Sorry i don' t have an answer for you but would like to ask the same question. I am facing the same dilemma.
One possible alternative is to tile only the kitchen area but i personally don't like it

Hardwood will not hurt resale. Quite the opposite. I have had hardwood floor kitchens for the last 35 years and love them. Our current kitchen has quarter sawn white oak floors in the kitchen (and throughout the house) that are 90 years old and still going strong. They have survived multiple families with dogs and kids and spills and were last refinished over 20 years ago and still look great.

I've taken a look at your "Mostly white kitchens", and it is just what I would want for me. Thank you!

Our experience for you

If you're installing hardwood flooring in your kitchen, place area rugs in front of the sink and stove to prevent excess wear and catch liquid splashes and spills. Vacuum and shake out the rugs when needed to keep them clean.

Clean up liquid spills immediately. Spills left sitting can leak between the boards and damage your hardwood floors, warping the wood and potentially leading to mold beneath the floor.

If your hardwood floors are finished on site (rather than purchased pre-finished) the multiple coats of polyurethane will seep into the cracks between the boards and give a much better protection against the kinds of spills described above.

Shanghai Parquets: This doesn't sound promising. It looks like I will have to go for laminate flooring.

Laminate will give problems that the finished on site hardwood won't. We have a house built in 1912. We recently gutted the kitchen down to floor joists and studs and replaced the oak hardwood floor. It looks as good as the floors in the rest of the downstairs, and is easy to keep clean. Wipe up spills immediately and you are good to go. We do a lot of cooking, and have mats in front of the stovetop for standing on (because my feet hurt!). We LOVE the hardwood.

Laminate flooring may swell or warp under pooling liquids or in high levels of humidity.Vinyl flooring can be installed in almost any situation, above, below, or on grade. It is okay to use in bathrooms and basements,please check the pictures.

We've had hardwoods in our first floor, including the kitchen, for 20+ years...love, love, love them! They've survived two growing boys, dogs, cats, remodels, etc. and only get more beautiful with age. And if damaged they can always be refinished (only once for us after a house fire!). Go for it, you won't be sorry;)

We have a 1920's Craftsman Bungalow style home which has a wood floor in the kitchen. It's definitely an old wood floor (it has "character" but no damage) but I'm not sure how old exactly. It looks like a type of wood called heart pine (softwood) which was popular at that time. I have lived here only 10 years so far but it is still in great shape and adds a feeling of warmth that no other type of flooring can match. We vacuum and mop it weekly but other than that, it has required no special care. Unless you think that pooling water may be a future issue, I say that installing a hardwood floor would definitely be a plus!

@sunnydaze--
I'm guessing your heart pine floor is original to the house. One of the reasons it has stood up so well is that heart pine is actually as hard as many hardwoods. On the Jenka scale of wood hardness it rates 1225 (Red oak is 1290; white pine is 420). We had original heart pine trim and floors in a house we lived in from 1918, and it was gorgeous! Good quality hardwood floors can last the life of the house.

I've read and re-read all I could find on the subject. This is in what I've noted:

Tiles:
Quality tiles are Extremely durable to traffic, tolerate water with no problems. If flooding occurs, the water might seep through grout to lower levels or to the rest of the room if no inclination is present. Can get chipped or cracked if heavy hard objects are dropped on them.

Laminate:
Quality laminates are water resistant -- some of them take just 2% of water when soaked for 24 hours (as good as tiles). Other sources say that if water seeps to bottom layers it is susceptible to damage as well. They also cost almost or just as much as hardwood wood.


Hardwood/parquet:
If sanded and finished during installation and if the lacquer is of high quality it resists water well. Thermally modified wood is available as well, improving resistance to water damage. Flooding will most likely ruin hardwood floors. One must also ensure proper environmental conditions, otherwise wood will work, either swelling or drying. Swelling lifts the floor from the underlying surface, and drying introduces cracks through which water or dust can enter lower areas of wood, unprotected by lacquer. It should be resanded and refinished every 10 years or so.

Most evidence I hear is anecdotal and I have no way of adding weights to differing opinions. Therefore, sadly, I still don't know what to choose.

Here's another one: We have wood floors in our kitchen. We love them, and we would install them again if presented with the chance. I see no wear and tear appearance near the sink or cooktop, and the floors have been in for years.

We put in laminate wood flooring in,only to have the hot water leak two weeks later. Warped the flooring and had to replace. But I guess any flooring will get damaged with lots of water. I think hard wood flooring is beautiful

"It should be resanded and refinished every 10 years or so."
This is simply not true. It depends entirely on how much hard usage a hardwood floor is receiving. Our hardwood floors (including the kitchen) have not been refinished in 20 years and look great. And I can assure you that if they had been refinished every 10 years over their now 90 year life, they would not still be in the house.

Laminates were a disaster in my kitchen! Had several accidents with the dishwasher and sink breaking and flooding. Warped like mad! Go with real hardwood. I had mine cleaned up within a couple of hours but it still ruined it but hardwood would have been better.

All right, depending on the wood and the quality of finish, it should be refinished every 10-30 years then. Sooner or later, the finish will wear down, and to prevent water and dust damage, hardwood should be refinished.

carolannhgs Why do you think that wood would survive flooding without getting swelled and warped? What quality of laminate did you have? Couldn't you just replace the damaged boards?

You could also consider tile that looks like wood (I pulled this from my blog): Within a few months we’ve installed Parker – Wood Porcelain by Porcelanosa Tile on two different projects by two different interior designers, so it has got to be good, right? It looks like wood but has all the advantages of tile, including being better suited for radiant heat applications. And, it even feels softer underfoot than regular tile – something I noticed when we were photographing the projects. Could it have been my imagination because the floors were nice and warm? So, I phoned our local Porcelanosa Tile showroom, who shared their secret that is not posted on their website – the pattern on the tile actually makes the tile feel like it has a little give to it. Wow!
http://www.porcelanosa-usa.com/home/products/tile/parker---wood-porcelain.aspx
:) Rhoda

Bill Fry Construction - Wm. H. Fry Const. Co.: I have a similar tile by Cerim http://www.cerim.it/en/prods-188-1.asp in the bathroom. I'd like to avoid the coldness in the big room though.

So I'm torn between hardwood and quality laminate.

Hardwood does not have to be refinished even after 30 years. My house was built in 1931 and the dining room and hallways still has the original finish, although it was covered with carpet for several years

The secret is to clean, scuff and recoat before the old finish is worn through.

All right, then perhaps I'm using wrong terminology. I thought that refinishing is the same as recoating.

Refinishing is a bit of a production and a messy disruption of your life. It involves removing all furniture, sanding down the floors, restaining them, and then putting on multiple coats of polyurethane (or oil finish). Fortunately, we have never needed to go through it despite 45 years in different houses with wood floors.

I see. We usually call it "sanding" and "lacquering" where I come from, so I probably mistranslated finishing to mean just the final lacquering finish.

I'd really like to use hardwood if it is resistant to spills which are left for an hour or two. If I were to choose laminate, I will go for realistic wood imitations anyway (sculpted edges, embossed texture). I therefore have a question for hardwood advocates:

1. Can you afford to leave some spills for an hour or two?
2. What kind of and how many coats do you use (brands would be helpful as well)?

Some local information:
I think that three layers of either water or polyurethane based coats are a local standard here, but we do build a lot of things different than Americans - (reinforced) concrete, brick, cement blocks and daub/mortar coatings for walls are the norm instead of drywall and studs.

I wouldn't put hardwood in a kitchen, unless you're willing/able to clean spills immediately. Poly isn't resistant to water

I have never left a large spill on the floor. I clean up spills right after they have happened. Small spills (unnoticed dribbles of this or that) have sometimes sat on the floor until they've dried if I haven't noticed them. This has not been a problem with our our finish.

I agree with feeny (above). And as I mentioned before, I actually mop our floor once a week to clean up anything that might have gone unnoticed because it was such a small spot. The mopping has never damaged the floor yet and I have been doing it for 10+ years now.

When finishing a hardwood floor, my husband, who is a residential contractor, recommends an oil-based polyurethane finish. Most manufacturers recommend at least 3 coats, but he will put 4-5 just for the durability. The EPA has reduced the effectiveness of paints, stains, varnishes, and other finishes over the past couple decades, so the additional coats help make up for that. As noted in a previous post, water will damage any surface if left alone, or in great quantities. Tile grout needs to be sealed annually to keep water from permeating through to the sub-layers. Laminate is only as good as the installation of the "boards," and the foam backer below it. The best choices are hardwood that is finished on site, (yes, it will require you to be out of the kitchen for 2-5 days), or tile. Since you have noted that you don't really want the "coldness" of tile, I would recommend the hardwood option.

Also, always have flooring installed under the appliances, especially the dishwasher. Lower rate installers are notorious for skipping that.

You may be thinking this through a little too much Ilija Pavlic.

If your worried about spilling something & leaving it there for more than an hour, I wouldn't be worried about your floors, I'm more worried that You are leaving spilled food & water on any floor?! ;)

You've definitely been giving a host comments already, just go with the wood floors! :) ( we wrapped up a White Kitchen with wood floors through the whole house...the Client loves them & throughout all the client's, none have ever complained other wise. )

We have hardwood floors throughout since almost 20 years. Small spills do happen, but if you are not too messy, you should be able to clean them up pretty fast. We never ever had a problem with hardwood in the kitchen and I would always choose hardwood floors again. Go for it!