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joyousmin

Keep or replace kitchen floor

joyousmin
6 years ago

We are moving into a house that has tile floor everywhere. We will replace it with wood in most of the home, but my GC thinks that I should keep the stone floor as is - in the kitchen. Saving $$$$. And it would save money, but I think the floor looks dated... It looks good with the current wood cabinets which are 15 years old...but I am putting in white cabinets and stainless counters. I am concerned about putting the wood floor that is everywhere in here also... as I fear leaks or spills... and I would put vinyl, but people scream that vinyl is not acceptable with all the other high end finishes.... can I put engineered wood, next to hardwood and make that work? Do I go with a different stone floor....or leave this....and I could stain the grout gray.....Also... my friends are mixed on stone floors. Some hate grout - gets dirty hard to keep clean, stone is hard on your back... some love stone... cool to the touch and timeless. I need to make a decision soon. HELP. Current floor below and sketched into houzz photo



Comments (30)

  • PRO
    Home Interiors with Ease
    6 years ago

    I would remove it all! Do wood throughout you won’t be sorry..I have had wood floors in my kitchen and throughout my last 2 homes and loved it!

  • lisadlu16
    6 years ago

    You won't see dirt in that grout. I kind of like the tile, it looks different than the flooring everyone else is doing. It will look good with white cabs and stainless counters. If you feel strongly that you want to replace then do it but if you are 50/50 then I would embrace it. It could look really cool done right!

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  • qam999
    6 years ago

    The tiles looks fine and would complement the new white cabs well. I wouldn't call it dated, particularly, as I am not aware of it ever having been a very common style. It's nice to see something that's not just the same old. Stone has its plusses and minuses, as does wood.

    HOWEVER......if your house is open plan, I would probably continue the same wood as the rest of the house into the kitchen. And I'd make it 100% engineered wood, rather than trying the headache of tying together an engineered and a solid product.

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I would keep the tile in the kitchen. I have wood in my kitchen, and I don't like it nearly as much as tile. Yes, it looks beautiful, but looks aren't everything. I'm constantly worried about spills, grease, water, splatter, etc -- in other words, I'm worried about keeping it clean, and a kitchen gets dirty if it's used. Tile is pretty much bullet-proof outside of maybe getting a small chip if you drop something heavy on it, and you can clean it all you want with pretty much anything you want. Stone requires gentler care (you mentioned both stone and tile, not sure which you have), but still tougher than wood. Truthfully, if I didn't have to think about the cost involved with removing wood and replacing with tile, I would ditch the wood in the kitchen. I like the look of the tile/stone you posted, it looks nice with the cabinetry and countertops.

  • PRO
    Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
    6 years ago

    If you are installing wood floors in the rest of the home, and renovating the kitchen, definitely run the wood floors into the kitchen as well. The contrast between that tile and white cabinets will be very jarring, and the tile will look old and out of place next to everything new. Prefinished floors will stand up to anything you can do in a kitchen and will give the house continuity and look beautiful with white cabinets.

  • PRO
    Skippack Tile & Stone
    6 years ago

    Your flooring is tile, not natural stone; if you don't love it you should change it out given your are redoing the whole space. Otherwise, it will still bother you after the remodel and all the money spent. If you are considering to keep it, then have the floor and grout professionally cleaned to make it look it's best.

  • PRO
    Patricia Colwell Consulting
    6 years ago

    All wood is IMO the way to go , that tile is a dated look and adds one more tone to deal with when making other choices for the kitchen.

  • littlebug zone 5 Missouri
    6 years ago

    Notice that the Pros all suggest changing it! And replace with a product that they (presumably) sell. Lol.

  • M Miller
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Littlebug5 - What do the pros hope to gain by giving their advice? They each gave very good reasons to do wood in the kitchen. All your post provides is snark, but no constructive advice.

    I am not a pro, and I recommend the OP change to wood in the kitchen. I have oak now (real, not engineered), had tile in the last kitchen, and wood in the prior two kitchens. I prefer wood because (a) it is beautiful, (b) stains will get in the grout, and stay there. It happened in my kitchen, and my grout was sealed. Sealing grout is like putting a top coat on your nail polish. Things can slip under that coat, and stay there. (c) water here and there won't bother the wood - I have a slobbery dog, who leaves water in a trail, and I wipe it up with no problems. If you are unfortunate to have a flood, and you have tile, the underlayment is ruined, and you will have to rip up and re-tile. I had a flood with oak floors many years ago. After a few weeks, the oak dried, and was fine. I am not saying that happens every time, but wood can dry from a flood and return back to how it was.

    I think the floor looks dated - if you think that now, that thinking will get worse when everything else is replaced.

    can I put engineered wood, next to hardwood and make that work? No. Don't do that, it will look bad to have engineered next to real hardwood.

    Some hate grout - gets dirty hard to keep clean, stone is hard on your back - yes, all that is true.

    stone... cool to the touch and timeless. - cool to the touch can be a bad thing. In my climate, stone floors would be intolerably cold in winter. If you live in a warm climate, you won't have that issue. As to timeless, it all depends on the stone type/color/how it is installed.

    joyousmin thanked M Miller
  • grapefruit1_ar
    6 years ago

    We have had hardwood in our kitchen for 31 years. We love it, and it looks great. I have always used a runner in front of the sink area. This is where most splashing occurs. The rug gets washed when needed. Any spills get wiped up with a damp paper towel.

    joyousmin thanked grapefruit1_ar
  • Diane
    6 years ago
    We have wood in our kitchen now and in our last home too and love it. Yes, a flood could happen although it seems the odds of a major flood happening are less likely than imagined. I would think it will not matter the flooring choice with large water issue as the cabinet bases would absorb water and need to be replace as well as the subfloor under vinyl or tile.
    joyousmin thanked Diane
  • K Laurence
    6 years ago

    I vote for wood everywhere. I’ve had wood in my kitchen for the past 17 years, still looks good even with a dog and surfer teenage son & his friends. But you’ll get all kinds of opposing answers to your question.

  • aprilneverends
    6 years ago

    IMO the flooring is too big a surface..one needs to love it or at least to tolerate it well

    if your plan is very open-I'd run wood everywhere, but, for some piece of mind, ask your contractor to leave tiles/install cheap whatever tiles so that surfaces are level, only where the cabinets will stand..you won't see the tile, but will be less worried about possible leaks, damage to the cabinets, etc

    (that what we did in our kitchen-we've engineered wood though..So Cal, concrete slab, all that jazz)

    if your plan calls for a transition or allows for an easy transition between the kitchen and other areas-don't put engineered wood or wood-like next to other wood, in most cases won't look right, even two different woods won't look right unless some very well considered transition that takes lots of thought, money, and experienced craftsmen..find tiles that you do like, that will make sense, in terms of color, vibe, etc, with all the other finishes you have already/going to have, and with the general style of the house. Take easiness of cleaning into account, since it's kitchen, and it's already an important part of your consideration.

    joyousmin thanked aprilneverends
  • swrite
    6 years ago
    In my experience, when contractors & other type professionals tell you not to do something like replace floors you don’t like (and it’s merely a design issue not some other issue), it’s because they’re trying to save themselves all the work. Rip it out now & have it done with all the other work before you move in. You’ll be glad you did. And if you want vinyl, put vinyl. The other people aren’t going to be living in & cleaning your house. What works best for you & YOUR lifestyle? If you don’t pick what YOU want, you’ll probably regret it later. Do you like to walk barefoot? Do you have tender joints or knees or any back pain? Do you spend a lot of time standing in the kitchen prepping & cooking meals? Do you hate cleaning grout lines? If so, a softer surface like wood or vinyl would be appropriate. If you have big dogs, a harder surface might be more suitable although there are plenty on here that use LVT w/ dogs just fine. I went against what’s trendy right now & ripped out the tile in my house in two baths & an entryway prior to moving in. In the entryway, I replaced it with LVT. It butts up to engineered hardwood that we put in to replace carpet. The key is to selecting one of the designs or patterns that doesn’t look like wood and to make sure they have color tones that work well next to each other if you don’t want to run the wood into the kitchen. If you can afford it, there’s really no reason to keep a floor you hate just to appease others. Chances are you aren’t going to like the floor any more later than you do now.
    joyousmin thanked swrite
  • joyousmin
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Thanks all.... I appreciate all the input... no decision as of yet.

  • cpaul1
    6 years ago

    In general I think people under estimate the power of flooring in a house. I don't think most non-decorating type people realize that it's one of the biggest things that will date a house. I would hate to see you spend a lot of money renovating a kitchen only to leave older, dated looking flooring. I would upgrade the flooring with the kitchen.

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    6 years ago

    ^^ Upgrading doesn't mean it has to be wood. Countless homes have tile floors in the kitchen that don't look dated. Hey, if you don't like the tile get rid of it and replace with something you love, be it wood, cork, vinyl, tile, whatever, just know the pros and cons of each and what factors are important to *you*. We cook a lot, so me for ease of cleaning and ability to stand up to a lot of wear and tear are more important that having wood through the whole house, so I stand behind my original post -- tile is pretty much bullet proof, and I personally think it's a better choice for a kitchen. There are so many beautiful tile choices on the market, you can find something you like if you decide you want to replace what is there with some other tile.

  • PRO
    Patricia Colwell Consulting
    6 years ago

    BTW I have never sold flooring in my life I do what I think is right for my clients.

  • PRO
    Kitchen Magic
    6 years ago

    Nice job!

  • User
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    That discontinued Daltile tile is in high demand. You might advertise it nationwide on EBay and get folks wanting to buy it salvage.

    You are also underestimating the sheer amount of work and expense it takes to remove it and get the slab smooth enough for wood. That’s a bear of a darn expensive nasty dusty job. Even with one of those ride on tile eater machines.

  • Jennifer Hogan
    6 years ago

    My sister built a home 3 years ago that won a local award for the best new design. She had high end finishes throughout, but opted for Luxury Vinyl Tile in the kitchen and entry because she didn't want wood again and she didn't want anything as unforgiving and hard on your feet and legs as tile.
    My other sister, a physician, built her home 15 years ago and used sheet vinyl in her kitchen/dining area. Again, did not want to walk on hard tile with aging joints and bones.
    I am now re-decorating a home that I purchased about a year ago and I will be using LVT. I want easy maintenance and after living in a home with tile throughout for 20 years, I am thrilled that I no longer have pain in my heels and legs and lower back every night.

  • aprilneverends
    6 years ago

    I just tried to search for but failed, one magnificent apartment in Spain (a rental btw. huge, obviously extremely expensive) where the renters(she's a designer) put very light gray vinyl throughout-they have little kids. That apartment was smashing..great traditional architecture and kitchen etc, but very bold modern furnishings, lights, etc.

    Truth to be told-the bones of the place itself were so good, one should have tried very hard to spoil it.

    But I did remember that lady's boldness..it worked amazingly well. Including vinyl.

  • krissy377
    6 years ago

    I would go for all wood everywhere.

  • biondanonima (Zone 7a Hudson Valley)
    6 years ago

    If you are changing the layout of the kitchen, you may not have a choice but to replace it. Do you know if the tile goes under the existing cabinets, or just butts up against them?

  • PRO
    Home Interiors with Ease
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I don’t sell any flooring LIttlebug....I am not a contractor...just interior design furniture and accessories suggestions and do not add a percentage onto any items I suggest! Only charge for my time to help design the space...so do not assume we are all trying to make a buck on a floor sale...that’s a ridiculous comment to make.

  • prairiemom61
    6 years ago

    We have that gray/blue Daltile in our mudroom, butler pantry and half bath and love it. For those rooms. We have wide plank pine in our kitchen and dining room and love it. It is protected with several coats of poly and spills wipe up easily and it doesn't cause back and leg fatigue. I'd say go for hardwoods in your kitchen. Your legs and back will thank you and hardwoods are timeless.

  • Sheila Carter
    6 years ago
    Wow, I have the same floor and am trying to figure out countertops that would look good with it.
  • cpartist
    6 years ago

    I would not do tile because it's too hard on the joints and back. We have been renting for the past year and the place has tile floors and it's a killer on my back and knees.

  • aprilneverends
    6 years ago

    Looks great in your kitchen, Sheila!

    it's not about the tile itself as I see it, every tile will have people who love it and who don't(I suppose), rather how it will go with the rest of the elements, and whether the OP wants to go with tile/stone at all