What's your kitchen floor?

[Keenoonvino]

I posted this in property/diy but got no responses so I'm hoping someone here can help me!

We are having an extension done and I need to choose a kitchen floor. I know the look I want, but it seems that this comes in all sorts of materials. I've narrowed it down to either limestone or edimax, which I think is a porcelain. I know hardly anything about stuff like this. They both seem roughly the same price. What do you recommend? This is the edimax stuff I like, and I can get the same look in limestone:

www.leafcutterdesign.co.uk/edimax-oxida-mixed-format.html

I think ours is limestone, it washes ok but is always cold underfoot and things always smash when they hit it. It looks good but with hindsight I may have gone for a wooden floor or even the linos that look like stone.

I have a wooden floor personally which I love. My mother has limestone and one thing to watch for is it is porous so it can stain. Mind you the stains seems to seep right through eventually so not sure it matters that much! Plus it did get worn and had to be redone somehow. I suppose it depends on the finish you want? If you aren't adverse to "lived in" look, then something like wood or limestone is great but if you love a perfect look then you might want to look elsewhere.

Never heard of edimix unfortunately so cannot help there.

We had porcelain tiles put in our kitchen extension last summer. I love it, very easy to clean, doesn't stain, fab colour and we have underfloor heating so it feels lovely underfoot.

We have a machined oak floor. It's nice, but if you drop anything heavy on it, it leaves a little dent. You wash it with a damp mop and some wood floor cleaner and it comes up lovely. You just vacuum in between.

We have wood effect porcelain tiles. I love it, it washes well, feels warm and looks great.

I've got Amtico - wood effect. Looks good, warm underfoot - had no issues.

We have porcelain tiles in our kitchen extension....I was going to have wood laid through from the dining room, BUT the night after we had the plinth heater fitted which is linked to the central heating it leaked! If that had been wood it would have been ruined. We have so much insulation in the floor that the tiles are never particularly cold underfoot so I'm glad we didn't waste money on underfloor heating.

Have always had vinyl. Last time was wood-effect and quite thick underfoot (so warm). First time tile-effect. Would do vinyl again, but avoid a riven surface to make it easier to clean. Current kitchen has concrete tiles. It's days are numbered. Freezing underfoot.

Opted for a laminate after big kitchen refurb called Ultra Impressive. I am so pleased we did. It's as thick as engineered oak so none of that horrible clackiness that laminates tend to have. It's textured and non shiny - basically indistinguishable from oak. We did blind tests with samples on visitors!

No dings, scratches, mops clean easily and feels reasonably warm. Bloody brilliant.

Downside is basically as expensive as engineered.

Forgot to say - long planks too which makes a difference!

This
www.mandarinstone.com/product/_/72/dijon-tumbled-limestone-tile/
is gorgeous & doesn't show the dirt.
Do have UFH though, might be chilly without.

Marmoleum

I have Amtico too due to it being warmer underfoot. Having got a slate tile bathroom floor which is like walking on blocks of ice in winter I opted for something kinder to bare feet. So glad I did as there is a vast choice of finishes so you can still have the look you want without the chill factor

I have bamboo. It's lovely.

White wood effect Lino and I hate it
It never looks clean unless I get on my hands and knees and scrub with bleach!

We have porcelain. It's fab, hardwearing (I cringed when they wiggled the fridge into place but not a scratch) and cleans well. Oh and it's beautiful

Porcelain Tiles. Stuff smashes on it and it has in turn been damaged by dropped weights!

My engineered wood floor has been down for a year, and looks fab. It looks welcoming and is warm underfoot. I put Amtico in the utility room.

Good quality laminate - looks like tiles. (In fact the very 'posh' mother of a friend of DC told me she loved my floor just after it had been fitted then back tracked a bit when I told her it was fake )
I actually wanted 'real tiles' but would have needed an thick board underlay (on floorboards) etc and so end up with an about 2cm step up into the kitchen.
Wood -too many flood disasters to contemplate it. (The laminate survived when DP managed to knock the kitchen drain out when I was away - I noticed a bit of water on the floor when the washing machine was emptying and he said oh yeah I noticed that last week - the kickboards that had been holding most of it back however didn't survive)
Amtico etc impossible to lift if you need underfloor access but my main worry was dropping a hot pan onto it (looking at you DP on our old vinyl floor) ...although as tiles you could just replace one bit. Also a few horror stories of it not being fitted properly and lifting and getting scratched. After 6 years we do have a chip in the laminate - from where someone (DP - are you seeing a pattern?) dropped a knife but isn't noticeable. Also less likely to break things that get dropped on it, warmer under foot, needs zero maintenance.
The only thing I wish was different was the colour - picked a pale cream with a pattern (stone imitation) thinking darker would make the ktichen too dark but it does tend to get mucky looking quickly (DCs) - but also black - and/or high gloss -both apparently nightmares for showing the dirt /impossible to keep clean.

Wow thanks for all your replies! I do like amtico, my parents have it in their bathrooms, and I think we are going to use it in our upstairs bathrooms, but I've discounted it for the kitchen because of the cost for such a big area.

I do like wood - am going to do wooden flooring for hall and downstairs toilet, but wasn't so keen on the kitchen area. I like the way it looks but would worry about problems if you spill something or get a leak.

I don't know anything about laminate. I think I have a negative view on it as we had it in the bathroom of our old house and it started to smell of pee no matter how often we cleaned it!

The coldness underfoot is definitely a factor to consider, as we will only be able to put UFHeating in the extension and not the existing kitchen....

I just wasn't sure on the real difference maintenance or looks wise between something like limestone (I've discounted travertine) and edimax - porcelain.

Thick question, can you insulate under vinyl, laminate floors?.

I want glossy marble floor tiles in my kitchen, don't tell me it's difficult to look after.

Ooh you can insulate it. Hmm.

I have slate it's freezing I can't walk on it without slippers, though the dcs all walk on it barefoot with no problems...when it comes up I'm getting underfloor heating.

We have porcelain tiles with underfloor heating. Easy to clean & durable, warm. We liked limestone but was advised not best for kitchen floor as porous.

83

Is your Dp trying to get himself banned from the kitchen?.