Have you ever thought how to put your kitchen floor? Considering the spills and drips, heat and hot pan drops as well as the high traffic of footsteps, here are the durable kitchen flooring you can take into consideration.
Basically, choosing a flooring for kitchens must be aware and careful of the multiple hazards that may occur.
In this case, not all the flooring materials will be suitable to apply on this locations. Some types will be highly durable with less maintenance and others will not.
Therefore, keep balancing the function style and comfort is the key to help you choose the right option.
Hence, we come to share you the ideas of the durable kitchen flooring to consider.
Those include the hardwood, bamboo, ceramic tile, concrete, natural stone tile, linoleum and vinyl.
Each of these flooring types comes with their own characteristics including the strength and the downside so that you can evaluate them to pick up the one best type.
We also include the flooring maintenance for kitchens since kitchen is a place where you potentially drop cooking residues everywhere else on the floor.
Hardwood
Hardwood is a natural flooring material which is noticeably durable to apply on most locations.
However, it is limited to some areas with the high level of moisture and humidity, including kitchens.
So how could we recommend hardwood for your kitchen flooring?
For decades, hardwood is not good for kitchens and bathrooms due to the moisture issues.
However, many people were used to using the flooring in the kitchen because the modern technology has added sealers and polyurethane finishes to the floors to provide durability and ling lifespan.
In hardwood flooring, either solid hardwood planks or engineered wood flooring is added with the feature of hardwood veneer, making the floors more prone to moisture and stains than the other flooring types.
If you insist on using hardwood in your kitchen, you will see it is going to degrade over time.
The spills and splatters tend to occur causing stains. Despite the susceptibility of hardwood to such problems, people love the old look of a hardwood floor.
Furthermore, once a hardwood floor plank is getting damaged, it can be repaired, sanded and refinished so that people can always have a brand new look floors at their home.
In short, using hardwood flooring in the kitchen may be risky. However, those who love and keep using it will perform the professional maintenance and care.
They will also be careful to cook and do anything in the kitchen to avoid the loaded spills that lead the floors to an issue.
Read Also: Best Pet-Friendly Floor To Consider Installing
Maintenance And Repair For Kitchen Flooring
Once you make a decision on picking hardwood for your kitchen flooring, you must come to chek out the maintenance and repair information section since it is rather crucial to help you know on how to keep the floors well. In this regard, hardwood flooring is fairly easy to clean and maintain.
For kitchens, hardwood can also be easily installed by connecting the boards tightly against one to another.
Make sure the hardwood boards are well-sealed to prevent the moisture from penetrating.
As a result, you will be able to maintain the floors easily and simply that is by sweeping and wiping up the floors using the hardwood cleaner.
However, installing hardwood in the kitchen cannot meet your expectation unless you can perform the right and proper maintenance as we have mentioned above.
Scratches and traffic wear as well as other common issues can occur and compromise the seal coat.
The moisture and even the stains can lead to permanent damages. Certain types of hardwood are not suitable for kitchens application.
In this case, the prefinished hardwood flooring usually comes with the beveled edges, allowing the flooring to have grooves that potentially let the water to seep down the boards.
However, this will never happen as long as you seal the hardwood properly without any interruption on the top coat of polyurethane.
Though hardwood is hard, it can still be prone to scratching. This flooring can even get damaged by the pets’ claws and common wear and tear.
So make sure you opt the hardwood type which can be sanded and refinished.
In this case, the solid hardwood will be better than the engineered hardwood. Solid hardwood will stand out to fight against the damaged while engineered hardwood less able to do that.
Further, the process of refinishing the hardwood includes the light screening to take out the surface finish so that the more aggressive sanding can be successfully done.
This is aimed to remove the thin layer of hardwood to avoid scratching and other damages.
Bamboo
The second flooring listed in the durable kitchen flooring is bamboo which is rather similar to the hardwood especially for the feel and look.
One thing that differ the bamboo from the hardwood is the manufacturing process that makes the bamboo more resistant to water and moisture damage.
Bamboo is now increasing the number of usage due to the durability that is bit higher than the hardwood.
Some of the downsides you may derive from installing bamboo in your kitchen is the expensive price and the difficulty to refinish.
This is because bamboo comes with no natural grain for manufacturing the material. Though the bamboo can be probably refinished, it needs the professional installer helps.
Ceramic Tile Durable Kitchen Flooring
Ceramic tile has been considered as the most durable option for kitchen flooring because of the shaped, glazed and fired natural clay constructing it.
Ceramic tile is designed with the strong characteristics such as water and stain resistance.
Porcelain is one of the ceramic tiles which is highly resistant not only to the heat but also to the breakage.
Porcelain can stand out well and show only a little change to its function and look due to the overtime usage.
True to its design, ceramic tiles comes with a wide selections of colors, sizes, shapes, mosaics and faux natural patterns in order to provide you with the wide range of design options.
The only drawback of this ceramic tile lies on its cold building material underfoot though there has been a radiant heating system applied just beneath the tiles.
People say that they often feel the floor is too hard though they have laid a rug in the areas.
Concrete Durable Kitchen Flooring
Out of the durable options for kitchen flooring, concrete is considered perfect for ground-level kitchen. This way, concrete floor is not only cheap but also long-lasting.
The concrete surface is usually polished, stained and treated in so many ways in order to create a stylish and attractive flooring.
Make sure the subfloor has been added with the concrete slab applied beneath the existing floor coverings if you want to use concrete for kitchen flooring.
If not, you must pour the slab over the subfloor surfaces. Typically, concrete floor is used on kitchens with modern style.
The concrete downside to help you think twice before applying the concrete is the coldness and hardness of the floor.
Truly, people feel that the floors are too hard and cold to feel. Further, it has a low resale value if you want to sell your home.
Natural Stone Tile Durable Kitchen Flooring
Now if you are looking for a flowing material that is actually as hard as rock, natural stone tile is the option.
Due to the fact that natural stone is rock, it is strongly durable and long-lasting flooring option you can take into kitchen flooring consideration.
In this case, the varieties of natural stone include granite, marble, slate, travertine, limestone and also sandstone.
Thanks to the design that makes this flooring look so luxurious in the kitchens, especially the granite and marble that particularly have an attractive veining to create a unique appearance.
Natural stone tile often be the plus point when you are going to sell your home due to the luxury look. In the other wood, natural stone tile has a good resale value.
In fact, the downside of natural stone tile lies on its susceptibility to liquid stain and water penetration.
Remember, water and stains are the most common problems occurring on the kitchen floors.
However, the best solution can be taken by applying the stone sealer to create an invisible coat. This will be a great protection for the stone in fighting against the issues.
In this case, you need to re-applied the sealer regularly to keep the flooring looking good.
There are different types of natural stone tiles you can recognize dealing with the properties, hardness, scratch resistance, high durability and long lifespan.
Slate and granite which are the examples of natural stone tiles can even last for decades as long as you maintain them properly and professionally.
On the other hand, Travertine and sandstone which are the other types of stone tiles are more prone to wear overtime. However, they can still last for many years.
In most cases, the polished marble is likely to degrade quickly along with the experience to scratch and stain.
So, select the types of natural stone tile carefully to have the long-lasting flooring for kitchens.
Linoleum Durable Kitchen Flooring
Linoleum is also listed as one of the durable kitchen flooring that is still widely used today.
Linoleum had been popularly used as kitchen flooring since 50 years ago, proving that this flooring type was much considerable for decades.
Linoleum is constructed from all-natural linseed oil, allowing it to be eco-friendly, easy to care for and maintain.
Noticeably, if you care for this linoleum flooring, it can even last for 40 years to come.
Isn’t this incredible?
When it comes to water damaged, there is nothing to neglect that linoleum is prone to get damaged because of the water immersion.
In every day usage, linoleum will be just alright. However, when the flood occurs and attack the floors, you cannot expect to see it okay.
Flood can occur from the appliance breaking or pipe bursting. This lead to ruin the whole installation.
To keep the linoleum flooring looking good, you must avoid the low-quality bargain-basement linoleum choice due to the fact it could curl when it comes to face humidity.
Read Also: Best Flooring For Radiant Heating System To Make More Comfort
Vinyl Durable Kitchen Flooring
So you are thinking of installing vinyl on your kitchen?
Believe it or not, vinyl is one of the most preferable choices for kitchen flooring options listed in the durable kitchen flooring.
Vinyl is a man-made flooring material which is noticeably resistant to stains, damages and water issues. It also offers the easiest way of installation and lowest maintenance.
Keeping the vinyl looking good will just require you to perform the regular cleaning including sweeping and vacuuming the dirt, dust and debris.
For more intense cleansing, periodic maintenance can be carried out by damp mopping using the specific cleaner product designed particularly for vinyl flooring.
In relation to kitchen flooring, some manufacturers producing vinyl along with the warranties that are up to 20 years.
In fact, vinyl flooring really lasts long. It will start wearing and fading after the 7 to 10 years usage.
Besides, Vinyl is also the cheapest flooring options you can consider purchasing.
Thanks also to the availability of DIY option that allows you to install the vinyl by yourself so that you can cut off your budget for the flooring project.
Truly, vinyl flooring is the ideal choice for many kinds of kitchen designs.
It is also suitable even for you with the big family that potentially comes with the thigh foot traffics. You can also expect to replace it every few years or up to your preference.
The modern vinyl versions are now called luxury vinyl flooring or LVF.
This is a new vinyl flooring type that offers a high quality flooring material.
Noticeably, there are many different options of styles that resembles the look of wood and stone tile flooring.
On the other hand, the older version of vinyl is popularly coming as a bargain flooring.
Luxury vinyl flooring is widely used in upper-end homes. It is available in both snap-together tiles and planks.
So, the choice is on your hands.
