Get a large Water Hog mat (LL Bean carries them - so do many other places), and stick with your hardwood floors.

I don't have a humidifier installed on my furnace, and was advised that not doing so voids the hardwood warranty right off the bat. The owner of the store says she has hardwood, and if she were to do it again, she wouldn't go that way, as it has split and cracked and scratched. As well, I had hardwood in my old house. Within a month of installing, the gaps were ridiculous. In a kitchen, that just wouldn't fly. I can't afford to put down real wood and just take the chance that it *won't* crack, gap or split like the engineered stuff has done here. :( And finally, I just got rid of a dishwasher that leaked 4x in 4 years. Don't want to take that chance with real wood. :(

I have a dog, live in a dry climate (Utah), and have hardwood floors in my kitchen. We installed them 3 years ago and they still look pretty darn good. I have solid red oak stained darker.

We get some drips on the floor around the sink and the fridge water dispenser, but nothing major. We don't have a single gap or split. We do have some scratches that have occurred when the felt pads on the chair bottoms have needed to be replaced, but nothing awful. I suppose I may regret it someday if we have a major leak, but the major leak in our laundry room is how I ended up with a new kitchen, lol!

Scoutfinch, you have a gorgeous kitchen!

What about other types of flooring? Does anyone have any experience with the Fuzion FuzGuard? Vinyl? Cork? Bamboo? Thanks!

I am not familiar with that floor - we sell a lot of Coretec luxury vinyl floors. The customers seem to love it! I have heard that cork floors are an excellent option as well....

Hope you find some more info - try posting on the flooring chat as well - there are a lot of experts there

Kathy Buhler....I'm in Muskoka, Ontario. Not sure where you are. While I'm not familiar with the brand of flooring you've posted about, I believe it's similar to a product I sell. Can't be 100% positive without talking to the Rep. It reads like it's a composite floor similar to one I sell. Composite flooring is engineered with a core very similar to composite decking. It's a vinyl hybrid. Thicker than other vinyls and better expansion & contraction properties. This is important when the floor is subjected to not only the elements in an entrance way, but also for sunlight beating down on it. Vinyl doesn't like heat. Heat can be produced very quickly at an area that sun comes in through windows & doors. Think of your window & door glass as a big magnifier. It concentrates the heat from the sun in one place. This is why some are producing composite hybrids. The vinyl flooring industry, like most, is forever changing. My flooring Rep has brought me new vinyls, including the one like you're posting about, every few months. That's how quickly things are changing.

The composite flooring is great for the entrance areas, bathrooms, etc. However, it's not cheap & to do the open area you're thinking about will cost a few $$$. You may want to consider breaking up the flooring in you're entrance way.

I have 2 dogs, & with our seasons, our floors take a beating. If you can't limit your dog to staying on a mat while you wipe off paws & rain or snow, any solid wood or engineered will show wear in a few years. No one will warrant against that.

I have no problems with water proof laminate throughout a home. Just be aware that it will require expansion gaps through doorways (like from the hallway into a bedroom, etc). It may require the same gap if there are long runs from front to back of the home.

I would hesitate working with cork. As much as I love cork, if you are concerned with the damage to the hardwood (I'm not seeing too much....but a single pic isn't always enough) then you will be HORROR STRUCK by the dings cork can achieve (which can be repaired SOOOO easily by the homeowner with some Elmer's Wood glue, an Exact-O knife and 30 minutes on his/her hands).

If you want a single floor, then go for it. You have already experienced hardwood and you feel it hasn't stood up as well as you think it should have. Fine. No problem. Tile isn't always desirable throughout a space (I hate it...but that's me). So you are down to the products like vinyl or water-proof laminate (composite flooring).

I say go for it. Remember that $4-$7/sf for some of the EXCELLENT water proof laminate floors is normal. Installation should be around $2/sf. The beauty of laminate is it can handle some heavy duty underlayment. You can get it as warm and quiet as you want. Vinyl does not have this option...which is a MASSIVE drawback for many, many, many people (and they often find out TOO LATE).

A Miele dishwasher should solve your leak problem. You can add a humidifier to your furnace. Rift or quartersawn oak will expand and contract less.

Well, I was talking with the kitchen cabinet people, and they tell me that they can't put cabinets on top of laminate. Something to do with the way laminate is installed, it's not able to withstand the pressure of cabinets. And that is not such a huge deal for me personally, but if anyone ever wants to change the kitchen, they'd have to change the floor as well, and that's not always ideal. They say I should go with vinyl. But as SJ McCarthy points out above, vinyl isn't as quiet or warm. I like to stand and work at my counter with my laptop (I work at home), and right now the tile, which I detest, is too uncomfortable for that. I was hoping for something easier to be on.

I don't think it was the dishwasher itself that caused problems. I think it was the plumbing, and just a side effect that the dishwasher finally quit for good. As we are discovering more and more about our house, we're fixing more and more, and that's just one of those things we've had to deal with. Just don't want to take a chance that a leak somewhere due to something *else* we don't know about, will cause problems on the floor.

The engineered wood here is only 10 years old. We're in Northern BC, so dry and cold, with some really hot, dry summers. This one hasn't spread, so there are no gaps between planks, but it has split and splintered. Mind you, that could also be the quality of the floor itself. Do I want to take that chance? Not really. It's too expensive for an experiment. And with 4 local pros advising against it, I'm tending to listen.

I really do want all one floor type. The current style, with the separate floors, limits everything from furniture placement to more major renos.

That's a great suggestion, thank you! I will talk with the cabinet people about that option. Hoping it will work, as I really like that flooring.

In Northern BC I like to see 6mm cork underlay used with laminate. The cabinets can be installed first with the PROPER height adjustment for the floor+laminate thickness. Example: if the laminate is 12mm (1/2inch) and the cork underlay is 6mm (1/4inch) then the TOTAL height of the floor is 18mm (3/4 inch).

The height of the cabinets (and therefore the COUNTER TOP) is adjusted to sit an extra 3/4" higher. That leaves room for the floor AND the undercounter dishwasher (sigh....yes you have to be very aware of counter top heights and dishwasher clearance requirements).

Any type of floating floor (click together floor - including vinyl) will be installed AFTER the cabinets. So it doesn't matter if it is vinyl, floating hardwood, laminate, floating cork, etc the SAME THING has to be done. A floating floor cannot be pinned down by the cabinetry...which is why these floors get put in LAST.

Before you decide on the thickness of an underlay+ laminate, you will want to check out things like stair risers, etc. Any time a floor meets a set of stairs, the General Contractor has to be fully aware of all building code requirements. And stairs get tricky in a hurry.

If you can find a way to replace "like with like" (thickness) you will be that much closer to the perfect solution.

Thank you so much for all your help and suggestions! I will see if I can arrange a meeting with both the floor and cabinet people together so we can make sure everyone is on the same page. Thankfully no stairs will be involved! The only stairs are at the front entrance, where we plan to leave the tile.

Kathy Buhler . . . did you ever end up going with Fuzion Fuzguard Laminate? Just wondering as we are thinking of putting it in our basement (currently being finished) for one continuous look including bathroom, 2 bedrooms and family room. I would be interested in your feedback