Kitchen Flooring – When to Use Wood vs. Ceramic Tile

Some homeowners want to renovate a kitchen immediately after moving into a new home. Others want to remodel after getting tired of the same old kitchen for years. Either way, there are numerous options, and you should seriously consider what your kitchen designer recommends. Often just changing the flooring if it is old and worn is enough to revitalize your kitchen. So this post discussed the benefits of either hard wood floors or ceramic tile floors in the kitchen.

Wood

Hardwood flooring has been used in kitchens for as long as they have been building homes for its durability and availability. It maintains its high-quality appearance for years as long as you maintain it with some deep cleaning every few months and a urethane coating for protection. It also maintains an almost timeless quality provided you select the right materials initially. When you renovate a kitchen, you may want to think about resale value and what other buyers are going to like. Hardwood is a solid option that stands up to the test of time. However, it does cost a little more than option flooring options with some reports averaging it costs between $5 and $8 per square foot plus the installation costs.

Ceramic

Ceramic is highly resistant against water due to the protective glaze the tiles receive following installation. Similar to hardwood, it is extremely durable, and tends to lasts over 20 years after installation or longer depending upon the quality of the tile and how well it is installed. One huge advantage is that there are many options in regards to color, style, motif that you can select from where hardwood is limited to the shades of wood stain you can select from. You can decide how big you want the tiles to be and what shape they come in. One consideration is that they do tend to get a little cold around winter if you choose not to have radiant heat under the tiles.

When Is Each One Best?

While you should follow the advice of your kitchen designer in North Jersey, you ultimately want to pick flooring for that can repel stains when a glass of red wine falls and can hold up to heavy traffic. It may help to look at photos of kitchen flooring to help you make up your mind. Sometimes photos can suggest what you should not do.

If you want to remodel your kitchen to make your house easier to sell, then hardwood is a good choice because it does raise the resale value in most cases. However, if you plan on living in your house for a while and want something that captures your spirit and personality, then ceramic tiles may be the way to go. Listen to what your kitchen designer recommends, and then follow your own intuition so that you get the most out of your next renovation.