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Kitchen Flooring

The many choices for kitchen flooring give you plenty of options. The main categories of flooring materials include: ceramic tile, wood, laminate, vinyl, bamboo, linoleum, and cork. Allen’s Kitchen & Bath designers recommend that you consider a couple of practical considerations when choosing your flooring. The wear and tear a kitchen floor gets, as well as the amount of time you’ll spend standing on your feet in the kitchen, are important considerations to take into account when selecting flooring materials for your kitchen.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile is beautiful, with endless choices of colors and patterns. Though tile is easy to clean with a damp mop, the surrounding grout can be difficult to maintain, but larger tiles will minimize grout lines. Ceramic tile can be hard on the legs, so Judy Burrows of Allen’s Kitchen & Bath recommends using a mat or pad in areas where you stand a lot (such as in front of the sink). Ceramic tile can be cold underfoot, but under-floor radiant heat can solve that problem neatly, especially here in the North Country.

Wood

Wood is naturally warm and not tiring to stand on for long periods of time. The maintenance and durability of a wood floor varies depending on what type of wood is used and its finish. Wood floors will evenutually scratch and require periodic sanding and/or refinishing.

Laminate

Laminate floors can mimic the look of wood, but they are more affordable and require less maintenance than wood. Laminate is factory-finished and can be installed over an existing floor. While laminate has its advantages, it sometimes doesn’t seem as “warm” as natural wood and it can be noisier than wood floors.

Vinyl

Vinyl sheeting or peel-and-stick tiles are a good choice for flooring on a budget. Vinyl is easy to install, easy on the legs, and is available in many shades, designs, and patterns. Vinyl flooring edges can curl over time, requiring new flooring.

Bamboo

Bamboo gives the look of wood, but since is made from bamboo, which is a rapid-renewable resource, it is a great choice if you are interested in building “green.” In addition, the finish on bamboo can be formaldehyde-free.

Linoleum

Remember linoleum from your grandmother’s kitchen? Now linoleum has renewed life in modern kitchens as an environmentally-friendly “green” material. Linoleum is made from linseed oil, cork dust, wood flour, tree resins, ground limestone and pigments, which are renewable materials rather than chemical products.

Cork

Cork flooring is another harvested resource that is one of today’s “green” environmentally-friendly flooring choices. Cork is available in sheets and tile, and must be properly sealed so it can be vacuumed and mopped. Cork is warm underfoot, quiet, and easy on the legs to stand on. Be careful not to make very deep scratches, though, since they are difficult to repair.