hardwood floors in the kitchen, yea or nea?

[Cybrvanr]

I removed a wall between my dining room, and my kitchen. I'm pretty much finished the project, but have gotten to the point where I'm going the floors. One of the things I've discovered is the layers of flooring in the kitchen. There's two layers of vinyl flooring, with the latest one visible. I discovered taht beneath the lowest layer, is red oak flooring like the rest of the house has in it!

My original plan was to put down tile on the kitchen floor, but I'm having some second thoughts...I am thinking about stripping off all the vinyl flooring refinishing, and varnishing the original hardwood! Currently, I'm using some cheap particleboard woodtone cabinets that were put in by the previous owner, but when it's all done, I am going to have some 'retro' style cabinets built that will more fit the period of the house. They will be painted white, with white subway tile behind the cabinets. The blue seen on the walls is the final color for the kitchen/DR area. Getting my existing cabinets out for relacement of the flooring is quite easy i've found out, so it looks like the job can be completed relatively quickly!

So, whatta think? I've seen a few homes that have wood floors in the kitchen and it looks fairly nice. I am trying to maintain a 1951 period look to the house. Pardon the mess, as the kitchen is in use as the renovations are occuring!

 

[58limited]

My house was built in 1941. The floors are all oak hardwood except for the kitchen and the hallway that runs past it. They were originally black and white checkered 6X6" linoluem. I think most older homes had tile in the kitchens, but I've seen a few with hardwood. Go with what you like, be sure to use at least 3 coats of polyurethane on the wood. Hint: use a satin finish, it doesn't show dirt as badly as gloss. I learned this recently when I had the floors redone in two bedrooms and the other hallway. Cat hair and dust don't show nearly as badly as in the living room the previous owner finished in gloss (I do clean the floors regularly, but with gloss they look like they need cleaning every single day).

If you decide to use tile, do not use ceramic tile if the house is on piers. I did this, and despite several layers of old flooring (total floor thickness >3 inches), the tile has several hairline cracks.

 

[maytagbear]

With several coats

of a polyurethane or similar dressing, hardwood floors in a kitchen can be a good idea.

They're resilient, and pretty easy on the feet and back, you can drop things on it, and they won't always break....

There are some real advantages in using this floor...least of which, it's already there, and it's authentic to the period.

Of course, you are not me, but I would go with the wood.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[frontaloadotmy]

I would leave it also,

Steven. Especially if it appears to be the original treatment.
My last house had red oak but only in the living room, bed
rooms and a small hallway. It was original of the 1946 build
date. I bet your subway tiles are gonna look good.

 

[mrsalvo]

I would put tile down. I have hardwood flooring in my kitchen, next years project is to replace it with tile. Too many spills
on it can make it really look rough, grease, bleach, etc.

 

[mixfinder]

Pining for a Floor!

We had wood floors, in the kitchen, in three different older houses. We took out the floor covering and sanded. In two of the houses my wife painted a border and design on the wood. We used Urethane. The first house was oil based. It stunk to high heaven, took a day between coats and a week to cure. If it got nicked or scratched a chip would come up leaving the bare wood.
We were encouraged to use water based Satin in the next house. It was on all the floors in the main level. I am an ardant supporter of water based Urethane. It dries for recoat in 30 minutes, cures in 24 hours, never chips and every year we would recoat it, with no prep, just like laying down a coat of floor wax and it would look new. The wood is heck of a lot cheaper and easier to care for than any manmade cover.
Kelly

 

[polkanut]

I have to agree with Kelly, stick with the red oak. We have maple flooring throughout our 1925 bungalow. In the kitchen however, there are 5 layers of linoleum, so there is no way we're going through the ordeal of tearing all that out. The living room, dining room, and 2 bedrooms and hallway it turned out beautifully. Our bathroom has no-wax flooring also, only 2 layers though.

 

[hoover1060]

Armstrong Solarian here

I just had new stuff installed this past May, from their Urban settings line. It was expensive stuff, $27 a sq yard but looks nice and is one continuous sheet, which is what I wanted. I put it in both my kitchen and upstairs bath, and am very pleased with it. The pattern I chose has a nice retro look too!
I don't know that one is better than another, I'd say it just depends on what your taste is and what the "look" is you want for your kitchen.

 

[cehalstead]

hardwood in the kitchen

The house I grew up in is the house I live in...a mid20th Century modern. It had oak floors throughout, except for the bathrooms and kitchen. When I installed a new kitchen in '97, the room was gutted to the subfloor and new oak flooring was installed. Thanks to the experience of the floor finisher, you cannot tell that this floor is 45 yrs newer than the other floors. I have had no problems keeping them clean (1 cup vinegar in a gallon of warm water, sponge mop) and they sparkle like new. The other floors in the house were refinished in '93 (this might contribute to the exact matching) and I would never cover them with carpet or tile again..

 

[petek]

My choice would be to go with the hardwood.

 

[lightedcontrols]

I have hardwood floors in my kitchen now, and am putting hardwood floors in my new kitchen. What you want is a hardwood that each plank can be beveled so that it gives your feet a ''cushion'' to stand on. Hard floors of ANY kind can be dreadful on the feet and ankles. Mark

 

[swestoyz]

thumbs up on wood! You will be glad you decided uncover the floor, since it has been in a preserved state all these years under the subsequent floors. Now if the glue would only come off as easy as it was to take down that wall....

Ben

 

[gansky1]

Wood and Birkenstocks!

I have a similar situation in my kitchen with flooring and intend on using hardwood to match the rest of the main floor. I have lots of clients with hardwood floors in the kitchen, and wouldn't think twice about using it in my own kitchen. Installed and finished properly, they are just as easy to care for as any other hard surface floor. Sweep or dustmop (pref.) frequently. It is key to maintaining the finish along with damp mopping as needed. Most scuff marks can be removed with firm pressure on a damp rag. Wood has drawbacks, of course, but I've cleaned acres of flooring in the last dozen of years and every type of covering has drawbacks to varying degree.

My kitchen looks about as challenging as yours, removing a wall into the dining room, new cabinets, etc. are all on the list. I have no idea what's under my "layered torte" - I would like it to be wood, but I'm not holding out much hope. I had a client that pulled up two layers of floor in her kitchen and found the most incredible wood flooring I've ever seen. When the home was built in the late 20's with 1" oak floors in all the rooms. All the wood was cut on site and the scraps that weren't good enough for the "good" floors were tossed into the kitchen, nailed down and used as the sub-floor for the covering she peeled off. All the pieces were discolored, cracked, knotted, small holes among other defects. She had the floor finishing company skim wood-filler over the entire surface, sanded and finished in high-gloss eurethane. It made the most wonderful mosaic of wood - really took your breath away.

 

[retromom]

Kitchen floors, what to do!

Steven:

I'll tell you what I don't recommend....laminate flooring.

We had laminate installed in the kitchen about nine years ago.
While it's fairly tough, there have been drawbacks. If you purchase laminate that is high gloss, beware. Water splashes from the kitchen area seem to act as dirt magnets. You will see nasty little dirt spots on your once-pristine floor (that must be cleaned). I have never worked so hard keeping a floor clean in my life!

If you live in a sandy area, the sand acts as an abrasive and wears away at the finish. Since this is just a coating over a Xerox-type copy of a wood finish, it will wear everything off; and there's no repairing or refinishing it. Furniture or appliances on rollers or casters just exacerbate the problem. We had an incident where our old dishwasher was leaking. The water seeped under the laminate and warped it big time. I don't know if these same problems would hold true for wood flooring.

We have since installed ceramic tile. I really like it. While it may not be forgiving for the occasional dropped dish, it is easy to maintain, doesn't scratch, and hides the dirt.

Whichever you choose, good luck on your restoration project! I hope it's ready for the holidays so that you can sit back and enjoy your efforts.

 

[chachp]

Refinish the existing floor!

Years ago I had a home that was about 100 years old. It had three layers of vinyl in the kitchen over the original hardwood that ran throughout the rest of the house.

I removed the vinyl myself with an ice scraper and lots of water. It was a beast of a job. I then had the floors professionally sanded and finished. You could do that part yourself if you know how but the floors were so gorgeous I didn't want to take the chance of ruining it with a bad sanding job.

They then covered it with 3 coats of some kind of xxxthane and they looked and performed really well. I was very happy with it.

 

[panthera]

Go with the Red Oak

But if you use polyurethane, be sure to check the safety information. Some formulations "out-gas" nasty stuff for quite a while.
Of course, you could do real linoleum. The checkerboard patterns or the slightly older border paterns were sometimes carried up to the countertops. Looked nice, was easy care (as long as you didn't put a too-hot pot down on it.)
Vinyl just seems inappropriate for the era, sorry.
Of course, I have horrid tile in my kitchen - the jerks covered up the oak flooring just before I moved in...hair-line cracks? Honey, you could sail barges down mine...side-by-side.

 

[waterstreet]

Yes to wood

Although not strictly "authentic" to the period the refinished floor would look fantastic with the white cabinets and white tile counter tops.
I have had hardwood floors in a kitchen and as long as you keep the finish up, they are great.
Some of the new less toxic finishes give a great soft satin finish and are very easy to use for touch-ups.

David

 

[oxydolfan1]

We have a floor finish called "moisture-cure" here....

Don't just evacuate yourself if you use it....warn the whole block!

I've never smelled a more potent, toxic chemical.

 

[Cybrvanr]

thanks for the suggestions guys. I think the HW floors are universally approved here The rest of the house has absloutely beautiful floors in it that I've been refinishing room by room with minwax semi-gloss polyurethane. It's an oil-base finished that takes about 12 hours to dry, but it's been VERY durable! I did most of the work during the summer when I could open the windows though! To avoid the cold feet issue, I put insulation underneath the floor when I moved into the home several years ago...that helped out a LOT. That moisture cure stuff sounds sort of like POR15 paint that I've used to restore appliances and undercoat my van with!