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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 12:48pm | IP Logged
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OK...my kitchen flooring is ruined...so I need to replace it.
What has worked best for you? We've always had linoleum, but now dh wants to get laminate flooring through the entire downstairs of our house. I have no idea how that would work in a well-used kitchen (we cook a LOT). Also, I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive supplier for whatever we choose.
All suggestions and comments appreciated!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Christine
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
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I am very happy with the pergo flooring in our kitchen and dining room. It is approximately 11 years old (it was already here when we bought our house) and still looks almost new. I try to sweep it once a day ~ I have some messy little eaters. Spills are easily cleaned with warm water, a vinegar and water solution, or Windex. I didn't like the results I had when I cleaned the floor with a mop ~ it looked dingy. Thus, I clean any spills on my hands and knees (my children enjoy helping me).
Good luck making your decision.
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stefoodie
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don't pick tile!!! if you cook a LOT, the unforgiving surface is just terrible on your knees and back. i know lots of people (including my hubby, but then he doesn't have to cook) love them for ease of cleanup and its resistance to wear and tear, but i'd pick hardwood first, second laminate, over tile.
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JennGM
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Nancy,
Is this the house in MD or present house? I'm not a gourmet cook, but spend a lot of time in the kitchen. My choices would be exactly as Stef's. I dislike laminate because of the "plastic" sound. I also think about resell value...people want wood. Our last house we put wood in the kitchen and it did wonderfully. I only put a few throw rugs near areas like the sink and fridge to keep down spills.
If you do go with laminate, Costco sells some...of course, it would be DIY or hire someone to install.
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Rachel May
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 8:15pm | IP Logged
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Hooray for saying goodbye to linoleum!
I have a friend who wants brick flooring in her kitchen like her mom has. She says it's easy to clean and has lasted a long time with occasional resealing.
Here's a picture.
I don't know what it's like to stand on.
I'm sad about the tile, Steph. That's my dream (spanish tile), but it would be a bad idea since I rarely wear shoes.
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Rachel
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5athome
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| Posted: April 08 2006 at 10:18pm | IP Logged
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Our previous house had Pergo in the kitchen. It held up really well but did get a few dings if we dropped something heavy like a pot lid.
We now have tile in our new house and I hate it. It is hard on your back and so slippery for the little ones if the smallest amount of water is dropped.
If I had the money, hard wood would be my first choice.
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Elizabeth
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Rachel May wrote:
I'm sad about the tile, Steph. That's my dream (spanish tile), but it would be a bad idea since I rarely wear shoes. |
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I have a friend who is a pediatric physical therapist who has told me horror stories about what happens when rowdy boys slip on tiled kitchen floors. I'll never get tile! And I'm with Stef and doing anything possible to protect my legs and back.
Rachel, put your shoes on, really. My last pregnancy taught me that all pregnant women should support their arches with good, comfortable shoes, all the time. I was a barefoot girl too. Now I have chronic pain from damage done to my foot when I was pregnant with Katie. All the doctors just shake their heads and say, "You should have worn shoes." But no one told me that in seven pregnancies or certification classes to be a childbirth educator!
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Dawn
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KitCat wrote:
| I am very happy with the pergo flooring in our kitchen and dining room. |
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We're replacing linoleum in the kitchen and carpet in the dining room with *either* hardwood *or* Pergo. Dh wants the wood, while I lean toward Pergo, because it seems it would be easier to maintain ... ?
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JennGM
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Rachel May wrote:
I have a friend who wants brick flooring in her kitchen like her mom has. She says it's easy to clean and has lasted a long time with occasional resealing.
Here's a picture.
I don't know what it's like to stand on.
I'm sad about the tile, Steph. That's my dream (spanish tile), but it would be a bad idea since I rarely wear shoes. |
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Are there different degrees of "hardness" for tiled floors? Would Adobe or Spanish tile be different that other tile? How about brick?
My grandmother had brick floors in Houston. I loved them...but then, I didn't do any cooking in her kitchen back then.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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SaraP
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| Posted: April 09 2006 at 1:14pm | IP Logged
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Quote:
| I'm sad about the tile, Steph. That's my dream (spanish tile), but it would be a bad idea since I rarely wear shoes. |
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I've always had ceramic tile in the kitchen and spend a lot of time there (with shoes) and haven't had any problems . . . except that every dish and glass I drop is a gonner! My last house had beautiful spanish tile and I LOVED it because it never, ever looked dirty. I imagine brick would be the same.
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guitarnan
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I know I don't want tile; my parents have it, and not only does the glass or dish break when dropped, the tile cracks and is extremely difficult to replace. (I am a total klutz, too  .)
It's the MD house. I'm afraid to do something with hardwood because there is a big chance we'll have to rent the house out one more time. Most of my tenants have not been very good about caring for the house, and I would have a hard time, under Maryland law, collecting for damages to the floor unless big chunks were gouged out. Maryland law is very tenant-friendly.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Rachel May
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guitarnan wrote:
Maryland law is very tenant-friendly.
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I hate to say it but I'm glad to hear this. We had a little plumbing incident and there is now a 2' by 3' hole in the drywall on two sides (the wall between the dining room and the bathroom was just wide enough to fit the pipe which is how we hit it with a nail  ). And I promise to consider wearing shoes for the rest of my pregnancy (it may only be a few more hours anyway  ), but can I take them off after?
It's good to hear about the issues with tile, I had never heard any of this stuff before so someday I will be prepared.
Nancy, can you go for linoleum again for now and wait until you know you get to stay in your house for sure to get the good stuff?
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Rachel
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guitarnan
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Rachel, did you tell your landlord about this? If you fixed it independently, you should be able to patch the drywall too...but I'd tell the landlord. This doesn't fall into the "normal wear and tear" category, which means the landlord could charge you to repair and repaint the drywall that was damaged. (We had a situation in our house that was like this.) If you know how to repair it yourselves, you might be able to save some money later on when you move. My property manager says that there are even websites where you plug in job details and painting contractors bid on them.
PM me for more info on what your security deposit can/can't be used to pay for. I'm getting a lot of experience in this area!
I think we're veering away from linoleum. It doesn't hold up if any heavy items need to be moved. When we put the kitchen flooring in, the painters tore it (grrr!) when they moved the fridge without a dolly. (Never mind that silly girly me TOLD them they HAD to use one!!!) Then, my tenant tore big gouges into it when he moved a large Japanese piece of furniture out of the dining area. This linoleum didn't even last 2 years because people weren't careful.
The house we're in now has had 2 other families in it before us and the laminate flooring in the living/dining area is in very good shape. I can't figure out how to clean it effectively, but it's resisted gouging quite well.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Rachel May
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 11:21am | IP Logged
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guitarnan wrote:
| The house we're in now has had 2 other families in it before us and the laminate flooring in the living/dining area is in very good shape. I can't figure out how to clean it effectively, but it's resisted gouging quite well. |
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How do dishes "bounce" off laminate?
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Rachel
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jdostalik
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 1:27pm | IP Logged
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We have pergo in our kitchen and it is definitely a more durable alternative than hardwood. We have had the floor for about 5 years and there are a few dings where something hard has been dropped. Dishes don't bounce on pergo--they usually break, though I have had a few "miracles" that I'm sure wouldn't have occurred with tile.
One caveat, if you have little kids and find spills in the kitchen that they haven't cleaned up properly, that could be a problem with pergo...we have some areas (near fridge) where the floor is buckling a bit from water damage. You also must be careful if you put it in your laundry room--no wet towels on the floor--it will cause buckling to the laminate as well...This would be worse with hardwoods.
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Sarah
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| Posted: April 10 2006 at 2:41pm | IP Logged
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We have had Pergo, tile, vinyl, and now we have new oak floors. This has been in several houses over the years.
Pergo is great, but has a fake feel to it. It doesn't mop well--can look filmy. I think it costs about the same as wood. It really holds up, though.
Tile mops up well. We had one kid with stitches, though.
There are textured types now that aren't as slick.
Vinyl is cheap and rips and is just BAD.
And now with wood it cleans up nice, is soft to stand on but dropping things leaves dings. You also have your choice of regular or engineered wood. The eng. wood is real wood parts pressed together--its Pergo-ish looking. We have it in the basement here. I think its more resistant to dings and scratches. We have regular wood upstairs.
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Topic: Kitchen flooring
