Your kitchen floor goes through a lot over its lifetime, having to deal with spilt foods that can leave sticky and smelly marks and dirty footprints from the garden. Paired with all this, you also want to have a floor that looks great and complements the style of your kitchen.
There are so many different styles of floor to choose from, and they all have their benefits and disadvantages. The best thing to do is think about a few key points:
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- What will match the worktops in my kitchen?
- How sturdy do I need the floor to be?
- How much time do I want to spend on maintaining my kitchen floor?
Once you’ve decided on the most important factors for your kitchen floor, you can start to look at all of the different options available to you. Take a look at our guide to some of the most popular kitchen flooring styles to help you make the best decision.
Rubber
Rubber is a perfect kitchen floor material if you have small children. It’s strong, stays warm and won’t break your best crockery or developing bones! Always choose large sheets as it will look neater than tiles, and if you want to clean it easily then choose a flat surface rather than studs or ridges.
The downsides of rubber flooring is that it can be slippery, and chair legs or heavy objects can dent it. The colour can also fade in strong sunlight, so bear in mind how much light your kitchen lets in before choosing this type of floor.
Ceramic kitchen floor
Ceramic tiles are a great option for your kitchen floor as you can choose from a range of shapes, sizes and colours. They’re also cheaper than porcelain tiles, making them an affordable option for your home. They’re also very easy to clean so if you’ve not got much time they could suit you.
A disadvantage of ceramic tiles is that they can crack easier than porcelain, so you must make sure they’re laid on a flat, solid floor. They can also be cold and not be very forgiving to dropped crockery.
Stone
Stone kitchen floors look absolutely amazing, and can give a kitchen a real rustic feel. No two tiles will look the same, which will add depth to your kitchen.
The stone floor in the picture is travertine, which is very strong, as is granite. Slate is often known for being soft, but different types are stronger than others. Another benefit is that stone floor works well with underfloor heating, and will hold heat for a good hour. However, if you drop a plate on stone floor it’s probably not going to end well. It can also get cold without underfloor heating, and is prone to scratches.
Cork
Cork is an environmentally-friendly option for your kitchen floor. You no longer have to have the traditional tan colour, as you can get vinyl coated cork floor to give you a range of designs to choose from. It’s naturally antibacterial, non-slip and easy to clean with a damp mop.
Like rubber, furniture can dent cork floors and it can fade in sunlight. Also, if you don’t notice that wine spill in time, it will damage the floor beyond repair.
Now you know some of the different kitchen floor options available to you, you can make a more informed decision when you choose the best flooring for you.
Experts recommend that you plan a new kitchen floor in with a refit, so everything fits together nicely. But if this isn’t possible, a professional floorlayer will be able to give you advice. Why not use our service to get up to 4 quotes?