Understanding Home Building

What is the Best Material for a New Kitchen Floor?

What is the Best Material for a New Kitchen Floor?

I personally think there is not a best material for a kitchen floor. All flooring seems to wear out.

Hardwood flooring is very durable and perhaps well worth the extra investment for a kitchen. A hardwood floor does scratch, and flakes with excessive wear and also dents.

Laminate flooring is a lower investment. It blisters and often does not live up to to the expected warranty life span. A laminate floor is easy to install, especially with the new snap lock laminate floor systems.

A lower investment high quality vinyl flooring is easy to clean, and may be a good choice. It will not hold up to excessive chair and appliance movements.

Tile floors
http://www.homeplansforfree.com/Free-ba ... p?album=18 are a great durable choice. The grout lines are difficult to clean over time although good quality sealers may make this job go more smoothly. Tile floors are cold and going with a heated tile floor system may be desired in kitchen areas. The disadvantage to tile floors is they may crack. To help avoid cracking the tile go with a good quality tile floor and be sure to have the installer have a 100% mortar contact on the tile being installed.

We personally went with a white oak hardwood floor for our new kitchen floor and although it has a little wear after 5 years we can always refinish the surface to have a new look for minimal extra dollars vs replacing our floor. I would recommend our choice of choosing a hardwood floor.