Installing hardwood floor in kitchen
Installing hardwood floor in kitchen – basic recommendations. Any interior designer will tell you – if you can afford to make a wooden flooring in the whole house, then make it in the whole house, including the kitchen. It looks especially good in kitchens combined with the living room.
A beautiful wooden flooring continuously connects one room with another, creating a single space. In addition, wood is less subject to fashion trends than floor tiles, so a wooden floor laid today will still be relevant in 30 years.
During this period, you can always update it, re-varnish it and give it a completely new shade, it will look as if it was just laid. The process of replacing tiles, on the other hand, is much dirtier, labor-intensive and expensive.
Color of the floor in the kitchen
As a rule, we spend most of our time in the kitchen, and due to high traffic, scratches can quickly appear on the floor. When choosing a color, designers recommend choosing light shades, because scratches are less noticeable on a light surface and light colors give a feeling of coziness.
Comfort of a wooden floor in the kitchen
Walking on a wooden floor is not only more pleasant, but also healthier. In winter, ceramic tiles can become quite cold, and due to the high density of the material, walking on them creates a lot of stress on the back and legs.
The cost of a wooden floor in the kitchen
To the surprise of many homeowners, the cost of a wooden floor can be almost the same as a tile floor. There are several reasons for this. Tiles cannot be laid on a subfloor, and surface preparation leads to additional work and expenses. Buying the tiles themselves, high-quality and durable, matching in color and texture, often costs more than a wooden floor.
Kitchen floor maintenance
A quick damp mop or vacuum a couple of times a week, and the occasional treatment of the floor with professional care products will be enough to keep your floor beautiful for a long time. It is important to remember – remove dirt or liquid from the floor as quickly as possible and do not allow dirt to accumulate near doors, under carpets or pet bowls. This can lead to stains, scratches and deformation of the floor, especially for hardwood.
Installing hardwood floor in kitchen – tips
Many homeowners believe that a wooden floor in the kitchen will not last long due to the high probability of liquid spills and increased stress on the flooring. The truth is that any floor can be damaged by liquid, even tiles. Grout and low-quality tiles can stain or crack, while a wooden floor can become deformed and scratched. Simple precautions can prevent these unwanted consequences.
Choosing the right finish. The main way to protect your wooden floor from damage is to choose the right finish. For the kitchen floor, a water-based polyurethane varnish is perfect, as ironically as it may sound, this varnish repels water better than others.
Talk to a technologist to decide which type of coating is better for you – a ready-to-install wooden floor with a finish coating or a floor that you need to varnish yourself.
Choosing a ready-made floor, for example, parquet board, you will get a very strong and durable coating, but the joints will be susceptible to liquid ingress. If you are going to cover the wooden floor yourself after installation, then the seams can be treated with special mixtures for sealing, and then varnish can be applied to the entire surface.
Use carpeting. In places where water ingress on the floor is almost inevitable, for example near the sink, dishwasher or refrigerator, you can lay water-repellent carpets. Only severe flooding or prolonged presence of moisture on the surface can cause damage to your floor. There is no need to worry about water drops or accidentally spilled sauce, you just need to eliminate the consequences as soon as possible.
We take a responsible approach to choosing the type of wood. The kitchen in almost any home is a place with high traffic, the whole family gathers here, guests come, pets walk around, so the type of wood for the floor should be chosen taking this feature into account, oak or ash are best suited. Of course, there are some exotic species that are stronger, but due to their characteristics, they may be less able to tolerate humidity, temperature changes or other environmental conditions.
If you have chosen a wooden flooring, then also think about what is better for you – a solid wood floor or a parquet board. Each of them has its own advantages. A solid wood floor can always be sanded, thereby extending its service life and updating its appearance. But at the same time, wood fibers are more susceptible to deformation from moisture. For this reason, many choose parquet boards as a floor covering.
