There have been several discussions about this. If you use the Search feature you should be able to find them.

People that prefer tile like the durability and how impervious it is to water damage.

People that like wood like the comfort for standing for long periods and that you don't get as much breakage when things are dropped on it.

That is about it in a nutshell. ;)

My personal choice in this house was wood - it was damaged by a leaking dishwasher. In the new house we're building we will have tile in the kitchen.

Tile will always be more marketable in utility and wet areas to anyone knowing what they are looking at and to anyone who have been bitten with past problems in those areas that hardwood can provide.

That said, it really depends on who is doing the shopping.

Some educated house inspectors will automatically question hardwood choices for areas like this, because technically they are incorrectly specified for the utility of the area and suitability for a particular purpose in a wet area, and note that on their reports.

I have heard one too many reports of wood floors damaged by DW malfunction to even consider wood in the kitchen.

If tile feels "too hard" under the feet, there are always rugs that are much faster and cheaper to replace than wood floor.

Just my 2 cents...

"People that like wood like the comfort for standing for long periods and that you don't get as much breakage when things are dropped on it."

When you're talking about breakage, are you referring to the thing getting dropped or the tile itself?

We have large porcelain tiles in our kitchen that are really very nice. We also have it in our family and dining room, and have area rugs (like we would with hardwood) in the family and dining rooms. In the kitchen, we have those throw rugs around that you can put in a washing machine to clean.

We like tile a lot, especially being near the beach, so a certain amount of sand comes in that wouldn't be good on hardwood over the long term. And being essentially impervious to water is helpful in just not worrying about it.

-Roger

I really wanted HW in my kitchen because I love the look of it, but decided to do tile because my cabinets (cherry with a cabernet stain) would clash with the HW (bloodwood) that I fell in love with for the foyer, stairs, dining room and great room. Even with a different kind of HW, it was just too much wood in the kitchen.

In just had porcelain tile installed in my kitchen, entry, powder room and laundry area. I had hardwoods installed in the FR, DR and LR. The rooms that get the most traffic and wear and tear (think dog drool after drinking water) got the tile. After I saw the beautiful hardwoods I thought I should have put them in everywhere. After two weeks I know I made the right choice. I am still very careful on the hardwoods (until I get the first big scratch then I will be fine.) But on the tile, I don't even think twice. So carefree.

If you go with tile, just make sure that you go with something great. (There are some beautiful choices out there.) I get just as many compliments on my tile as the hardwoods.

Another tile "lover" here for the kitchen and potentially wet areas. One caveat: Make sure you look at PEI ratings. Not all tiles are created equally. A PEI rating of 5 being most durable. Put a tile with a PEI of 1 or 2 in the kitchen, drop a pickle jar on it, and you will most likely be replacing the tile or looking at a significant gouge/crack.

We've had our tile for many years now, and my DH did just recently drop a pickle jar on it. Didn't do wonders for the pickle jar, and the smell in our kitchen was special for a few hours, but the tile looks brand new still! The day we bust it out is the day we get tired of looking at it and want something different for aesthetics, not because it's warped or ruined.

Google "PEI ratings" and then when you go shopping remember to check these. Usually it's printed on the side of the tile box. If the company won't tell you what the PEI rating is for a specific tile, it's time to move on. Also check the John Bridge forum for tile info.

I had a question for everyone... I need as many opinions as I can get on this. My living room and kitchen are basically like one big room(connected together with little separation) , and as of now the living room has carpet and the kitchen has linoleum. We are about to put in hardwood floors and my wife and I are up in the air as to which way to do it. Basically our options are hardwood in the living room which would go about halfway through the big main area (living room/kitchen), then we would put a wood strip running across the room and then start with tile where the kitchen begins. (basically tile in the kitchen/ bathrooms, and hardwood in the living room, and continuing into the second bedroom, as well as in the master bedroom on the other side the kitchen/utility room). So we would have hardwood everywhere except the kitchen/utility/bathroom.
The other option is hardwood ALL the way through from living room into kitchen. The problem I have with this is that, whether we get REAL hardwoods or just something that looks like hardwood,neither way i think it looks weird to put hardwood in a kitchen and utility room (and especially a bathroom... EEEK!) it just makes no sense to me. But I have people telling me it's not gonna look good with part tile and part hardwood in one open area... But that's what I think makes more sense, even though it would have the wood strip running through the middle. I see how it would look better to have one type of flooring in one big 2 room area, but I just don't get the whole hardwood in the kitchen thing.... Any suggestions? Or any questions? I'm not sure if this is easy for people to understand what im getting at or not, but I can elaborate! ANY THOUGHTS WOULD HELP US DECIDE! THANKS!!

I have a similar styled house to Matt and decided that hardwood all the way through the first floor would look better than chopping the place up with part wood, part tile. What I would recommend if you're going to go with hardwood in a kitchen is not to use the pre-finished hardwood because then you have minute gaps between your planks, gunk gets in there, and they become very hard to keep clean. Go with unfinished hardwood and then sand and finish for the most seamless floor possible.