Putting Down A New Kitchen Floor (Not So Easy for Us)

13 years ago

I wrote about our Marmoleum experiences in another thread. I've never really liked the stuff. And - as I've gotten older - maintaining the stuff has become harder - I'm not as fond of working on my hands and knees as I used to be :(.

Anyway - I'd replace it in a minute. Except for new installation problems. We have a real European kitchen. The kind where cabinets are modular and installed on floor levelers about 6 inches high. Most of the cabinets have removable toe kicks (when Europeans move - they usually take their kitchen cabinets with them - just like we'd take our furniture). The cabinets were installed over wall to wall Marmoleum. So - to replace the Marmoleum - not only would we have to pull out the appliances (no big deal) - we'd have to pull it up to an area somewhere behind the toe kicks - and then install something thin enough so the toe kicks would still fit (they attach to magnets on the "lip" under the cabinets. They fit perfectly - and I'd sooner cut down my favorite tree than try to cut these toe kicks. Butt up the new floor to areas where there are no removable toe kicks.

I have seen some high end "thin tile" type products. But - living in the greater JAX FL area - I'm not sure anyone else here has. Or has a clue how to install them. I figure the chances of getting a really botched up job are 80%+.

Removing the existing cabinets to replace the floor is out of the question. The cabinets are great. The counters are great. The installation was perfect. Why buy trouble?

Anyway - if any of you here have encountered a similar problem - or have any suggestions - I'd be glad to hear from you. Robyn

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Comments (9)

desertsteph
13 years ago
hire someone to clean the floor?
shortyrobyn
Original Author
13 years ago
I have a housekeeper who mops the floor. The problem with using someone else is linoleum strippers that work are rated as highly toxic (in terms of fumes) on the EPA/manufacturer warnings. I will apply the stripper - and leave the bucket outside while waiting the 5-10 minutes for the stuff to work. I also wear a mask (per EPA/manufacturer recommendations). I don't want my employees to use a product like that (they don't have the time to use it properly). FWIW - the Marmoleum cleaning products are "green" but worthless IMO. And our floor is too small to use a circular commercial buffing or wax removal machine (tried that once - they're sized for airports - not kitchens). In our last kitchen - we had a black "rubber" floor (it wasn't real rubber - something similar) and it wore like iron. It had been discontinued by the time we built this kitchen. In any event - I'm a somewhat compulsive really good cleaning person when I have a mind to. And if it's a difficult job for me - odds of finding an outside person to do it right are slim and none. Robyn
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palimpsest
13 years ago
can you cut the floor back and leave what is under the cabinets in place?
morgne
13 years ago
Following Palimpsest's line of thought, you could lay flooring over the current flooring then butt it up against the toe kicks and cover the seam with a quarter round trim.

M.
steff_1
13 years ago
There are a number of rubber tile floor products available out there for the commercial market that might work. They wear very well with little maintenance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roppe
plllog
13 years ago
Check the MSDS for rubber. I really wanted to find a rubber floor for my kitchen, and all the ones that would have been functional outgassed terribly and were only suitable for an area of a certain volume of ventilated air.
shortyrobyn
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for these ideas. I wouldn't want to "seal up" the toe kicks (the bug guy sprays in back of them). But ripping up the old stuff to a point behind the toe kicks might work. A project for the summer (this is tax and golf and gardening season - the tree guys just spent the morning doing our annual pruning - I'm exhausted - don't know how those guys can do that kind of work all day day after day). Robyn
morgne
13 years ago
You have a bug guy who sprays buy spray around in your kitchen? Ugh. Seriously, I don't want to be controversial but I get pissed if someone was to spray RAID around my food much less layer it around my kitchen. That sounds like a serious problem to me.
shortyrobyn
Original Author
13 years ago
Professionals spraying stuff (not Raid) on the floor behind the removable toe kicks under the cabinets (as well as the rest of the house)? Don't see much of a problem there. I have more problems with bug bites than bug sprays. Spider bites. Scorpion bites. Latest was a tick (think I must have brought it in from outside - but it was firmly attached to my hand when I woke up in the morning). The tick bite has only cost me about $300 so far - and I could get really sick from it. And that's just inside. Doesn't take into account fire ants - no see'ums - mosquito bites - etc. - etc.

If you don't live here - well Florida is a pretty buggy place. And I get anaphylactic reactions to many kinds of bug bites. This is me after a few "no see 'um bites":

So I will take my professional bug control service. YMMV. Robyn

And P.S. We're getting cases of things like malaria in Florida now. Thanks very much anti-bug spray people.

Putting Down A New Kitchen Floor (Not So Easy for Us)

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