What are your current floor? Oak? Site finished?

I didn’t know how to edit this, but I should have said that years ago I replaced my kitchen flooring with a type of wood flooring and foolishly tried to match it to the existing hardwood floors. I realized afterward it would have been smarter to have gone for a contrasting type of material.

My floors are some type of wood. I just remembered it was Bruce flooring and the color was called butter scotch. This was long before they had the wood planks they have now.

I'd either have the flooring contractor match the flooring you have in the dining room or put down porcelain tile in the kitchen. That said, your cabinets look like they might be original and your kitchen is probably due for a remodel. I'd wait to change the flooring when you remodel the kitchen so all the materials will work together.

Do you just not like the kitchen floor or are there other reasons you'd like to replace it?

The grain is a little bossy. If you add some easy-to-clean indoor outdoor rugs to the space they will tame it a bit.

Did I miss the reason why you are putting down new floors?

All the floor I see looks like flat cut oak. That cut shows the open grain of oak. The open grain turns black with any stain and this makes the floor looks two dimensional and boring. What can be done is to sand all the flooring and ceruse it to fill the grain with a light color. This'll overcome the blackness. Comparing durability of 12 hardwood floor finishes for refinishing - YouTube You can choose Bona Traffic or be esoteric and look at Soap can be a surprisingly good furniture finish - Woodshop News Also used for floors. Should be money saving because you don't replace anything.

My pipes broke during the freeze in Houston in February 2021. The Floor is buckled in several places where the water got under the subfloor. When they installed the wood floor in the kitchen, they laid sheet vinyl underneath it for a moisture barrier.

They have always had wood planks, so not sure what you are comparing to.

You either have:

- real wood planks (narrow or wider) sanded and stained on site. Can be sanded and re-stained in a new color. Usually installed over a crawlspace or basement.

- engineered wood planks (narrow or wider) come pre-finished from the factory. Depending on the quality and depth of the real wood top layer, it might be possible to sand and re-stain. Can also be installed over a slab foundation with moisture proof adhesive.

- luxury vinyl planks that are made to look like wood.

- tile planks made to look like wood.

Do you have a budget for the new floor? Is insurance involved or are you doing this on your own?

I'd consider a click lock stone-look vinyl tile that coordinates with the flooring in the rest of the house.

A check pattern using LVT with a combination of warm colors would look really cute in your kitchen. And work well with the existing oak.

From what I understand from the one contractor I have talked to about the situation, they are going to have to cut through the floor to repair the sub floor under the cabinet where my cooktop is. He actually said they are probably going to have to pull the bottom cabinets out to do the job. I’m sure these cabinets were built into this house when the house was built in 1950. I guess this means they will also have to cut through the vinyl flooring that was laid underneath the wood floor. There is also significant damage on the other side, that doesn’t show in the picture. I would love to be able to change out my kitchen cabinets, but unfortunately there is no way I can afford to do that. I have been trying to find a stone looking LVT, but have been unsuccessful so far. I don’t want some thing too light, but not really dark. Hopefully, I would like something that had a little bit of a gray and beige vein in it. I don’t think that totally gray would look very good butted up to the honey colored wood floors. I’m hoping some people smarter than me on here might be able to help me with this project. Thank you in advance for any help and advice that any of you can give me.

If you don’t like the wood flooring color, it seems like it could be refinished.

If you have to replace or cover the wood floor in the kitchen, some type of a terrazzo look could work well with your kitchen and with the adjoining existing wood. You can find a terrazzo look lvp that has the grey/beige combo you are thinking of. But just about any terrazzo/look is really going to have enough variation in it to work with your existing wood tones - even one that leans a bit more grey. Terrazzo is back en vogue, btw. https://www.digsdigs.com/terrazzo-flooring-ideas/ And the style/look works with your house.

Thank you. I’m so grateful for any help I get on here, as I really don’t have anybody else to guide me on this. During the freeze when the pipes broke and all of this was happening I lost my husband.

My condolences, Beth. Take good care of ’You’. It will all work out fine. I’m glad my post is helpful.🙏🏼

So sorry to hear what you’ve gone through - I love your kitchen and hope you can find some good options. I too wonder about something simple and charming like what @deegw posted - marmoleum could be great as well. I am all for getting floors to match throughout the house but sometimes the timing is not right for that type of investment (time, energy, money etc..) hang in there - love your pupper! ❤️

Thank you. I actually have looked at the porcelain tile that Dee mentioned, and I ado like it. I think if I could find something in the Stone look LVT It might be easier on the legs and easier for me to keep. Not sure as I’ve never had it.
The picture is of the part of the kitchen that was damaged. There is a 10 ft x 20 ft area of the kitchen to the side that doesn’t show that is more or less a home office. I think they measured it all at about 475 sq ft.

I like the look of slate next to oak floors. Unfortunately, dark slate would show every spec on the kitchen floor. If you can find a slate look LVT (or porcelain) that's not charcoal and has a little bit of variation that could look really nice as well. Some slates are heavily variegated and can be a little bossy. This one is Smartcore cavern slate LVT at Lowes. I have no idea if it is a good product, I just picked it for the look.

This one is a porcelain tile from Home Depot. It has more pattern but I think it looks good in your kitchen.

Dee, that is almost the Same thing I was looking at last night. My only worry was whether it was too dark for my kitchen. The one I was looking at is the same brand. I did not see this one.

How did you get it to take a picture in my kitchen. I wish I could do that it would help me so much. I also looked at some porcelain at floor and decor near me.I wasn’t sure whether they were too busy or not.

Beth, many flooring sites have a see in your room option or something similar on the product page. You just upload your pic and the site inserts the floor for you. There wasn't an option to do it for the LVT but I was able to do it for the tile.

Edited to add -I think the 2nd floor in your picture is probably too busy.

LL flooring had a see in your room, But I couldn’t find one for Lowe’s, Home Depot or floor and Decor which are not far from me. Thank you so much for your help.

I also thought the second one was too busy. It is so hard to get an idea from just one piece. I wish they all had the option to see it in your room.

I also thought the second one was too busy. It is so hard to get an idea from just one piece. I wish they all had the option to see it in your room.

Well, I’m really disappointed. I just came back from Lowe’s and Home Depot and they had nothing. Lowe’s and Home Depot both only had one piece that you could look at. Lowe’s had kind of a reddish tan, and Home Depot had one that was mainly white and cream color. I would think that they would at least keep samples, so you could buy a piece and take it home to see how it would work.

Hi Beth, flooring stores will let you take home the sample boards so you can see how the colors look in your kitchen. And most floor product websites will show pictures of the floor in a room. That will help you see if the floor looks too busy or has an odd pattern or repeat in a larger space.

Hi Dee,
Lowes had one I liked online. I thought they would have a sample app that you could look at. They don’t even keep a sample of that you can see. Same with Home Depot. You have to order in a little piece. They also said they don’t have the option to look at something in your room. I know that can’t be completely right, because you sent me a picture of something from Home Depot. They have tons of samples if you want the wood plank. The same at LL Flooring and Floor and Decor. You can even buy a plank and take it home, but nothing in the stone look LVT. I’m going to go online today and see if I can find any other flooring stores.