Hardwood floor in kitchen?

[mickminmom]

Hi,

We are moving...so many decisions to make!

We are thinking of putting hardwood in the kitchen to match the rest of the house. It currently has very ugly brown ceramic tile. I do not want to stress about the floors though.

It has been soooo easy with our current kitchen and the vinyl floor. Oh, you wrote on the floor, threw tons of food on it, dropped a million sippy cups, spilled drinks, riding toys, pushing around the wood kitchen, chairs, table , stools,...never a big deal to me!

Thanks for any and all advice!

[teedeedee]

We bought a house that, oddly enough, only has hardwood in the kitchen. I haven't had any trouble with spills or anything like that. Even got marker off of them with little trouble. As long as they are sealed, you should be ok.

I will say that DH dropped a dish which broke and it dinged my floor. But, I'm betting it would have gouged vinyl or chipped tile too.

[lchang25000]

We have hardwood floors in the kitchen too and we've had no issues/problems with that. It matches with the rest of the main level.

[LarsMal]

We haven't had any problems with hardwood floors in the kitchen. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea- I thought food and stuff would get stuck in the grooves- but it's been fine. I actually really like them now!

[momof2girls]

We have hardwood in the kitchen. It is about 2 yrs old and I would not have chosen it if I could do it all over again. It is a dark stain so when it is not shiny clean it looks dull and dirty. I have a thing where I am never convinced a floor can be cleaned without using a liquid of some sort and, of course, too much liquid and wood do not mix. I am careful with it (use Bona only) but I am always wanting to just use a big ole mop and scrub it clean like tile. It just never feels really clean like tile. In addition, our late dog scratched it constantly with her claws just by walking, and I am paranoid with dirt and sand scratching it further when someone walks on it with shoes.
I am sure many do not share my opinion on kitchen hardwood, as I am a bit of a clean floor freak. (It's the one thing I kind of obssess over).

[geochick]

We have hard wood in the kitchen. The only time I even think about them is when an ice cube drops on the floor. I worry that a large amount of water can't be good. I put Waterhog mats (LLBean) under my ice maker and sink, so now I don't worry much at all. They're easy to care for. Mine are 5 years old.

[Toba]

Both we and my parents have Pergo in our kitchens. We've had ours longer and never had a problem with it. I think it looks gorgeous. We are slowly putting Pergo throughout the entire house (we did the first floor in one shot ... ouch). A good friend from high school now owns a carpet/flooring store and just about had a heart attach when I told him about the Pergo (he was even flipping about Pergo/hardwood in bathrooms ... which is already in the full bath on the first floor and will shortly (*fingers crossed) be in the full bath upstairs). All three bedrooms have natural, real hardwood flooring and when we moved in, a friend came over and sanding it down very well (this was about 14 years ago) and then DH spent about 3 or 4 days putting that clear coat stuff on (the name is escaping me ... that happens a lot lately *sigh*). It looks gorgeous. Even though the Pergo in the kitchen is about maybe 5 years old, it looks great. I have two very fluffy bath mats in there ... one under the sink, which can catch spills and another under our island where we have some heavy pots. Never had a problem with it and I love it.

PS: All our Pergo is a light maple and the bedrooms upstairs have a light/medium oak. I have to say, my family room is in Pergo (light maple) and we have VERY dark accessories in the room ... like leather dark chocolate bomber like furniture (it's not leather, but very rich chocolate brown with a texture of brown bomber leather jackets), black TV, black TV stand, black tables ... I think it looks fantastic. We only have two rooms with dark furniture (the family room and our bedroom, and I have to say that it looks awesome that way. It's almost like the furniture/accessories make the light wood on the floor pop and vice versa.

[bubbaray]

We have hardwood on most of our main floor, including the kitchen. Our issue with the flooring hasn't been with the kitchen, per se. Its been with the complete destruction of the floors brought about by the dog (see avatar). 80+ pounds of dog + hardwood, not a happy combination.

[LMPC]

We have dark hardwoods in our kitchen. I haven't had any issues with them -- I use Method to clean them and a cordless vacuum to pick up the larger things (e.g., Cheerios). I will say that dark wood shows scratches more than lighter stains IMO. But we take our shoes off in the house and don't have a dog (although I [heart] bubaray's!!).

[mickminmom]

Thanks, everyone! I feel better about our decision now! Appreciate the advice :)

[smiles33]

The one thing I didn't see anyone mention is the leg fatigue if you stand on hardwood for a few hours cooking/cleaning. DH and I both got really sore on our hardwood floor over concrete slab. We bought a huge commercial kitchen anti-fatigue mat for our gas range/kitchen sink area. Not very pretty (though DH bought a carpet remnant to go on top of the ugly black rubber).

I agree w/PP re: dogs and water, too. Still, it looks great!