Kitchen Flooring advice

zebidee1

Oh I like that! And it's the same name as my kitchen. Ohhh an omen.

I just dont think it would survive well in mine.

edwara

we have got amtico in our playrrom and it has survived 18months so far. It looks just like oak as well. We love it and are going to pu ti in our kitchen and bathroom when we have them done

sutwam

Just a quick note on the ceramic tiles front, the earlier post is correct you can get some adhesives that would be flexible enough to cope but I would speak to the manufacturer first before I purchased and expensive product to make sure it does do what you want it to, alternatively I would put a decoupling membrane down, like Schluter's Ditra mat or Dural's Crack Isolation which are guarenteed to work (unless theres a major earthquake!!!!)

Emmalou

Thanks for the link mvteng - I like that floor alot and just the colour/tone of wood I am looking for.
Just a question about tiles - I was under the impression that porcelain tiles were very hard wearing - I thought it was ceramic that were prone to cracking? If I do go with the tile option, I was planning porcelain for sure.

Natural stone I thought too heavy for my suspended wood floor - also the necessity for regular sealing has put me off.

mvteng

zebidee 1 - believe me, our floors had pans dropped on it, water spilled on it, kids tramping over it in muddy boots, cookers & washing machines dragged over it, & it still looks great.

sutwam

Just a question about tiles - I was under the impression that porcelain tiles were very hard wearing - I thought it was ceramic that were prone to cracking? If I do go with the tile option, I was planning porcelain for sure.

Natural stone I thought too heavy for my suspended wood floor - also the necessity for regular sealing has put me off.

I have had your bog standard ceramic tiles down in my kitchen for 8 years, none of them has cracked as they are solidly bedded to the floor. Basically when they were laid the adhesive was applied to the back of the tile filling in the voids under the tile and then a bed of adhesive was combed onto the floor, I used a 6x6mm square notched trowel as my tiles are only 9mm thick, these combined factors gave me no air spaces under the tiles and its these that when pressure is applied onto the tile above the air space causes the tile to crack.

Emmalou

Mvteng - now I am seriously impressed given what your floor has had to put up with!
I am also a bit worried about wood being noisy and hollow sounding when you walk on it. Do you have any problems with that?
In fact, are there any disadvantages at all??
Also, how do you clean it?

Sorry to ask so many questions!

zebidee1

I've been reading some more about the Kahrs floors........the finishes are laquer or oil. I dont want to have to 'upkeep' the floor so although the oil finished floors are absolutely lovely, I dont want to have to oil it regularly so that's discounted in my mind.

I really do want a 'lay and forget' type floor (apart from cleaning it obviously, lol).

I also roughly priced how much the floor would cost using the calculator on the link mvteng posted. It came to almost £1000. I have 3 floors to cover, I can't justify £1000 on the kitchen alone, especially when fitting costs need added too.

I'm putting newspaper down!

:rotfl:

mvteng

Emmalou,

I've never noticed it being noisy or hollow, but its on the ground floor. Maybe if you were in a flat your neighbours downstairs might think differently.

Concernig cleaning, we just brush under the dinner table & mop lightly typically once a week, or as required if the kids have tramped mud through.

Disadvantages - The carpenter said it was very very solid & therefore much harder to fit than laminate. He also said some engineered boards can be flexible & not that great quality, so make sure your happy with what your buying. we visited a local Hardwood flooring shop to look at all the different makes & types before we decided. We then bought on the internet for approx. 1/2 what they quoted us!

Zebedee 1 - I didnt know about re-oiling the floor. We've never done it! but I'll check it out now. Thanks