Having the perfect kitchen is definitely on the list of every homeowner. Either if you are renovating your current kitchen, or you are furnishing your brand new home, you should choose the correct kitchen flooring option.
The perfect kitchen flooring is different for every household, and the flooring material that you are going to choose is mainly defined by your lifestyle and taste.
Luckily, there is an abundance of flooring types that will suit your kitchen. It still is important to know the different specifications of flooring types, the costs, pros and cons.
We’ve covered it all, so you can easily choose the perfect flooring type for your kitchen.
What is The Best Floor Material For a Kitchen?
Depending on how you use your kitchen, you will have to choose between ceramic tiles, laminate, hardwood, vinyl flooring, carpet, concrete, and last, but not least – cork.
Every flooring type has its pros and cons. The factors that will play in choosing flooring material depends from the amount of traffic your kitchen has, to how often you will cook, and most importantly – your budget.
In this article, we’ve collected the most common kitchen flooring types, and we’ve calculated prices for the Australian average-sized kitchens. This means all calculations were made for 14 square meters sized rooms.
If you love cooking, then you’ll be spending a considerable amount of time in your kitchen. You’d want durable flooring, that won’t look worn out in a couple of years.
Most flooring types have options that are made tougher than the original type by using science to reinforce their strength. The downside is that they cost a bit more.
Suitable materials for high-travel kitchen areas are vinyl, ceramic tiles and concrete.
All of those can last you decades with proper care.
Choosing the correct kitchen flooring material is important. The proper choice can last you a lifetime, or increase the value of your property, both very desirable things by homeowners.
So, what are the flooring options on the market? Turns out, quite a bit, so let’s take a look at them.
Ceramic tiles are a pretty common choice for kitchen flooring. They are fairly cheap, easy to maintain, and you have endless colour combinations, sizes and styles. On top of that, ceramic tiles are extremely durable.
The cost – Installing ceramic tiled floors in Australia has a starting cost at around $1250. If you are going to DIY the installation, material enough to equip the floor of a 13 square meter room will cost you around $630.
Glazed ceramic tiles are perfect for kitchens because they are stain and moisture resistant.
They are easy to maintain, as they require minimal cleaning efforts to look good.
Ceramic tiles are very affordable.
They come in endless colours and variations. You can mix and match different designs for unique looks.
Unfortunately, ceramic is hard and cold on the feet. If you are looking forward to cooking a lot in your kitchen, you may have to invest in a comfy pair of slippers.
Ceramic chips and cracks. You will have to be careful not to drop heavy object on it, as fixing cracks and chips is difficult.
When wet, ceramic can be slippery. This means you will have to be extra careful not to spill liquids. However, with a quick mop of the liquid, they are as good as new.
Installing a carpet in your kitchen may not be the cleverest idea ever. Still, carpet flooring can work in kitchens where cooking won’t be a common occurrence.
The cost – Installing a carpet is quite affordable. The price for a carpet and installation begins at $1100 for a 13 square meter room. Buying the carpet alone will set you back around $950.
As every flooring type, carpets have their gains and drawbacks.
Carpets come in numerous colours and styles, so you will easily find one that suits your kitchen.
You can have area rugs or wall to wall. Which is great, because you can equip the areas that are prone to getting wet with tiles.
Carpets tend to collect lots of dirt and moisture. Because of this, they are the perfect breeding place for germs, bacteria and some pests.
People with dust allergies shouldn’t opt out for carpet flooring. Carpets collect quite a lot of dust, and they can trigger allergic reactions.
Carpets are very hard to clean. They require constant maintenance, which isn’t cheap. In order to properly clean carpets, you will have to hire professionals that have the machinery and experience.
Laminate can bring the luxurious look of hardwood in your home for half the price. This makes this flooring material very desirable by homeowners. Of course, with the more affordable price, it has some drawbacks.
Although beautiful, laminate may not be the perfect choice for high-travel kitchens. This type of flooring would suit low-travel, open space kitchens. So, if you spend 1-2 hours in the kitchen at most, laminate may be the perfect choice for you.
The cost – Installing laminate in your kitchen can be pretty inexpensive. The starting price for laminate with installation is $1350. If you can handle the installation yourself, then you can buy the materials for around $750.
Keep in mind that these prices are for the cheapest laminate out there. You can easily find high-end laminate that will cost as much as hardwood floors, or even more.
Laminate requires fairly low maintenance.
There are numerous colours and designs that you can choose from.
Laminate can easily be installed over the old flooring in your kitchen.
If the laminate flooring is damaged it can’t be refurbished. This is a problem, as laminate easily gets scratched (especially glazed laminate).
It’s not a lifetime flooring. Most laminates have a lifetime warranty for five to ten years.
If a lot of water gets on the laminate, it would bump from underneath.
Hardwood flooring is the perfect choice if you are looking to introduce luxury in your home. They also increase the value of the property and retain it for longer periods of time.
Hardwood is also quite a bit more expensive than other floor materials. It’s price widely vary depending on the type of wood you want your floor to be made of.
The cost – The starting price for a 13 square meter room is around $2350 in Australia. Acquiring the materials alone will cost you $1700. Depending on the type of wood it can be much more expensive.
They are an amazing investment and will increase and retain the value of your property.
Hardwood floors are comfortable and soft underfoot. This makes them perfect for kitchens where cooking will be a frequent task.
You can mix and match different wood types, which will result in unique floor designs.
The range of shade in hardwood floors is tremendous. You can find hardwood in light beige to almost black.
Hardwood floors are susceptible to water damage.
Refinishing with wax and oil regularly is mandatory.
You will have to reseal hardwood floors every five to six years.
Concrete floors are extremely durable and with the proper care, it will last a lifetime. You can easily mix and match different colours.
Modern concrete mixtures allow for smooth, beautiful designs. Long gone are the days of ugly, dusty and chipping concrete. If you find to dislike the look in the future, you can easily place any type of flooring material on top of it.
The cost – While concrete isn’t the cheapest flooring to install, it certainly isn’t the most expensive one. The starting price for an average sized room is around $1900 in Australia, including installation.
Extremely durable flooring material. With the proper maintenance, concrete floors can last indefinitely.
Modern concrete can be mixed and made in different colours, so grey isn’t your only option.
If concrete is sealed, then it’s resistant to spills and staining. This makes it a great option for kitchens.
Concrete floors are hard. If you drop a glass, plate, or other fragile objects by accident, it will most likely break.
They aren’t comfortable and soft underfoot.
You have to wax and seal your concrete floor every tree for nine months.
Opting out for vinyl flooring is a great idea. Vinyl is durable, 100% moisture resistant and reinforced with fibreglass.
Vinyl flooring brings that natural wood looks in your home without the cost of laminate or hardwood flooring.
Because of its water resistance, vinyl flooring is the perfect choice for kitchens where cooking will be the primary objective.
The cost – Vinyl flooring is pretty inexpensive. For the nation-average kitchen size in Australia, buying and installing a vinyl floor will set you back around $1145. The vinyl flooring itself would cost you $773.
Very comfortable on the feet, which is important if you are going to spend hours cooking every day.
It’s fairly inexpensive to buy and install.
It can be easily installed on top of your old flooring.
Vinyl floors are really easy to clean and maintain.
It may look like wood, but vinyl floors lack the feel of it.
If they are glued to the ground, it’s extremely hard to remove them.
Glossy finishes are quite slippery when wet.
Vinyl floors can be scratched or gouged quite easily. You’d want to be careful not to drop any sharp objects on it.
Being the in-vogue material, cork is a great option for kitchen floors. It’s also a “green material’’. The cork floors are compressed and formed into sheets bonded with resin.
This makes cork floors glossy, featuring some pretty intricate design. Because of its cushiony surface, cork is a great option for the kitchen, as you will spend prolonged periods of time standing on it.
The cost – Because it’s very trendy at the moment, it’s not the cheapest option. Cork is still considered wooden flooring, and as you expect it will be a bit more expensive.
Cork flooring is fairly inexpensive if you compare it to other wooden flooring. For a 13 square meter room, material and installation will cost you around $2100 in Australia. The flooring material alone will cost around $1534.
Cork is warm and soft. This makes it a very comfortable flooring.
You can choose from a large array of colours and designs. There is a type of cork flooring that will suit any kitchen.
It can be easily refinished by sanding and re-applying the finish once again will make the flooring look like brand new.
Cork flooring is very easy to maintain. If you apply high-quality sealer, the only care you will have to take is the occasional sweeping and vacuuming.
This floor type is susceptible to damage. A sharp object can easily pierce through the sealant and damage the flooring. A heavy object dropped on it can harm the cork flooring.
If heavily exposed to daylight, cork can end up with discoloured patches. You can fix this problem by having curtains that block sunlight.
Deciding on the correct floor type for your kitchen is never an easy task. You have to put in though and figure out which will be the perfect choice for your property.
Let us deal with floor installation!