help me choose a kitchen floor... are floorboads an option?

[treacletart]

Our new kitchen going in end of August. Classic small sq kitchen of 30s semi. Have gone for Ikea white gloss units, oak tops, 2 walls putty painted toungue and grooving with open shelves and other 2 white gloss metro tile splashbacks with white above. Haven't thought out flooring at all. Rest of downstairs will be stripped original floorboards and DH is thinking we can do the same in kitchen. I'm guessing if we use a tough enough varnish its not an impossibility - and will be an economic option (budget is tight).

But am I right to be worried by slugs and draughts? Would these problems be any worse in the kitchen than the other rooms? Why do so few people go for floorboards in kitchen? My other thought is to go for a grey slate, but I'm worried this will get costly and time consuming to fit - think floorboards will need to come up before ply goes down to avoid step into kitchen and we'll be without a kitchen for another week ..

Gah I'm really stressing about this - any thoughts? I'm after neutral coloured texture and character and I'm not keen on fakey looylikey materials.

[elmofan]

Bumping this for you .

I think floorboards might be slippery in the kitchen with steam etc
Grey / Black tiles might be nice .

[said]

Your new kitchen sounds v similar to our new kitchen and we've just bought wooden flooring. That might be a more slug-proof option than the original boards? Not quite sure how we'll tackle different levels in other rooms but, oh well. I'd be more worried about food crumbs getting under floor and attracting vermin (but agree with you that original boards look great)

[OpusProSerenus]

I'm also just about to embark on a new kitchen (cream shaker style units, black and pebbly granite worktops) and rather like the idea of wood floors. I imagine tiles would be very cold underfoot but am worried that wood might mark where chairs scrape on it.

[said]

Scratches on wood just show character though, like the lines on your face.

[buttonandjess]

defintely think you should think about tiles - really from the perspective of being able to clean throughly

[MoreBeta]

We have floorboards in our kitchen. They are very old, very hard wood and varnished. Its not great to clean, have a steam floor cleaner. Quite cold as the wind blows up through the cracks in winter.

All in all, it is OK but would prefer tiles.

[FessaEst]

My friend has floorboards, v old house with uneven gaps, and tbh, I have seen quite a lot of food lurking down there

We have tiles and I find them v cold and, as they weren't laid brilliantly, crumbs catch in between when I sweep. I know 2 people whose kitchens I covet, and they have oak-looking flooring. It looks smart, feels comfortable/warm to walk on and always seems clean. Have no idea re cost comparative to other options though.

[dottygamekeeper]

We have just replaced the floorboards in our kitchen with tiles - the floorboards scratched easily (even with commercial supposedly hardwearing varnish) as the kitchen was the main route into the house with 2 dogs, 2 children and a boot wearing husband, were a nightmare to clean and food and mud went down the cracks. The tiles are brilliant and we even had them made into a tiled skirting - so easy to clean. Pleasantly cool in summer, and have solved the cold in winter problem by having underfloor heating.

[treacletart]

Cheers all - really useful. DH is still very keen on boards and having spoken to a couple of experts it seems it might not be so complex to tile after the kitchen goes in after all. So my current plan is to start with the boards and maybe tile at a later date if we feel the need. Will plug any and all gaps with a pva sawdust mix and use industrial strength varnish to make them watertight and properly mop-able- seems biggest downside of boards is they're likely to mark - but as we're after character I doubt that will bother us much at all...