I've had wood floors in my kitchen since 1992, most of that time with 3 kids living in the house. They have been easier to maintain than the vinyl I had in previous homes.

I would not do it. If your diswasher floods once it can ruin your floor. Likewise if your fridge leaks in back. I've had both things happen.

I'd have sheet vinyl. But another option is vinyl planks that look like wood. That's what my kitchen floor is and I love it. It's easy to clean, doesn't show dirt, soft to walk on, and I could care less if there's water drips on it.

Oh yes! I have had them in 2 kitchens and LOVE them. They look great and are very easy to maintain. I am not gentle with them and have not had any problems.

Hi!

I think it depends on you and how much it bothers (or doesn't bother) you when wood floors get wet. I have wood through most of my home, but not in my kitchen (tile). The reason is because I freak out whenever I get my wood floors wet. I know for me, I would be a nut case trying to wipe up every spill and drop of water that fell on my kitchen floor! I just don't "relax" when I think of wood and water! LOL!! I have tile and love it, I don't worry about any mud, dirt, water, etc. because the floors are so easy to care for.

Elaine

Con:
1) I was a AAA claims adjuster. Water & wood = insurance claim.
2) Dog nails scratch wood floors.
3) Do you like to wax & shine after vacuuming? Extra work.
4) This old house says refinish every 3 years.
5) My brothers Bosch dishwasher ruined a 6' x 6' section with steam it exhausted onto his wood floor.
6) The cabinets are wood? Isn't that enough wood?

Pro: They look good......huh?!

Just a few thoughts....

I have laminate wood in my kitchen & it is wonderful looking & easy to maintain. But sooner or later........ we want to put down the rustic handscraped wood floors so if things happen to them, like scratches or knives dropped from the kitchen counter, it blends right in & you can't tell the difference from the way it looked before. We have a laminated wood filler chaulk for little things that happen to the laminate wood floor. It works pretty good.
Bonnie

I have the finished on site 3/4 " wood floors in my kitchen and while I love the look, I'm not sure I would do it again.
I had a very slow leak in the water line to my icemaker and didn't know it until I noticed the wood cupping in front of the fridge. Since I have thick wood floors, mine can be refinished.
I'm not sure engineered wood is thick enough be sanded so if this happened you could have a real problem.
I'm also a bit of a clean freak and I'm not comfortable washing my wood floors as often as I would like to. I do steam mop them, but that doesn't really clean near the edges . I'm the get down on my hands and knees type floor washer and if I wash them that way they also need to be dried which is a real PITA.

My house in WI was built in 1926. For most of the time I was there the wood kitchen floor had a asbestos vinyl floor (probably from the 40's or 50's maybe) glued on top of it with black mastic. I had to scrap that off myself because the floor people would not do it. Well, I finally got rid of most the the mastic and then the floor people stripped the maple floor and put a natural stain on it plus a tough poly finish. The floor turned out great, even after 80 plus years.

Now here in this house I am renting (and the previous rental one) has tile floors in the whole house except the bedrooms which has carpet. The tile works great for my pets, easy to clean.

I had red oak 5" floors installed two years ago and I love them. I haven't had anything approaching a flood, maybe a teaspoon of water here and there. The floor doesn't show anything! I clean it periodically with a damp cloth (water with white vinegar).

A lot of bad things (flooding) technically could happen to ruin a wood floor. You've gotta weigh the odds of that happening against the pleasure you receive from having a beautiful floor that is easy to be standing on (tile, not so much) and has a timeless look.

We have high quality pre-finished engineered wood floors throughout our entire first floor, including the kitchen. The floors were installed ten years ago. We did have a leak overnight from the refrigerator water line, that flooded the floor underneath and in front of the refrigerator. Water stood on the floor overnight, as soon as we saw it we cleaned it up, of course. After sufficient drying time over a couple weeks, the floors look as good as new.

I also had a place where they placed the broken refrigerator on a piece of cardboard on the middle of the kitchen floor for a couple days. The cardboard was damp, and when Goodwill came to get the refrigerator I noticed that the floor underneath the cardboard looked as though some damage had occurred. Once again, within a few weeks drying time, the damaged area laid back down and looked like new again. I think a lot of it depends upon the quality of the pre-engineered wood, and how well it was laid to begin with. We love our wood floors by Mannington, and would do them again in a heartbeat.

Hardwood floors in my kitchen, plus 2 kids, a large English setter, and many, many dinner parties and teen parties--they look like new, and I love them.

ANY flooring can be ruined by dishwasher or icemaker leaks. Sheet vinyl is no guarantee that you won't have water problems. We had a leak underneath the sheet-vinyl floor here when the dishwasher went kerflooey. The dishwasher is in a niche under the counter with the flooring extending underneath and a glued raw edge all the way around. The water got underneath the sheet, saturated the subfloor, and dripped into the cellar. We're going to need to tear out the entire floor and replace it, there's an area about 5' across where the vinyl has popped up in a bubble and the subflooring feels very weird when you walk on it, like the plywood has delaminated which it most likely has. We have a faint hope that we can salvage the original 108yo wide pine boards we know are underneath the plywood.

I've had wood floors in several kitchens, including original wood floors in very old houses. (I try to convince myself that that's one good thing about moving so much over my lifetime, I've gotten to experience many different house-ish things.) Somehow they've managed to survive. Just don't mop like a twit and slosh gallons of water around. The mop just needs to be damp, not dripping.

Circuspeanut's point about floodstops is a VERY good one. I have one on my washer. It wasn't expensive, under $100. Mine shuts off the water automatically if it either detects weird behavior in the water supply (best way I can describe it :-)) or the sensor on the floor picks up the presence of water. I don't do icemakers either, it's one more thing to break and we don't use enough ice to justify it anyway, but when we fix the kitchen the floodstop unit that's sitting in our cellar will go on the dishwasher as well (PO did the dishwasher hookup weirdly and the plumber says he can't get the floodstop in there).

This Old House is absolutely full of it about having to refinish every 3 years. There are many, many people with wood floors MUCH older than that who have never refinished at all. Many manufacturers recommend a "screen and topcoat" every 7-10 years IF NEEDED - all that entails is a very light sanding to scuff the existing finish and a new coat of topcoat - although many of the aluminum oxide finishes last longer than that with minimal visible wear. There is no need for a complete refinish unless 1) there are deep gouges 2) you need to match the old floor to a new floor 3) you want to change the color.

A high quality engineered wood floor has an extra-thick veneer layer that will tolerate multiple sandings, although as I noted above they're not as necessary as many people think. In my previous house I had Armstrong engineered wood that had a veneer layer that was nearly half the total thickness of the flooring and was warranted by the manufacturer for three complete sandings. What most people do not realize about solid T&G wood flooring is that you can only sand down to the tongue, which can be a whole lot less than people think. (If you buy an engineered wood floor with a paper-thin veneer layer, on your own head be it.) The newer finishes not only do not need to be waxed, but they should not be waxed.

Dumb question, though - how is it any worse for dog nails to scratch wood flooring in the kitchen than it is for them to do it in the living room or hallway? Wood floors scratch. It's what they do. Matte and satin finishes, grainy woods, and distressed or handscraped styles show it much less than glossy finishes and woods with little visible grain. If you can't take that, put down tile! :-)

You could also put attractive throw rugs in front of the fridge and sink to catch any drips.

I would go for the wood or engineered wood floors. We have had sheet vinyl in previous homes. Vinyl tears. We had carpet in the kitchen of our first home. Awful to keep clean. Currently we have large tiles. Attractive, but the grout can be hard to clean and it is hard on your feet after standing for long periods of time. Also, our home is only 8 years old and 2 tiles have cracked. Not sure why, maybe the house is settling. That will be such a pain to take out and try to find matching tiles. No flooring is perfect, but at least wood is timeless and to me - scratches just add character. Good luck with your decision.

My vote is no for the potential water problem. We're doing wood but not in the kitchen or utility room which is next to it. We had our hot water hose burst from the washing machine once and it flooded the whole kitchen with HOT water.

I drip things all the time. When my big dog gets a drink of water, she leaves a water path from dribbles coming out of her mouth. lol

We drop heavy items on the kitchen floor all the time, and I'd rather deal with a broken tile than dents in my wood floor.

However, wood in kitchens IS beautiful, but the constant worry and clean-ups aren't worth the hassle for me.

Also, most stores will tell you not to install wood in a kitchen.

We currently have vinyl, but very soon thought of getting wood floor in the kitchen, but now after reading some of the problems mentioned, I'm wondering what would be the next best choice I should be looking into. Ceramic/porcelin/stone? Any suggestions, please!

We have wod in the kitchen, and I wanted to just second what nanny2a said about the wood fixing itself- we had cupping in an area due to water leaking from the fridge and the wood has settled back down. Don't know how long it took, it wasn't long, I just realized one day that it was fine. I don't know about engineered wood, but nanny's experience with it sounds the same as mine.

Also, I'm a spaz and drop things, and the wood is very forgiving and a glass'll be fine, whereas on tile it'd shatter.

I love wood in kitchens, although I hate the prefinished wood that's in my kitchen...the whole rest of my house has site-finished (40 years old) and the kitchen has prefinished (1.5 years old) and the kitchen has way more dings, nicks, scratches etc. Maybe it's just the particular brand we chose. It also looks streaky no matter what I do, whereas the rest of the house I can mop with anything, no problem.

This comes up in the kitchen forum every few months, I vote wood. Have had it twice, just installed a rustic hand scraped dark wood. I wouldnt put anything straight glossy and pristine looking because my last house everytime we dropped a knife or anything it caused dents. Every little tiny dent shows at the right angles and I knew where each one was. Now with the rustic floor I can just put in some scratch cover and it is not noticed because its not that type of floor. There have been many people posting with those water tenders you can buy like an alarm you put near the appliances, to alert you to water dripping anywhere near the fridge or dishwasher. Tile is easy to clean and safe but hard on the feet and cold. Get what works for you. Many homes have had wood for over a hundred years in the kitchens. If you travel allot you might want to consider turning off the water so you dont have surprises? I came back from vacation to a flooded home once, but it was all carpet that was destroyed.

our wood floors in our kitchen of our last house warped 2 times.. just when we were about to finalize the sale of it. Dishwasher flood.. went from in front of the dishwasher.. underneath the island to the other side. hence.. i am always a bit nervous about our current wood floors and wish it were tile.

My previous house has engineered wood floor (couldnot do solid wood since we are on concrete slab) for 10 years and looked brand new. We refinished it once to a darker color, then refinish again to a lighter color. It didn't have any damage even though the PO had dogs, we have kids, and it was in the kitchen.

My next door neighbor put wood floor everywhere except her kitchen (for fear of leaking DW). Well her toilet in the powder room broke and flooded the whole house so she had to replace all the wood floor. The water didn't reach the kitchen so the tile was safe :-D The whole time she was there, she got leaked in the bathroom 3x but never the dish washer. I wouldn't worry a/b leak in the kitchen any more than I'm worried a/b leak in the bathroom.

I would put whatever flooring that makes your kitchen looks beautiful. I notice that tiles can look dated quicker than wood. My friend put 12x12 porcelain tile in her kitchen 5 years ago and now it looks dated. On the other hand, the wood in her main floor still looks fantastic.

V, I'm laying porcelain tile in my kitchen and utility room. 12 x 12" squares, one reddish, the other cream in a checkerboard pattern. I tested samples by leaving coffee, tea, mustard, ketchup etc. on the tiles for 24 hours (they're not glossy either) and didn't have one stain. After we ordered them is when I found out they're more expensive than other tile flooring, but I was dead set on getting these because I wanted a colorful floor. lol This particular tile can be used indoors and out.

We have the tile in the entryway and so far this summer I love the feel of barefeet over it. I also wear houseshoes most all the time, even when we had carpet, so I'm not worried about spending too much time on the floor.

Now I can go to bed at night and if a hose breaks I won't have to call the insurance company. :)

Plus the contrast of wood leading into tile is beautiful, IMO. It just adds more "texture" to the floors.

I would put whatever flooring that makes your kitchen looks beautiful. I notice that tiles can look dated quicker than wood. My friend put 12x12 porcelain tile in her kitchen 5 years ago and now it looks dated. On the other hand, the wood in her main floor still looks fantastic.

Other than the fact that I like the look and feel of wood, the fact that it seems timeless is what really won me over. Changing out tile is a huge job.

Also it has been mentioned that if you do have some kind of flooding issue it will effect the (usually) wood subfloor.

I love wood floors in a kitchen and have put them in every house I have ever owned/lived in since 1971 (I think that would be 8 houses).

DO NOT PUT ENGINEERED FLOORS IN AN AREA WITH A LOT OF WATER. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, HAD TO HAVE THEM REDONE 5 TIMES IN 2 YEARS. FINALLY, put in subflooring and real wood (atop slab).

If you are not on a slab, put real wood floors in. Engineered hardwood is laminated wood. It will swell and puff up and start coming unglued at the least amount of moisture. Also, dog paws are forever on laminated wood floors.

I love my wooden floor in my kitchen. So much better for your back and legs. I have a tiled floor in Florida and my legs are sore after long cooking sessions, never up north in my kitchen with the wooden floor. Easy to clean also and more forgiving if you drop something. Kinder on babies also... Have had wooden floors for 40 years and would not change a thing.

Regarding the list of Cons:

1. Water and subfloor can equal an insurance claim depsite what is on top of the subfloor. Actually This Old house actually praises engineered flooring for being forgiving to minimal moisture and humid climates.

2. Dog nails can be trimmed and filed, they also sell Soft Paws to cap the nails. I don't have a problem with dog scratches on my floors.

3. Wood floors that are properly finished do not need to be waxed and shined- dragging a vacuum around is not necessary- sweep and damp mop.

4. Refinish every 3 years? That is not correct and in the event someone refinished every 3 years they would eventually sand the floors away.

5. Steam from a dishwasher can ruin countertops and cabinets as well. It can also ruin the subfloor under vinyl, laminate, and tile.

6. Not everyone uses wood for cabinets- some are metal. Is that wood enough? How is that a con- maybe a personal choice but not a con.

Here is a link that might be useful: TOH wood floors

Groomingal beat me to it - that con list is hardly accurate - especially given the variety of woods and finishes available. Certainly the type of wood and how it is finished can make a difference but we had major damage with a fridge leak on tile - not the floor as it was a morter base but the wall and joists that the water ran through and under. Leaks like that do far more than damage the flooring most of the time since they can be hidden.

We have a big golden with longer nails because the fleshy part of her nail is longer than normal. Not a mark on our floors - Pre-finished (because of the dog)Braz. Cherry. Our old oak floors - quite a bit softer - did have nail marks from two goldens but plenty of other things ding softer floors and tend to be part of the patina. BUt if you want pristine looking floors you need to go for higher hardness numbers.

They certainly seem impervious to water too - an ice cube that melted and stayed on overnite - did not change the surface at all.

My sister does have a cheaper brand of engineered wood and that is not so impervious. A glass of water spilled and it looked pretty bad - still even that was fixed with high heat drying fans - it has a slight raise on the edges but not noticeable.

Any floor product can be damaged by lots water if it is not dealt with quickly.

I admit if our floor plan did not dictate all one type of flooring I would have done tile in the kitchen - but that is because I just love tile and wanted a place to use some Porcelanosa I fell in love with. However, I have been happier than I expected with the Hardwood and it is warmer and softer underfoot.

We have Bella Wood floors, natural maple floors on the entire first floor. The finish is durable. They actually are easy to clean... But with toddlers they never look or feel clean in there. Crumbs, etc. Area rugs or those painted, moppable floor mats near the sink etc help. If I could go back I would have gone darker. I think that would help. Ours are light enough that they show everything!!!1 You can't mop them, that's a problem. But It not difficult to wipe up messes with a damp cloth. Some days I just want to mop and disinfect... Bella wood is pre finished so the small cracks get food crumbs in them that have to be cleaned out. With older floors they are finished in place and the cracks are kind of filled in with the poly. That seems like it would be good, although Bella is super durable. If finished in place go with oil based poly and tons of coats. My mom had hers done with 3 coats of water based and they are trashed in her kitchen and bathroom.

Oh yeah, we have the Bruce snap together floors in our bedroom that look beautiful in a nice dark wood. We have a hot tub on the deck right off our bedroom on first floor. We can walk in and drip water everywhere, drop wet towels and they have no problems. It was a fluke we picked them for out bedroom (I was in my first trimester with twins and was convinced the wall to wall carpet smelled funny. We went to Home Depot one evening, just got the floors and my husband put them in that night, lol), but boy are we lucky we did now that we have the hot tub.

Here is a link that might be useful: floors we chose for bedroom

Another 'go for it' vote here. We have wood floors throughout the house now, except for our bathrooms. They are Hartco engineered wood and are definitely bulletproof...and waterproof as far as I can tell. We've not had a leak but have spilled and dripped water and so far not a mark. Actually with 2 teenagers and 2 cats the floors get plenty of abuse. No scratches, no dents except for one where a cat managed to trip a cord and knock down a heavy RH table lamp (grrr). But that probably would have chipped tile too.

And in our kitchen, a few months ago I put in the cheapest laminate wood floors I could find-$1.29/sf stuff from a local flooring company. Because I'm postponing a major remodel and couldn't live with the disgusting vinyl any more I figured that would do me for a couple of years. I did worry because my son especially tends to drip water a lot in there but to my surprise and relief so far not a mark or a problem with it. If it does get messy, it's a click together floating installation so we will just pop in some of the extra planks we stored.

Anyway, a long winded way of saying that in my experience wood is not at all a fragile or easily damaged flooring material. I think you should definitely consider it for your kitchen-do what makes you happy.
Ann

Wow. Strong feelings pro and con.

Put me in the PRO column. We have wood floors in the kitchen and we love, love, love them.

Here are some more reasons FOR wooden floors.

They are much easier to stand on than stone or ceramic, because they "give" a little under your feet.

If you like to go barefoot, they are much warmer to walk on than ceramic or stone.

A wood floor is much more forgiving if you happen to drop anything.

With modern polyurethane finishes, most routine water splashes will not damage the floor.

Vinyl puts out toxic fumes for a long time after installation.

Personally, I find them easier to keep clean.

Of course, a big flood will damage ANY floor.

The thing I love most about my house is the hardwood floors in the kitchen. We have had them since 1985 when the house was built. They were prefinished with some waxy coating and we had them sanded and polyurathaned. My 3 kids were 9 11 and 13 and grew up here. We now have 2 dogs. They look great. I find it easy to clean. If something gets spilled or gets dirty I just wipe it up with a damp cloth. I even have it in the Powder Room. No problem.

I hate mine in the kitchen but I wasn't the one who installed them and lived here for the first few years. Mine are scratched and do not match the cabinets well enough for my taste. I hope to eventually refinish them but that is low on the priority list. I think another factor is where you live and whether you would be coming in from the garage into the kitchen.

Good Luck!