What is the best flooring for the Kitchen?
When it comes to choosing the flooring for your kitchen, the options are seemingly limitless. While you have a wide variety of flooring options to choose from, not all of them are the best option for your kitchen.
When you start designing your kitchen, you should start with the floor. Not only is the floor a design statement on its own, but it also affects every other element of your kitchen’s design. Not only does the style of the flooring affect your decision, but the material of your flooring should play a significant part in that decision.
Types of Flooring
Concrete
For a ground-level kitchen, concrete is an inexpensive option. In many cases, a concrete slab will already be in place under the kitchen’s existing flooring. A concrete surface can receive many different overlays in a variety of ways, such as polishing, staining, or painting.
Cork
Cork is an extremely versatile material and is a surprisingly durable flooring option. If you want to go with an environmentally friendly material, consider cork. Cork is also hypoallergenic, and due to its natural ability to repel dust, hair, and other particles, it promotes higher indoor air quality. Cork is also naturally antimicrobial, as it contains a substance called suberin. Suberin aides in repelling small vermin and insects, and makes cork floors resistant to the growth and colonization of unwanted organisms. Cork also provides thermal insulation and is easy to clean and refinish, as well as provides a cushioned layer under your feet.
Linoleum
Linoleum is another durable and environmentally friendly material. Like other flooring materials, Linoleum comes in a wide variety of colors and styles. Linoleum also provides a cushioned layer under your feet while being resilient, biodegradable, and does not emit harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Due to the pigmentation of Linoleum throughout every layer, it easily camouflages any damage, such as scratches. If you want a low-maintenance flooring option, consider linoleum, which only needs occasional cleaning.
Tile
Tile is an easy to maintain type of flooring. Some tiles are coated with liquid glass, meaning that it’s easy to clean – making tile one of the most hygienic types of flooring out there. Tiles come in a wide variety of sizes, colors, textures, and styles. Ceramic tiles are environmentally friendly, as they don’t need to exploit environmental resources or use harsh chemicals in their production. Ceramic tiles are also chemical and temperature resistant, so they don’t rot when exposed to harsh chemicals and temperatures. Tile is also durable, and even after the installation costs, remains an affordable option.
Vinyl
Vinyl is one of the easiest to maintain and versatile types of flooring, as it is impenetrable to substances such as water. It is also insusceptible to stains and damage. For many Do-It-Yourselfers, vinyl is the flooring of choice, since it is inexpensive and easy to lay down on your own. Vinyl comes in many different styles, such as sheet vinyl, and vinyl tile, but can also mimic wood and come in planks that snap together.
Wood
Quite a bit happens in the kitchen that can damage wood flooring – dropping knives, and various other kitchen utensils, spilling liquids, heavy foot traffic, and more. However, if your wood flooring is properly treated and sealed, it can withstand the bumps and bruises that come with being a kitchen floor. Additionally, wood floors are more durable than you might think. A spill that is quickly cleaned up won’t damage your floor like standing water will. In many homes, wood floors last for 50 to 100 years or more, which increases the value of your home, and is attractive to the home buyer.
There are many types of flooring to consider for your kitchen. When choosing the best kind of flooring, some things to take into consideration are
- how heavy the traffic is in your kitchen
- how often you use your kitchen
- what your style is
- and if you are planning on eventually selling your home.
If you are having trouble deciding on a floor, talk to us, and we’ll be happy to point you in the right direction. We’ll point you in the right direction.
