Tile or laminate?

[cindi]

I prefer hardwood over tile for a kitchen. Hardwood floors are much warmer to the feet, and in Bismarck, that would be a big factor for me. They are also easier on the body for standing a long time. Other advantages include not having to deal with grout (cleaning, sealing, etc.) and items don't break so easily when dropped on wood.

Just more food for thought.

Kurt

Yeah, thanks. Give me yet MORE to think about. ;-0

I would absolutely LOVE to carry the hardwood all the way into the kitchen, but wouldn't that be even worse than putting laminate in for water damage? I really wish I could. Someone tell me that I can, please?

Anyone want a bulldog? :rofl:

 

[cindi]

We've been in an on-going remodeling project for 17 years.

Yikes!

If you go with a light finish, scratches don't show as much. Dark finishes, although beautifully dramatic, show more dust, lint and scratching.

Good to know. Makes sense. And of course I prefer dark......

 

[yoohoo]

We had a laminate floor that we thought was hardwood. We had to clean up any water spills right away. Otherwise it would stain. When we took up the floor to replace it with tile, we found out that it was mostly cardboard. The tile floor does look better than the laminated floor that we had. We went with tile instead of hardwood because the living room, family room, and dining room were already hardwood. As others have pointed out breakable things will break on a tile floor and mostly bounced off of our laminate floor.

If you are going to spend moeny on granite, spend money on either hardwood or tile. The thing about laminate you can tell that it is a laminate unless you buy the really good stuff. In that case you may as well go with hardwood or tile.

 

[Kal]

I would absolutely LOVE to carry the hardwood all the way into the kitchen, but wouldn't that be even worse than putting laminate in for water damage? I really wish I could. Someone tell me that I can, please?

Anyone want a bulldog? :rofl:

We have always had dogs that splash water around when drinking. Even wet human and pet foot prints when coming in from outside wet weather is never a problem. We have never had any staining or marking even if we sop up the mess when we get a round tuit.

A good polyurethane (Swedish) finish will absolutely seal all the seams and pores in the hardwood. That's what gives the gorgeous appearance! The only thing we worry about is water going under the cabinets and having an impact to those structures.

The laminate is a very different product without total sealing like Swedish finished hardwood.

 

[Htoo0]

Cindi, have you looked at the wood plank tile which use very small grout lines yet?