I have red oak in my kitchen for 6 years now. Easy to care for & looks great.

Go with it! I LOVE my wood floors in the kitchen. They get splashed with water all the time and no problem. Plus they are dark enough to hide plenty of who knows what. Also, the occasional dropped glass or plate does not shatter as it would with tile. Finally, they are kinder on my aging legs. Enjoy!

I love my natural maple wood floors in my kitchen and all living areas. They are awesome. The color is perfect b\c I know there are dust bunnies everywhere and I can't see them. I don't think it is any more difficult to care for them tile. Go for it!

The wooden floors in my kitchen (that run seamlessly from the rest of the house) are 90 years old and going strong despite puddles, pets, kids for decades. Grout was invented by the devil. Go for the wood!

I have wood floor in the kitchen and just LOVE it. Kids, pets, water, no problem. I wiped the water spots as soon as I see them. The places that you get most water issues are in front of the sink. That's what kitchen rugs for.
When I told the guys who did the floor that I want a wood floor in the kitchen, he didn't blink.
I wouldn't never go for tiles. Grout, ughh. and not to mention too hard on the back. I mopped the wood floor using wood floor cleaner. Good as new.
I supposed if people have pets which like to leave presents on the floor then they may want tiles so that they can mop with super hot water.

Ditto all the above :-)

Except mine is laminate. This was one area that I chose to save a few dollars and I love it.

My builders are Amish, and I am thinking they may have had their doubts because they took a piece of it and soaked it for a full 24 hours in a bucket of water and it didn't do a thing to it. :-)

My house is 100 yrs old this year. I also have original oak wood flooring throughout the first floor. I did my kitchen 9 years ago and had site-finished wood flooring put down. No regrets. Easiest kitchen floor to take care of that I've ever had. Splashes of water have sat for hours before...no problems.

My kitchen has a reclaimed heart pine floor. No problems. It is a suspended wood floor with lots of give for knees and other joints. I had to have it. Dogs, people, etc., haven't harmed it; however, it is a distressed finish, so further distressing merely enhances it.

It's a matter of preference really. There are pros and cons for any kind of flooring material. With wood you have the concerns about possible water damage and it's easier to dent/scratch than tile. With tile you have to deal with grout (although darker grout wouldn't be so bad) and the possibility of dropping something that may break. Tile is said to be a harder substance to stand on than wood. I like both materials but went with tile in my kitchen because it suited me and the look I was going for. I have hardwood in my LR, DR, and hallway and carpet in the bedrooms. Go with what you want and take everything that is said with a grain of salt!!

I have torn out a number of tiles kitchen floors to repace them with wood.

The floor stiffness required for tile (especially larger tiles) causes a lot of folks to have trouble standing on the tile floor for any long period.

Wood floors do not have to be as stiff, and are more comfortable to stand on.

Even in commercial kitchens that are required to use tile or concrete, soft mats are used to provide some relief from the hard floor.

I have wood in my kitchen (for the first time ever) and simply adore it! It looks great and it feels great. I see nothing negitive about it at all. I will never go back to tile. I would actually use a high-end sheet vinyl product before I used real tile again. Grout is way too high maintenance and tile is too hard.

Do you have dogs? We have two and they're the reason we went with tile. If we didn't have dogs, we would probably have put down wood. The wood in our DR is already scratched up by the dogs (less than 2 years), so in the Kitchen & Foyer it would have been even worse.

Yes, if water sits for an extended period of time on wood it could damage it...whether it's permanent depends on how long the water sits on it, how well it's sealed, and the type of wood...so be diligent about wiping up water, etc. and you should be fine.

dmw

Surprised you are getting the reported opinions - From whom?

I had our GC match 75yo oak flooring from the 1st floor of our home to our new kitchen floor 4yrs ago. I love wood flooring - so many attributes imo - + having seamless wood throughout the first floor is a + -

I have tile in our small mud area & 1st floor powder room -I'm not opposed to it, just prefer it for applications other than kitchen floor. Not only is it harder to stand on, breakage issues, grout - Folks are under a very false impression that it is waterproof - It's not - grout is porous & tile may be depending on chosen tile -

Best to you

I have always had wood in the kitchen, and it is fabulous. Nothing connects the heart of the home with the rest of the home more than continuing the flooring (that is just my opinion) I think some folks just feel strongly it does not belong for some reason. In my experience, these are the same people who tell me I should not have dogs since I have hardwoods (last time I checked, homes are for living). You will never convince them that hardwoods in the kitchen are fine - simply thank them for their feedback and do what you want.

I would agree with all of the above.

We replaced (lovely-not) indoor/outdoor carpeting in our kitchen with natural maple 20 years ago. We've had it refinished once, and are now extending it into the dining room with our current remodel. I love the look of it, and it is very easy to keep clean.

One caveat-we have previously had no mudroom type entrance so the maple in front of the sliding glass door where everyone usually enters got a real beating with respect to scratches-and it was also an area where we had stools to the bar/peninsula so it got extra wear there as well. We are solving that problem with making a mudroom area there with quartzite on the floor, (in addition to getting rid of the peninsula and stools).

I am still finishing my kitchen reno which was close to a full gutting. I kept my 25 year old 3/4" tongue and groove oak floors and got them refinished. I can't imagine anything else. They re-finished beautifully, and the comments I am getting are all overwhelmingly positive.

Almost everyone I know has wood floors in their kitchens. This includes homes that in this area are considered high end ($1.5M and up.) I only know a handful with tile floors and at least a couple are considering replacing those with wood for the reasons mentioned above, and/or because they have young kids. (Tile is harder on little ones when they're crawling and learning to walk.)

Thank you all so much! I've never had opposition here- just "out there". Mother in law, friends that are ripping their wood out and putting in tile, ect.

I just find it to be most beautiful to MY eyes. We'll have painted maple cabinets, so I would prefer a "warm" looking material anyhow. It's only about 110 square feet, so it's affordable, in budget, ect. Why not!? And, it will match the house. I am all about flow and for MY eyes, they rest well with continuous floors on same level. We have a sunken den and study- that is carpet and I love it. Our entire upstairs, minus baths is wood, so why would the "heart" of our home be anything else, as the poster above said.

Thank you all so much, this gives me a little more understanding to my likes.

We have oak floors throughout a fairly open floor plan first floor, which includes the kitchen. Although I wouldn't do it differently, I do find that I often feel like a "human swiffer", wiping up water splashes from the sink and ice maker. This is especially true when DD is home. She loves to cook, but she is a mess in the kitchen. I also find that the floor dents quite easily. There are a number of dents near the sink and dishwasher from things that have been dropped during clean-up. There are also quite a few dents from DS rocking back on his chair at the kitchen table. But a previous vinyl floor was dented and scraped within a couple years, the Pergo constantly showed water spots, and I have no desire to stand for long periods of time on tile, so I guess nothing is perfect. Do what you think will make you happy, just be aware of the cons, as well as the pros.

Totally Confused

I guarantee that if you call a wood floor company you won't get that response! I replaced my sheet vinyl with wood and I love it. You will too. I find my legs don't get nearly as tired when I working in the kitchen now.

It was a very happy day when the last of our nightmare tile was removed from the k_itchen (which was NO easy task for our floor guy). No more sore knees, freezing cold feet or disgusting grout.

Wood just has a warmer look and cozy feel to me. We are so happy with our k_itchen floor now and the way it flows with the rest of our floors in our house (also oak).

I put wood in my kitchen when we built this house 9 years ago and still LOVE it...will use it again if we ever build again. No hard, cold tile for me.....too hard on my legs and I hate to clean the grout... and the wood is so easy to take care of. I just use a damp mop and that is all it requires....and hate to admit it, but that doesn't get done very often either...can't see the dirt~~

dmwbcc

Do you live in the south of the US or maybe in a climate
with mold, moisture, wetness, flodding,??? ...
Is tile inexpensive where you live?

In Italy marble tile is inexpensive and the norm for
kitchens, bathrooms counters is often beautiful white
marble. And we all know the beautiful Spanish tiles
found in Portugal or Spain. Or granite in Brazil, Argentina,
Venezuela, Uruguay,... granite or various stones are
plentiful to create amazing tile floors.

Maybe the people telling you this are expressing what
they love. Either way, get what YOU want. There are always
going to be those who disagree and for every 1 who disagrees
you can find 10 who agree with you. Especially on GW.

I love my kitchen wood floors. I have lazy kids who spill
water and ignore it, two slobbering dogs with moist faces
or a water bowl that has been sloshed over, and my floors
are amazing. They take the beating and keep looking
fantastic.

Get what you love.
~boxerpups

For those of you who are happy with the wood floor in your kitchen, what finish is on the floor? We've been debating between an oil-based finish and a water-based finish (Bona Traffic).

Goodness, id never have guessed you meant wood on the floors! As you can see, its very common and not a problem.

I can go you one better. I have a long galley kitchen connected to a breakfast room. ONe half of my galley, 16 linear feet, is cherry wood countertop (other side is granite). I dont cut on it, but i use it for food prep all the time. Water not an issue, we keep it oiled. Looks great after 8 years.

We are building in CT and I'm going to put wood on either side of my sinks, with drainboard grooves! Why? they do it ALL the time in Europe. I want what i like, and so that's what im going to do. In my current kitchen i wanted marble and got granite because back then everyone was ANTI marble. I've regretted it every day!

Another vote for wood floors...we have wide pine floors in our c. 1680 on-going "hobby". The kitchen ones are newer as they were boards found in the attic and have been down for 35 years. Whenever we get to remodel the kitchen we will refinish kitchen and dining room floors. Three children, three dogs, high heels, Tonka trucks, golf shoes, and you name it... have added to the charm of these beloved floors...If it is wood that you want...go for it...we only go round once...!

We have 80 year old hardwoods in the kitchen and I wouldn't change it for the world. Two drooling dogs and two messy cooks haven't hurt these floors since we've been here, and they weren't damaged when the previous family of five and their two dogs lived here, either (they just needed a few new coats of poly when we moved in). :)

Boats were made for centuries exclusively out of wood. Some still are. Even the finest yachts today made out of steel, aluminum, and kevlar all have wooden decks and most often railings.

Hot tubs have been made from redwood for centuries too.

Proof that water and wood do mix.

Proper selection and maintenance are the keys.

I have had 3 kitchens, and I'm working on a new one right now (which will have wood floors). All but one had wood floors and I loved them. Never had any problem. Got them sanded and stained, and put on 2 (or maybe 3--can't remember) coats of poyurelene. When the kids were littler I would get the floor guy to come in once a year and re-poly the floors. It was a minimal cost--we would get it done when we were visiting relatives for a couple of days, just to be out of the house. The trick with wood floors is to make sure you don't wear the poly down to the wood surface. Once you do that, you have to re-sand, re-stain and re-poly. That's a nightmare. But if you re-poly every year or so, depending on how heavily trafficed the area is, you don't have to worry. I love the way wood floors look and never had any problems with water, etc. Good luck--and don't listen to naysayers--go with what you like, and ask the flooring experts!

I agree with everyone else - if you love wood, go for it. My house is almost 100 and still has the original red oak floors. I also got crazy looks from KDs when I said I wanted not just to keep my wood floors, but to have all wood countertops, too (so of course I didn't hire them!). My current KD was totally open to the idea of going all wood, and now that it's done, he's going to come and take photos for his own album! I love the warmth of the wood (maple cabinets, maple BB with black cherry edging, finished with mineral oil - which I do have to apply about once a month or so). I do mop up drops/spills on the floors and countertops quite religously now as they are all newly finished. However, the 20 years prior to this reno, I wasn't so vigilant with mopping up the floors, and they survived so much so that if I hadn't moved a wall to open up the kitchen, I wouldn't have needed to refinish them. The wood finishing company told me the way to care for wood floors is to damp-mop them! So, yes, wood and water can and do co-exist. Good luck :)