kitchen diner externtion 20sqm flooring

3 years ago

Hi,

I am writing this post to seek houzz community advice regarding my first design project.

I am designing my kitchen diner extention, it is a victorian property and I am working very hard not to destroy its charm. It (the extention) is approc 20sqm (3.6x5.6m) and will have two skylights, and bifold doors so a lot of light coming in. We are keeping the features but also our appliances and the boiler limit waste and safe money. In terms of kitchen cubboards, we had to go for a slab door design, as the shaker accentuated many irregularities the space has; to make it classic we decided white matt, handleless to save space. Th kitchen will take 40 % space and there will be an island 90 cm from the kitchen countertops.

My husband and I parent, now working from home, a toddler, have 2 cats and overall we are not as good as our parents would like us to be with clearning, I would say we are or had been prior to our son's arrival a relaxed type:).

When we thought about flooring choices for our extention we were compelled with the idea of LVN, specifical amtico which we were told was great and durable. Our builer says that QS laminate is the most durable and has some nice finishes. He recommends wood reminding us that we may be leaving the area in few years time and we need to conciser how attactive the house would be to potential buyers.

Now, I am a a little bit lost with all of it.

I like the idea of a durable, easy to clean and warm in touch flooring. But, I read that with amtico, you need a skilled fitter. The chap who manages our project has done only one project with amtico!! If we go ahead with amtico, should I ask him to source a specialist for the job?

Other questions with amtico I find it hard to get my head around is what kind of thickness should I go for, is click smart better that glue on?

I also read that amtico tends to have a shany finish and I think that with matt kitchen shiny flooring may look strange... Am I right about that?

These are just the dilemmas for amtico, of course there are other LVTs and there is QS and then there is engineered wood the chap that manages my project is very keen on, possibly because he has a lot of experience in this area of work.

Given the description of my project, and our considerations which I presume are fairly universal, please share your thougths about flooring you would go for, and if yes to amtico, what spec would you go for and would you insist on specialist fitter?

Thank you in advance to anyone to comments.

With best wishes,

Marta

Comments (5)

Laura
3 years ago
The first bit about wfh, toddler, cats and not on top of cleaning - I could have written that myself :-)

we have a bamboo flooring in our kitchen in a caramel (same colour as our oiled wooden worktops) and it is AMAZING! It’s not necessarily warm under foot but it’s not cold like tiles. It’s so easy to clean and sweep or hoover. It doesn’t show up the first either
stifen jenifer
3 years ago
Which is discussed in this thread, I agree with this thought. Also my suggestion is that everyone in a month should doing the kitchen cleaning by the good service provider.
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Hello, What a great space! We have some products that may be of interest, both tiles and wood flooring. Two that spring to mind from our natural stone range are our Dijon Tumbled Limestone and our Dove Grey Tumbled Limestone, both are very popular in kitchens and I think would suit your kitchen colours and the look that you are wanting to create. The Dijon starts from only £37 per sqm, and the Dove Grey a bit more from £50 per sqm, inc VAT. If you wanted something really rustic, a tumbled travertine could work - our Light Tumbled Travertine or Country Mix Tumbled Travertine would work brilliantly in your space. Starting from £26 per sqm and £20 per sqm respectively. If you would prefer wood, our entire Planks & Parquet range can be used with underfloor heating, and wood would create a real feeling of warmth in the space. The other option would be a combination of the two! So wood effect porcelain tiles, such as our Reclaimed Oak Porcelain. I realise I've thrown a lot of options of you there, so please feel free to give us a call in the office and a member of our friendly team will be happy to have a chat with you about the different options. We can also send out free samples of the flooring as well, so you can get an idea of the look and feel of the stone and wood. If you are able to visit our Cotes Mill showroom in Loughborough as well we'd be happy to show you around. Best of luck with your project, we'd love to see the finished room! Sophie // Floors of Stone
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i-architect
3 years ago
Maybe you could get a robot vaccuum to help out?! Although I know I can't yet rely on something like that and I have a 5 yr old. There are too many little toys that need picking up first!

For the flooring, having something that is not cold to the touch is definitely a good consideration. Even more so when you have a little one crawling about on it. You could look at underfloor heating to help out that would extend your options, but this might not be possible technically and is much more expensive.

There are lots of more eco options than amtico. You could use marmoleum or rubber to get a similar finish but using more natural materials. Amtico is basically plastic and is really no different to any other vinyl floor finish. It's not great for the environment and it's not that special - they've just done a brilliant job at branding the company! Marmoleum and rubber use more natural rubber so they are much more sustainable.

Bamboo as mentioned by Laura above is lovely and pretty robust as well as fairly sustainable. Cork is also nice and also very eco, though it does need to have plenty of lacquer/varnish finish to make it robust enough for a kitchen. Both give more of a wooden look. You can also go for an engineered board, but that tends to be more expensive. A lot of wooden floor finishes are not suitable for kitchen use, because they're not resistant enough to wet.

You also need to take into account slip resistance. Vinyl flooring (including Amtico) that is specifically for use in wetter areas like kitchens should have a texture, which can be difficult to keep clean. I find rubber flooring tends to be better than vinyl to avoid slipping. But if you tend to wipe up any spills as soon as they happen and keep the floor mainly dry then this might not be high priority.

Another benefit that you get from either cork, marmoleum or rubber flooring is that they are a bit more forgiving if you drop something on them. You are less likely to smash the plate or cup than you would on a tile or something else that is harder, and you're less likely to damage the flooring too. They're not great though if you love to wear a stiletto heel!! If you do then you're better off with something harder.

I hope this helps!

Jane, i-architect.co.uk
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Dual Designs
3 years ago
It's been good to read the above comments and all interesting. The one thing that I'm alittle confused about though is that you trying to keep the charm in your Victorian home, but you seem to be going for an all modern look. No worries it can work, but are you going in the direction that you want?

A modern kitchen in a character house can work brilliantly with wood flooring, as it balances perfectly between the two.

All the best

Mark
Marta SOSNOWSKA
Original Author
3 years ago
Hi All, thank you so much for all your comments, I thought that I will share with you the decisions I made after reviewing your thoughts, given that the space is small and that we cannot have a shaker door because of how different all cabinets are, I decided that white matt handleless is a pragmatic choice that will blend in and also help with the small size of the room, but I decided to keep the period character by wooden floors and wooden worktops. Thank you all for your thoughts, it helped me to make these decisions

kitchen diner externtion 20sqm flooring

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Laura

stifen jenifer

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kitchen diner externtion 20sqm flooring

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Laura

stifen jenifer

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