Wood for kitchen floor???

[Joe Tonich]

I need to re-do my kitchen floor and would like to know if anyone has used "real" wood flooring in this room. Ceramic tile is out as it's really slippery when wet and the boys and dog would have a nasty time W/it when coming in out of the wet weather and you know how they spill things (Never, just ask them ;) ). They'd break their necks, STUPID dog TOO!! Linoleum is definitely out!!! I was thinking of going with BRUCE 3/4" oak flooring (pre-finished). Do you think this would be a good idea or not? I'm looking for Pro's or Con's. BTW, I need to get this done by May 12th or I'm dead!! Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

[Howard Norman]

I have two friends that put wood floors in their kitchens. One had a bad problem with the wood in front of the dishwasher expanding. There was no leak at the dishwasher-just high humidity. This floor was real oak and finished on the job. The second house has not had a problem in the kitchen. I don't know if that floor was a laminate or solid wood.

Howard

[Brian MacDonald]

I've had the Bruce pre-finished oak in the kitchen for about 6 years with no problems whatsoever, cleans up well with a damp mop and looks great!

[Glenn Clabo]

Hey Joe,
I've had wood...and put wood down in our new kitchen. I used engineered wood...and talked about it on this forum just recently...check out...
Wood floor in the kitchen (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1095&highlight=wood+floor)

[Joe Tonich]

Glenn,
I was looking at that site when you posted earlier about your floor. Thats what got me thinking about alternatives to ceramic tile. I didn't want to go w/tile but everything I've heard or read said it would hold up very well. I'm still skeptical of the laminate flooring. I remember when Pergo came out it was the cats meow, but now I hear it's not all it's supposed to be. I still like the idea of solid wood, but I'm willing to hear more about the engineered stuff.

Brian & Howard,
Thanks for the info. I'll be weighing my decision on all responses.

Joe

[Dave Avery]

Joe,

Have "real" wood in the kitchen and it's holding up well. It's prefinished oak. The kids are much more of an issue than moisture. Dave.

[Jim Young]

Joe, We had the Bruce pre finished oak in our last house and I hated it. It had a chamfer on the boards which made the floor uncomfortable to my feet. The wood itself held just fine, we even had it in the bathroom. I'm not discouraging the use of wood, just the use of chamfered wood. My parents have oak in thier kitchen for about 15 years now and I love it, thier's was finished after installation. Also a nice feature is putting the planks at an angle, will cost a little more due to waste.

[Rob Glynn]

Glued down blue gum (hardwood) parquetry tiles here, right through the house except for the bathrooms. We love it.

[Steve Jenkins]

When I remodeled our kitchen last year I milled and layed oak flooring. It looks great, however, no kids and no dogs. Steve

[Tim]

Hi Joe,

I'm sure that a wood floored kitchen in a home that doesn't have little kids would work great. I haven't tried it, but know two friends who have (both in families with 2-3 young children). Neither are entirely happy with the durability in that environment. Both say they don't recommend it if you have young kids (spilling everything everywhere all the time, especially when you're not around to see it and clean it up). I don't know about the dogs, but suspect that would be the same for any wood floor no matter what room it was in (assuming the dogs were allowed in it).

Is slipperiness the only reason you're leaning away from tile? We just put a new ceramic tile floor in our kitchen about a year ago and it's not really at all slippery when wet. We have two young boys who are not careful when they run through the kitchen. It is a bit textured to look like stone tile and that definitely helps. Our previous tile floor of a perfectly smooth style of tile WAS slippery when wet. If expense and/or aesthetics were your reasons for looking elsewhere I would understand, but the slipperiness issue can be taken care of with the right tile selection.

Good luck!