laminate flooring okay in kitchen?

[maxinemovies]

Our new manufactured home will be built in a couple of months and we've decided not to bother with their carpeting and instead have laminate floors put in everywhere except the utility room and the two bathrooms. We'll have it done by a local flooring place. We'll buy the flooring from them and have them install it.

Because it's large, and open to the great room and dining room, and because it looks so good, I want laminate in the kitchen, too, but my husband thinks kitchens have to have linoleum. I've pretty much convinced him to go with the laminate floors but I thought I'd ask here to be sure I haven't talked him into something we'll regret later.

What do you all think?

TIA

Maxi

Email addy upon request.

[Tom Lachance]

Just replaced the lino in my kitchen with an engineered wood. Got some little accent rugs in front of the fridge, sink, dw, and range. Also got pads under the legs of furniture. The biggest problem would be dropped objects, jars, glasses, etc... My type of floor also addressed standing water on such a floor.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Time for hubby to look around at the new materials available. Go with the laminate.

[Bonnie Jean]

My home has real hardwood in the kitchen. It's what sold me on the house. the whole downstairs had hardwood when I bought it and just a couple months ago I had hardwood installed in the entire upstairs....except the bathrooms. Those have linoleum but will get tile eventually. All the wood is polyurethaned so water (or pee from a doggie accident) beads right up. The pugs slide around more but they will just have to learn how to deal with it. It motivates me to keep their nails clipped.)

Personally I prefer hardwood to laminate but laminate is better than linoleum. I love the warm look that hardwood or laminate give to a room.

[twfsa]

I replaced the vinyl linoleum in my kitchen with laminate, it shows allot of dirt, especially if you have a dog and they shed, you can spot a hair on the floor instantly. If you get a spot of water on the floor and it dry's then you have a hard water spot to remove.

I think its easier to maintain a vinyl floor, you can use a wet mop to clean it as with laminate its advises not to get any water on the floor. I will go vinyl next time.Maybe I am to picky?

Tom

[cm]

Tom,

We found just the oposite to be true? I wonder how much the color of the floor covering has to do with it? We had very light color vinyl and medium oak laminate. Our dogs don't shed and we aren't that picky, but our vinyl showed everything. I have even installed the laminate in some of the travel trailers we restore.

We have had laminate on our kitchen floor for over 6 years with no problems.

Have fun,

AZCRAIG

[Edwin Pawlowski]

By not getting water onthe floor, they mean spills that can seep into the cracks between planks. The material is no different than what is used on Formica type counter tops so wetting a sponge mop or Swiffer type mop is not a big deal. I use a spray bottle for my Mannington engineered wood floors and a damp mop.

[Mikey S.]

I did my kitchen recently in laminate ( Pergo Cottage Golden Oak) and I am very happy with it, it's tough and easy to clean, and looks very very nice. It does show dust and pet hair more than some linoleum would though, but it'sso easy to just damp mop it and clean that up in 2 minutes that it's not a chore to clean it often. I would use it again, and in fact I am going to be putting it in my half bath on Sunday, and possibly my den when I renovate that room too.

[Kiwanda]

My first choice would be hardwood-- our last house (c.1945) had oak in the kitchen and it was great. When we bought this house (c.1958 construction) there was vinyl in the kitchen, which looked like crap and I hate on principal. [side rant here: 99% of the people who say "linoleum" really mean "vinyl." Real linoleum is great, but costs more than hardwood to install, at least in my area. Vinyl is toxic to produce, offgasses toxins throughout its lifespan, and looks cheap.]

Anyway. We tore out the vinyl and installed an inexpensive laminate (a Uniboard product from Canada, about $1.50/sq ft) two years ago. It looks and performs fine, my only complaint is that we've had a couple of chips on the seams. We've had the same product in two other rooms longer and it's holding up well.

The one piece of advice I'd give is to seal the ends of the planks with glue near the sink, where water is more likely to spill. We've had no problems with surface water, but I expect a big spill near the edge of the floor would get to the ends if they weren't sealed.

Finally, as someone who's installed about 1,200 feet of this stuff in my home, I actually prefered the glue-type flooring to the snap together stuff. It's easier to install and creates a better joint, at least in my experience.

-Derek

[Art]

You can probably get prefinished hardwood for the same price. We have it all over including the kitchen and after 8 years still looks great. Parents have laminate in kitchen and bathroom. No problems. They have Mannington click type. Click type is better than glued because it is relatively easy to replace a bad piece and the water resistent edges are built in.

[Art]

In my opinion vinyl floors are just about uncleanable. Laminate are easy to clean with swifter sprayer. No problem using liquid cleaner on Mannington click floors.

[nospam_coloradotrout]

We had Pergo in our 96 built home. Loved it. We moved to a 92 built home that has lino. Don't like it. It has grooves that are full of gunk; no way to really clean it. I'm still torn over real wood vs engineered. Engineered seems to have so many benefits including DIY install that would appear to be quite easy. Any comments? I'd personally think of using the snap together stuff, but in the kitchen and (if) baths, go ahead and run a bead of glue along the joint. I'm still not convinced of using an engineered wood in the baths. We have carpet (uuuugh), have planned tile, but now am flirting w/ an engineered product.

We dont wear shoes inside and as for the dirt being visible, I'd rather see it and get rid of it, and not know it's there.

[Art]

I had Mannington laminate installed in 2 baths at my parents townhome over a year ago. So far no problems with water damage and I know they are not careful at their age. They might intend to be careful but at age 89/79 how much can you really see when it comes to splashes of water on the floor. It is the click type. Mannington says it is more water resistent than the glue type.

[Peter H]

I've got laminate in my kitchen; but I replaced the dishwasher with a new one at the same time and caulked around the entire edge of the kitchen. I've read that if you have a flood it can work it's way right under the whole floor and ruin it.

Peter H

[Art]

A flood will ruin any floor. That is what insurance is for.

[maxinemovies]

Thanks, everyone. We'll go with laminate. It's going to look terrific.

Maxi

Email addy upon request.

[John Gregory]

You didn't like carpeting in the bathrooms? I'm planning to carpet all three. Only concern is the need for males to be accurate as they stand before the toilet... or sit. Fortunately, there's only me in the house. I prefer the soft cushion of the carpet. Was considering a laminate in the kitchen and after reading this thread, think I'll proceed. Only concern is finding something that will look nice as it butts up against the parquet foyer.

[JerryMouse]

Go with the laminate. If it doesn't work out - stains, too much wear, whatever - you can lay linoleum on top for about twelve dollars.

[Steve B.]

You can get the engineered stuff with real wood veneer on it. Some are thick enough to be refinished several times and look quite nice while maintaining the ease of installation and durability of the engineered product.

Also there are several new click together tile systems now. Basically the same thing as the floors only a different shape and a tile veneer on the top instead of wood. It sounds really cheesey but I was at a customers house the other day and had to bend over and rub the floor myself to be convinced it wasn't real tile with grout lines. It looked 100% real and she was very happy with how easy it was to clean up compared to the real tile elsewhere in the home.

Steve B.