I'm with jeantech. I love my hardwoods and I think having the same flooring throughout is wonderful if you can do it. The hardwood floors are easy to clean as well.

Quartersawn white oak (over Warmboard, which may be affecting my feelings). Love. Lurve. Luff.

Wood.
I love my wood floors. : ) I have had travertine tile in
the past. Lovely but I prefer the warmth of wood.

This photo shows the color the best but my cabinets are
white with this dark rich floor.

Now here is cork. This is a great option for you.

We have had cork for about 8 years and I LOVE them. Only wish they'd had planks like beekeeper's wife put in when we got ours. Look for her thread about her plank cork floors - they look amazing.

Hardwood and very happy with it. Yes, it does get dings and scratches, but not much more so than any other area of our house. At some point we can always refinish it if it starts to look really bad.

I would guess the cork or hardwood will float over the tile? Do you know why the tile cracked all over? You might want to fix the problem under the floor first.

Chiseled edge travertine here. Very durable, always looks clean, easy to maintain.

We have hardwood installed in our new kitchen and we love it. It is so easy to clean and it looks so smooth....

Well the jury is still out on my new Brazilian Teak prefinished floors. My kitchen has only been usable for about 3 weeks. This weekend I did holiday cookies with my Mom - was beautiful on a snowy weekend! The floor was easy on my legs and relatively easy to clean up afterwards. Even at it's worst, it did not look that bad. So far, so good.....

The real test will be dinner on Thursday night and how it holds up....

We have Brazilian Cherry in the dining and living areas, but Marmoleum Click in the kitchen. It has a cork layer for comfort and it seems to be so tough and durable. I am not thrilled with our BC hardwoods, so am glad to have something we don't have to baby in our kitchen.

We have oak floors throughout our 1928 colonial and when we rennovated our kitchen, we put them in there too.

I love them and no, it's not overwhelming to the eye. It cleans well, looks good, and with all the cabinetry and island it doesn't look like a gym floor. We finished in matte so it wouldn't be all shiny. We refinish about every 3-4 years. We don't have kids at home, but do entertain a lot so the floor gets some heavy use.

Sue

I think it's more important to find out why the porcelain is all cracked and horrible!! It shouldn't be, especially after only 8 years when this stuff can last for centuries, unless there was a really major earthquake or something. It sounds like there's a problem with the subfloors or even the foundation, unless the tile was installed really badly. Whatever happened, you need to correct it before you put anything in or you'll continue to have problems.

For a long list of reasons (!), we ended up removing the tile floor and are installing in a week cork plank floor which I am sooo looking forward to! I agree with Neilaz in that you need to determine why your tile cracked. Our tile floor was extremely hard to remove, so to hear that yours is in that bad of shape makes me wonder what is going on beneath it...

I put oak in my last kitchen to match the house. Loved it. Went with Marmoleum this time around and love it even more. I even have it on a temporary countertop and am liking it there way more than I should.

I have to agree with pillog. The first thing to do is figure out why your tile is cracking.

We have red oak in the l/r, d/r, f/r and kitchen. The l/r and d/r go in one direction and
f/r and kitchen another direction. I was a bit worried about that, but it looks great.

We have marble in the front hall, and the wood is SO much softer and warmer.
Love it in the kitchen, and it's dead easy to clean.

Teresa518 Â Do you have any pictures of your Brazilian Teak? Are they Solid vs. Engineered?

Rhome410 Â What issues are you having with your BC? This is currently on the top of our list.

Thanks! :-)

Jeri

We have Brazilian Walnut and LOVE IT. This is the picture from the Lumber Liquidators website and it looks exactly like this. Very similar to the Teak. Solid dark wood with just a poly finish. {{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Brazilian walnut

Here's a photo of the Brazilian Teak. I really love the way it looks. I'm just not sure how durable wood will be in the kitchen long term.

My experience and thoughts of the Brazilian Cherry floor:
I was considering the BC a mid-range floor as far as darkness, since there were certainly far darker options out there. I also thought there was enough variation to be able to 'hide' some sins. But it's dark enough to show every speck of dust and pet hair, even when just cleaned, and the variations don't hide anything more than if it were solid colored. Any slight scratches in the finish look white against the wood color and really show.

People who come into our home comment on its beauty, but I see the imperfections it's developed in the 20 months we've been here. DH goes crazy about anything being moved across the floor, and even microscopic pieces of sand get in the pads we have on the chair feet and make scratches. I wanted a floor that our family could live on without babying it or having nervous breakdowns about normal wear. Don't get me wrong, we expected to care for the floor, but we don't live in an area, or have a lifestyle that I want to impose rules of 'no shoes and no pets' just for the floor.

They look nice from a distance and in photos...for now.

Our first idea was to put in oak and site finish with Waterlox, and oh, how I wish we would have done that.

We put in hardwood, hickory to be exact, and it's wearing wonderfully so far. Mind you we've only had it about a year now but we have two dogs, one of whom goes skittering around corners cause life is just SO exciting she can't slow down. ;)

It appears that the problem with my floors is in the tile. The grout is still fine. Our contractor (who is a friend) thinks we just got bad tiles. So hopefully putting the cork on top will not be throwing good money after bad...

Does anyone have any idea why the tiles might have cracked so much?

We have Brazilian Teak with some sort of paste finish. It's not at all shiny and doesn't seem to have any sort of sealer on it. DH picked it out (sorry he's out of town or I'd ask him exactly what it is) after he and the floor installer had a real "guy" discussion of various options. At first I was very worried about drips and spills in the kitchen and would swoop down to wipe up everything. Now I've learned that if I don't get a spill right away it disappears anyway. The bonus is how good this floor feels on bare feet and I'm not a bare foot person unless I'm on the beach. Our old house had porcelain tile floors that were more than 30 years old without a blemish or crack so I can't say I've had a bad kitchen floor experience in the past. It's just that the only way i can describe it is that these wood floors are just so comforting and friendly that I can't imagine having anything else in the future.

marlabe--I was just where you are 3 weeks ago. I had an existing tile floor that I intended to keep. I even took many trips to granite yardss 2 hours away to coordinate the granite countertop with the existing tile floor.

But when I got down and really looked at the tile, I found some cracks. I knew I had a few hairline cracks, but I found cracks that resulted in tile that was clearly loose. I investigated ways to "glue" the tile back in place. Every tile store I visited said that tiles don't pop up and crack unless there is an underlying issue. I didn't want to hear it but we kept hearing it again and again. DH and finally decided we were going to have to bite the bullet and pull up the tile and put down something new. The last thing I wanted to do was install the new kitchen THEN next year have to replace the floor if the cracking got worse.

So, 3 weeks ago, we pulled up the tile. It was a horrible messy job. We pulled up the tile and the underlayment. We found rotten wood that probalbly rotted due to moisture damage directly under the tiles that were cracking. The tile stores were right...we never would have been able to fix the subfloor problem by just "gluing the tiles back down." We found several other subfloor type issues in other places...cracks just waiting to happen.

So, in the end, I'm glad we went to the trouble to rip up the tile because at least now we know what was wrong and can fix it for the future flooring. It would have been way worse to have to demo the floor when brand new cabinets and appliances were in.

We're putting down 3/4" red oak like the rest of the house. It will be finished in place rather than prefinished. I'm looking forward to it!

Good luck with yours but I really think if you have cracks you should pull it up and go new.

I have oak floors in kitchen and in the rest of the house and love them! My home is a 1920s and the oak floors were underneath carpet in the rest of home and under old linoleum floors in kitchen that were put down back then with black tar. I had my floors done by a professional and they are beautiful. It took him a lot of work scrapping the tar off before he could resand the floors for finishing. No stain on the red oak floors, just coats of polyurethane. They are so easy to take care of and I love the look. They look great with my white kitchen cabinets (used BM white dove).

I love my Marmoleum - I think.

(Right now it is sitting in the mudroom in a giant roll to be laid tomorrow.)

Wow, hardwood sure is the winner in this thread. Very few votes for tile, laminate, vinyl, etc, etc.

One important thing to share...my new cork floor will float. I think that makes a difference in terms of possible problems with the old porcelain floors. Do you agree?

I'm a porcelain tile person here (Mirage Slate, a slate look in a durable porcelain tile). We had the floors all refinished (all white oak in the rest of the house) before moving in a year ago, and between our own lab and a host of puppies that we foster, it pains me every time I hear those claws across the hardwood. Since pup gets fed in the kitchen and drools copiously for her dinner, hardwood was just too much upkeep.

So far, I'm really liking the tile!

We have white oak (and 2 large dogs) and it hasn't scratched because its not finished with poly, we stained it with Sutherland Welles Heartpine stain, then finished it with Bush Oil (3 coats). There are a few scuffs from when we had to pull the DW out to fix it, but the oil is very forgiving. I'll never poly a surface again.

sandyponder

>Does anyone have any idea why the tiles might have cracked so much?

If there's too much flexion in the subfloor, that will do it. Also, if your installer cheaped out and just put dabs of adhesive at the corners so that the center is unsupported (your floor usually sounds hollow when you walk on it if this happened).

But because subfloor problems are such a likely cause, you really ought to investigate rather than just plunking more floor down on top, as a previous poster already suggested.

I love my ceramic tile! It looks great with the rest of my kitchen, and is easy to maintain.

OK, I crazy love this Marmoleum...being installed right now.

So colorful and tough and strong, yet warm and soft and forgiving. I may have to marry it.

celticmom, what color is the Marmoleum that you are installing that is so pretty? Please post pictures when your kitchen is finished.

Rhome410, I had wanted to go with a Cinnamon Maple Wide Plank floor in Semi-Gloss but changed to Brazilian Cherry and despite loving the color and the floors, they scratch so easily (the samples seemed so sturdy so I am surprised) and white shows which I thought the same color wood would show since it is a natural finish. They also dent despite being a hard wood. I don't mind that I have to clean them often or they look dirty since at least it reminds me often to get rid of the dust and dirt that accumulates so quickly. I still like the hardwood floors much better than the 20 year old wall-to-wall beige carpet.

Skoo, do you have any pictures of your Mirage porcelain tile that looks like slate?

That color Marmoleum is Shitake.

Post when I'm finished? Ha ha. This is one of those ongoing renovations. Fridge when I moved in back in 1998, range and hood in 2000, Cabinet refinishing in winter 05-06, sink & DW in 2007, finally now the floor. Plan to keep the 22 year old Corian.

I guess I can just declare it 'done' at any point in this endless cycle.

Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution.

We just laid Italian porcelain tiles in a concrete-gray color. We installed 12" x 12" GranitoGres-brand tiles from Casalgrande Pandana, and I love 'em. They're pretty easy to clean up to their original color, and they look just great. Haven't sealed them yet (does porcelain need sealing?). Was planning to hit them with a Muriatic acid wash before I do anything else. For grout, we're using a Hydroment-brand, cementatious, non-sanded grout in Heron Blue, which actually appears light gray and not blue at all--it closely matches the tile color (all of the Polyblend-branded "grays" were all too "warm"). The overall effect of the tile, in combination with the gray grout, closely resembles a continuous, concrete floor-like finish.

I'm hugely curious as to why your porcelain tile is cracked after only eight years' use? Our porcelain tile is pretty darned resilient--haven't broken one yet, even with dropped plates, pans, etc. What kind of subfloor do you have? If you have extra tile, it's actually pretty easy to remove any single damaged tile (just break it with a hammer) and replace it.

celticmoon it looks great! Mind sharing the cost per yard? Thanks.

We have white oak throughout our open kitchen, dining, and living room...also in our hallways. Love, love, love hardwood floors! They are easy to take care of and look beautiful all the time!!

There is no movement in the tiles and the grout is still prefect. I guess it's a mystery as to why these tiles have cracked. I will talk to our contractor about pulling them up prior to putting down the cork. He put them down, he is a friend and will do his best to steer us right. He has done all of the work in our house (fireplaces, bathrooms, porch, kitchen, deck...everything) and all but the floor is great. I trust him totally. The subfloor is wonderboard.

Catkin, I have only a single number of $8/sf installed for half the house, part solid bamboo (refinishable) and part Marmoleum, and that included installation of subflooring and a nasty tearout of tile in a 2 inch bed of cement. My flooring guy is off now for Christmas so I can't get a breakout for you.

Flooring dealers on Ebay have Marmoleum sheet goods at $23 to $40 a square yard and the Click panels at $4.59 to 5.39 per sq ft ($41-48/ sq yd). It is the sheet installation that is dicey; Click is easier to install, like a floating floor.

Pricey stuff, especially for a frugalista like me. Worth it though IMHO.

Marmoleum for me too!

I guess that's to be expected--it's such a Cadillac of floor coverings!
Happy for ya!

So the click's easy to install, eh?
Is the click recommended for kitchens, too? Thanks!

hardwood here, red oak preferably. It is timeless and durable. When it comes to a floor make your choice based on what you will never tire of or have to do too much to. All floors are work. My only advice is not to go too dark in stain even though it is 'in' right now. i see everything, EVERYTHING, and they look dusty in a minute. We considered cork, but honestly, I just did not like the look or the feel under my feet. Plus I have heard installation horror stories, but I know many want it now because they believe it is environmentally friendly. I am realistic and know that they have these little things called TREE FARMS. gOOD LUCK AND have A GOOD cHRISTMAS DAY

Not the greatest pics, but here's what I have showing the Mirage Slate floor (porcelain tile):

With flash:

I wish our experience with hardwood was more similar to sandyponder's! If it was, we might have considered continuing the oak through the kitchen. In the rest of the house, our floors are finished with poly, but unless oil hardens the wood somehow, I don't see how that would have helped us. We have scratches that are deep and definitely into the wood, not just scratching the poly surface.

Safe to say my Mom loves her new kitchen floor. I wasn't so sure about her criteria (mostly she was focused on maintenance) but from a practical standpoint it is a gem. The overall design with the swirled colours hides really well, no seams, it is soft underfoot and no glue had to be used for the installation. In terms of appearance it is very contemporary looking but very warm.

I have tile in my current kitchen (in a quite nice mid tone gray) and never again would I have tile - it shows everything, its hard to stand on and goodbye to anything you drop. Not for me - kitchen needs to be practical above all else in my book. Wood would be nice but I have to do engineered (concrete construction)and I wouldn't do engineered in a kitchen (too much risk of water damage for me).

Item:
Authentic View Concrete FiberFloor (#CA042\Copper\Overall)
Supplier:
Centura Floor and Wall Fashions through Carastan Flooring
Manufacturer:
Tarkett
Manufacturing Region:

Specs:
FloorScore Certified
Cost:
Installed: $800 - Initial Quote: $1168.73
Warranty:
10 years

90-year-old douglas fir -- been through probably 4 or 5 total kitchen renovations over the century, untold young families, and still going strong. I adore it.

Our cork floor is great. It's "Safron" by Montado (their spelling error!) and it doesn't show anything but flour spilled while making cookies. It's a floating plank floor, and our contractor installed it. I use the fiber mop they gave me, as well as a very slightly damp sponge on it. It feels like heaven under my legs and feet (I have RA and couldn't do a tile floor)....good luck with this decision!

donnakay2009, any pictures of your Safron Cork Floor that sounds perfect for you?

circuspeanut, I love your douglas fir floor!

Skoo, I love the way your new blue range looks with your Mirage slate floors! Thanks for sharing.

Teresa, what width are your gorgeous Brazilian Teak floors? Is your family room open to the kitchen? If it is, then can you snap a picture of the two rooms in one picture? I am trying to decide if the rooms will look separate enough if I do wood in my kitchen especially since my kitchen and family room are small and open to one another.

Your tile likely cracked due to poor installation. If it were a natural stone it would be even worse.

If you ever do tile again, make sure the tiler knows what he's doing. Ask him about "deflection", and what is he going to do about it so the cracking doesn't happen again. The cement board probably wasn't cemented down either.

Reiterate that there are concerns about the cracking tiles, not necessarily the tile's fault.

Certainly sub floor should be considered, and deflection- size and span of floor joists, thickness and rigidity of sub floor. Plywood floor? Tongue and Groove? are they laying in the correct orientation( perpendicular to joist)? Is there enough thickness? Is there thinset between the wonderboard and plywood to fill the gaps? Is the wonderboard screwed to the subfloor only? Is it nice and flat? (different from level).

If all under the tile is correct, you could start to implicate the tile, but you want to investigate from the bottom up.

If they are all cracking, do you really want to float a floor on top? Is it going to be squeaky??

I am still waffling on my floor as I work on my mini-reno touch-up. There is laminate on top of a thick mudded 50+ yr old tile job... don't really want to take it up, but the laminate is not really looking too hot and it's been in for probably 5-7 yrs (not sure when the prev owners put it in).