What is the most durable floor for a kitchen?
Research and studies have found that the best places to upgrade a home is adding a master bath and remodeling the kitchen. In the kitchen, along with plentiful cabinetry and counterspace, the kitchen floor tile is an upgrade that will bring you a healthy ROI.
Today’s home buyers want a kitchen that is large and has plenty of storage. They want bright and open with kitchen tile floor is warm looking and welcoming. The kitchen in homes today is also where we entertain guests, and it is often where the kids do their homework. So, your new kitchen needs to provide many things beyond cooking meal, and the kitchen floor tile or other material needs to be durable and versatile.
For a durable kitchen floor tile, porcelain has proven over time to be the most durable. It is waterproof, and highly scratch-resistant. You may wonder why a kitchen floor needs to be scratch resistant, and our answer would be a question to you: “Do you have children or pets?” Even a well-groomed pet can easily scratch kitchen floor tile that isn’t scratch resistant.
However, like anything, there are drawbacks to porcelain tile for kitchen floor tile, with the first one being fatigue. Porcelain kitchen floor tile is a hard surface, which is why it is durable. It is also why it isn’t the best kitchen floor tile if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
The second issue with porcelain kitchen floor tile flooring is the grout used with the tile. The tile is waterproof, the grout isn’t. Water seeping into the grout can lead to mildew and mold under the tile. This would lead us the question, can you have tile without grout?
In short, no. Only few exceptions, grout provides no stability to kitchen floor tile installation and longevity. So, why do you need grout with kitchen floor tile? Today, kitchen floor tile is made from various natural materials that are fairly consistent in size and appear identical.
However, while grout-less kitchen floor tile may look better, an experienced flooring contractor will tell you that grout makes a huge difference. Here we offer reasons why you need grout for your kitchen floor tile work:
- Uniform, Not Identical: Yes, the kitchen floor tile you choose may look identical, but they aren’t. Using grout will fill in the smallest of irregularities giving your flooring a completed finished appearance of being in perfect alignment.
- In Between: No matter how large your kitchen floor tile project is, without grout, you can be sure that certain elements will get in between the tiles. In the kitchen, there is the chance of food and other debris like dead cells, dirt, and dust. No matter how clean your house is, these are things that exist.
- Tiles Move: Yes, even after professionally installed, the kitchen floor tile will move, ever so slight, but they will move, and the edges of the tiles will rub together. Without grout, they will easily chip and could eventually break from the movement and rubbing.
Which is the better choice, kitchen floor tile or laminate?
How busy is your kitchen? Kitchen floor tile is the most durable material. It is scratch and water resistant. Laminate flooring isn’t either of those. Water will easily seep between the boards (no grout!) and dropping a heavy dish or pot can chip laminate.
Which is better glossy or matte floor tiles?
Okay, matt kitchen floor tiles aren’t going to be bright and shiny. However, they have better traction over gloss kitchen floor tiles, an important feature considering water use in the kitchen. Matt kitchen floor tiles conceal smudges and stains better, including dried water droplets and matt kitchen floor tiles don’t require everyday cleaning.
Do high gloss floor tiles scratch easily?
Yes, it is one thing that any flooring professional will tell you. While glossy tiles will make a roof beautiful, bright, and glamourous, they are not scratch resistance. There are things you can do that will minimize that scratching:
- If you’re doing your own flooring, remove the gloss kitchen floor tiles from the box one at time. Avoid pulling them scraping across the one below.
- If you’re working on your kitchen, be sure to cover the kitchen floor tile with a tarp or old quilt to prevent getting scratched.
- Sweep the kitchen floor tile on a regular basis to keep abrasive dirt off before you mop it. Even the smallest grain of sand will scratch your kitchen floor tile.
- Never drag anything across the kitchen tile floor like furniture.
- Invest in a quality doormat that traps dirt before it gets in the house.
Is porcelain tile good for kitchen floor?
Yes, Porcelain kitchen floor tile is made from material like clay and sand making it a dense and hard product, unlike porous ceramic tile. This makes it ideal kitchen tile floor material. An unglazed porcelain especially doesn’t show scratches or wear either.
Does kitchen floor tile go under cabinets?
Well, that depends on different aspects and the answer varies by who you ask. Installing kitchen tile floor after the appliances and cabinets are installed means you need less flooring, a money saver. However, if you’re having a professional tile contractor do the installing, they will spend a lot of time detailing and trimming the flooring to fit against the appliances and cabinetry.
There are flooring contractors that prefer to be the last part of the kitchen remodel though, so the kitchen tile flooring isn’t damaged with the other work going on.
Another factor to consider if you’re going to a ceramic kitchen floor tile from vinyl, have an engineer check the structure. Ceramic tile weighs much more than other types of kitchen flooring and you may need extra support.
If you are going to have a transition from the kitchen floor tile to wood floor in the next room, the height difference can be resolve with a strip that will ramp up or down from one flooring to the other. These transition strips are either aluminum or wood and are easily trimmed with a handsaw or miter saw to fit. Need help with kitchen tile flooring in Pantego and Arlington, TX? Call 817.861.3737 today.