I think the kitchen is the most functional room in the house. It is the place, where the whole family can come together and share a delicious dinner. Besides, you cook a lot in this room. That’s why it is very important to create a cozy kitchen in your house. Today I want to focus my mind on such an important part of the kitchen as the floor. What floor should we have in the kitchen, tile, or hardwood?
As a general rule, a tile floor is a better option for the kitchen than a hard floor. The main characteristics of tile floors are water resistance and fire resistance, which make it a perfect choice for such a wet room as a kitchen. At the same time, hardwood floor has their pros, too. It creates a cozy natural ambiance in the kitchen. Read on to compare the characteristics of tile and hardwood floors to make the final choice yourself.
Selecting Kitchen Flooring: Tile or Hardwood
To make the decision wisely, we must be prepared. That’s why I want to consider, what things are important to take into consideration while selecting the floor for the kitchen. Then we’ll see what flooring has better characteristics, tile or hardwood.
Keep in mind, that kitchen is a high-traffic area. Here each member of your family comes every single day to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Besides, it is the place, where the food is cooked. That means high moisture levels, high temperatures, and the falling of food remnants on the floor. These extreme circumstances serve as a great challenge to the kitchen floor material. So, the best kitchen flooring should have such characteristics:
1. Durability
In spite of hard circumstances and challenges the kitchen floor must stay for years without wear and tear. It should remain shiny and beautiful. In the kitchen, many accidents can happen – you may drop a plate on the floor and scratch it with its pieces. You may leak some hot soup or your kids may drop a huge piece of chocolate cake. And your floor has to be strong enough to deal with it.
2. Water resistance
Each homeowner knows, that kitchen is a wet room. The kitchen taps may be running. Some of the home inhabitants may drop a glass of juice or milk on the floor. When choosing the tile, hardwood, or another kind of floor for the kitchen, you have to be sure, that it is water resistant enough to accept that challenge.
3. Good look
Kitchen is the heart of our home. That means it must not only be functional, but good-looking, too. The flooring is the base of the kitchen and it creates the necessary mood in this room. Whether you want it to be elegant, cozy, or glamorous – the design of the floor in the kitchen should bear that idea, too.
4. Price option
Modeling the floor in the kitchen may be costly. But that is an investment, which increases the general value of your home. So, either you want to save some money and choose the budget option, making a compromise in durability, or you want the most reliable and beautiful flooring and you are ready to pay for it. The price option influences the final choice.
Now let’s compare the 2 most popular types of flooring: tile and hardwood according to the four characteristics we’ve mentioned above.
| Characteristics | Tile Floor | Hardwood Floor |
| Durability | The tile floor is extremely durable. With correct maintenance, it can serve for 18-20 years. | Hardwood floors are extremely durable. Depending on their kind, they can last during 10-15 years. |
| Water resistance | The tile floor is 100% waterproof | Water or other liquid can warp the hardwood floor. |
| Good look | The tile floor has a great variety of colors and patterns. Any homeowner can find the tile, which suits his kitchen style. | The hardwood floor is warm and natural. It is a timeless choice. It can add coziness top any premise. |
| Price option (average per square foot) | $10-15 | $3-8 |
| Traffic area | Tile floor serves great in high traffic areas | The hardwood floor is supposed for medium traffic areas. |
Is it Better to Have Hardwood or Tile in the Kitchen?
As you can see from the table, the tile floor shows better results for the kitchen. It is water resistant, high temperature resistant and it suits high traffic areas. But its price is quite high. At the same time, I know many homeowners, who choose hardwood floors for their warmth and closeness to nature.
If you want to go deeper into the topic of hard flooring selection, then I recommend you to watch this video.
But we are moving forward and I want to discuss in detail all the peculiarities of tile and hardwood floor in the kitchen.
Everything about Hardwood Floor for Kitchen
Hardwood floor never goes out of fashion. It is the choice that always remains popular for its beauty and closeness to nature. When I tell “hardwood floor”, I mean the great variety of woods it is made of. Here are the most popular woods, which are used for making a hard floor:
- Oak
- Maple
- Cherry
- Ash
- Walnut
Hardwood floor is usually made of trees, which change their leaves every year. The most popular choice for the kitchen floor is oak. The lovers of exotic options like to lay in the kitchen the floor from Brazilian cherry, which is imported to the USA.
I like the hardwood floor in the kitchen for its variety of choices. Whatever style you like, you can find the hardwood floor, which suits it. Thus, you can choose a parquet style of wood flooring, which consists of small separate blocks. It is possible to form different patterns from these blocks. The other variation of hardwood floor is plank style. In this case, you get wide floorboards. A hardwood floor can be of different colors. Thus, the oak floor is light brown, while the walnut floor is dark brown.
The main advantage of the hardwood floor is that it can be refinished as many times as you need. Even if your pet scratched it or your child stained it, you can re-paint it and renew it in any way you like. But there’s one thing you should keep in mind. The hard floor is usually nailed to a subfloor, so it is hard to remove it completely to be changed.
A hardwood floor is a great option for the living rooms and bedrooms. But it is ambiguous if you can use it in the kitchen as the hardwood floor is neither moisture nor fire resistant. The sudden leak of water can warm the wood, and in this case, you have to refinish it, which is quite costly. If you choose hardwood for the kitchen, be ready to stop a leak as fast as possible and then clean the floor and dry it down.
Everything about Tile Floor for Kitchen
I prefer the tile floor for the kitchen. The main reason why I choose it is its water resistance. The tile floor won’t change its form or color after any leaks or spills.
The tile is the most popular choice for kitchens. Yes, I know, this option is quite costly, but just like the hardwood floor, tiles also have different kinds. Here are some of them:
- Ceramic
- Glass
- Granite
- Porcelain
- Stone
If you have to save some cash, the best selection for you is ceramic tile. I recommend tile to my readers and use it myself because of its variability. Tiles are presented on the market in various shapes, sizes, and colors. That’s why you can find the tile, which will look natural and suitable for the special ambiance of your kitchen.
Many homeowners consider tiles as too expensive a kind of flooring. But I have to say, that the price range on tiles is wide: it starts from $1 per square meter and ends at $100 per square foot. So, any person can find the tiles for the kitchen floor to their budget and taste.
You should know that installing the tile is not an easy process. If you are not experienced in it, it is better to hire professional tile installers. It is another source of expenses, which you have to consider before you make the final decision to install the tile floor in the kitchen. The average price of tile floor professional installation is $4-12 dollars per square foot.
One of the drawbacks, that a tile has, is its sleepy surface. To avoid it, I chose tiles with a slightly rough surface. It’s more slip-resistant.
Conclusion
To conclude, the tile floor seems more suitable for the kitchen than hardwood. It is water resistant and fire resistant. These characteristics are necessary for the wet room, like the kitchen. But this type of flooring has some cons in comparison with a hardwood floor. It is more costly and its surface is slippery.
I always recommend my readers to choose the options with their hearts, not with their brains. I hope, you’ve studied the facts on tile and hardwood flooring in the kitchen. And now you can feel to your heart and make the final decision.