Emerging Trend: Hardwood Floors in the Kitchen?

hardwood floors in the kitchen

That’s right, you heard us: hardwood floors in the kitchen.

*We want to mention however that we do not condone the use of hardwood floors in the kitchen – despite how beautiful they are – because of the chance of water damage occurring.

With that said, a report performed by Houzz found that many homeowners are updating their kitchens by remodeling them. 72% of homeowners are updating their kitchen floors, according to the report.

Of the 72%, 34% chose solid hardwood for their kitchen flooring, while 12% selected engineered hardwood floors. It used to be that ceramic or tile-flooring options were most popular, but that has now changed.

Why Hardwood Floors for Kitchens?

It begs to question: why are a majority of people, specifically homeowners, turning to hardwood floors in the kitchen? What’s the appeal?

1. Kitchen Life Has Changed

It used to be kitchens were for cooking and nothing more. Nowadays this isn’t the case. Kitchens for many families have a variety of uses. Entertainment (i.e. TV), socializing, performing work or homework. There’s a lot more activity occurring in kitchens now, as much as 3-4 hours per day as estimated by the report.

With this much activity occurring in kitchens on a daily basis, you’re going to want something that looks appealing – such as hardwood floors – especially if you’re inviting guests over to socialize with.

2. It’s Just Due for a Change

In the report, half of the homeowners surveyed had reported that they were updating their kitchen because it had been 21 years or longer since the last update. That’s a long time & with trends constantly changing you want to make sure you’re keeping up in order to maximize the value of your home. Flooring is one of the top features being updated in kitchen remodels.

See also: Hardwood floors add value to your home.

3. New Kitchen, New Style

People that remodel their kitchen are trying to be trendy or add in features or other bells & whistles that have a lot of appeal. Hardwood floors are one of these appeals because it’s something we haven’t traditionally seen performed in the past. Kitchen hardwood flooring is just beginning to gain popularity amongst homeowners.

Please refer to our other posts on hardwood flooring trends of 2016 and residential flooring trends for more information.

Fear of Frying!

Fear of Frying!
by Ron Call

Many times through the years as I’m measuring a customer’s home for new flooring the same question arises time after time.  I think I might want hardwood in my kitchen but I’m afraid of it getting wet.  There are many factors to consider when choosing new flooring such as cost, appearance, wear etc.  Each type of flooring whether choosing wood, laminate, tile, sheet vinyl or vinyl composite tile (VCT) all have advantages as well as drawbacks.

Ron Call, your Urbanfloor Guy

Tile is hard under the foot when standing and cooking and is cold on your feet when you’re making your morning coffee at 6 am.  If the rest of your home and adjacent areas like your dining room or breakfast nook have beautiful hardwood, using sheet vinyl or VCT will probably detract from the overall look of your home.  Have no fear; I’ve installed hundreds of kitchens with great success.  Here are a few things to keep in mind when your floor is being installed. Make sure your contractor fills the entire perimeter (expansion gap) at cabinets behind the refrigerator and around islands with flexible clear silicone.  This will prevent spilled water from getting underneath your floating floor or you’re glued down floor.  Even a major spill can be mopped up before you can do much damage.  Also never use inexpensive water based adhesive to glue down your hardwood floor in possible wet areas.  Use a good urethane adhesive like Urban Four.  I’ve seen glued down engineered floors completely flooded that once dried sustained no visible damage.  Also if you’re a do-it-yourselfer and you’re planning on using one of the new glue less fold and lock floating floors in your home just use a little waterproof Titebond wood adhesive in the tongue and groove when you’re installing in the kitchen.  This will prevent topical spills from seeping between the planks giving you time to mop up the spill.  Lastly make sure you have a couple left over boxes of the original wood stored away in your home in case a few planks need replacing.  Bon appetit..