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Hardwood floors or porcelain tiles in kitchen?

8 years ago

What looks nicer hardwood floors or porcelain tiles in a kitchen. The family room is open to the kitchen and it does have a threshold separating the kitchen from the family room.

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Comments (5)

Dutchmother Coursey
8 years ago
I like both, so perhaps it is a matter of preference- that is, which do YOU want? We have wood in our kitchen, and I love it. We have tile in our bathrooms, and I love it, too. Or a nice compromise might be those wood-look tiles. I've seen them in houses and loved the look! But if you go with wood in the kitchen, I strongly advise multiple coats of polyurethane. I put 4 coats of oil-based on ours to protect it from water. I have 3 boys, and we get a lot of water on our floor!
stewy2you
8 years ago
Tiles
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PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
8 years ago
"Looks nicer" = wood (for today's design aesthetics). The question of "looks" is in the eye of the beholder. A 'perfectionist' has a hard time living with a floor that will age, dent, scratch and "patina" like wood. A laid back soul does well with the same wood floor.

It is more about appropriate floor than "looks". Looks work well in design books...but if it doesn't fit the owner's expectations, then the looks turn "crappy".

The "looks" of the rest of the space will also dictate which "looks" better. If you live in a log cabin with 5 different woods inside of 900sf of living space, a tile or stone floor might be rather refreshing. A stone castle in Germany with 900 year old stone/plaster walls looks nicer with wood floors - because it adds warmth to the space.

....eye of the beholder.
alinaforeva
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you for your comments and the advice on the extra coating! I will probably go with the hardwood floors because I love the look. Thanks again!
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M Squared Flooring & Design Centre
8 years ago
If you are looking to put a hardwood flooring product in your kitchen, then I suggest you get a wood specie that can be distressed. A wirebrushed wood flooring will hide scratches better in the long run and depending on the level of distressing that is done to it will actually get pretties as it ages. Also because it is not a smooth finish to begin with you won't be worried about dropping things and denting or scratching the floor.

To protect your floors from water spots, place a small mat under feet at your sink and your dishwasher. These days most pre-finished hardwood flooring products are designed to go into the kitchens anyway. If you are getting a prefinished wood flooring, you won't be able to add a layer of finish on top. If you are doing a site finish floor, then you should put an extra coat of finish on it since site finished flooring will have less finish on top than the prefinished varieties to begin with.

Hope this helps.

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