Wood flooring in kitchen

Just wondering what the general consensus is about wood flooring in kitchen instead of tiles? I'm playing with the idea as I've seen some houses with laminate wood in the kitchen - and we will be having laminate wood flooring in the dining and living areas anyway - and I find that it looks nicer, and it's also easier to clean than tiles and grout. My main concern is that it would get more worn a lot quicker than the other rooms due to liquid and food spills, and just more general foot traffic.

Anyone have thoughts on this? Does it increase home value?

Funny - we're at this point. If it sounds right - the laminate looks more wood than wood ...

From what I've heard the laminate/lino whatever - last as long as the real stuff and can be better in some situations. I guess its just a matter of selecting the right one - ie the colour, look, style you want ! It even has the knots etc as wood does.

Yeah, laminate can be really great these days, I'm a sucker for a good wood floor, but can't afford hardwood unfortunately. I'm very happy to go with laminate though. I'm not sure how lino compares, I know it used to have a bad rap but it might have improved. We're definitely looking at laminate though - you're probably getting offered the $3,999 wood look flooring package with Plantat!on as well, hey?

I'm mainly just wondering what people think of having it in the kitchen in lieu of tiles.

I have it (hardwood) in current kitchen, it's the original flooring.

Love it so much the house I'm currently building will also have hardwood in the kitchen (spotted gum). Easier to clean (no grout)

Tiles will date, timber will not.

TBH, I wouldn't like the look of tiles and 'timber' in the same room. Especially in your layout. Have you considered vinyl planking? There's some really real looking stuff out there now.

thegilbeys, we'll be having laminate wood through the living/dining/hallway areas anyway, so it won't be a problem to extend that to the kitchen if we want. I would definitely prefer a more seamless look, I'm just making sure that the whole idea of wood in kitchens is not something that is frowned upon. I'm pretty new at this, but I know from my European background that my folks would never have had tiles in the kitchen, not to mention the living areas! Tiles belong in the bathroom only where I come from.

We went with solid hardwood (Jarrah) in our home, as the kitchen is part of the open plan room having a transition just seemed odd.
As to having it in the kitchen, it just means being more careful with spills and needing it to clean it a little more often.
Not a great view as the kitchen island bench hides most of it, but you get the idea.

20101211-IMG_0102 by Belial669, on Flickr

Our last home had wood floors flowing through from the dinning area to the kitchen and it looked great! Not sure it would make much of a difference re-sale/value wise. For our current build we are having vinyl planks through the living, dining, kitchen area as well as in the butlers pantry.
I can't see that it will be an issue since it's a hard wearing product.
Check out an award-winning home listed on Karndean website. Has pictures of vinyl flooring in kitchen: http://www.karndean.com.au/en-au/floors ... -home.aspx

We're about to put vinyl timber-look in our kitchen! The Allure stuff from harvey norman is on sale at the moment. Its all in one (you dont need to buy additional underlay), has a lifetime garuntee, and is waterproof. We looked at the laminate but didnt like that its not fully waterproof, you need to clean it with a damp mop whereas the vinyl stuff you can dump a bucket of water on if you want. The laminate also expands/contracts so you have to allow room for that. Having said that, my brother put Timber Impressions laminate (also from HN) in their kitchen last year and it looks great.

This is our third build and the second time we have used laminate flooring, it never occurred to me not to have it in the kitchen. We have never had any issues. If there are any spills they are mopped up straight away, but I would also do that with any surface

Thanks, everyone, you have put my mind at ease! Will definitely be going with the wood look in the kitchen.

It’s always best to use the cleaning products & liquids recommended by the timber flooring or coating manufacturer. If in doubt as to who that is, simply use warm water on a microfibre mop or very well wrung mop. A splash of methylated spirits in the water never hurts but vinegar is not usually recommended.

I saw "fake" wood and real wood together - and its hard to tell which is the real stuff. In one case the one that looked more wood - was the fake ...

Its amazing what they do. But we're going all wood - ie no tiles with it. Carpet in bedrooms.

What are you doing in the bathrooms Mike? Fibreglass shower bases?

Don't get me going on that G.

No - we are on a slab. I don't like the look of FG bases in showers. I was just surprised with the "wood look". I have seen wood floor and thought I was on one ...

Re showers - what is it with hobs ? I thought all showers were now hob-less and slightly down. But, G, Might have FB sealing ...

Not sure of Lino, we had floating floors (Boral sydney blue gum) in our last kitchen and they didnt wear as well. The house we bought (1950s) had a reno in the 1970s and is tas oak hardwood throughout. Just sanded and polished. amazing indeed, very hard wearing indeed. i fear if you drop a knife or cup or glass, maybe the laminate or vinyl will just scratch? I guess it depends how thick the "colour" is. Good luck!

btw, nice jarrah floors belial!

The non-wood wood is good though. It's a much better make now and really look good. You need to go in and see it side by side. It has a few features that are better than actual wood too.

We have laminate wood flooring throughout the house, which includes the kitchen. We have a large open area (living, dining, kitchen), and I love the way the floor flows into each area. So far no issues about it being in the kitchen. I wipe up spills and I have broken a few things already without any dents or scratches. The only thing I see is scuffs from shoes, and they come off when I mop.

So far the only noticeable dent in the floors is in the activity area where my cat knocked a very heavy trophy off the top of a tall bookcase. And even that gouge is tiny. Plus I'm pretty sure you can get filler for laminate flooring gouges.

Hope that helps. If you want photos of the flooring in my house, see my thread.

Trophies - that's my problem too ... so many ...

Haha, I now keep mine behind closed glass doors!!