Wooden Floors in a kitchen

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LMNOP

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What are peoples thoughts on wooden floors in a kitchen? Ours will be heavily used with a lot of traffic.
Any recommendations on a particular type of wood? Has anyone done this and lived to regret it?
Many thanks.
 
Same as putting it in a bathroom...my personal opinion is the only wood that should be near water is one made into a boat!

However, if installed and sealed well then it will be OK.
But you would be better going for a solid unfinished floor than a pre finished floor
Seal / varnish it with several good coats (this will protect it against water penetration between the joints).

One thing to remember is that wood can be slippery when wet and may not be the best option in a kitchen?
 
Hi LMNOP!

I would say no way! My friend just paid a fortune to have beautiful walnut flooring put in her kitchen (cost a small fortune)! Two weeks later her dishwasher flooded the kitchen and the floor was soaked which warped the florring!! The whole floor was ruined!! She never thought it would happen to her!
 
Thanks Bofin. Thats not what I wanted to hear!
Could this be avoided if, as DamoH pointed out, it was installed and sealed well?
 
I think you should listen to the rest of what Damo pointed out, it really isnt the best option for a kitchen, While it might be ok there are too many risks in a kitchen
 
LMNOP said:
Thanks Bofin. Thats not what I wanted to hear!
Could this be avoided if, as DamoH pointed out, it was installed and sealed well?
Click to expand...


you can seal it all you want.......if water gets on in vast amounts ie-bust pipe etc no seal will hold it off a wooden floor.

as pointed above water and wood do not go together.
 
It seems you have your heart set on a wooden floor.
I suppose you can do this in 2 ways

A) Laminate flooring, thus is something that won’t cost the earth to replace if you get a major leak, plus its easy to lay.
B) Solid floor. As I have stated; best go for an unfinished board thus you can seal the joints. You will also have to silicone around the edge to stop water seeping underneath. The problem with this is the expansion joints. I.e. the timber floor will need a washer joint every 5-6 boards (depending on width) thus once you seal the floor it becomes rigid. Also you will have to determine the height of your finished floor to the current height of you doors (will you be able to fit the plywood base and wooden floor without taken too much off the doors?).

Personally I prefer solid wooden floors to laminate, but then again I have neither in my kitchen!
 
Thanks all for your replies and especially to DamoH for the technical stuff.
Point taken, might be safer to introduce some tiles around the immediate working area.
So many American kitchens seem to have wooden floors (in the movies) and they look fantastic. maybe they have no dishwashers, sinks, kids...
 
Hi,

Like you we wanted wooden floors in the kitchen instead of tiles. For the reasons listed above we didn't go with timber instead used Karndean.

http://www.karndean.com/

There is a range of "timber" options to select from. You can get some samples from suppliers in Ireland but can also go to their showroom in the UK where you can get larger samples. We also used the "walnut" option in the bathrooms.
 
There are several decent vinyl foor covering which can be used in kitchen and areas which may be at risk from water, ( Project Floors have good wood imitation range, Tarkett also) So you do have alternatives to real timber.
 
I know the look you're are going for. Myself and mrs f are always wondering about that too, how come the kitchens in the US all have wooden floors and its a no no here. Mind you, its becoming a much more popular trend here recently. Tiles are just too cold. Maybe the dishwasher and washing machine are tanked ..i.e they sit in a tray to catch leaks??
 
We've had wooden floors in our kitchen for the last four years with zero problems - we bought a bosch dishwasher that has an anti flood device , never had to test it out though .

M
 
I grew up with solid wooden floors in kitchens AND bathrooms (as well as semi-solid in bathrooms), never had a problem, including when a washing machine flooded - the major problem with this is if the leak goes unnoticed for ages, if you catch it immediately and dry it all up there shouldn't be any problems (we never had).

I find wooden floors are much more comfortable to stand on for long periods of time (cooking, etc) than other flooring options. I also find that breakables don't shatter when dropped on wooden floors as they do on tiles (compared between ours and friends floors). Wooden floors are no more slippy when wet than tiles (polished times that is) or lino

In relation to bathrooms, wooden floors are warmer underfoot.

Just my tuppence worth!
 
We're building a house at the moment and plan to put solid timber floors in the kitchen. Our builder is recommending that we wait 6 months before laying any timber floors in the house?! Is this the norm? Has anyone any suggestions what we can put down in the kitchen as a temporary floor covering when we're waiting for the floor to dry out for the timber? I have my heart set on timber floor in the kitchen so I don't want tiles! Any advice would be appreciated. One other thing, the floor has been poured and there was no timber batons put in for solid flooring so we have to have a floating timber floor!
 
Hi, I put in solid white oak right through my hallway, sitting room, and kitchen last year with no problems yet. I stuck them down to the concrete. It is much more solid feel and was recommended to me at the time.
 
You mentioned there would be alot of heavy traffic, I would def reconsider, I have french oak in sitting room, heavy traffic, loads of scratches, only two of us, aside from visitors. Tiles are a nice clean breakaway from all the wood.
 
Hi Jac, thanks for your reply. Sticking the timber to the concrete was also recommended. Was your house a new build and did you wait a few months before putting down the timber floors? If not, have you noticed any problems?
 
You need to let the house dry out before putting down wood, you can get the moisture levels of the floor tested if in doubt. The planks will cup and warp if put down now, and you'll end up throwing them away and starting again.
 
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