Wooden floors in the kitchen?

[TheBeesKnee]

Advice please. And excuse the appalling illustration, I am on my phone on a moving train.

We are redoing the downstairs at the moment and have ended up with a long, open-plan kitchen diner (6m x 2m) The kitchen is a one sided galley. We are doing white shaker cabinets, oak countertop and forest green backsplash tiles.

The living room is going to have wood top coat flooring. I think continuing the same flooring throughout the dining room and kitchen would look nice and maybe give the illusion that the space is bigger than it actually is. There is a kind of wall thing that sticks out in between the two rooms where the old wall used to be.

I've been advised by the builder to put tiles down in the kitchen. I know that's the more sensible option but lack the imagination to pick tiles which would look good with the design we've gone with.

So I'm asking for inspiration or experience of having wooden floors in the kitchen - is it a bad idea?

Just for reference - I stole the kitchen design combo from this Wren catalogue although we're getting it from an independent contractor at a fraction of the cost

That picture looks exactly like my kitchen, we have wood floor and I like it except the previous owners dog weed on it so there is black marks on it so we will be changing it but probably to wood again.

We have engineered dark oak wood flooring in our kitchen (runs throughout entire flat apart from bathroom) and it’s been great! There are some marks but that’s the nature of wooden floors. It’s nothing too unsightly. We use Method wood floor cleaner which buffs them nicely. We don’t have kids or pets though so not sure if that would make a difference.

Personal preference is for wood effect T&G vinyl from manufacturers like Karndean, Amtico or Malmo.

I understand that engineered wood is better for dealing with moisture than solid hardwood, but I love the look and feel of the higher-end vinyl T&G flooring.

We had solid oak in our old house kitchen and I'd never do it again. It got stained all around the sink and was constantly sticky in that area regardless of how it was cleaned or how it was treated/oiled etc.

We have solid oak in our kitchen diner and it is great. Agree about it making the space seem larger and one seemless area.

We have engineered wood in our kitchen diner and 5 years later it still looks great. We got one with a laquered finish which seems a bit more hardy. When I was looking I got loads of samples and bashed them about a bit (dragged chair legs across them, dropped pans on them etc) then bought the one that withstood the most damage

We have just redone our flooring throughout the open plan ground floor and had a new kitchen. We've got engineered wood and asked a lot of questions about its suitability for the kitchen area before we committed. We were reassured by all the flooring companies (and they weren't selling only wood floors) that it would be ok so we went ahead. It looks really good. We sweep it a couple of times a day so crumbs etc don't get ingrained, wipe up any spills immediately and will wipe over with a damp (almost dry) cloth if needed.

Oh we also got the click and lock type planks and put a line of waterproof glue along the edge of each join before clicking them together. Never had an issue with water and we've had floods from out washing machine a few times.

I can't stand vinyl, sorry MTJTD

That's an excellent idea Titsywoo I think I'm going to do the same. Can't wait to bash some samples.

I bought a steam mop in the Black Friday sales, I'm guessing it won't be suitable/I'll have to get a refund?

Best to avoid wood in kitchen and bathrooms, as any water spillages can make the flooring swell. It's also easy to spill water in the kitchen and not notice until damage has been done.

You can get really good wood effect lino, probably the same style as the wood in your living room, so you could probably match it up nicely :).

I have wood flooring in my laundry room and stained a patch black with some cat pee on a towel but have made it better it with a internet tutorial using hydrogen peroxide so it's fine now (for the poster above with dog pee stains) so I'd say go for the floor but don't do the worktops - you'll regret it, a friend of mine has had them for 4 months (she's not a slattern, far from it) and it already looks terrible near her sink, don't do it!!

What is "wood top coat flooring?"

We’ve had engineered wood floors in our kitchen diner for around 15 years. It’s easy to clean, nice underfoot and still looks fabulous.

Engineered wood throughout here and geriatric pets plus 2 kids haven’t impacted it. Warmer than tiles.

We’ve got reclaimed parquet flooring, bought for very little, cost a lot to lay but super versatile. We then sanded it, stained & waxed ourselves.

We went for engineered boards in the kitchen. Looks great, not lacquered though & a few pulls of mop. Need to replace carpets in adjoining hall, stairs & living room. Not sure what to do but think modern parquet might be good with a runner in the stairs I guess.

Anyway, the kitchen floor we've had 2 years & just try to mop up spills ASAP. So far, so good!

I’ve had a wood floor and wooden worktops in the kitchen with no problems. This includes having toddlers who spilt black paint on it.

For the floor, I made sure we used the right sort of cleaner for it (only specialist wood soap) which helps to protect the floor - I only bought it online. We went for oak engineered. I also re oiled it after a year or two because the cleaner used the wrong product on it by accident.

Worktop - had a wood one for years and as long as you follow the instructions re the piling and sanding then it is fine.

Had both solid and engineered oak in past kitchens. Engineered is much more stable and you don’t get the shrinkage and expansion when the temperature changes that you do with solid wood.

Solid wood isn’t suitable for underfloor heating either. Oak does tend to turn a bit orange in the sunlight, so I would go for a limed oak or darker stain. We put UV oil on ours but it didn’t really help. Still love it though and wouldn’t want tiles due to acoustics, or with small children.

My dd has 2 little ones and another due soon, and had wood floors (I think engineered) installed right through the downstairs (except for the loo) when she had her kitchen extension done.

It looks very nice and seems to stand up well to toddler-bashing, dropped food, etc.

We have engineered wood all through the kitchen. A proper flood would fuck them up I'm sure but they're fine with every day splashes, and much warmer than tiles.

(I know you didn't ask this but I'd have thought you'd have more of a problem with the wooden countertop. I'm my experience they go mouldy around the sink. Maybe oak is OK though, I'm not sure what exact wood my previous rental flats had.)

Wood in kitchen is fine so long as it's properly treated/sealed. We had this stuff recommended for counter tops that came from joiner www.conservationchemicals.com/products/wood-sealer/
They sell a version for floors as well. It stinks to apply but it's amazing stuff. Water off a ducks back with any spills! Their testimonial pages says it's used for wooden baths and sinks making them totally waterproof.

I love our wood floors and counter in kitchen diner. So much warmer than tiles. I think worn wood has character but alternatives like amtico etc just looked knacked. That and you can refresh wood with a sand and seal. Our fitter man said he does his own at home every 15 years but commercial floors they refinish every 2 - 5 years.

Our solid oak floor has been down about 3 months. We had a small section relaid near the door because it expanded too much. All seems to have settled now and we'll be doing the rest of the downstairs. We mop up all spills immediately and only "wash" when absolutely necessary. It does creak a tiny bit in one place but nothing we can't live with!

Re the expansion thing you need to keep the planks in your house (preferably in the kitchen) for something like a week before you lay them so they get the right temperature.