We have hardwood in our kitchen and it's the best flooring we've ever had. The hardwood is easy to maintain and we've had linoleum and tile floors in the past. Hardwood, for me, is the easiest flooring I've had to clean. We have a kitchen rug in front of the sink, so we're not concerned about occasional spills. However, when we remodeled, we did get a Miele dishwasher as there is an internal mechanism that prevents water to flood the floor.

I've never known anything but wood in kitchens. In fact, my hubby and I both grew up in kitchens with wood floors, our last house had one, and we put one in the current kitchen.

I'm sure some might disagree, but I think wood floors are the best flooring surfaces in kitchens. IMO, you can't beat their warmth, comfort and beauty (and as an added bonus, no grout!)

We just replaced an awful white vinyl floor with wood and I love it! It is the easiest kitchen floor I've ever had. We also keep a rug under the sink, and had no problem with spills. I'm so happy with the decision and agree with ebse about not having grout!

Another wood floor in the kitchen lover here. I have a slightly curved spine and standing on tile kills me. I have a rug in front of the sink and in front of the stove and we are good to go. Small spills get cleaned up with a sponge and once or twice a month (more in the winter) I dust mop, vacuum, and wet mop with vinegar and water. The key is not to let water stand on the floor. The floors always look good and they are very warm and comfortable.

I just LOVE the feel of my wood floors under my bare feet. Smooth, warm and very clean. I have had tile and vinyl in the past and this floor is by far the easiest! I just wipe up spills as they happen and there are no problems. My dishwasher is a bosch with an internal flood control so no worries there.

My mother has tile in her kitchen and she says it has really hurt her feet and back over the years. We have ugly laminate and are replacing it with a natural hickory hardwood and cant wait!

Good luck choosing but my vote goes to wood : )

Absolutely go with the wood floors! We've been in our house 11 years, with wood in our kitchen and breakfast area and have had no problems. Well, actually, a month after we moved in our washer leaked in the laundry room. The water did not go out into the hall where the wood floor is, but it did go down into the duct work (which I wasn't aware of) about a week later, the wood floor in the hall had buckled up terrible! called the insurance people who were going to have the entire floor replaced, but when I called the guy who put in the floor - he said to wait. We replaced the ductwork under the hall (awful doing this on a house only a month old) but anyhow, once the floor dried out good - back to normal! You actually could not tell at all that it happened. I cried for days over it, all for nothing!

Its very easy to maintain and we have 3 boys and a dog.(well only 1 "boy" left in the house now) I damp mop with vinegar and hot water about once/month. I used to do that every week when the boys were smaller tho. Clean up spots with wet cloth when I see them. Satin finish is the way to go - gloss would make water spots/crumbs/hair stick out like a sore thumb!

Another wood lover (so far). Just replaced a tile floor with wood. Tiles crack when heavy things drop on it and found it hard to maintain. Good luck with your decision.

We had wood for the last 9 years and are replacing it with ... wood. Before, I had tile for 2 years, and hated it. Too hard.

Love the wood. We had an icemaker flood (luckily only a couple of hours rather than days) that buckled the floor, but only temporarily.

We are only replacing this one because we have removed walls and the floor didn't run under the cabinets to start with, and toothing in wood would cost as much as ripping out and starting from scratch. (And I wasn't in love with the particular style we had, anyway.)

I have a wood floor in my kitchen -- didn't choose it -- it was there about 200 years before I moved in!

I love it. Why? I just do. That's tautological. So sue me.

I think one key is RUGS. Don't wait for damage. It's natural and inevitable. Put a rug in any high traffic areas, like in front of the sink, traffic patterns, definitely under tables and chairs or heavy furniture.

(A bright, dark, tufted wool rug with a lot of pattern hides a LOT of dirt, and can be washed out in your driveway with the hose and a little dish soap and a broom, then thrown over the bushes to dry on a nice day. Test for colorfastness first. No lie.)

Then just decide it's not going to be precious, and you're not going to cry at every scratch. Live your life. They make little pencils to blend scratches. Or borrow a crayon from the kids.

Wood is warmer, more forgiving of dropped cups, hides dirt, it makes rugs colors and furniture look beautiful, and it's accoustically good.

And a leak could happen anywhere in the house.

So it's a perfectly valid choice.

we renovated our first house when we got married and used hardwood throughout, including the kitchen. we're building new now and i wouldn't consider using anything but. i'd bet the people discouraging you are not speaking from experience.

I have had two kitchens with wood floors and have loved it both times. I currently have tile and can say that wood is easier to keep clean. If you wipe up spills quickly, wood is easy. I'd rather clean stuck jelly off wood than dig it out of grout any day.

We did have to refinish the wood in our other kitchen once, but that was after 10 years.

Another vote here for wood. So much easier on the back than tile, and tile has grout!

I love our wood floors. I had travertine tumbled tiles
and although they looked lovely, I personally like the
feeling of warmth from the wood floors.

We just refinished our wood floors. I have dogs, kids
and a busy lifestyle. (living in the country so mud
is part of our decor. lol) And the wood floors look great
and prior to this lasted for 9 years looking
just as beautiful.

I've had prefinished wood floors in my current house for 9 years...I have five kids (12 and under) and a dog. We have spilled COUNTLESS times on the floors, and they still look great. LOVE. THEM.

In my new build, I'm putting in on-site finished wood flooring, which has me a teeny bit more concerned over the pre-fab (it's been nice to know you can just pull up a few planks and replace the pre-fab, should something go drastically wrong like a major leak...a bit more difficult to fix with the site-finished stuff). But it's not going to stop me from putting in the wood. It's a must to me, for beauty, longetivity, durability, warmth, comfort...

I could go on and on.:)

Another wood floor fan. Our friends and family tried to discourage us too, but no regrets here. We have red oak that was site finished with Bona Traffic. We are on a hillside with lots of decomposed granite "sand" coming in with the dog (ok, us too), so it takes quite a beating.

I am going to be odd woman here. We had wood floors in our last 4 homes, this time we put stone in. Although I do love the feel of the wood floor on bare feet, I love the look of the tile. With so much wood in the kitchen area (cabinets, table, hutch) , I like the contrast of the wood and stone. I also use area rugs with the tile same as I did with the wood.

I absolutely love wood floors in the kitchen, but I am positive we would destroy them, likely in the first year. How do I know this? (You might want to see if you see any similiarities of lifestyle, because I think if you can have wood floors depends on your lifestyle, and this is the result of many hours of honest deliberation and assessment.)

1. I find drops, small puddles, and large puddles of water on the floor on a daily basis. Who knows how long they've sat there, and I don't even bother cleaning them up or it would be a full time job - plus it's linolium so it can sit.

2. I find wet towels on the floor - dripping, sopping towels as well as just damp ones - in all seasons (from the kids wiping up spills or wet toys from outside or in the summer from the pool). In the winter there is wet coats, gloves, mittens, etc laying on the floor often. We have the pick-up-after-yourself conversation often, and in fact, when I clean, the rule is they clean too (so it's daily), but the biggest offenders are the neighborhood kids who are in our house daily and have ruined our tables with water rings, fill cups to overflowing from the fridge dispenser, throw snowboots on the floor, etc. I've learned to try to be laid back about it all otherwise, it'd be so stressfull I'd have a heartattack! With kids comes damage, and my own kids have ruined plenty of stuff too.

3. Our entryway has wood floors and it's not even close to the kitchen, and the floor is warped there from water damage (don't even know what happened.)

4. I felt like a freak-out woman the one time we had a family over they traipsed snow into the entryway and I actually removed all the rugs, moved all their coats and boots, got down on my hands and knees to wipe up the melted snow and then hung the rugs up to dry. This was after a quick greeting. I couldn't just let the water sit for the sake of politeness. I apologized more than once and knew I should have ushered them in through the garage, but the whole experience made me feel like a rude, spaz person. I certaintly wouldn't want to be doing that with my kitchen constantly. Like having to get up from my conversation with a friend to rush over while saying, "excuse me, your son just spilled on my hardwoods and I need to wipe it up quickly." (ug....uncomfortable)

5. I look at the actual gouges we have in our entry hardwood and it scares me, needless to mention the literally hundreds of gouges (some bigger than a quarter) in our linolium, which is part of the reason the kitchen reno plan was started.

6. I look at my friends warped hardwood in her kitchen - she has 2 teenage boys, and has only been in the house 2 years and already needs new floors.

7. My grandparents who have had nothing but hardwood in their kitchens in the last 30 or so years in a frank conversation shared their worry about me spending thousands on a wood floor with the way things in our house take a beating. At the time, I had been reading all the comments like the ones above and had almost thought it might be doable, but when the people who know and love me best can even see that it wouldn't be a good idea, I know I better face up to the facts: as much as I love hardwood, I think THIS stage in life (with as many as 10 kids under the age of 7 traipsing through my house daily, doing all sorts of damage - and even the adult guests doing damage), I'd better wait.

Maybe this is more of an issue that hubby and I aren't sure how to be assertive without being rude or that we need to lay out stiffer discipline with our own kids, but regardless of what the issue is, I know the floors wouldn't be able to bear the brunt of the issues of our life.

So one day when the kids are bigger or grown :-)

needsometips, I can see why you'd be afraid to have wood floors in your kitchen if your friend's looks so bad after only 2 years. I can't imagine how they could get warped in such a short time. We have hardwood throughout our home, even in the bedrooms upstairs. We have our own kids and lots of others in and out. We have a big dog whose nails we try and keep clipped short. But other than the fact that we never wear shoes in the house (which is a cultural thing, not because we have wood floors) we've never, ever babied our floors. You really don't have to rush to wipe up spills, I sure don't. I find drips and spills in my kitchen that have sat overnight or longer and have never had a problem in 12 years.

Maybe when your kids are a little older you could do tile in your mudroom or entry or wherever and still have hardwood in your kitchen. Just a thought!

Occasional water won't hurt modern wood floors that are well-sealed under polyurethane.

Anecdote: when my brother and I were pre teens, we moved into a house that had beautiful oak (pegs and all) floors in the dining room, hallways and living room. Mom put area rugs in some of it. But after a few years of us sliding around in our socks, she had the whole house carpeted. A year or so after we graduated college, she tore up the carpets and refinished the floors. They look beautiful still.

LOVE mine!! Another fan here!!!

In our remodel, we kept the wood floors in the kitchen, but had them refinished, mainly because we had to patch where we took out a closet. But, the floors also really needed to be refinished, because the old kitchen had a terrible layout that caused a lot of dripping and spilling between the stove and the sink (no landing spot next to the stove, or decent workspace next to the sink). So, be sure you have an efficient layout to minimize damage (but you are doing that anyway, right?). Also, my original floors were prefinished hardwood with a beveled edge, and glossy-- a terrible choice for a kitchen! The bevel gathered gunk, and the glossy, plasticky surface showed every water spot. I think the floor has a satin finish now, plus it is stained, which enhances the grain, so it is much more forgiving of spots. A mid-tone stain will show dirt and dust the least.

We're doing a kitchen remodel also and we are taking up ceramic floors that we put in JUST 5 years ago!! It's horrible on my back, cold in the winter, and when you drop a glass or a dish, it explodes into a million little pieces.
We're getting wood put in and I can't wait!

I just have two things to add to this post. Vinegar and water will ruin your floor over time. (wood and water don't like each other) The best way to clean wood is vacuum often and use Bona wood cleaner.
Second, rugs with any antiskid backing will harm the floor. The rubber prevents the wood from breathing. Also, the dye from the rug can bleed on the floor. It's best to go without rugs and wipe up spills as they occur.
Donna

Donna, I'm not sure why you think vinegar/water will harm our floors over time. For 11 years that's all I've used and they look as good as the day we moved in. That was what is recommended by the guy who installed them. They were site-finished, with 3 coats of polyurethane. And when I mop, I wring the mop out real well, so that the floor is dry within 5 minutes.

I do agree about the rugs, the ones that are rough/scratchy on the back can dull the finish under it, esp. if it gets slid around alot on the floor.

I use 2 cheap rubber backed rugs, one in front of the stove and the other in front of the sink. Floor looks fine in both of those areas.

Our dog is not a big drooling one, but if he comes in hot and panting, there will be drops of drool on the floor. When you mop those areas, the water doesn't bead up on those spots - you can see where they are when the floor is wet. After the floor dries tho, they're gone. My floor guy said that was because some kind of enzymes in doggy drool affects the finish on the floor. But I wouldn't go as far to say that it ruins it, just thought I'd mention it.

If there is a place that seems damaged as compared with the rest of the floor, it would be where the bar stools are. Boys have a thing about wanting to tilt the chairs back when sitting there. I've screamed until I'm blue in the face about it, its just a terrible habit one of them can't break. I have taken sand paper over that area before (very lightly) and brushed on clear min-wax - it disappears! no more scratches/dullness from the chair legs.

so for the long post - just wanted to add some thoughts here.

I too use vinegar & water to clean the wood. One doesn't slosh bucketsful around, one just uses a damp mop. Works briliantly for us, better than the Bona or Fabulon or Orange specialty cleaners (which all left a slight residue).

I don't quite get the fear of getting wood floors wet? As I said in the Home Dec forum thread, modern floor finishes are pretty bombproof. If a leak or flood is so massive it will ruin the wooden floors, it seems like it would ruin other types of flooring (or wooden subflooring) as well.

My 90-yr-old bungalow has the original fir flooring throughout the entire house -- including the sole bathroom. We drip all over it and toss wet towels, leaving damp shower & bath rugs, wet footprints and bathtub overslosh in our wake. Floors look as good as the day we refinished them. And I know families have been raised in this house with that same single bath.

Is this the difference between new wooden floors and old-growth wood? I dunno (any experts out there?), but the fears of normal kitchen dripping seem overblown to me. We drip and splatter all over and have had no problems at all pertaining to water/liquids. I say: install and enjoy! :-)

"My floor guy said that was because some kind of enzymes in doggy drool affects the finish on the floor."

There is nothing in dog drool that will do anything to a floor finish.
It will leave behind some enzymes and stuff that affect how water beads, but that does not indicate the finish has been damaged, it is just dirty in that spot.

I have a customer who is having me tear out a kitchen tile floor. She says it is killing her knees and back.
A large water leak also got under the cement board to the wooden subfloor near a wall and caused it to swell enough to pop a few tiles.

i had ceramic tiling in my previous kitchen and it was so hard on the feet and also cracked soon after installation. The rest of my house has wood floors so I am extending the flooring into the kitchen and sunroom upon recommendation of my GC. I love the wood floors in the rest of my house and can't wait for the wood flooring in the kitchen. Picked up some tips here on how to maintain them as well so I know it'll be fine.

I'm rarely on this forum anymore and forgot about this post. Below is the reason not to use vinegar and water to clean the floors.

Here is a link that might be useful: cleaning wood floors

Here's another.....

Here is a link that might be useful: vinegar and wood floors

First of all for those who are afraid of chipped tile, don't buy ceramic. Ceramic chips. Porcelain tile do not, nor does travertine, which is beautiful. As for all those who say that tile is so hard on the back, I'm not so sure that is true. Wood is softer than tile, but it is still a hard surface to stand on. I think that has become a rumor that has spun out of control. I don't think your back knows the difference between any surface that doesn't "give". And although wood is softer, it doesn't give like a pad, or carpeting.