Kitchens are like centerpieces on a dinning room table – they don’t receive as much traffic as other rooms in the house but they do demand a presence, especially for home-owners. And because the kitchen is a coveted room for home-owners the flooring needs to match its esteem.
The look and feel of hardwood flooring is desirable but it’s not always the best option, mostly in the kitchen. The kitchen area receives a good amount of humidity (especially around lunch and dinner time), and water may spill on the flooring more frequent compared to other rooms. For these reasons alone flooring for the kitchen needs to be durable and be high-moisture resistant; but is there a flooring option that has the look and feel of hardwood, and can withstand water and humidity? Yes, the best option is Engineered Hardwood Floors.
How Can Engineered Hardwood Flooring be good for the Kitchen If It’s Hardwood?
Don’t let the name fool you, it’s not true hardwood (at least not the humid-hungry absorbent hardwood kind of way). The only real hardwood on a engineered hardwood plank is the top layer. The base layers of engineered hardwood consists of several layers of plywood, creating its durability and tongue and groove fittings.
If water happened to pass through the grooves, the plywood from engineered hardwood planks is more forgiving than actual hardwood; plywood can withstand moisture much better than laminate floors as laminate base layers will swell with moisture, and the only recourse for swelling laminate flooring is to rip everything up and start again.
Some advice
…engineered floors in kitchen, you’ll want to install engineered unfinished hardwood floors instead of pre-finished. The beveled edges of pre-finished floors are difficult to clean, and a kitchen is one area of the house that needs almost constant cleaning and maintenance. source
Engineered hardwood is suitable for kitchen areas, plus it looks and feel great. Also, it’ll appreciate your house if you decide to sale; hardwood or engineered hardwood flooring is a desired piece for home shoppers.
Excellent. In the last few years, engineered wood flooring’s stature has greatly increased, though still not considered on par with that of solid hardwood. source
Downside to engineered hardwood flooring is that it can be refinished a limited times until the sub-layers begin to show – keep floors free from debris and dirt and you shouldn’t be bothered with scuffs or scratches.
In North Florida and need flooring help?
Contact Florida’s flooring experts, KLC Floors and More, for any flooring questions, installations or flooring products.
