Kitchen floor advice please!

sg0102

Hi there

I need some advice on kitchen floor options.

We are about to start renovating our kitchen into a large kitchen with dining table, which leads into a loungey area with sofas by some bifold doors overlooking the garden. It will all be open plan so will need the same flooring throughout.

I'm exploring our options and I think we have whitted it down to 3, but keen on people's views and experiences - including a rough idea of costs...

I think we are considering:
- Re-engingeered wooden flooring
- Tiles (probably large porecelain)
- "posh" laminate (e.g. karndean, but hopefully something a bit cheaper!?)

The area in total is about 30 sq metres.

My personal preference I think is the wood flooring, whereas my wife's is tiles. My only issue with the tiles is how it could work with the sofa area, which feels better suited to wood flooring?

I'm struggling to get a view of relative costs between the 3 also..so any views would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Steve

sg0102

I meant to add...we have 2 young boys (7 months & nearly 3) if that should influence things....

scottishblondie

I wouldn't lay wood in a kitchen area, purely because of the greater potential for water damage.

I've used a wood effect plank vinyl throughout my ground floor including kitchen and utility room (similar to the Karndean, but a cheaper version by Heuga) because it is 100% waterproof and hard wearing. And it looks lovely too

abankerbutnotafatcat

Just because it's open plan doesn't mean you have to have the same flooring throughout. You can visually separate the two areas by having tiled flooring in the kitchen and wood flooring in the lounge area - it actually gives quite a modern 'loft appartment' look if you get it right and I had it in a previous apartment.

Spikey2

scottishblondie wrote: »

I wouldn't lay wood in a kitchen area, purely because of the greater potential for water damage.

I've used a wood effect plank vinyl throughout my ground floor including kitchen and utility room (similar to the Karndean, but a cheaper version by Heuga) because it is 100% waterproof and hard wearing. And it looks lovely too

I agree with the vinyl being a good idea. I have it in my kitchen, dining room and bathroom. Tiles are too expensive for me. The vinyl is easy to clean, looks good, and lots of people thought it was real wood, including estate agents and they see plenty of floors.

notanewuser

We'll be doing something similar soon and will be going for tiles in the kitchen/dining areas and engineered oak floor with rugs in the sitting area.

shays_mum

Am looking for the same things at the moment & came across this unbranded product, any thoughts?:
http://www.iloveflooring.co.uk/c46606/ekoflor-luxury-vinyl-tiles.html

Just realised its the same price as rhinofloor which i think is a good brand as well?!

spacey2012

Call some floor fitters up, they are 50 a penny these days, you wont have any trouble finding someone to do the job when it suits you.

Kojak12

I live in Spain so the only choice is tiles or more tiles. We longed for wooden flooring in a flat refurb we are just completing. We chose wood effect floor tiles. All the benefits of tiles but the finished effect is brilliant - you would think they were wood planks.

So yes I would recommend this option. Some wood effect tiles are more convincing than others so have a really good shop around and make sure you can view the tiles laid out - about 1m square will do - don't just buy if you have seen a single tile. This because the amount of variation within a box varies a great deal and for some tiles when lots are laid out together the finished look can be quite artificial. Of course if you are going for a really modern look you won't want a lot of variation, we went for a distressed oak look and we needed lots of variation which we got. You can also normally buy thin tiles in the same ranges that can be used instead of a skirting board. They really finish the flooring off well and make a very hard wearing kick board.

Make sure you ask how hard wearing the tiles are. In Spain they are all sold with ratings for resistance to fading in the sun, how hard wearing they are and their frost resistance. In the UK a lot of shops do not publish this information but the tiles will have been rated. For a high wear area make sure you buy something that is hardwearing (normally the PEI rating and you will want a 4, read more here http://www.diy-tips.co.uk/choosing-tiles/) and if you are going for a dark colour or you get a lot of direct sun on the floor make sure the UV resistance is high.

sooty&sweep

Hi

What are you laying the flooring on to ?

We fitted ceramic slate looking tiles in our kitchen a few years ago onto a wooden floor and we regret it.
The wooden floor flexes and so the grouting has cracked even though we used the correct adhesive & grout but also quite a few of the tiles have been broken from things being dropped in the kitchen.
We intend to re do our kitchen next year and to be honest I intend to replace with vinyl. I know the good stuff is expensive but it will fetch such a hammering I think the expense is justified.
Jen

sg0102

We are laying to tiles on to concrete flooring.

I can't get my head around the relative costs of the options? In terms of supplies & fitting.

Am I right in thinking the order (cheapest first is)

Karndean / Amtico
Ceramic Tiles
Engineered Oak floor

? I know the tiling can depend on the quality you choose - we would be looking for large tiles, and would only ever pay mid-range (whatever mid range is for ceramic tiles!!).

Any further advice greatly appreciated!!
Steve