Choosing Your Replacement Kitchen Flooring

Choosing your replacement kitchen floor material is a process that requires a great deal of forethought. You should take in to account a variety of factors that might be unique for your particular situation. There are many flooring materials that are available when it comes to kitchen floor selection, the most common of which are tile, wood and linoleum. Beyond the look of your floor, you need to address the issue of long term durability while selecting your kitchen floor material. Of course you also need to take into account the cost and practicality of the floor material you choose. So ultimately it comes down to affordability, look, feel, and durability, especially given that your kitchen floor will have to deal with moisture and stain possibilities from kitchen spills.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tiles are a great choice when it comes to kitchen flooring. An important fact to bear in mind is that there are several tile types. Those which are unglazed may be more difficult to maintain than glazed tiles. You can also decide on your floor tiles depending on how much or how often you will be using the kitchen in your house. In a kitchen which will have potential for more spills and the resulting stains, glazed tiles almost always make a better choice. Ceramic tiles will also hold up quite well to the wear and tear of a high traffic kitchen.

When selecting and installing ceramic tiles in your kitchen make sure you are looking at and choosing floor tiles. In case you did not realize it, there is a big difference. Floor tiles are almost always thicker and therefore more durable. Ensure that your tile flooring is adequately sealed, as a failure to do so will almost assuredly results in stained grout and/or tiles.

Wood Flooring

There has been a trend towards wood flooring in kitchens in recent years. If you choose wood flooring in your kitchen you will want to make a conscious decision between traditional solid wood flooring and laminated wood flooring. There are many who feel that laminated wood is more appropriate than a solid wooden one due to the increased chance in a kitchen that the floor will be exposed to moisture. Solid wood flooring is a personal favorite of mine, but I can understand why it is not everyone’s favorite choice.

Linoleum

The old fallback is a linoleum (aka vinyl flooring). You can go with a full sheet type linoleum flooring or linoleum tiles, and either is very likely to be a cheaper solution than either tile or wood based flooring. An drawing point of linoleum is the virtually endless choice of patterns and designs. You can even select from vinyl flooring having wood or tile finish. Additionally, linoleum withstands wear and tear quite well. Of course repairing a tear in full sheet linoleum is just a flat out pain.

Other Flooring Choices

A few other alternatives include slate, terracotta and stone. Each comes with their own advantages and drawbacks but can really accentuate a kitchen quite well. Just be aware that there are many options and don’t fall in to choosing a basic flooring because you were not aware of the wide variety or alternative. Your kitchen floor can be as dynamic as your imagination.

The beautiful tile kitchen floor in the image at the top of the post comes from Hodger’s photo stream.