Kitchen floor - How easy is it to maintain wood? Please help!

7 years ago

We can't decide between whether to use wooden floor in a kitchen or porcelain? Does the potential for spillages, grease, red wine and mud from outside mean its completely impractical to clean? Thanks!!

Victorian Home, South-West London · More Info

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Laura Butler-Madden

7 years ago

I've always used wood in kitchens as I much prefer it to porcelain. We've never had problems with marking or warping, I think as long as you look after it, it will be ok. Laura

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Comments (8)

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Ruth Turner Interior Design Ltd
7 years ago
I would not really use wood in a kitchen. It's not really a practical choice especially if it gets very wet as it can warp. It also marks easily so can become tired looking very quickly. Porcelain is definitely the more practical choice. There are some great wood effect tiles out there now.
PRO
Walrow kitchens
7 years ago
We agree that wood isn't a practical choice for the kitchen as spills and stains can cause real problems. Our advice would be to keep the kitchen easy to clean and maintain, and keep your wood floor for another part of the house.
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I APPRECIATE YOUR DESIGN DILEMMA. THE TILES YOU ARE CONSIDERING ARE REALLY PRETTY. I ALSO LOVE THE LOOK YOU HAVE BEEN CREATING. YOUR KITCHEN SOUNDS LIKE A FIRED EARTH STYLE KITCHEN, CLASSY. I HAVE CONSIDERED THE ABOVE ADVICE WHICH MAKES SENSE FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. I WOULD SAY THAT IF YOUR NOT PLANNING TO MOVE ITS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU CHOOSE A FLOOR THAT YOU LOVE. I HAVE LEARN'T BY MY MISTAKES. I ONCE HAD THE SAME DILEMMA AND WAS PLANNING TO MOVE AFTER MY SHAKER KITCHEN REMODEL. I WENT FOR TRAVERTINE FLOOR AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD SELL QUICKER. I DID THE FLOOR AND NEVER MOVED, SON MOVED BACK HOME WITH HIS FAMILY. I THEN LIVED IN THE PROPERTY FOR A FEW YEARS AND HAD MAJOR REGRET ABOUT NOT GOING FOR MY GUT INSTINCT ON FLOOR. I THINK THE FLOOR WILL LOOK SENSATIONAL. IT WILL BE STUNNING WITH THE COLOUR OF YOUR UNITS. JUST WARM UP WITH ACCESSORIES, COPPER PANS AND ACCESSORIES ARE VERY TRENDY RIGHT NOW. KEEP THE WALLS LIGHT. YOUR LOOK WILL BE TIMELESS. GOOD LUCK.
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Hi there, When it comes to engineered wooden floors they have been designed to work in conjunction with under floor heating so there is no issue there. If you are looking to go for a wooden floor then we would recommend going for an engineered board with a brushed and lacquered finish. The brushed texture will hide and scratches or scuffs that may occur, the lacquer on the board. Generally our boards come with 8 coats of Super Matte Lacquer. The lacquer will help protect the board from any spillages seeping into the board. If you have an idea of the colour you would be looking to go for we would be more than happy to suggest some suitable products. We also have some very realistic laminate Flooring by Kronoswiss. The Kronoswiss origins ranges comes in at 14mm thick. It is An AC5 Grade, each laminate is graded between AC1 - AC5. AC5 being the most durable. These boards have been designed to take heavy traffic. The origins range comes with the new Aqua stop technology, stopping spillages from seeping into the board for up to 72 hours. Giving reassurance if any spillages do happen. Here are some of the boards from the Origins range. This is the Kronoswiss Rock Oak Kronoswiss Moon Kronoswiss Sunset. See full range here. If you do have any further queries or suggest a colour of flooring we will try our best to point you in the right directions. You can either give us a call on 0141 8875 5698 or you can drop us an email at info@floormonster.co.uk kind Regards, Floor Monster Team
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Hi Ellie, the tiles are Minoli Stelvio walnut glazed porcelain. She got them from my stepson-in-laws tile shop Apex Grange in Welwyn Garden City, but there are other suppliers of course. My sister is rather flattered! She even had a neighbour asking who supplied her new front colour..........I can only bask in her glory :-)
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PRO
Room by Room (Midlands) Ltd
7 years ago
Wood floors are prone to scratching. The key is regular hovering to reduce any potential scratching, mopping with an appropriate wood floor cleaner as needed and ensuring that your floor is oiled (the oil will help manage the spill issue but recommend mopping any spills up as they happen). Wood floors are less practical than porcelain but they do add warmth visually and underfoot. If using engineered wood the option for underfloor heating is an added bonus.
PRO
The Wood Works
7 years ago
Laminate flooring with a wood effect is a good option and as stated before adds a great amount of warmth to a room. It is also very easy to look after!
Elizabeth Dixon
7 years ago
2 kitchens ago I had reclaimed teak parquet flooring - looked great when it was polished but needed quite a lot of regular work. Also quite dark. We put maple in the conservatory which was definitely a mistake - lovely and light in colour but a pain to maintain. My last kitchen was laminate oak - very practical but perhaps a bit cheap looking - although it was OK for that house which was a temporary home for me. Now I'm in a bigger and rather grander house and also in a quandary about what's going to be best for the floor - limestone or porcelain tiles would look great but I wonder if they're going to be cold and less user friendly if anything gets dropped ....
shelleyuk
7 years ago
I have high end expensive laminate on my floor. It wasn't much cheaper than using wood but I was talked into it as being more practical. Its been a nightmare. With wood on the floor you would drop a bowl, it would smash and you be left with a dent in the floor but that becomes part of the character of the floor. With laminate you drop a bowl it chips the glaze and tears the photo underneath and you're left with a light coloured chip in the floor which really shows up and looks rubbish. Don't go for laminate. If I could rip ours out I would but its only been down for two years and it runs underneath the kitchen cabinets.

I'd go for wood or if you're worried about spills and maintenance then karndean is a good option.
PRO
Moduleo UK
7 years ago
Hi Darren,

Wood effect vinyl flooring works well in a kitchen as it's easy to clean and hard-wearing. It is also a great heat insulator and can be used with underfloor heating.

We are specialists in luxury vinyl flooring, please see our website for the full range of our wood effect tiles: http://www.moduleo.co.uk/products/wood

Let us know if you have any questions!

Kitchen floor - How easy is it to maintain wood? Please help!

Laura Butler-Madden

Comments (8)

Ruth Turner Interior Design Ltd

Walrow kitchens

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Room by Room (Midlands) Ltd

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Elizabeth Dixon

shelleyuk

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