It is not a great plan.

Noooooooo! Sorry, but your idea IS crazy!

Also the last thing you would want is real hardwood next to wood-look tile. You can find hundreds of posts on here with lots of people who have had wood floors in their kitchens for their whole lives and have never had a problem.

If you need tile to stop worrying, then you should do the whole kitchen in tile, but make sure it isn't wood-look tile.

If you have a real flood, tile isn't going to stop the damage to the sub-floor, your cabinets or baseboards/walls ... grout isn't waterproof!

I am on my third house with real hardwood floors in the kitchen and have never had a problem. Do I expect my floors to look perfect after years of use, kids and 3 dogs? No way, and I am fine with patina. Life happens. Last week my cleaning lady was a bit too aggressive in trying to get out a few dog drool stains from the wood floors and scuffed the floors quite badly. Someone else might have yelled at them and/or fired them ... sh*t happens, it's just stuff and it isn't the end of the world. I'm sure she won't be doing that again though!

Next house I am getting more rustic floors, to hopefully hide the dog nail scratches!

They do make great wood-look tile these days, and the product does have its uses. We have it in a bathroom where it works really well.

But it would never fool you into thinking that it actually is wood. It very obviously is a tile. It's just that modern tiled are really awesome and have so many more options than in the old days.

I wouldn't install it in your kitchen tough. If it abuts real hardwood, it'll be really obvious that you have a "fake" product. Tile is great in a kitchen, but pick something that can stand on its own

Don’t use wood look tile with real hardwood flooring. If you want tile use tile that is not wood look. Not sure what you are so afraid of as far as water. Ive had wood floors in my kitchen in my previous house and current house, No problems. What exactly do you think will happen if you splash a little water onto your wood floor? You wipe it up. No biggie. Wood floors have a poly coat on them to protect them.

It’s not crazy, but ”wood look” right next to wood can look... not so great. I think having waterproof floor is smart, though. I’d go for tile that *doesn’t* look like wood. Look at LVT, too (luxury vinyl tile)... there are some very pretty ones. Softer on the feet than porcelain, and totally waterproof. When we redo our kitchen floor, that’s what I’m planning to use.

LOL, wow, the consensus is in I guess!

Never ever thought the wood look porcelain (or whatever) would fool anyone. My thought was to cover that whole stretch with a rug, regardless of whether it's tile, wood or mud floors.

OK, OK, I'll stop fretting about my wood getting washed away by sloshing sink suds... :-D

@chispa, if only you could have seen the condition of our house before we demo'd the place. Lived in patina? More like disaster zone! I was fine with it! :-D

If you are worried about water what about LVP? Otherwise, I've had engineered wood for almost 20 years in kitchen more beat up under the eat in area [chairs scraping] and I'm sure it's ,made better nowadays. I've also had real wood [gasp] in our master bath for 15 years. You could do tile in kitchen [that looks like tile]. Best of luck.

I adore wood (had it for past 20 years) and wouldn't put anything else in the main living space. But we've had a bunch of kitchen plumbing disasters in the condo we're currently renting and the floor here has gone to hell very quickly. Thus, I fret for my future floor (at least directly under the sink and dishwasher).

But ok, I'm calmed down now. Thanks all!

I put wood look porcelain beneath the cabinet run that houses my fridge with it’s water line, and it will go beneath the sink cabinet/dishwasher run as well. That’s how I hope to protect my wood floors and sub floor, by putting tile in areas that might be exposed to water I might not see. While the tile is a good match for the existing hardwood, I wouldn’t dream of putting it anywhere I might have to stand on it, or anywhere it might be seen.

We put actual metal drain pans underneath all the appliances that could potentially leak. The pans are connected to a dry standpipe that empties into a utility sink on the floor below. This way, if there ever was a leak, we avoid damage and we'd hopefully notice at some point and fix things.

@eam44, good to hear I'm not the only one thinking this way.

I have flood sensors for my alarm sensor under the sink and behind the dishwasher. There is also a motorized shutoff valve on the water main. If the sensor detects water, it shuts off the main, beeps on the keypads sends me an email and calls my phone. I went Overkill and also have them under each bathroom sink, behind each toilet, at the washing machine and the hot water heater.

I’ve had wood floors in my kitchens for 29 years. Wood floors do not get ruined by splashes from the sink. And as another commenter said, a flood will ruin tour tile floor too. Stop worrying!

NO. please NO. Just wipe it up. You wouldn't let a puddle or a lake sit on any flooring. If you are frantic, can't be bothered to wipe, are exceptionally clumsy, hate to clean or something? Do a cement tile in a pattern, to mimic a carpet RUNNER . Do I like that? No........but it's your home.

Wood floors don’t get ruined by splashes. They do get ruined by repeated, small leaks that go unnoticed.. apparently there are any number of ways to deal with that from my no-tech option, to pans, to sensors. Good to know there are options.

I had exposed original wood floor in a bathroom ..it was fine

I have wood in at least four brand new master baths. It is FINE.

Also the last thing you would want is real hardwood next to wood-look tile.

Yes, this.

NO. please NO. Just wipe it up. You wouldn't let a puddle or a lake sit on any flooring.

The problem with wipe-it-up-right-away probably isn't the OP. It's probably the family, who won't be as vigilant.

Last thought: Whatever you use, be sure to buy an extra box or two of the product (now, while it's available and identical) and put it away in the deep, dark recesses of your attic or under the stairs. Maybe you'll live the rest of your life never having used those boxes, but IF you do, you'll consider it money well spent.

Well. You reap what you sow. Respect for a home is not a difficult thing to teach. It's not a difficult thing to learn. It's not even a difficult thing to "enforce", really. .............."wipe that up now, please" becomes a habit in short order in a very second nature way. One that requires no thought. Most of home maintenance is much the same. ......or you live with the results of another not as good do it later method.

We remodeled our kitchen last year and removed the 90 year old oak floor. I repeat ninety year old !!! floor. We only replaced it because we did extensive work in the crawl space below. It could not be refinished due to several previous standings.

I would prefer to see a travertine-look tile (large format) in the SAME COLOUR as the wood. Yep. These tiles (porcelain) come in every colour (including plum/purple...sigh). The STRIATIONS of travertine-look tile look AMAZING with wood floors. Why? Because wood has a longitudinal grain....and so too the travertine-tiles. Match. Excellent.

A travetine-tile in a matching or tone-on-tone match to the hardwood = ANOTHER match. Even better!

I've seen STUNNING porcelain tiles in a travertine look that has added a near-seamless look to a home that has wood in the rest of the space. Visually, the striations and the colour match will allow for a low-impact appearance. And THAT'S worth it's weight in gold.

Simply google the words: travertine look porcelain tile. You will get HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of images. Go from there.

Thanks all. Interesting reaction level here, btw! LOL.

A friend told me today she came home from a 2 week vacation and found her kitchen floor soaked (I think from a refrigerator line leak?). Cost her $8K in new hardwood flooring. So I am interested in whatever catch pan or drainage system can be used. Or alarms. Or maybe a well-trained braying donkey who senses moisture? :-D

We have had pretty bad leaks on our hardwood - worn out weather proofing + bad storm; incorrect sink hookup and in all cases if it was bad enough the wood would cup and as someone said above, just wait it out a few days, weeks, months and it will be exactly as it was. Now we have not been gone for 2 weeks and had that situation but I still think wood floors have been the gold standard for hundreds of years for a reason! It's all good!

Water sensors with automatic shutoffs, will solve your problem/fears. We have them at all water used appliances...fridge, dishwasher, CSO, and under both sinks.

@darbuka, any chance you remember the brand etc.? I'm standing by and ready to order! :)

Hmmm, I’ll have to ask my son. He planned and took care of all the technical stuff, in our totally gutted house. He‘s our tech guy, too. I often tell him, that’s the reason my husband and I had him. :-).

@Mittens Cat....The sensors are GRI. The automatic shutoff valve is by ELK.

Two weeks of leaking water will damage ANY floor, regardless of its material. I assume you friend had homeowners insurance - that is a reasonable claim.

When I go out of town, I turn off the water to the 2nd floor, and I also turn off the water to the ice maker in the basement. I always turn off the water to my washer, even though it's in the basement. Doing these simple things prevents "surprises" when one returns home.

I had wood floors in my last kitchen with three messy young kids and we had no issues, even if we wiped up small spills after dinner. I am putting hardwoods in this new kitchen too. It’s going to be fine...deep breaths :)

My partner and I installed the oak floor in my kitchen with the layout specific to the cabinet layout. The kitchen is a wide galley with the center aisle 76 inches wide, from toe kick to toe kick.

About a half inch on the inside from the cabinet is a long piece of flooring laid parallel to the cabinets. Behind the long piece, we filled in the under cabinet area with short pieces. The lengthwise board is visible only if an appliance is pulled out. Otherwise, the floor is all rows of a single board across. If we ever have a problem and need to replace a board, we can pop off the toe kicks, replace as needed and replace the toekicks. No unknown about how far the board extends underneath the cabinets.