Calling all hardwood floor owners!

We bought a house that we will be moving into in June. The flooring all needs to be replaced and we are in the process of deciding what to do. We are putting carpet in the bedrooms and family room. There is also a living room, dining room and hallway with hardwoods that we are having refinished. Then there is a huge breakfast area and kitchen that are currently very old, very ugly ceramic tile. We are thinking of taking that up and continuing the hardwoods from the rest of the rooms into that area. I have never had hardwoods in my kitchen and the very few people I know with them have given me mixed reviews. My choice is hardwoods or tile. So, if any of you have hardwoods in your kitchen (real wood, not laminate), could you please weigh in and tell me pros and cons? Is it difficult to keep clean? Does it hold up well? If you had it to do over again, would you go with hardwoods again? Thanks for any opinions I can get!

 

tile in kitchen area...

 

We have oak floors in the kitchen. I see no difference in the wear than the rest of the house. As far as cleaning, they are simple, probably easier than tile because of the grout. But if I had to do it again, I would probably choose tile just because I like the look better.

 

We replaced the flooring in the Kitchen and breakfast areas with hardwood when we did the family room and sunroom. The only difference between that and the tile our son put in his kitchen and dining room is we generally need to clean up liquid spill faster due to the potential for absorbtion. Wear and up keep is similar, but the tile is more stable (when done correctly) due to the backing boards, "mud", and tile generally being thicker and intercinnected better than hardwood. Dogs and object drops can impact both and in that situation the hardwood is much easier to repair. The hardness of the wood is also a factor. Our son went with very hard mapel flooring in his living room, foyer, and hallways which does seem to resist dog scratches better than oak.

 

If you go tile, go with the epoxy grout on the floors as it is much stronger and easier to clean than the non-sanded version. If you are attempting a DIY some people may have significant reactions to the grout and even the brand of grout.

 

I have hardwoods in my kitchen & love them. It has only been 2 years but we have not had any problems thus far, Good Luck!

 

I have bamboo hardwoods everywhere but in the bedrooms. I regret not putting hardwoods in there too; but hubby won that toss-up. :x

So far, I love my floors.

 

How do you clean your hardwoods? Especially those in the kitchen? I usually vacuum or sweep my current floor (vinyl) every day and mop once a week (or more if needed). I figured tile would be about the same other than having to seal grout every now and then. What would the daily cleaning of wood floors look like? Do you mop hardwoods?

 

I damp mop once a week minimum. Since I have such a large area of HW I have a gym push broom. I can sweep my floors in NO TIME.

I have rugs in areas that usually attract more water of splashes in the kitchen and the hall bathroom...at the sink, stove, and toilet. I just take a damp paper towel and clean up any spills.

Sometimes, just like this past weekend, if I don't have time to mop I'll just push broom and use the swiffer to clean up any really dirty areas.

 

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We recently bought a home with hardwoods and so far love them in the kitchen... like everyone said, having to clean up spills quickly etc..

My question is I see smudges where the spills were or just in general from kids etc... I have tried all kinds of hard wood floor products, but I am not getting it back to the shinny 'new' look I am looking for. (I even tried a buffer for a car!!!) does anyone else have problems with smudges? How do you clean them?

 

I like the results of my Shark Steamer. I have hardwoods in my halls, stairs and DR. Check your owner recommendations though.

 

Roomba and swifter-type system.

 

I have had hardwood in my kitchen for 11 years and have never had a problem. They still look new. I only have a child and a cat so my traffic isn't as much as someone with a large family. My mother had tile in her kitchen and within the first year, dropped a can while loading the pantry and ended up cracking 2 tiles which was not easy nor cheap to replair. And she was lucky it was new so she could find a match. Tile can be beautiful but I would keep that in mind.

 

Brea - you're finally moving huh? Locally, or out where your husband wanted to? Anyway...

We have hardwoods EVERYWHERE except the bedrooms, and hubby wants them in there too. I'd say since you have a little one, to go with hardwoods in your kitchen. If anything gets dropped in the kitchen with tile floors, it's gonna break instantly! I've had hardwoods in my kitchens in the last 2 houses I've been in for a total of 8 years, and have never had a problem. The only time I could ever see it being a problem would be IF you had a leak maybe under your dishwasher or something like that. But I've got 3 kids and have no complaints.

As far as cleaning, mine are water-based hardwoods, which are a tiny bit different than regular (I think polyurethane?) based. But I vacuum mine almost every single day, and then use a special hardwood cleaner/mop that can be bought in Lowes and clean them with that once or twice a week. I can sweep them too, but I've got sooooo much flooring it's just easier to vacuum.

 

Yes, we're finally moving and it is local. What kind of vacuum do you use? I have an upright with a beater bar that I don't think would work well on hardwoods. I also have a stick vac that I use in my current kitchen, but it isn't big enough to do an entire downstairs. I'm looking for a good one that won't hurt hardwoods, but can do carpet too since we will have carpet in the family room.

We actually are looking at a tile called Dura Ceramic. It is not cold like ceramic tile and is supposed to be way easier to clean and much more difficult to break. They also use a different kind of grout - acrylic I think? It is supposed to be easy to clean and doesn't require sealing. I had ceramic tile with regular grout before and said never again!

Oh, how I hate big decisions!!! :lol:

 

It's not the tile that I was saying would break - it's whatever gets dropped, like your dishes! :lol: Ummm...my vacuum is a Kenmore canister, and I LOVE it! I bought it when we built the house, so it's as old as my hardwoods! Now, my hardwoods look a little rough, but that's cause I've got 3 kids playing their cars and rolling trucks on them all the time (even though they're not supposed to! :evil, but other than that, they're in good shape. I'm thinking the grout they mentioned was epoxy, but I could be wrong, that seems to be what people are using these days, especially in kitchens or where grout might get dirty faster...I actually have a friend who's a tile man, has been forever, and he has tiled countertops! Used the epoxy grout and they look good. I'd never do it myself, but that's what he does, so that's what he did!

Good luck on your decisions

 

Totally misunderstood that part! :lol: I have been known to drop a dish or two, so that is definitely something to think about!

I have never had a canister vac. Does it do carpet well?

 

Absolutely! Although someone posted here today that Kirby guys are making the rounds, so they'd tell you different I'm sure! But it's what I use for everything. When I was moving into this house I needed a new vacuum, and both my mom and step mom told me they would never buy anything but a kenmore canister, so that's what I got! My step mom actually cleans houses for a living, and had had the same one for like 15 years or some crazy thing, and hers died right after I bought mine, so she went and bought the same exact one I have. But I love mine, and it has an attachment for stairs, and doing the car, it's great!

 

Thanks! I'll have to check that out.