Kitchen flooring options/advice (poured?)

chipshill

I know there are a few threads on this topic but my needs are a bit different;

Things to know...

The room is approx 22" square

It was a kitchen with concrete and tiles, a lounge with floorboards, and a rear extension with solid concrete floor. This is all getting levelled shortly so don't worry about it being flat etc

I have a 4 year old boy, a dog and it backs onto the garden so will need to be easy to clean

I don't like laminate or tiles because I don't like the feeling of it. Actually, it's more the tinny sound it makes when you walk on it. Makes me think it sounds cheap for some reason.

I'm hoping someone can chime in with advice regarding my options. I originally wanted solid oak flooring, but a friend of mine has put me off saying it dents easily. He renovated a house or two with solid oak floor and it put a dent in it when he dropped a wrench. He also said there is a lot of round small holes of high heeled shoes which really put me off. Is this as bad as it sounds? Are there options for density or a coated one to make it harder?

I've more recently been looking for information on a few different types of flooring like polished concrete, or there's another type that you literally pour over the area, it self levels and goes hard like a sort of acrylic... Does anybody have any experience with either of these?

Thanks for reading

ceredigion

Small room

chipshill

Haha. Feet I meant

TheCyclingProgrammer

Karndean or Amtico or similar?

rosie-lee

I've just started looking at resin floors after seeing one at a friends that has taken plenty of wear and tear and still looks gorgeous. I'm not uptodate with pricing but perhaps take a look at those...

chipshill

Yeah that's the stuff I meant by acrylic, the resin is what I've seen before and it looks really durable, and I like the fact it has no joins or breaks. Also not upto date with pricing though, will have to research that...

Karndean, isn't that like a laminate? I had a quick look but I just thought it was an expensive laminate from the quick glance

Marktheshark

The main issue is the joints from concrete to wood.
They will be one almighty week point.
Resin will crack with expansion on the wood.
Dont dispel whats often called cushion floor as an option, some high end ranges such as tarkett texstar which has a woven fibre backing and is very resilient contract grade material is warm to walk on, incredibly tough and hard wearing stuff that looks really well down and wont crack or break.
We are not talking the market stall sponge backed cushion floor here, this is high end grade material.

chipshill

The join shouldn't be a problem, the whole room, or 3 rooms rather will be levelled in the next week or so. I think the concrete part is getting raised to match the floorboards, then plying over the lot.

I've not even considered a cushion flooring, but Ive only ever seen the cheap market stuff like you mentioned so I'll look into that tomorrow

Ben84

I have lino (not the vinyl people sometimes call lino). The real lino is durable and long lasting, and it's solid colour/pattern all the way through so unlike vinyl doesn't wear away any time soon. It's easy to clean and doesn't have any grout like tiles do. Grout is just a pain, it collects dirt and stains and looks bad with age. Wood meanwhile is a risk in the kitchen, if something like the washing machine leaks it's going to be an ugly mess. Lino will be fine however. Lino is relatively soft compared to tiles too. I know lino isn't the most fashionable option, but I really appreciated how easy it is to keep it clean. Tiles mean grout, and it isn't worth the effort for me

rosie-lee

you're right, I always think of lino as old fashioned but I have seen some really nice stuff now you come to mention it. I've seen wood look and tile look that Ive had to bend down and touch to see if its real....although I think it can be expensive.

Davesnave

chipshill wrote: »

Karndean, isn't that like a laminate? I had a quick look but I just thought it was an expensive laminate from the quick glance

Karndean & Amtico is not the same as wood laminate. It's stuck down and doesn't 'clack' like laminate when you walk on it. It's not cheap. There are others like these, but I have no experience of them.

Some people like Karndean & Amtico. I do. They're not wood, but they look good and the floors I know have worn extremely well.

Another vote here too for high quality vinyl sheet, like Tarkett. My local flooring shop sells a contract grade in bulk, so it comes at a discount. They've had it on their high traffic shop floor for some years, just to show how well it wears. It's not spongy like the domestic cushion floors. Wouldn't say it looks as good as the two above, but the price is right.