You spend a lot of time in your kitchen, preparing food, entertaining, and cleaning up. That means you and your guests spend time on your kitchen floor and it gets a fair amount of use. In today’s blog we’re going to discuss different kitchen flooring types pros and cons to help you come to the best decision for your home.
Tile Kitchen Floors
This is probably the most common flooring choice for Tampa flooring in the kitchen but it has it’s drawbacks. The first is how unforgiving it is when you drop anything glass on it. You are guaranteed at least a broken bowl or glass and sometimes a broken tile as well. The other common negative to choosing tile flooring in your kitchen is how slippery it can be when wet. Because of how hard it is, some people find it difficult to stand on for long periods of time.
On the other hand, there are some very good reasons to choose tile flooring. It’s easy to clean and water doesn’t negatively impact tile floors. Most tile flooring resists scratching so if your home has large pets, tile may be a great option for you.
Hardwood Flooring and Engineered Wood Flooring
We love wood flooring and if you’re able to keep up with the maintenance, it is a great option for any room in your home, not just the kitchen. Of course the biggest negative to hardwood flooring in the kitchen is water. Water is an enemy to hardwood flooring. If you have pet dishes that sit on the floor and often have water around them, hardwood flooring would not be the best choice. Engineered wood flooring is slightly more tolerant to moisture.
Another con to choosing hardwood flooring in the kitchen is that depending upon the wood you choose, it can be scratched and dented more easily than other flooring option. Even the hardest wood won’t take it well if a knife or other sharp tool is dropped. The same goes for engineered wood because the wear layer is only as hard as the hardwood used.
If your home is an open concept where your living space flows into your kitchen, you may want to consider engineered or hardwood flooring. When you have the same flooring throughout an open area, the area seems larger and connected. So a big pro to choosing wood for your kitchen is to bring harmony to a large open space.
Luxury Vinyl Tile
If you want the look of tile but have been swayed against using tile because of it’s unforgiving nature, LVT might be the perfect flooring type for you. Luxury vinyl tile is durable and relatively water resistant. It comes in a variety of styles, patterns, and even textures thanks to today’s 3D printing techniques. Compared to tile and hardwood flooring LVT is less expensive. Some of the negatives to choosing LVT is that it is a man-made product and depending upon the manufacturer you may see an expected life of anywhere from ten to thirty years, much less than tile or hardwood flooring.
There are other types of flooring like laminate and vinyl that you may consider for your kitchen but the best options are LVT, tile, and wood. The right choice for you depends on your budget and lifestyle. If you’re considering new kitchen flooring for your home, Seer Flooring would be happy to discuss the pros and cons of the different flooring types based on your needs. Give us a call today to schedule your in home consultation at (727) 785-1930.