How to protect kitchen hardwood floor? Advice with Rugs?

last year

New house owner here.

I have engineered hardwood floor in my living room and in the kitchen area. I never had hard wood before so please help out a newbie.

Question: No kids or pets so traffic wise not much of a busy space. But I use my kitchen fairly regularly to cook. How do I protect my kitchen the best way? I am sure adding a rug will have some kind of protection against day to day water spillage and what not. What do I look for when I decide on a rug? Are rug pads necessary? I have heard horror stories of rug pads getting stuck to the floor and leaving residue/glue and what not. Any advice you have for me will be highly appreciated.

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Patricia Colwell Consulting

last year

There are anti fatigue mats for kitchens and the good ones work fine on hardwood. Other than that a felt pad is best I honestly dislike rugs in kitchens IMO a tripping hazard usually the anti fatique ones are IMO a better choice.

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Comments (8)

P Banos
last year
There are felt/rubber rug pads made for wood floors. They extend the life of your rug and protect the floor from abrasion or color transfer from the rug. Floor damage comes from cheap PVC pads, not natural rubber on a felt pad. Latex pads dry out and leave a million flakes behind.
A T thanked P Banos
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You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.
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We are getting our 20 year old hardwoods refinished right now because they are trashed! Here are the "really" bad things we've noticed. Do not push your furniture across the floor! It will leave gouges. Buy tons of felt protective pads in all different sizes and put them on EVERYTHING. You also need to replace them frequently and keep the pads clean (if there is any grit or dirt on the pad the protective pad turns to sandpaper). Put an area rug under the sink/DW and water dispenser to catch drips (and shake and clean under rugs regulary so no dirt is trapped under them). Our kids have plasma cars and they have destroyed the floors so I would say no wheels at all on the floor. Don't push that piano! Swiffers or dust mops are great and help keeping it clean.
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Secondhalf - it doesn't sound as if what you were told was wrong; you just have to layer it with knowledge of your household. Technical chickens and all. For sure if liquid gets on ramboard and it is not cleaned away, it can hold moisture on a wood floor and be more problematic than if it weren't there. If the football team decides to test out their new cleats on this groovy surface, you might wish you had ramboard present. We'll leave the chickens out of it ;) But probably scattering feed in between floorboards isn't recommended. So YMMV, depending on what you actually *do*. The GC is making some random generic recommendation for what seems to work best in general. You happen to know what will be happening specifically, so you can modify accordingly! Also, quite frankly, because you've asked the question at all suggests a certain level of nervousness about it and so you might want to consider using the ramboard just for peace of mind. But keep an eye out for trapped moisture. And ban cleats, claws and the un-housebroken of whatever kingdom. :)
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Another Bona user here. My housekeepers don't clean under the pad often, so about twice a year (well, sometimes it ends up about once a year), I roll up the area rug (even the big ones), vacuum the pad well on both sides, roll it up and clean under it with Bona. When thoroughly dry, replace pad and rug. I was told you shouldn't use vinegar with water as it will eventually wear off the finish. The Bona mop (the one with the refillable reservoir) is great because you can fill the reservoir, snap it in, spray and mop with the pad attached with Velcro. Then wash the pads when done and you are ready for next time. I just replaced my Bona mop after about 15 years of use, so worth the investment. Pads last a long time too.
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maddie260
last year
I have always had a rug runner in front of my sink, dishwasher I've never had a problem with tripping. It's not anti-fatigue or anything special. I just buy the runners at Costco and throw them in the wash every couple of weeks. I've never had a problem with sticking, etc. I have non-engineered hardwood in my kitchen.
Helen
last year
IMO a rug is not necessary to protect the wood floor. I also installed wood floors when I remodeled and they still look fine.

I actually think a rug might cause more issues than prevent because you might not notice damp spots or spots with the rug. With the wood I can immediately see if there is something on the floor and just wipe it off.

You have to clean around and deal with a rug and I love the clean expanse of the wood and see no reason to break it up with a rug that serves no purpose.

Also some rugs cause issues with wood floors. I don't recall which kind - obviously not the kind of classic good quality area rugs one puts in a living room but some of the inexpensive synthetic with synthetic backing.

I don't need any kind of mat for my feet - I wear comfortable supportive mule type shoes for kitchen safety anyway.
vinmarks
last year
I have had wood floors in my kitchen in several houses including the current house. I have never used any rugs. Our kitchen is heavily used and nothing has been an issue. The only thing has been a few small dents from something dropped. Bigger dent from a dropped hot iron. Oops
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Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
As long as your floors are properly sealed you shouldn't have any problem with protecting them in a kitchen. (I'm assuming you aren't throwing knives or using caustic acids when you cook.)

I just vacuum them regularly and clean them with Bona hardwood floor cleaner, and they are the easiest to care for floors that I've ever had.
la_la Girl
last year
Same - we have always had wood floors in the kitchen and they don’t need to be babied
PRO
G & S Floor Service
last year
We use a washable rug with a soft backing in front of our sink, dishwasher and door leading out to the deck. It's just there to catch drips and wipe shoes . Swap it for a clean one every now and then.

How to protect kitchen hardwood floor? Advice with Rugs?

Patricia Colwell Consulting

Comments (8)

P Banos

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