Jessalyn, As I noted above, engineered wood flooring is more dimensionally stable....moisture makes wood move, either too much or too little and engineered wood resists that movement. Again...you like what you have...I say stick with that. Sorry to have digressed into solid wood discussions...But I have to digress again...RV...five of us kids on hands and knees...it was the buffing that killed. I found an electric buffer at a thrift store as a teen and brought it home...hero for a day! Ann, porcelain color is all the way through the tile, ceramic lays on top of a gray or brown body...recommend porcelain.

Yep, I agree. Porcelain rather than ceramic tile.

One more note about engineered wood finishes for jessalyn. Most engineered wood floor manufacturers put metal in the finish to increase its wear factor and resistance to UV fading. That application is not available for sanded in place floors...yet. Brazilian cherry (or Jatoba) is high on the Janka wood hardness rating scale. Good choice.

RV...patience of Job. This too shall pass.

I put Anderson Engineered Hickory flooring in my foyer, formal living and dining room so the rooms would flow together. I love it in those rooms. It is durable and looks beautiful. I choose porcelain tile for the kitchen, laundry and powder bath because I wanted a 1/8" grout line and a stone looking floor. I did not want to worry about cleaning up every spill in the kitchen with the wood floors. My vote is for the tile, whether ceramic or porcelain.

Ironwood, I think the tough, tough finish on my prefinished Homerwood walnut floors has metal in it too and it is a super tough finish even though my walnut is not very hard.

Here's a picture of my porcelain floor. I used 13x13 because it fit my kitchen the best.

Love love love my engineered wood floor in my kitchen. Hate hate hated tile floors. The two big things that made me hate tile were pain in joints when baking all day and if I dropped anything breakable it shattered into a million sharp nasty pieces. Would gladly get on my hands and knees to wipe up a spill any day rather than clean up that dangerous shattered glass while trying to keep my pets and small children from wandering into it. Now, with engineered wood, things still fall but hardly ever break and I can bake all day without pain. It's easy to clean too. Just to throw a wrench into the mix, the house I grew up in had marmoleum (still available) and I've that downstairs at the garden door. Soft and cushy to walk on, easy to clean, practically indestructible.

Had tile in our last house and I hated it. The grout always seemed to need cleaning even though it was sealed. It was so hard to stand on and so cold to walk on. We have engineered hardwood in our new condo - so much better.

definitely the hardwood. i agree with the other multiple comments. tile is cold on your fit and can look a little gritty and chip. Hardwood is smooth and easy to clean. I love it! especially darker hardwood the darker the hardwood the more beautiful it is in MY opinion.

Go with wood especially if you have white cabinets ---it's a beautiful contrast. If you have animals (large dog(s) in your house, you should probably not get wood.

Sounds like I'm late to the game...
Many true points listed above by people who are in the know... River Valley, Ironwood, & many others.

Brazilian Cherry is definitely durable (high Janka ratings, as Ironwood mentioned).
Those guys did all the heavy lifting on this one... I've been on an install with a crew in Southern Cal, and as River mentioned, slept thru my wake up call...lol

All I can suggest is that if you heed the advice of the "pro wood" folks, you can't go wrong.
My personal favorite options are light to medium hand-scraped/distressing in either engineered or solid hardwood flooring.
As a rule, I lean in the direction of domestic hardwoods... American... such as White Oak, Walnut, Hickory, Hard Maple, & more. Mostly because they offer MUCH more flexibility in color choices, but the idea of building OUR economy is another factor on a personal level.

The tiles & porcelain "wannabe" wood floors are getting a lot of attention currently, but that will likely fade.
I guess imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery!
Pet Rocks were popular too!

Some people make the statement that they look "the same" as wood... say that after you put one next to the other. If you agree with them, I'd suggest seeing a good optometrist.

Wood: resilience, flexibility, changeability (depending on product choice), easy maintenance, warmth, and a timeless "look". I could go on.
Porcelain or tile: Colder in appearance as well as temp in winter, no resilience, becomes dated, chips & cracks (when impacted), equally unforgiving to anything fragile that is dropped...

As far as finishes are concerned... most of the mass produced "prefinished" flooring has pretty durable U.V. cured Aluminum Oxide urethane applied. And depending on the wearlayer thickness, even some of the engineered products CAN be sanded & refinished. Ours can, for example.

We utilize a different format than the mass production folks, but generally speaking, I'd be willing to bet that you'd be happy with wood...as long as your choice considers quality and isn't simply price driven.
As I typically indicate... unless you're planning on "flipping" the house... if you let PRICE be the driving force on your choice, you're setting yourself up for disappointment no matter which direction you choose.

@Select Hardwood Floor Co. "unless you're planning on "flipping" the house", should they use tile or wood for flip-factor? Which is better for flipping?

Jasellen, have you made your decision yet? It's your house so whichever one you pick it will be the right choice for you. Good luck!

Wood. I'm getting ready to rip my kitchen floors up and replace with hardwood so I have the same finish running throughout the house. If you are worried about wear, I'd find an attractive indoor/outdoor rug to protect the finish on the major walkways.

I prefer porcelain tile in areas that get wet. Call me old fashioned but I also feel that tile can be cleaned better than any wood floor they make. This matters to me, especially with three dogs and two cats in the house. You don't have to worry which product you clean it with.

vjs12 - At the moment, we're going to go with the engineered flooring. I have to think that though I am always going to be paranoid about the wood, if we choose sell in the near future (which we're considering), more people would be drawn to the wood than if there was tile...I have a washer pan to protect the laundry room (wish they made one for the dishwasher) and there will be MANY throw rugs for my senior doggie. I can't tell you all how much I appreciate all of this advice!!!

Though I chose tile, I think you're right that more people would be drawn to wood. It will be beautiful!

@cadaveria...
My old buddy at River Valley stated the obvious... haha
My point was to choose HARDWOOD flooring.

The "flipping" reference was made to suggest the level of "involvement" one pursues when making their product choice.
Personally, I'd recommend against the "liquidator/big box" versions of wood flooring regardless of what one's plan is... but being a realist, I consider that some folks are interested in making a house sellable... so they'll go cheap to add some fluff for a quick sell.
Of course, even then... they should consider that many prospective homebuyers are more savvy & discriminating nowadays...
A smart buyer can tell the difference between quality & junk in a heartbeat.

wood.....

I definitely suggest porcelain tiles with the appearance of wood planks. Easy to clean and maintain. Most are for medium traffic areas, so perfect for kitchen areas or any other indoor parts of your home. Some also come textured to give it a more realistic effect. It's a perfect, because you get the appearance of natural wood with durability!

Personally I LOVE the wood floor you have chosen, I think it looks amazing with your cabinets.

Whatever you decide on; please spend some time discussing and looking at the transitions between flooring surfaces. I have seen many trip hazards created in high traffic areas where tile meets wood. Transitions are something to seriously discuss before hand. Flush is obviously best. Some of these transition molding strips are ugly and a trip hazard and they get beat up by vacuums rolling over them ... don't get me started on trying to mop around them.

Here is a discussion...

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/transition-time-how-to-connect-tile-and-hardwood-floors-stsetivw-vs~13643718

Here is a short video of a guy installing a flush floor transition...



The first picture posted is of a " T molding" I see a ton of and I think is the ugliest looking thing and feels awful underfoot I feel these type of transitions completely detract from the beauty of the materials. The last 3 pics are of nice transitions. Good luck with your remodel. It really looks great, you have done a lot of hard work and that kitchen is awesome. Nice job...keep it going you are almost there! :)

rawketgrl...
Agreed with your assessment on T-mouldings...
IMHO, they are for "rookies" or for do-it-yourselfers.
When one of our flooring customers asks if we can supply T-moulding to match one of our floors, it sends a chill up my spine! lol

My feeling is that they are a Band-Aid approach to poor planning or the fast & easy way avoiding making the "cuts" that give a professional "finished" look at transitions...
Your pics illustrate that quite well!

@Select Hardwood Floor Co. I've just been to your website and your floors are gorgeous! Probably out of my price range - but if I win the lotto, you'll be hearing from me!

@Anne...
Thank you very much.
re: our price range... In all honesty, you shouldn't necessarily come to that conclusion!

Having been in this business for a long time, I'm painfully aware of the fact that if your product isn't "competitive"... there's no sense in producing it.

Admittedly, we offer a CUSTOM produced product, which isn't always as low priced as the "imported" or "liquidator" variety flooring... but we deal predominately with folks who can tell the difference between quality and the lack of it.
We are fortunate that there are STILL people out there who are willing to consider getting more "bang for their buck" before making a final decision.

As a guy slightly older than me once said:
“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” – Benjamin Franklin

After all... when you "price" anything, you've got to remember it's only WORTH what someone else is willing or able to PAY for it. That's my quote.
Keep us in mind.

Totally agree with our mutual friend Ben. Even though I don't know your exact prices, I'm willing to bet that between the custom work and the transportation costs to Canada, you're going to be out of my price range. :)

@Anne...
Just for the sake of argument... play a silly game with me.
Drop me a line at: David@SelectHardwoodFloor.Com with your "budget" concept as well as what you might have in mind. I'll give you an honest assessment of what you have to work with.
Nothing ventured... nothing gained.

If nothing else, I may be able to advise alternatives that would be worth your consideration (although I have to be candid... I'm a bit biased... lol).

If not... thank you for the positive reinforcement!
It shows up too infrequently here on Houzz!

@Select - I'll drop you a line.

Did you see this newsletter on comfortable flooring?
http://houzz.com/ideabooks/16641889
It covers some info about wood floors and gives some other alternatives.

I am about to replace my tile in the kitchen. I am going with engineered wood floor that is oil finished. I got samples of it and put water, ketchup, mayo and mustard on the surface and let it sit overnight. To my surprise, I cleaned it all off with a damp towel. After only a few minutes drying time there was no sign of any spots or stains! No damage to the finish! I hope I'm as pleased with the complete job after its done. Time will tell! I recommend you research the oil finished woods before you decide anything, especially if you like the reclaimed wood look. It is somewhat rustic looking because its not shiny like the poly. Personally I prefer a little distressed, reclaimed look. Good luck to ya! Hope G. In Texas

We started with linoleum (many years ago), installed wood, ripped out wood (after only 3 years), finally installed slate tile (9 years ago) and still loving the tile.
Don't get me wrong, I love the look of wood. It didn't fiction well in our kitchen, especially near the sink and dishwasher.

Function.

I highly recommend wood flooring for your kitchen. You will find it to be warm, forgiving, easy on your back, and easy to maintain. I have designed many kitchens with wood flooring, but my most direct experience is in my own kitchen in Seattle. Here is a photo:

Hi everyone...your advice and thoughts were FANTASTIC and I wanted to say thank you...here's how the kitchen looks thus far with our new engineered Brazilian Cherry floors (sorry for the mess, still a construction site!)...they are really pretty darned tough. We've had one thing after another going wrong (including the tragic loss of our beloved dog), but even with sawdust, shoes, moving a new stove, and workmen, they have endured well. Let's hope for the next few years they hang on because I'm NOT doing this again! Thanks again, everyone...

Beautiful! You are going to love them!

The floor looks great. What brand did you buy? I'm looking at new floors now too, so the more options the better for me. Sorry about your dog passing. It's tough. Take care.

Anne, We got Schön Quick Clic Engineered 7/16" x 4-3/4" Brazilian Cherry Quick Clic floors. No complaints yet and simple to install (we also got an upgraded waterproof membrane for under the floors, which makes them easy to walk on and protects the underlayment and subfloor). We got lots of samples and dunked them in water, vinegar, wine, you name it--this floor was pretty hardy when it came to the torture we inflicted... :D

Thank you for the condolences to our dog--she was really the light of our home and we truly and absolutely miss her.

Clic type flooring is a bad idea in the kitchen and laundry. Have you looked at vinyl plank? It is a wonderful product and is very hard to tell that it is not wood

Good Job!

jasellyn: how is it holding up? Any dings/scratches?

Also lets say you spill pasta sauce, drop raw meat, milk, juice, or raw egg and the liquids get in between the planks, how do you clean them? With tile you just use disinfectant and mop it up but what do you do with hardwood? Do't they seem deep down towards the plywood?

Thinking of going this route but not being able to disinfect the floors bothers me, especially since the juices are going to sit there and ferment...yuk.. but it does look nice- so it's either practicality (tile) or aesthetics (wood)....

Actually, we have just sold our house and the floors were part of the reason we were able to sell in just a week! In retrospect, this particular engineered wood held up for the 6 months we used it BEAUTIFULLY...I was careful to wipe up any spills with a damp cloth and dry immediately and used wood floor cleaner with a Swiffer wet/dry sweeper. This floor never stained with any type of food, and had no scratches and no dings. The ONLY complaint that I have towards wood flooring is that IF you use a rug on top of it, or anything that covers the floor PLEASE remember to move it every few months. We had a lovely rug in our breakfast area and left it there for 6 months--when we moved the rug, the floor had darkened around the rug and it was REALLY obvious. Had we had more time before our open house, we would have just remove the rug and used ultraviolet light or left it alone to darken evenly, but we didn't--so (and I LOVE floating floors for this reason) we pulled up the boards that were lined and just used our leftover floorboards, popping them back down and DONE, it looked wonderful. I have nothing but good things to say about Schoen Quick-Clik flooring--it's great. And had we stayed, we would have probably refloored just for the fun of it to get a new look in 5 years--it was that easy to install. I will say, though, that if I were to do it again, I would get tile--I'm a real OCD cleaner and just prefered the ability to really scrub, but that is just me. :D Good luck in your choice!

Here's the way the floors turned out...the Brazilian Cherry really is lovely!

There are some beautiful tiles that look like wood! Pretty!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was wrong to butt tile up to hardwood flooring because of the wood expansion. Tile is rigid, but hardwood will expand and contract, so don't you need a small gap between them?

Generally schluter strips are installed between room transitions and expansion joints are recommended in very long runs of almost any flooring material.

Wood plank tiles are beautiful, there are so many different options to choose from too. Very practical and easy to take care of, especially in a kitchen!

Monika2024, I probably should not admit this but when I drop an egg on my wood floor, as I did 2 days ago, I still disinfect with soap and bleach. You can always go over it later first with a dry cloth and then with wood cleaner/conditioner, but if its in my house, it is going to get disinfected! So far, disinfecting has not been a problem. We've only had wood floors in the kitchen for 2 years though so we will see how it goes in 10. Cleaning them to me isn't the problem. The problem is one of my kids, who is a little accident prone, has scratched, gouged and dinged the wood. I brought a repair kit from the manufacturer, but I have to say, I'm tired of making the repairs already. And they are never quite perfect. Too soon to even think about refinishing though.

The only thing that would scare me about using the cherry engineered wood in the kitchen is how easy cherry will deny as it is a softer wood than oak, maple or hickory. Looks beautiful though.

I agree, maple and oak are harder woods than cherry. You can stain wood any color, except they all take the stain differently. Everything has a draw back. I had wood floors through out my home years ago, with a really good finish on them. My kitchen was never a problem. I have tile in my home now, and it is harder on the back, anything you drop breaks and flies everywhere, and cleaning the grout is a big job too. I would pick what you love, you wont mind the up keep if you love it. There is also wood look tile that looks good, I have seen it mixed with wood floors, if you are careful it can be seamless, but you have to be careful to pick ones that look alike! Also I think the area that your house is in can be a driving factor. I have lived on both coasts and I think there is an expectation of floors depending on where you live! Good luck!

I'm a wheelchair user and in the process of renovating my kitchen. Since I'm always bumping into the cabinets i have the tendency to scratch and dent cabinets . does anyone have an advice what wood and what color to use?

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