I would use a commercial style floor cleaner and floor machine on the brick floor before deciding - in that space where it's after you've destroyed the existing kitchen but before doing construction on the new. Your floor looks like it has about 100 years of dirt on it to me. Once it's clean, you might feel differently about it and it can be sealed against future dirt.

The thing about jackhammering the brick out? You'll want to explore that notion before committing to it all the way and being surprised. Back in the day, they didn't lay brick over concrete. Brick may be the only surface or you might have two feet of mortar.

Area rugs and mats definitely help with the cold and hardness. You can put a floating floor over it, but be aware of two things. You'd have transition moldings (little wee ramps) at every entrance\exit to deal with the height change. Doors that open over the kitchen floor are trimmed. Stairs will end up with that first step being a bit shorter or longer in height.

Thing two is that your appliances should always be ON the new flooring but your cabinets would need to be up on "legs" if they are also on the flooring. We did this really successfully and even had a granite counter on top. The toe kick clipped onto the legs. "Legs" could also be as simple as having stainless steel gliders attached to the bottom.

You can set the cabinets directly on the brick and still have a floating floor by adding some quarter round molding at the base of the cabinet. Your appliances should still be ON the floating floor and not set lower down on the brick. You could try some sort of spacer under the cabinets, but cause of the brick, gliders or shims would be better.

Cabinet math gets a little tricky if their is a height difference of the floating floor level and the base of the cabinets. Lot's of stuff might get measured from the brick when it should have been measured from the surface of the floating floor. It just ups the chances of mistakes.

The best thing about a brick floor is that hides everything. The worst part is that without area rugs, any fall is a break or a smash - for dinnerware, food containers, etc. I would vote to keep it for the feeling and warmth. Best of luck to you which ever way you decide.

Hi. Much as I love the look of the brick it doesn't sound like it will work for you. I don't think I'd want it in my kitchen (cleaning nightmare!) but I'd love it on a covered patio. I would suggest talking to a flooring installer to find out if they can pour a level coat over it rather than jackhammering- or might even be a different/better method. Seems like then you could put Vinyl Plank flooring over it, which can have a nice resiliency and it comes in lots of lighter colors as well. Also, it is thin so won't appreciably raise your floor height. Good luck :)

I will add that my 90 year old mother became dizzy one day and fell straight back smacking her head on the hardwood kitchen floor. She sustained a knot nearly the size of a baseball but was otherwise fine. She refused to see a doctor. Two years later at almost 92, she’s still going strong and reads everyday. I shudder to think how she would have faired if that floor had been brick or tile.

Wonder if you could have electric radiant heat put under whatever flooring you add. Love the warmth underfoot.

It would be criminal to destroy that historic fabric. Find a way to cover that's reversible please.

floor was put in in 1960- d think thats considered historic?

Thank you all your responses have been very helpful! what a wonderful group of responses! I love this community and I promise to post a picture of the finished kitchen… It may take awhile…!

colleen, it's not historic. Take it out. If you don't do it now, and you get everything else done and move itn, having to demo that brick will be a complete and utter mess. you'll be cleaning dust for weeks.

Bite the bullet, remove it. no one wants to walk on hard, cold, uneven brick from the 60's, and have to clean up old grime from those mortar joints!

Time for hardwood! Would love to see your renovated kitchen! Please keep us posted.

Not brick but we have saltillo everywhere and im only in my 30s but i do the cooking and they are murder on my back. if it was up to me id never work in a litchen with hard floors like that.

I would definitely loose the brick now. Installed in the 60's? Hard to know exactly how it was installed but it MIGHT not be easy to remove. Do it anyway while you are not living there and under construction. It won't be good on your body and it isn't anything "priceless" to keep.

“It would be criminal to destroy that historic fabric.”

@Joseph Corlett, LLC - Criminal? Really? Some 1960s brick that is hard, cold, nearly impossible to wipe and keep clean, and dangerous to fall on for homeowners aging in place? Why is 1960s brick so precious? It’s brick. It’s not ”historic fabric” like, say, a 1800s walnut millwork, or stunning marble, or artistic plaster work, or even 1960s MCM. It’s not unique, special or irreplaceable. You can get the same brick today.

@colleen stanton - I think @Beth H. : made a great point - remove it now while you are having other work done. Also while you aren’t living there as you said. If you keep that brick floor you will regret it in the future, but won’t have such a great opportunity as you have now to remove it.

@M Miller I agree with you.

@colleen stanton You might be sorry if you keep it. I don't think you'll be sorry if you replace it. You will love a beautiful, new, flat, easy to clean floor. Get a couple of bids from the best people you can find.

Having it done while you live there will be inconvenient to your lives, so best to do it now.

I can’t speak to living with brick floors but I’m working with two clients right now who are removing brick floors. Luckily in both cases they were dry set so came right out. Even in your case a crew of guys will have it out in no time. Do it now.

I would strongly recommend removing the floor. It's uneven and NOT a good surface. Some brick floors are flat, this is not. Please do NOT place throw rugs. They are a very common cause of falls as people age. All rugs need to have edges essentially fixed to the floor.

I'm younger than you and there is no way in hell I would ever stand on brick floors for any length of time.

I would keep the brick. At this point, its been in the house for over 80 years… it definitely deserves to be considered as part of the house’s history.

"its been in the house for over 80 years… it definitely deserves to be considered as part of the house’s history."

@Hillside House - the OP said the brick has been there since the 1960s. Mathematics say that is not "over 80 years". Furthermore, read this thread and the many reasons listed in it for not keeping the brick. Weigh them against your reason of "part of the house's history" from the 1960s. If that were a good reason, none of the houses from the 1960s would be renovated or updated.

Tripping hazard. Remove it.

Sorry for my quick reading/math error, shannon-wi.

I did read the thread. I saw others’ opinions. I have a different one, and I gave it to the OP, like they asked. My opinion is valid, as is yours.

FURTHERMORE, if you don’t like my opinion, feel free to ignore it and move on. Tagging me to argue about it is weird, particularly when this isn’t the first time you’ve done it. Quit being weird.

@Hillside House - people tagging others is an internet standard. It is not weird. People tag someone to indicate that they are responding to that person's comment. If you feel it's weird to tag others on an internet forum, you should mention that to every person who tags another on Houzz or any other social media. It's funny that you find tagging weird.

I find you repeatedly tagging me - while ignoring others in this thread who also think OP should keep the brick - weird.

We live in an 18th century house that has wood floors in the kitchen and brick floors in the adjacent breakfast room. Like most people, our lives tend to coalesce in the kitchen and breakfast room. The brick floors are not in as good shape (lots of spalling) as yours are, and we are currently investigating options for refurbishing them, which may not be possible given the extent of the damage, or replacing them. Originally, we thought we would have to replace them with reclaimed wood floors, but have come to the conclusion that we would miss the beauty and the "wow" factor of the bricks, and are investigating high-fired brick veneer (with new radiant floor heating) if refurbishment doesn't work out. Does anyone have experience with finding professionals to refinish brick floors? Personally, I don't find the brick floors particularly hard (brick is not as hard as tile). If I did find them hard, I would probably put down a couple of those heavy industrial cushioned mats with sloped edges in front of work areas to avoid a tripping hazard. My husband and I are both 64, and have lived in the house for 30+ years; perhaps if I didn't have the history with the brick floor, I might feel differently.

I had 1,000 sf of slate floors removed six months ago when i redid my kitchen and some adjoining areas. I moved into the house and tried to live with those floors but they always looked dirty and the unevenness drove me crazy. My floors had lots of mortar in the joints. Taking them up was not terrible at all. Took a day of jackhammering but they came up easily. Best decision I ever made. I say get rid of them.

Lovely but dangerous. I'd want heated floors instead, but the best conductor of heat is tile; still not a good option for a future retirement home.

Yes, yes yes, yes to heated floors. when we pulled up the slate, we did hydronic heating. High recommend it.

My parents have what looks like the same brick in their 1970s house. I bet yours is from around the same era. It's ugly and awkward. My parents were told it would be expensive to remove so they have lived with it for 30+ years. I vote to rip it out.

When I was 30 we moved into a house that had 11 year old brick for a kitchen floor. It was hard to try and clean it and it never was really clean. I don't remember it being hard on my feet but with 2 under age four I didn't stand still very long in one place. It was ripped out 2.5 years later and I have never ever missed it. Maybe it was jackhammered out--I can't remember and the few days of inconvenience was worth everything. The bit of fireplace shown in your picture looks wonderful.

Please post an update when you are ready.

Definately! We just met with all of the subs - demolition of current cabinets - etc starts next week. So we don’t expect the house to be ready to move in until september. I’ll post before and after photos

Original kitchen with the dreaded brick floor

New improved! i do NOT miss that brick floor

New improved! i do NOT miss that brick floor

thank you Houzz

Thank you to the Houzz community for your advice and comments

Very pretty!!!

My husband is 65 with back problems (just had an operation) and I have knee issues - so in retrospect, the 1980’s brick floor was not a possible for us.

The wood floor blends seamlessly with the rest of the hardwood floors on the first floor. Plus the kitchen is so much lighter and cleaner looking. It was much easier to get them out than I thought. We also removed a 1980’s non working brick fireplace. It gave us room for an early in banquet. Heaven! So nice to have a place to sit in the kitchen. Cushions are being made for more comfortable seating.

Before and now

What a beautiful home you have. So happy to read you made the right decision for yourself.

Collen: You "after" pictures take my breath away! Gorgeous! Love that charming breakfast nook. The house looks even more historically accurate now, your renovation is faithful to the character of your home. Regarding your cabinets, what color are they painted? Thank you and congratulations on a beautiful remodel.

Can you describe more about how the brick was taken out and how they put the new floor in, please? The new kitchen is beautiful.

Beautiful results. What type of wood is the new floor?

Wow, beautiful transformation! Not only the brick floor, but your entire kitchen is really beautiful.

Pine. Which is the same as dining room and living room. You can’t tell the old wood from the new (I keep looking to try to see a color difference and can’t find one).

They jack hammered the old brick out. And there was a subfloor they were able to put the new wood down over. We had the entire house floors sanded and stained and sealed at the same time. The floor guys used different stains ( or clear stain) and were able to have the color uniform though out the house.

What was really impressive is the upstairs bath was black marble floor with 2 inches of cement under it (2 inches!!). Under the cement was the original pine floors from 1800s. The demo team was able to get the marble and cement up and leave the original hardwood floors. After sanding and staining -they look fabulous. Never thought I’d love hardwood floors in a master bath - but I do!

Thank you for your kind words. I’m sort of color obsessed and spent a lot of time on deciding walls and cabinet colors. The kitchen cabinets are Ben Moore vale mist #1494. Wood trim though out house is all Ben Moore White dove #OC-17.

Thank you Colleen!

I love what you did

That brick did not look original or in keeping of the old house, and I love how you did an up to date reno while keeping the flavor of the old...

I probably would have kept the fireplace, but what you did is so much smarter and more practical

It’s so elevated - I love your choices. I’m sure you’ll be happy in it and your knees & back with thank you.