Up until recently kitchen flooring was really restricted to a few different options which consisted of laminate, tiles, vinyl and waterproof carpet tiles.

Because the kitchen includes a ‘wet area’ and has to accommodate heavy wearing and food splashes the type of kitchen flooring that offers the best resilience is one of the above flooring types.

A cost effective way of flooring the kitchen place is to use laminate or vinyl, these are cheap to buy (depending on product) offer long standing durability and are water proof, which means easy to clean as well!

Tiles are used frequently and offer all the above but can be expensive, but if you can afford it the there are many tiles ranges from slate effect to mosaic. These can dramatically add the “Wow” factor to your kitchen.

Up until recently hardwood floors have been generally not recommended as the wet area can cause for shrinkage and movement in the wood causing unsightly cracks or warped planks. However there is now a product called Engineered Hardwood which can take heat and moisture without too much movement. The engineered hardwood is different from laminate as it actually has a real wood surface – usually 1.5 centimetres- which then sits on top of another wooden base that is strengthened. This new product allows for the use of all types of hardwood to be used as kitchen flooring creating anything from rustic to ultra modern floor.

Note:
Depending on the type of hardwood floor and colour beware that the lighter the floor the more cleaning maintenance is needed as hardwood light hardwood floors show up every crumb.