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ardcp

owners of tile kitchen floors, question for you

ardcp
10 years ago

i didn't want to hijack the "show me your tile floor" thread but i was thrilled to see how many people have tile in their kitchen and like it.
here's my dilemma; we put in a pool last year and our main entrance to pool is through the sliding doors in kitchen. we have wilsonart laminate that has been great but is soooo slippery when wet! it has a very flat, smooth surface. if you have a lot of water & foot traffic on your tile is it slippery? what are tips for picking a floor that will work in my kitchen?
we are putting in new cabs, medallion lancaster in brandywine and are thinking lighter for granite but haven't chosen yet so maybe a light tile? i will attach a pic of the cab color and a possible granite
ps i had posted on the flooring forum a while ago but didn't get too many responses. the kitchen forum folks are ever so helpful!

Comments (7)

  • jellytoast
    10 years ago

    My flooring (Daltile City View) had a spec sheet available online that stated the slip resistance. Slip resistance was rated between 1 and 3 ... the higher the rating, the higher the slip resistance. My tile was a "3". It is also rated for exterior applications on patios, so I figured it had to be pretty slip resistant if it was okay for outdoor use. The surface is smooth, but it isn't shiny or slippery. There are some slight indentations here and there to mimic natural stone.

    This post was edited by jellytoast on Wed, Mar 5, 14 at 10:35

  • lazy_gardens
    10 years ago

    The trick is to look for a tile that has a high coefficient of friction while wet. If it's worth bragging about, it will be in the specifications. If it's not listed, it's usually because the tile si slick when wet.

    Set that as your first requirement, then find something you like within that group.

  • Fori
    10 years ago

    ...of course, the less slippery ones will catch gunk and be harder to keep clean...

    You might also want to check and see if linoleum (like Forbo's Marmoleum) appeals to you. It's not slippery, but not everyone likes it. :)

  • scpalmetto
    10 years ago

    I have to ditto fori's comment about the difficulty in keeping such a floor clean. The slight indentations that prevent slipping catch every crumb and everything else that gets spilled. We found it was necessary to mop each day when we had such a floor.

  • jellytoast
    10 years ago

    fori and scpalmetto, I disagree entirely. My floor tile is a breeze to keep clean! The slight indentations are not there to prevent slipping, they are there to mimic natural stone and there are only a few of them here and there. The tile is quite smooth feeling, not rough at all ... it feels more like a honed stone. I've never used anything besides water to wash it and everything just wipes right off it easily.

    I did definitely see a lot of floor tiles out there that had a rough or textured surface and I could surely see that they would be a nightmare to clean. In fact, I couldn't imagine using some of them indoors because it looked like hosing them off would be the only way to "mop" them. But not all non-slippery tiles are like that.

  • ardcp
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    jellytoast- good to know there is a happy medium with tile. i really don't want linoleaum as i have that in 1 upstair bath and it't very slippery. we put tile in the master bath and i love it but we step onto a bath rug so not tons of water there. the kitchen got lots of dripping water from kids and adults coming in to get a snack, use the bathroom, etc so it is a challenge! my dd suggested non slip sticky tub decals:) i am sure that would be very attractive!

  • willtv
    10 years ago

    Our tiles are natural cleft slate.
    When installed, we applied several coates of sealer.
    The floor is slip resistant and a breeze to keep clean.
    HTH.