Question for anyone with wood floors in their kitchen

seidperson

Apr 10, 2015 at 6:01am Edited

For our reno, we are planning to get wood floors. We have considered laminate and the tile that looks like wood, but we have our hearts sets on true wood. I have a few questions, the first about color. We have honey-colored oak throughout the rest of our first floor. Plus we are doing white cabinetry, so I'd like somewhat darker, walnut-colored wood. Have you had issues with keeping floors clean if you have darker wood? What color did you do? Does dust constantly show up? My second q is about durability.... Is there anything to help make wood floors more durable, e.g., mat around sink? Anything?

afa

Apr 10, 2015 at 6:14am

Can't speak to wood, but our previous kitchen floor was a mid-toned "oak" laminate floor and didn't show a darn thing. We have dark, almost black floor tiles now MUCH more shows on them--crumbs, drips, etc. Drove me nuts at first but now at least I know when my floor is dirty.

kmk

Apr 10, 2015 at 6:29am

Not wood but....we have dark cork floors and white cabinetry. Love them both. I put in cork so it would blend with the wood floors in the adjacent rooms but be a bit different as well. It's a natural product and it is "of the era" for most of these houses.

The naturally mottled pattern to the cork hides all sorts of particles until I sweep ;-)

knowlton

Apr 10, 2015 at 6:36am

I had lightish wood on my kitchen floor. Showed no dirt. Was fab. No problems

luigi

Apr 10, 2015 at 6:37am

We have wood in or kitchen - it is a golden stained wood. The floor has held up great and we installed it 11 years ago. We did put a mat in front of the sink to catch water drips but other than that we have not done anything special. It is not too cold in winter and in terms of keeping it clean it is easier than tile as there are no grout lines that can hold dirt or stains.

bunnymom

Apr 10, 2015 at 7:20am

We have wood floors in the kitchen, a very light honey colored. It shows some dents where we have dropped very heavy items. It's hard to see dirt on this color but, basically it has held up really well over 10 years. The only problem we've had is by the dishwasher. We once had a flooding issue with the dishwasher and there is very minor buckling by that area. We have a very dark walnut stain throughout the rest of the house and it doesn't show the dirt at all. I love wood floors! They add a warmth to the room.

mjh

Apr 10, 2015 at 7:23am

I love our wood-floor kitchen, but I do recommend a mat or rug in front of the sink. Our floor needs refinishing in areas that get wet (by the sink and the door to the deck). We're not very careful, so your mileage may vary.

Our floors are lighter colored and look pretty clean even when they are not. My past experience with darker-stained floors was not good in terms of showing dust/dog hair/crumbs etc.

smurfette

Apr 10, 2015 at 7:29am

I had a different experience with a mat on the floors. I found that we didn't notice drips since the mat absorbed them. What was happening is that the mat didn't dry out between drips and the backing would get wet. Our floor ended up ever so slightly warped where the mat was. I pitched the mat. The area dried out and is fine now. Without the mat, we can see drips and address them.

Glover

Apr 10, 2015 at 7:33am

Well. my wood kitchen floor is about 200 years old and is holding up very well. Of course it has a few dents . . .

joanne

Apr 10, 2015 at 8:19am

We've been here about 3 years, and the wood floor was installed just before us. Guess you'd call it 'cedar red' in colour. First year was great but this past 12 months it shows every drip, drop or stain and also sun fading from the window and the open back door. (Remember, we're in the sub-tropics) And it should be easy to mop but frankly it takes two washes each time - once to clean and once to dry/shine so it's even.

We have a mat in front of the sink, should probably have one in front of the fridge and stove except I'm worried about trip hazards. We do address spillages as they happen but there are always messes that occur that you don't notice until later (especially when you're not home but someone else in the family is).

Knowing our landlord, I'd say he bought cheap, probably didn't buy sensibly for a commercial rental home and installed himself and that's a huge part of the problem. Make sure that whatever you buy is actually suitable for the location and use (not just 'kitchen flooring'), and have it professionally installed.

galileo

Apr 10, 2015 at 12:04pm Edited

Most of our older Map/SO colonials were built with wood floors throughout including the kitchen.. If you can pull up what is covering your kitchen floor you might be surprised.Mine are the genuine thing, lovely oak.

grayhill

Apr 10, 2015 at 12:22pm

I have mass-market but real wood in my present kitchen, along with most of the rest of my house--that is, Armstrong/Bruce Dundee strip oak, sort of honey colored, the kind of flooring readily available at HD but in this case installed by the builder about four years ago. It is heavily polyurethaned, I think, so can be wiped clean pretty easily but cannot really be washed with a mop because water gets between the boards and would warp them. It has stayed shiny but does show water spots and any other spills readily. I keep a rather attractive but fake Persian rug in front of the sink both for comfort when I’m standing there and to protect the floor somewhat, but I notice that the wood under the rug looks pretty much the same as the wood around it so apparently the wood everywhere is holding up quite well with regular use. That is, it has stayed fairly shiny. it does dent, however. Overall, I like how it looks, fake Persian rug and all. I suspect better quality wood flooring would be wasted in my kitchen and/or require a lot more maintenance than I am interested in providing. I had always wanted a wood floor in my kitchen, and think anyone who likes the look can find a practical way to achieve it.

son_of_soma

Apr 10, 2015 at 12:55pm

We have light oak floors in our kitchen. Doesn't show dirt at all. We refinished with a high end product -- Bona HD. It's more expensive but is tough and stays beautiful. We have dogs as well and it continues to look beautiful after 4 years. No problems around sink, I think because of the high end finish. Was worth the extra expense (and I needed some convincing).

seaweed

Apr 10, 2015 at 1:13pm

I have bamboo flooring in my condo kitchen and while it looks great, my tenant once clogged and flooded the dishwasher and lots of water made it under the floor boards.. Needless to say, the wood became slightly warped in those sections... I love hardwood and might do it again in my own kitchen, but you do have to be extra careful about any water in certain areas as @mjh mentioned above...

grahamb

Apr 10, 2015 at 2:51pm

In our kitchen we have white cabinets and oak floors stained a dark walnut. No issues with it looking dirty or dusty. We run a stick vac over it a couple times a week and a cleaning crew come every other week. With a 5 and 3 year old, we're not exactly gentle on them. There are a few scratches around the table but overall it looks great. Wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

mumstheword

Apr 10, 2015 at 3:33pm

I put vinyl wood planks on my kitchen floor and everybody thinks it's real wood. It matches perfectly the color of my solid wood floors in the living and dining rooms. And very easy to keep clean.

TigerLilly

Apr 10, 2015 at 4:34pm

For those with wood floors in the kitchen and wood floors in surrounding rooms, do they clash or look "unmatched"?

calliope

Apr 10, 2015 at 4:38pm

I have honey colored red oak, that matches the rest of the floors in the house. I have a dog with big muddy paws,and clean-up is a breeze. I also find it to be warm,both physically and aesthetically. My kitchen reno was in 2003, and the floor looks like brand new.

calliope

Apr 10, 2015 at 4:40pm

@TigerLilly, mine match because I had all the floors refinished when the kitchen floor was installed.

TarheelsInNj

Apr 10, 2015 at 5:24pm

We have oak floors in the kitchen and they don't look too dirty. Fortunately, because they certainly are oh oh

The rest of our floors are pine and can't be refinished, so we got as close as it could. They do look unmatched but I don't think it's so unusual for a kitchen to have different flooring anyway. We did make sure the floorboards run the same way so that helps.

And yes, we have a mat in front of the sink to help with water spillage.

mim

Apr 11, 2015 at 3:20pm

My parents had pre-finished wood flooring installed in their kitchen. It was gorgeous when new, but showed wear after just a few years. Mother walked constantly between the sink, stove and fridge, and after a few years, you could see those paths in the finish of the floor. Not terrible, but not great either -- and it would not have happened with some kind of resilient, man-made flooring.

tourn

Apr 12, 2015 at 5:58pm Edited

Golden oak to match rest of house. Polyurethane sealed. No problems with water even after a plumbing leak. But chairs need felt on feet or the poly wears off. DIY project, so there is probably a better way to finish. Color hides dirt very well.

Rivoli

Apr 16, 2015 at 9:00am

Cork is another great solution for kitchens. It's warm underfoot, strong, comes in lots of different colors and costs about the same as wood, I think. I was also told it's naturally anti-allergenic and bug-repellent. oh oh

Tom_Reingold

Apr 16, 2015 at 9:39am

I don't remember what kind of wood we used when we put in a new floor in our kitchen in Maplewood. It did get pretty stained in just a few years. We used polyurethane to protect it.

Now we've rediscovered tung oil. It doesn't last as long as other finishes, but it is entirely non-toxic and very easy to apply. It even smells pretty nice. Since I'm crazy, I tested the non-toxicity by tasting it. It was fine. *emoticon*

Dove

Apr 22, 2015 at 6:28am

We recently refinished wood floors in our kitchen that we rescued from under two layers of plywood and linoleum. We stained them Special Walnut by Minwax to match the rest of the house. They are beautiful! But almost immediately, our radiator leaked steaming water all over them and we had to refinish them again.

I'm glad to not have the ugly floor we had before, but I would never PUT wood floors in a kitchen after that experience.

pmartinezv

Apr 22, 2015 at 6:32am

Dove said:
We recently refinished wood floors in our kitchen that we rescued from under two layers of plywood and linoleum. We stained them Special Walnut by Minwax to match the rest of the house. They are beautiful! But almost immediately, our radiator leaked steaming water all over them and we had to refinish them again.
I'm glad to not have the ugly floor we had before, but I would never PUT wood floors in a kitchen after that experience.

That is my biggest concern with wood floors. In my condo in JC I had a couple of leaks in our living room that totally destroyed the floors and they had to be replaced and refinished multiple times. Water and wood don't go together in my opinion. Is like marble counters in the kitchen. Yes beautiful, but not for those who truly want to use a kitchen for its intended purpose (IMHO). Or I may just be a really messy cook.

gerryl

Apr 22, 2015 at 6:51am

I have the same concern about wood floor. One thing I really don't like about all the upscale stuff we are suppose to do in our houses, I find them to take extra care or time. I hate the water spots on the granite counter in my bathroom. I don't know what we are going to do when we finally get around to doing our kitchen.

PeggyC

Apr 22, 2015 at 6:53am Edited

We've had two houses with wood floors in the kitchen and are closing on yet another one next week (holy crap, it's next week???). Anyway, we have had no problem with it, ever. I can see that it might be more challenging if you have kids or spill a lot, but major leaks are a rare occurrence. So I've never worried about it.