Jill DiMartino
5 years ago
Tile in the bathrooms, wood in the kitchen. My hips and lower back can't take tile in the kitchen. I love the idea of cork, but it tends to look too busy for me. We are getting ready to move next year and will look into cork again. The green factor, along with it being so good on your joints might just sway me to find a way to make busy work! But for now, I'll stick with my wood floors that continue on into the living room, making both spaces look twice as big!
ashmcbash
5 years ago
Resounding yes. I like the look of wood floors to balance the stone look of a countertop and tile backsplash. Plus is warm all year. And if you drop a glass or plate, it’s chances of breaking are far less. No grout to clean. My kitchen gets heavy use and yet my hardwoods are very resilient. My floors really don’t get a lot of humidity. Not like a mudroom or a laundry room.
ashmcbash
5 years ago
Resounding yes. I like the look of wood floors to balance the stone look of a countertop and tile backsplash. Plus is warm all year. And if you drop a glass or plate, it’s chances of breaking are far less. No grout to clean. My kitchen gets heavy use and yet my hardwoods are very resilient. My floors really don’t get a lot of humidity. Not like a mudroom or a laundry room.
User
5 years ago
No, it will warp.
Pamela M
5 years ago
Yes to the hardwood in kitchen! It’s not going to warp unless you have a water leak. It is comfortable and nice in winter. Replaced tile in master bath because it was FRIGID in the winter...now have tile again, but heated floor under tile! Yummy! Heated floors are no longer expensive.
Pamela M
5 years ago
Yes to the hardwood in kitchen! It’s not going to warp unless you have a water leak. It is comfortable and nice in winter. Replaced tile in master bath because it was FRIGID in the winter...now have tile again, but heated floor under tile! Yummy! Heated floors are no longer expensive.
Pamela
Webado Webada
5 years ago
Water leaks are common in kitchens, either form the sink or dishwasher. In bathrooms too. I've had them all. If we didn't have ceramic we'd have been hosed (pun intended).
User
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Water leaks are the least common concern, I'm talking about spills, splashing in a working busy kitchen this is bound to happen, all day.
jmm1837
5 years ago
I had hardwood in my last house and it absolutely did not warp from the daily minor spills. The kitchen floor still looked pristine after 10 years.
Webado Webada
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
@artsyphartsy_home_maker,

We've finally decided on how to renovate the kitchen with the least amount of disruption (and COST!). We're having the cabinet doors replaced with white flat panel doors. They'll of course change the hinges and the door handles as well. Toe kicks are also being changed.
We're also getting the melamine counters replaced with a laminate counter.
https://goo.gl/images/FZhhwx

We figured there's no point in putting in quartz or granite when the rest of the kitchen isn't fully renovated. Also I'd been unable to find a color & pattern of either quartz or granite which would look good in our small kitchen. Didn't want anything with a large pattern, nor anything in a solid color. I want white cabinets but definitely not a white or black counter.

It's all happening June 11 & 12, and with the day before for removal of the sink & dishwasher and the day after for reinstallation of the sink & (a new) dishwasher, it's all going to take 4 days of disruption. A bit more since we need to empty everything out first, wash the insides, sides and undersides of the cabinets, clean the ceramic backsplash & floor , and then place everything back in the cabinets (hopefully in a smarter way). So I guess it's 1 week all in all.

Not changing ceramic floor & backsplash because they are fine and I like them better than anything else, no reason to change that. They just need some thorough cleaning, for the floor a bit more than just a regular mopping.

Once that's all done I can focus on replacing the light fixtures. Specifically fluorescent tubes in the ceiling soffit (YUCK!) and above the sink (YUCK!). We should find something much nicer and more modern. Bound to exist.
Gill
5 years ago
We've had hardwood in our kitchen for the last 15 years. No water damage at all from routine cooking and daily use or from any minor crises. We had a roof leak that ended up spilling out of the can lights into the kitchen (we ran around with pots to catch it). The dog comes straight in from the yard (no mudroom) with wet feet. We wipe them but they don't leave marks that don't mop up. We had dish soap flood out of the dishwasher once, mostly bubbles (husband tried hand soap in the dishwasher) and that just mopped up and the floor was fine. We love hardwood in the kitchen because it's warm underfoot, it doesn't break everything that is dropped on it, it's easier on your feet than tile, and it looks nice.
houston2012
5 years ago
I wrote before, I have all my den, living room, hallways and kitchen all done in white oak with a light color stain, I love them for the last 10 years, with 3 dogs, a wheelchair and walkers passing thru the house and it still looks good.

WOOD FLOORS KEEP MEMORIES

MY SON I was sitting in the living room the other day and notice the black mark on the floor, a reminder that my kid was running one day and kicked a chair that felt on the floor and left a bit of the black chair paint on the beautiful wood floor, my son grew and moved out and every time I look at the black mark, I think of him.

MY DOGS several scratches done by the dogs nails, 3 dogs deceased that left their mark on the floor (literally) 3 new dogs replaced them and they will also leave their marks, we love our pets.

FRIENDS there is a mark done with the nail from a chair that was drag and had a missing cap on the bottom, a friend of my son who did it was so embarrassed, the kid was going to the police academy, now he has been a policeman for years, we saw him recently and told him of how we often think of him, we showed him the long scratch on the floor, we laughed.

I am the kind of person that keeps my house very clean but a scratch won't make my life miserable at all, think of the scratches on the floor as memories, if you wish to get rid of them just fix them, if you want to preserve them, just keep them the same.
Chessie
5 years ago
I don't want my memories etched into my floors, LOL!!
User
5 years ago
I just think for looks it's nice but practicality wise it's more absorbent than ceramic tile so it's more risky because wood can swell. Smaller grout lines are also better because it's more porous too, granted it all has to be sealed but it's not going to last as long, and I can't really afford to be tiptoeing around throughout the day.
Jo
5 years ago
Love hardwood but not in the kitchen. Tile is the preferred flooring for the kitchen.
jmm1837
5 years ago
"Grout lines?" Never heard of grout with wood floors. Our hardwood floors were nailed/stapled, not grouted. And our current house has glued -down engineered floors.
User
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Tile has grout lines, the grout is more porous than the tile is both wood and tile require sealant.
PRO
OPPEIN Group
5 years ago
Most people use hardwood floor, not everyone will get in trouble with moisture, it depends on the weather of your country and your kitchen cleanness. But tiles can bear longer time.
Webado Webada
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Hopefully you never experience a leak from the sink or the dishwasher.

I would NEVER have wood floors in wet rooms. Ceramic, granite, marble, cement, terrazzo, linoleum - anything but wood of any kind. And preferably have a floor drain, though that's hardly ever found in North American homes.
houston2012
5 years ago
Webado Webada I love my wood floors but you are right, I live in Houston and thousands of homes with Hurricane Harvey had to put all their wood floor planks in front of their house ready for the trash truck, those same thousands of people decided to install tile just in case the house floods again.
Webado Webada
5 years ago
I'm just talking about run of the mill household floods from sinks, washers, dishwashers.

When there's a serious flood I fear no matter what the floor material is it's all doomed since there is a lot of wood involved anyway in the subfloor and wall studs, etc.

Last year in the spring there were some serious floods near my area where basements and ground floors were flooded. Those houses are pretty much finished, they need to be rebuilt fully.

There was no hurricane, just a lot of rain and the St-Lawrence River overflowed its banks. Big destruction. Most houses and businesses did not have flood insurance because it simply wasn't available even as an option in the first place.

You cannot just let a seriously flooded house dry up, there will be mold forever after.
2ManyDiversions
5 years ago
Chess, "I don't want my memories etched into my floors, LOL!!" I hear ya! We are going with wood floors as it's an open plan and tile wouldn't look good at all as a transition. But then... memories are a good thing too, even when etched into flooring.

I feel strongly that tile is far more resistant and durable, however, sometimes it's an aesthetic call. My parents had wood flooring, and yes, they had to keep it wiped up after spills. At one point I took over care of their home, and the refrigerator's ice maker copper tubing decided to leak... all over the wood kitchen floor. It was left overnight (about 12+ hours) and created a huge pool on the flooring. I was deeply upset, but soaked it up, dried it well, and all evidence of the pool of water was gone.

houston2012, I'm going to also strongly agree with you... I have always tried to keep my home pristine (an impossibility). I've a lovely coffee table, and after years of keeping it utterly pristine, my dog dropped a toy on the table, scratching it while retrieving it. I was devastated for 5 minutes. Every time I look at it now, I am reminded of her playfulness and how much joy she gave us. All homes have 'living patina' as I prefer to call it : ) There are other things in life to be upset about. A scratch or mark here or there isn't going to kill me, though I'll do what I can to prevent them : )
Pinebaron
5 years ago
artsyphartsy_home_maker

Pinebaron,

Very pretty black marble tiles. I'm curious --could you tell me
please how black marble floor tiles hold up to use? Do they show
scratches etc. Did you wear shoes in this kitchen?

Anything marble in the kitchen needs extra care especially from spills and needs regular sealing since marble is porous. We avoided wearing shoes in that home however it's something we could not avoid when entertaining guests on our adjoining deck.

Marble floors look amazing anywhere but I'd never install marble in a kitchen again. Unlike me, DW hates anything marble, especially black floors, hence we are installing porcelain tiles with white marble look instead. Offering a strong contrast to dark base cabinets, these tiles will make the kitchen even more airy and bright.
anmorgan38
5 years ago
Almost every dishwasher in the universe begins to leak as it ages- and many times it is not apparent immediately. If there is hardwood underneath, the repairs go way beyond replacing the dishwasher, including actually having to tear out and replace cabinets, countertops, and flooring to repair the damage. While hardwood is always warm and lovely to live with, there are a number of great alternatives that can provide similar qualities, while not compromising the structure of your kitchen, and necessitating huge repair costs.
Webado Webada
5 years ago
Hear, hear! We have ceramic tile in our kitchen and we did have a nasty leak from the dishwasher last year (that we know of, might have had other smaller ones before). We stopped using it and left it in place while deciding if we renovate the kitchen or what. So now we are doing a bit of remodeling and when we took out the dishwasher, holy smokes, there's serious evidence of water (and loads of dirt). Had the floor been wood it would have been destroyed. As it is we got to clean the ceramic properly. There's is little damage to the cabinet walls (on the inside where the dishwasher was) but this got fixed adequately. It won't be visible once the new dishwasher goes in and everything else is in place.
Water is a demon LOL
olivia morgan
5 years ago
Have wood floor for many years, i'm in love in it. U can clean and keep it long easily. The use of a small hand held belt sander for finishing a floor, filling the space with shims, obtaining a smooth floor free of specs and bumps. No light scratches as well. You'll have no worries afterwards :)
PRO
Rachiele Custom Sinks
5 years ago
I have been living with cork floors for 18 years and really like them.
Colleen T
5 years ago
What brand of hardwood is recommended? I like the distressed type of wood flooring in a medium light tone.
2ManyDiversions
5 years ago
imshasta, there are many types of wood available for flooring. I don't think one is recommended over the other when it comes to personal taste and style/look of your home. Oak is nice, but can give a pinkish tone. White oak is a bit harder then red oak. Typically if you have kids or large pets you'll want to avoid the softer woods. There are exotics which can be gorgeous - and hard on the wallet : ) Hand scraped has the distressed look. Wood comes in various widths which is another consideration. People who live in humid sub-tropical climates (we do) might want to avoid wider widths which can eventually cup due to humidity. Wider widths can make a small home look smaller, while narrow widths might make a very large room look busy. Again, that's also a personal choice in my opinion. And you have planks that are pre-finished as opposed to finished on-site. That which is finished on-site is sanded after it's put down, which eliminates some grooving between the planks (and is considered easier to clean, and also gives a very nice smooth finished look).
mrswaves
5 years ago
Yes hardwood for open concept.
No hardwood for an obvious change into another room.

POLL: Hardwood in a kitchen - Yes or No?

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