I've had hardwood in my kitchen for 15 years. I've also experienced tile and vinyl. I prefer the hardwood hands down. It is softer on the feet and gives the kitchen a warmer feeling IMO. We have a rug under the kitchen chairs and in front of the sink and cooktop areas. We also have felt pads under the stools. We have had at least two, big, crazy dogs at all times and have no issues. I think we have three layers of poly on the top. I suppose some finishes are less forgiving than others. Our wood is white oak that was originally natural and is now a medium brown stain. I can't imagine ever choosing tile again, but others would probably have different opinions. It certainly is a personal preference.

Our home is 20 years old. We have had them refinished at 10 and then again just this last Spring. Refinishing is around $2/SF.

I've had the same hardwood in my kitchen for ten years. We just renovated our kitchen this past July, and we refinished the floors in the kitchen and the adjoining dinning room and living room. We changed the stain to a darker color,and I love my floors even more. As far as the chairs, I always have the felt pads on the bottom, so the floor doesn't get scratched. We are always in the habit of taking our shoes off when we enter our home, so that helps too. I feel hardwood is so much easier on the legs if you're standing in the kitchen for long periods of time.

There have been many conversations regarding this, some recently, so you may want to scan through some of the more recent pages, the decorating forum also has some information that could be helpful.

That said, until we bought our house, I had always had one kind of tile or another in my kitchen. We installed hardwood 2 years ago and will NEVER have tile again. Tile can crack, wood can scratch, the difference between the two is the scratches and nicks of a wood floor will eventually turn into a patina and add to the charm and if you get 3/4 inch planks you can re sand. The issues tile has with cracking and grout filth are permanent and require much more work to correct. As for furniture, we've never scratched our floors with any furniture because we keep felt tips on legs and bottoms. We also leave our shoes at the door.

I had oak in my last kit/house with 3 English Mastiff's, one lab and 2 Parson Russell terriers as well as 2 children. Only one refinish in 28 yrs. I put wide pine in this house.

We put in tile in our Kitchen, Foyer, and PR mainly b/c we have two dogs (standard poodles) that love to run to the doors or windows if someone is there (or they hear something I can't hear!). Plus, while we're away at work & school, they're confined to the Foyer, PR, and hall so they spend a lot of time there. The other issue was water...in our old kitchen we had a DW leak twice in 12 years and both times it was quite a while b/f we saw it...the water was sitting under the cabinet and it wasn't until it started spreading out from under that we detected it. We had a Vinyl floor at the time so other than some slight damage to the bottom of the cabinet front (and probably the sides, but you couldn't see it), where the water sat behind it there were no longer-term problems (although I'm rather surprised there was no mold issue!)

Dogs: Friends of ours have one standard poodle and they told us that she did more damage to their Brazilian Cherry floor in one year than their 4 children did in the previous 8 years! Needless to say, they are very unhappy about it!

Yes, I hear people telling me their big dogs don't scratch their floors, etc. but when I actually see damage done it means more to me.

Well, we put in the tile and other than a little extra sliding done by the dogs as they round the corner from the FR into the Foyer, no damage! We recently decided, though, to put in an engineered Brazilian Cherry floor in the DR and after a month or two I can see scratches where the kitchen & DR meet... So, I think our decision to go with tile was the correct one for us. YMMV.

We have had to replace hardwood in two homes because of dishwasher or other appliances leaking. Have you looked into Luxury Vinyl Plank? It looks just like wood, but it is much easier to maintain and install. It is very durable and beautiful. I know that a company called Karndean makes it. www.karndean.com

Buehl, I chose porcelain tile for my two foyer areas and I am glad I did but for my home office, I want Brazilian Cherry Floors. Thanks for reminding me to make sure felt is on the bottom of chairs and I change the wheels on my desk chairs or buy a plastic mat without cleats. If I lived in a warmer tile where houses sell well with tile everywhere, I would install the Akoya Bone tile I have in my foyers in all my rooms since I love the tile. My four little dogs are very small from 4 lbs to 8 lbs so I am more worried about my little Lexi marking on the floor than about her nails. But I do worry about the nails of visitors from other dogs.

Our wood floor is 20 yers old. We remodel our kitchen, but kept the old floor because it still looks decent. You can see some marks in front of the right panel of the peninsula caused by chairs sliding back & forth. No pad on the chair legs for 20 years. A sanding refinish will freshen up the look and this time we will use felt pads like others advise here.

No regrets whatsoever and will go to wood floor if we ever move to another house. BTW we had a Welsh springer spaniel who recently died. He was 13 years old and is an in-doors pet.

I'll echo what the above posters have said and aid

No floor is maintenance free -
-We had 4 coats of oil based poly applied after staining new white oak in our kitchen remodel

-What many fail to do is to have a new coat of poly applied every 1-2yrs in a high traffic area such as kitchen. The flooring people rough up the top surface of poly & apply a new coat. THis provides incredible protection to the wood w/o having to refinish. The key is to do this BEFORE signs of wear and tear. I just had mine done - it was $120 for over 300 sq ft - easy peasy

- using a low lustre satin type finish will diminish the scratching you may get w/dogs etc, it will also make it more difficult to show dust bunnies

- using med/lt stain will show less dust bunnies & scratches - Darker color & higher luster - will require greater attention and maintenance

- Grit & dirt are far more harmful to HW flooring than occasional water spillage. Grit has greater potential to get into the protective surfaces than water which, on a properly sealed floor will sit on top - please do wipe it up when found -

Species and grade of wood will also impact on how impervious it is to scratching, denting overall how it holds up over time. I personally like oak - tried and true

For example the blitz to put bamboo into homes has not really "held" up to it's original marketing blitz - denting and warping

http://www.realestatejournal.com/homegarden/20051220-munoz.html

I think a big misnomer with tile is that it is "waterproof" - just not the case - while you may not see the water leaking - taking a peak under tile that has had water leakage is a science experiment worthy of Louis Pasteur - Ever see a gutted bath? That's not to say I'm not a fan of tile, I am - just know that is NOT waterproof!

Hope that helps -

We had a substantial leak soon after our hardwood install. We were advised to remove the runner, let it air out for several weeks and see what happened.

The cupping flattened out as the wood dried and we never had to do anything at all to it. No refnishing, nuthin'.

Our installer told us that only very rarely will a floor need replacing. Even substantial damage will dry out, and refinish well, if it's even necessary. He said most people panic and most flooring companies are only too happy to tear out the damage and make money putting in a new floor- and usually insurance will pay for it.

Have had tile, vinyl, engineered wood and hardwood. Hardwood- hands down. Easiest to maintain, easy on the knees and back (I would rip tile out with my bare hands before I would have it in my kitchen) and it never looks dirty!

So, I'm a fan!

As jejvtr said, the type of wood floor will have an impact on how it wears. I had hickory floors in my old house for over 4 years with no scratching at all. New house has walnut (Anderson) and I already have scratches, nicks and gouges after 3 months. And we're pretty light on a house. Also, what part of the country do you live in? I really appreciated my tile floors in SoCal in the summer. They were always cool. I would imagine they'd be much more unpleasant in a cold winter climate (though I suppose you're not likely to be running around barefoot in the winter, but who knows).

I loved our hardwood floors in our kitchen but they were definitely scratched from our rottweiler and later, our goldendoodle. But after a water leak from our fridge damaged our floors when we were on vacation, we installed slate tile and I love it. We still have hardwood throughout the first floor but the tile in the kitchen gives us peace of mind and it's lovely to look at. I don't have to worry about mopping up spills or sloshed dog water instantly either. I have pretty severe back problems and so far (more than a year since installation) the tile has not been a problem. We do have a basement below us, not sure how my back would handle the tile if we were on a slab.

Oh, and the slate never looks dirty. People say slate scratches but mine is so varied that you'd never notice a scratch (and scratches buff out of slate easily). Most durable floor I've ever had and we have 3 kids, a large dog, 2 cats and just about the biggest darn rabbit you've ever seen!

Thank you for everyone that took the time to post a response. I appreciate the input!

I love both looks so it's a hard choice. I do love the travertine in my mudroom/pantry, laundry room and 3/4 bath. I posted a photo.

However, I'm leaning towards hardwood in the kitchen but here's part of the problem. We have darker beveled edge oak (Bruce flooring) that we put in 20 years ago when we built the house. It's in the front hallway that leads to the kitchen. It is also in the living room and dining room (the dining room also leads to the kitchen). I do like the color and how it goes with the trim in the house. However, we just redid our upstairs with a light oak (which I also like) and we had some leftover so we put it in our downstairs guest room (off of the front hallway). I am including photos of what it looks like to have the light and dark oaks side by side. What do you think?

Anyway, if we put hardwood in the kitchen would it look okay to do the lighter color? Or do I do a dark oak and try to match the Bruce? (I don't want to do Bruce in the kitchen, I don't think it will hold up. Besides it isn't sustainably grown. I only buy wood now that is sustainably grown.) Or do I do dark and refinish the rest of the dark so it matches? I guess I'm just stymied.

An advantage of doing the travertine is that I don't have to worry about the hardwood matching game. Also, if we do the travertine then it will flow better from the mudroom/pantry to the kitchen. I don't want everything to be too mismatched looking.

Ah decisions, decisions.

Just a thought but if the other floor is already 20 years old, why don't you install a plain non finished wood in the kitchen, sand the other areas of wood flooring on the first floor and stain them all the same color? The cost for unstained flooring is a less than prefinished and will help compensate for some of the extra costs for sanding & finishing the floor to the same color.

I was going to tell you to go with the hardwood before I saw your pictures, but that travertine is gorgeous. I think I would use it and then you wouldn't have to worry about the different colors of wood.

Laurie

I vote for putting the travertine in your kitchen. However, those two woods look good together.
I'm searching for wood that's light in color for our downstairs (kitchen is porcelain tile and I love it). Can you tell me about your light oak wood floor...brand, engineered or solid? white or red oak? Looks natural, so I doubt there's any color stain. Thanks!

Go with the wood. ANY type of floor will be affected by water damage, even vinyl or ceramic. Your tile is beautiful.

i would go w/ the travertine. It will look better,place will look bigger. I see too many times, when they install two different types of flooring,the transition is not smooth. There is this "treshhold" in between.So unless they install it even it woul be ugly. I've seen it in modest houses and million dollar homes too.It just isn't pretty.I'm putting down 16' black tile -looks like slate in the kitchen, hallways and laundry room, bathrooms and entryway. I personally don't like too many shades,colors or textures a tsame time.It gets bussy w/all the rest in the house. So I think the travertine will look much better.

Ceramic or any hard stone surface will be least affected by water if it is installed properly. My sister had ceramic in her house that received 29 inches of water from Katrina. The water stood for 24 hours. That tile is still in place. Not one came loose.

My hard maple kitchen floor turns 100 years old this year and looks fabulous: warm and inviting. You can't go wrong with the look and durability of wood!

I agree that you can't go wrong with the look of wood but I do think your first floor will be too choppy looking unless you either put in hardwood and refinish all the hardwoods to match or use the travertine. But even if you refinish the 20 year old hardwoods, they still will have a different look than the new wood because of the beveled edge, right? I'd personally use the travertine since your mudroom and pantry already have it.