Floors in Good Standing

The floor is the largest surface area in your kitchen, so it has a big impact on how your kitchen looks. Not surprisingly, your flooring choice determines how easy your kitchen is to clean and how comfortable it is to stand on.

When it comes to colors, patterns, textures and faux finishes, the number of flooring choices is almost beyond count. But there are only four basic materials for kitchen floors. Here’s a look at some of them.

Resilient vinyl flooring is the most common choice for kitchens. It’s sold in rolls and is sometimes called “sheet flooring.” Resilient products offer the greatest choice in colors and patterns, including those that simulate tile, stone and wood. These floors are easy to clean and never need waxing. And resilient floors are the easiest underfoot to stand on. But while they won’t tear, the point of a knife will make a visible cut. Resilient flooring is very competitively priced, with plenty of options for any budget. If you want to do the project yourself, installing rolled flooring is not difficult. And some patterns are sold as 12- by 12-inch self-stick tiles making installation even easier.

Linoleum was the original resilient flooring. It vanished from the market in the 1970s, but is coming back as part of movement toward “Green” products. The components used to make linoleum are all natural. This is not the case with resilient flooring based on vinyl or other man-made polymers. More and more linoleum patterns are coming into the market, but expect to pay a bit more for this green product than for its vinyl equivalent.

Laminate flooring, sold in planks or in tiles, is a major competitor to resilient. Laminate flooring is sort of like a sandwich. The bottom layer gives the material its strength and rigidity and is usually made of medium density fiberboard. While the upper part of the sandwich is the pattern, a thin layer, created photographically, to perfect just about any naturally occurring wood grain or stone pattern. Part of this decorative surface is what’s called the “wear layer.” This is what comes in contact with your feet, and is made of a hard-wearing resin. The better brands include aluminum oxide particles, the same stuff you’ll find on top of bowling alleys, in this wear layer. On the bottom, a matching laminate layer balances the entire construction. The best performing laminate flooring uses High Pressure Decorative Laminate on the surface and a balancing layer – similar to what you see on your countertops. Others may use thinner laminates, also called Low Pressure Laminates, for surface and balance. Visit our Wilsonart Flooring web site.

Laminate flooring is what the industry refers to as a “floating floor.” That means it isn’t nailed or glued to the sub floor and can expand and contract freely. Individual laminate planks or tiles snap together in a tension-fit system that varies between manufacturers. Between the sub floor and laminate is a pad that both muffles sound and makes it easy to stand on.

The last two flooring materials can get pricy—both in the cost of the material and because both should be installed by trained professionals. One of these, ceramic tile, offers even more colors and patterns than resilient flooring. There’s no doubt that a ceramic floor makes a major style statement in your kitchen. But it has three drawbacks. First, the grout lines between the tiles are dirt collectors. Second, tile is brittle; drop a frying pan on it and the tile is likely to crack. And third, depending on your physical condition, tile can be tiring to stand on.

Then there’s hardwood. You have fewer choices here because there aren’t many wood species suitable for flooring. Hardwood floors are sold either as 1/2-inch solid planks or planks with a hardwood veneer glued onto a plywood substrate. A tongue and grove system is used to fit the planks together and they are attached to the sub floor by blind nailing or glue.