A new contractor! Wood floors can be matched - you need the same species of wood and then sand and stain the old and new at the same time. My contractor patched 10 year old hardwoods with no problem. Not a cheap or easy solution, but you get what you want.

"he doesn't recommend wood floors for the kitchen" - is this his house? I'm on my 3rd house with wood floors in kitchen and never had a single problem.

"he doesn't like ceramic wood tiles" - Again, is this his house and money? They have some nice porcelain ones now, but do you really want real wood next to a tile immitating wood?

The only solution I see is a new and better contractor.

Find a new contractor. You're the homeowner, aren't you?

Ou kitchen has had hardwood flooring since 1919 and when we took ownership 6 yes ago, all we had to do was look to see that there had never been damage.

We've also matched oak flooring and it looks great. Unstained white oak and because we sanded the old flooring, we could use the same finish throughout. No problem at all.

Years ago I had a friend who ran into a similar issue. The carpet installer did not care to install the carpet as specified. It was a lot of extra work and much attention to detail would be required. He pushed her hard to chose a different plain with out design carpet. He whined through the entire installation. It was the last time he worked for her. I appreciate it when contractors advise on structural issues, but on design issues not so much. This is my irritation with that Holms on homes show. He personal design opinions rule too much.

he doesn't like the ceramic wood-look tiles because they are a little more work to install. If you get the long narrow plank ones they are bowed, I assume that some are worse than others. The installer has to be careful not to lay the lowest part (the end) next to a higher part. So they install them at the 1/3 "mark". Hard to explain.

I love mine.

I think you need a new contractor. He doesn't seem to want to step outside of his comfort zone.

Wow, sounds like your contractor is imposing a lot of his personal style/preferences on your job. Lessons learned, suggestions and opinions are OK but he should not be telling you to avoid something because he personally doesn't like it.

I have wood floors in my kitchen & they're great. This is my first house with hardwood so I was hesittant & scared they'd get wrecked, but so far they're bulletproof.

Give us pics if you can, and some more detail. You've left out countertop, but should always consider countertop with floors & tile.

Unless this guy is working for free or he once saved your life, he needs to be replaced or put IN his place. You're the boss and he needs to be reminded!

I agree with above comments regarding the contractor; however, without seeing pictures it's difficult to say, if he's advising based on experience or what he feels most comfortable installing or is cheapest to him. Some contractors get discounts at certain stores and so may push certain products on customers for these reasons. If he installs the tile himself, it may be cheaper for him or give him more profit from labor charges whereas with wood, he may need to subcontract out that piece. That said, if your floors are very orange, anything in grey will make it appear more orange. However, if your wood floors are dark, a grey tile would look stunning. My personal preference is for wood floors in my kitchen. As stated above, if done right the new floors can be matched to the old. It often gives a space a more cohesive and expansive look if the flooring is the same esp. in homes with a more open floorplan. I also find wood floors more comfortable to stand on for longer periods and more forgiving if something is dropped on the floor. The choice of material (wood vs. tile) is a personal preference and one you should be entitled to make yourself. If you prefer tile, then you can start thinking about what types/colors of tile work best with your wood floor, but I'm not getting that from your post.

Our former home had wood floors in the kitchen...it was built in 1942. They were fine. I miss them. I am seriously considering wood when we FINALLY re-do the kitchen. Having done a major house reno once (former home--redid kitchen, re-did existing bath, added a bath so we'd have two) I think I'd be having a serious discussion with this contractor about who's house it was...

Count me as another wood floor in the kitchen lover. I have had them in my kitchen in my former and current home for 19 years with zero problems. I feel that wood floors are classic and timeless, unlike many tiles.

I agree that wood floors in the kitchen are great...but, I feel that you should be warned that there are upkeep problems. If you don't have the polyurethane recoated every 5 yrs or so, you will have to refinish ALL of your floors soon after. That is because the kitchen floors get so much more wear that you will have traffic paths worn into the stain on the floor. I learned the hard way...and am having the floors completely resanded and restained as we speak!

They're beautiful and supposed to be more comfortable but what about washing? I can't imagine not being able to wash a kitchen floor.

Samantha--I washed my wooden floor. It was fine.

I've had swedish finish hardwood floors in my kitchen since 1983 without any problems, no wear at all. I did have them resanded and refinished in around 2000 and they did an extra coat of finish in the kitchen (3 total). Besides being beautiful and comfortable, they are almost maintenance free because virtually nothing sticks to them. But I use a rug in front of the sink and wash the floors as needed with a product formulated to be used on them. I also built a house in 1972 with hardwood floors in the kitchen and lived there for 11 years with no refinishing and no wear at all.

Seriously, isn't the contractor there to do the work, not to impose a decorating scheme? I'd continue the wood floors into the kitchen. They are a natural material and I have found that regardless of their exact color, they go with just about anything. Even if you would never put down another flooring material in that wood color (say, an orange-ish or brown-ish vinyl), because they are WOOD they complement anything. And you CAN match them to the existing floors. Also, if you install thresholds between rooms, having a somewhat different floor is not a problem.

Of course you can wash wood floors. That is what Murphy Oil Soap is for.

Thanks for having my back!!! The wood in the den is engineered wood so I'm not sure if that can be refinished. I didn't ask him about that. Regarding the wood tile I definitely think that's his personal preference. I like the look of it but I'm not sure of it next to the existing wood. The countertops will be volga blue. It looks black from far away. I will try to get pics up.

If you DO go with tiles - I like the look of slate next to hardwood. Charcoal or black slate is nice. And it's a natural material against a natural material, so I think it all goes even though they contrast one another.

Even the cheapest engineered wood can be refinished once. (This is assuming it is actually engineered wood - the kind with a veneer of real wood - and not laminate flooring with the picture of wood.) I have been looking closely at engineered wood flooring lately. There is some that is "hand-scraped" and if you refinished to the point of sanding all the way down through the finish (rather than just the top finish coats), you'd smooth out the handscraping, but you wouldn't go all the way through the top wood layer. In any case the refinishers would just have to be aware of what they are dealing with and go easy on the sanding.

I use a steam cleaner on wood floors ... how much cleaner can you get than that. You can also mop/wash with water/vinegar or plenty of other commercial wood cleaners. There are 100-200 year old houses in New England with wood floors that are still being used today.

Why do people think that wood floors are fragile and delicate? Remember boats used to be made out of wood!

There is a point in my house where carpet meets slate-painted-black meets red oak plank floor. It looks just fine together.

As for wood in the kitchen, it, too, is fine. Perfect, in fact. So much easier on feet and legs than tile. Slate or ceramic tiles are miserable underfoot if you spend much time in the kitchen. And wood needs hardly any maintenance at all.

I've got pets with their food and water bowls in the kitchen. They do make an icky sticky mess on the floor! I know some people use water on their hardwoods but the manufacturers say not to, including Murphy's oil soap which leaves residue. The steamer sounds interesting if it dries immediately without wetting the surface. I wouldn't worry as much with a solid wood.

I wish I could get the real solid wood floors but will have to get engineered. I don't think they will wear and last like the floors which can just be refinished down the road if need be. If you have to do prefinished, the finishes they put on these new floors are a problem long term, imo. If you've got pets and kids they mar pretty easily but without getting the nice patina from wear like the old floors did. They seem fragile to me in that way. The companies also say no water so they're really not made to go that route.

I'm looking for an unfinished 1/2" solid to go on my lower level slab after reading about a product called Monocoat today. It's a one coat onsite finishing product, oil I believe, that I hope will test out as good as they say it performs. It looks doable if you have to live there at the same time the floor is being finished and touchups to reseal the surface are easy, like tung oil, for the inevitable damage pets and kids will do. You can even sand an area and wipe more on, good as new.

I'm doing grey floor tiles in quite a light kitchen, next to white oak hardwood floors. The tiles I'm considering are all darkish grey, but have just a little bit of a warm, almost golden, undertone/speckling. It helps the tiles fit a little better with the wood floors. The overall effect is still definitely dark grey.

If I was able to post pictures I'd send you one of my friends kitchen, designed by her son who is a high end contractor. White cabinets, dark grey quartz counters, dark grey 12 X 24 floor tiles, random carrara subway backsplash. Gorgeous!
So don't listen to your contractor and do what you love. It'll look great.

I'm still undecided. The tile has been pulled up (what a mess!) The engineered floors that are in the den are 10 years old and really a mess. My house is full of kids all of the time so it wouldn't take long before they got messed up again if I refinished them. I definitely wish I had gone with real wood. I didn't have the money or the knowledge back then.

Lizzie- I love the look of slate. I actually have black slate on my counters right now. I'm changing it because I hate the grout lines. I'm going with a dark granite so I think going really dark would close off the room. Do you know of a slate or slate look thats gray but not a lot of variation of colors?

Lisa what brand and name is your tile? I'd like to check it out.