Hardwood or Tile? The Age Old Kitchen Floor Question

Did you know that 90% of homeowners would rather have tile or hardwood floors in their kitchen? It makes sense because when you cook, let’s face it, you make a mess. Everybody does. Tile and hardwood both offer an easy to clean surface while maintaining a classy appearance. The question is, which one should you choose?

Hardwood

-Pro: Hardwood is slightly springy on your feet, at least when compared to ceramic tiles. For the kitchen, having a comfortable standing surface matters a lot when you’re on your feet all the time.
-Pro: Walking barefoot on hardwood flooring in the winter is not an unpleasant experience, but walking on tile certainly is. Hardwood will do a better job keeping your feet warm what everything else is cold.
-Con: Hardwood tends to be both more expensive and less durable. This could be an issue especially in the kitchen which is such a high traffic area. If you drop a knife on a hardwood floor it will be gouged. Your hardwood floor will likely lose its luster real quickly in the kitchen.
-Con: Though hardwood is easy to wipe down, if it gets wet, which in the kitchen it will, you need to clean the mess immediately, otherwise the wood could warp and damage a good portion of your floor.

Tile

-Pro: Water, food, wine, whatever you want to spill on a tile, just wipe it right up and move on with your life. It’s that easy.
-Pro: In the long run, tile can be much more durable. You might worry sometimes about hurting your hardwood, but rarely will you have that thought about tiles. You can place any furniture you’d like on a ceramic tile floor without damaging it.
-Pro: More color and design options. This a personal preference Pro. The same could be said for hardwood being more aesthetically pleasing. Tile floors certainly provide more options, but they might not be what you’re looking for.
-Con: Ceramic tiles crack all the time. Now, this doesn’t make them unusable, but they can be fragile compared to hardwood when it comes to heavy objects being dropped.
-Con: The grout over time will become discolored and dirty.

Think of hardwood as more of a luxury, and tile as the practical and utilitarian option. Both are great choices, it just depends on what you will do most in your kitchen. If you want a less expensive tile-like floor, laminate floors are an interesting alternative. If you want to explore your flooring options further, give us a call today for the best tile and wood flooring Timberville VA has to offer.