Prior to our 07 remodel, we had cork floors in kitchen, DR, entry and adjoining powder room for 18 years. I loved this floor! We didn't treat it with much care and didn't receive care information when the cork floors were installed. So, they received a far amount of water when washed, no added finishes or refinishing. We also have a 22 pound dog who managed to scratch up a lot of woodwork around window areas. The floors held up well. If you'd look close (like eyes a foot away), you could see many scratches from a variety of sources. The excess water caused some seams to curve up a little (only noticeable with bare feet). I really wanted to put in new cork floors, but, got talked out of it by a KD who said colors/patterns weren't right for our new look. We put in porcelain tiles and standing on them hasn't yet been a problem. I probably don't stand on them for more than 90 minutes at a time. If I were to put in cork again, I'd use the floating kind and panels or planks. When replacing the old cork floor, everyone was predicting big problems if we had to deal with glued down panels. The old floor came up easy because no glue. Cork is much more forgiving on uneven subfloors than tile. It took about a days work to even out the subfloor for tile (involved replacing some plywood and a lot of sanding). One of my friends just put in a high end glued down cork tile and they now wish that they had gone with the floating option.

I have hardwoods in the kitchen and also in my master bath. When I was researching about putting them in the bath (worried about water issues), I was convinced by people on some forums here, that regardless of the flooring, if you have a serious leak or flooding, it's going to ruin whatever floor you have. Or at least it's going to have to be pulled out in order to avoid mold and underlayment issues. So, I wouldn't have any worries about using wood in your kitchen, esp site finished oak. It will stand up to anything, barring a serious leak or flood. I understand your desire for a dark floor "However, the kitchen look that I love is a marble type quartz countertop, with a dark brown floor" but since you are expecting to sell soon, I would think a cohesive, coordinated floor throughout the house, will appeal to more people than the look you want (when it's so different from the rest of the house). Maybe you can make your preferred look, the look you want for this kitchen, your goal for the house you'll be buying to replace this one?

@Kristen Stewart - yes - my sister and I both purchase Woodland Reserve engineered wood floors from F&D (mine are European Oak - I think hers may be white oak ). The floors have held up wonderfully. Have had zero issues with them. She hasn’t has any issues either. Mine look exactly the same as when installed. The upkeep is easy - vacuum and sometimes use a slightly damp microfiber mop. These floors were a great purchase!

@btydrvn that's interesting, because my electric radiant heat was not expensive to install or run. I didn't have a water pipe option, because we don't have gas available where we live. I was wishing we did but have been very satisfied with what we got. Now I feel even better about it. Thanks! ☺️ I became a huge fan of concrete in the process too, and I love your concrete floors! The green stain is marvelous too! It looks so natural. I bet it goes with everything. When you say the heat gets stopped by anything you put on top of it, I assume you mean area rugs, right? I layed a small rug over a spot in my bathroom (my only indoor heated floor so far). I didn't feel the same lovely sunshine-on-a-rock lusciousness, but the rug didn't feel as cold as it does on unheated floor. So is that really stopping the heat? I don't know. I still want it all through my house. So let me ask you, before you had heated concrete floors, what kind of flooring were you used to in your bedroom and living room? Was it an adjustment to have concrete? I grew up with wall-to-wall carpeting in those areas and shag! in the family room. That's what feels like home to me. But it's not as clean as hard floors, and we have allergies. And rugs are a trip hazard. So is it going to be more of an adjustment than I'll be happy with? What was it like for you?