Remodeling a kitchen is one of the fastest and easiest ways to increase the value, appearance, and usefulness of a home. Kitchen floors and cabinets set the tone for the room. Working in a kitchen with an uncomfortable, unsafe, or unattractive floor can make cooking a potentially risky chore. Understanding the pros and cons of different options ensures home owners are getting the best floor for their kitchen at a price they can afford.

Pros & Cons Of Stone

Although stone is an appealing flooring choice, it must be installed by professionals. Also, the raw material can be extremely expensive. Stone looks beautiful, but it is generally not the best choice for kitchens. All it takes is a little bit of water on stone to create a potentially dangerous risk of falling. Spilled oil and food can permanently stain stone and dropped items can cause irreparable chips and cracks. The same is true for tile floors. As lovely and powerful as stone and tile look, their difficult installation and risk of cracking and chipping makes them a less than ideal choice for a DIY kitchen remodeling job.

Self-Stick Squares

Peel and stick linoleum squares and vinyl are making a comeback as affordable materials for DIY renovations. While sheet linoleum lasts much longer than the peel and stick squares, it also requires professional installation, greatly increasing its cost. Vinyl and linoleum are subject to damage from heavy traffic, stains and spills, and the edges tend to curl, posing a fall risk. Although these peel and stick products may be less expensive initially, home owners often find that the lack of durability creates a need to have floors replaced much more quickly than expected, quickly diminishing the cost savings. Kitchens are usually high traffic areas in a home, and self-stick vinyl is simply not made to withstand years of daily traffic from kids, pets, and more.

Durable Laminate Flooring

Many home owners see replacing a floor as an overwhelming task that will take too much time and money and that requires skills they simply do not have. High gloss laminate planks are the exception to that rule, designed to be easy to install without special tools or skills. They are also designed to provide a beautiful, easy to clean appearance for far longer than most other materials. Laminate flooring is fast becoming the material of choice for kitchen remodeling projects by being inexpensive, attractive, and easy to install, even for a beginner. High gloss laminate flooring offers superb stain, spill, and burn resistance and all at a fraction of the cost of most other materials.

These products are made from wood that might otherwise have been discarded, grinding it up and mixing it with resins that make it highly flexible and durable. Many thin layers are combined to create planks with surprising strength. These planks then receive a photographic appliqué of the desired wood grain, stone, or tile design. A clear top coat is then applied that is impervious to stains, dirt, sun bleaching, burns, and even chemical spills. An easy to clean high gloss laminate floor can look as beautiful as the day it was installed for many years to come.

When purchasing laminate flooring, it is important to carefully measure the kitchen floor. To make room for cutting errors and missed forgotten pantries, it is always a good idea to order 2-5% more than you measure. Since kitchens get quite a bit of moisture, it is also recommended to order laminate flooring planks with waxed edges.

Hard Sell On Hardwood

Hardwood floors are beautiful and they have been popular for a very long time. They also require professional installation and regular sanding and resealing. Hardwood has the advantage of providing some 'give' to the floor, making it far more comfortable to stand on for any period of time. As lovely as they may be to look at, however, they tend to be easily damaged by sun bleaching, spills, stains, and dropped pots and pans. Laminate flooring can be far more resistant to damage while costing much less to buy and install than hardwood. These planks come in several wood grains, allowing homeowners to find exactly what they want. Pine, mahogany, beech, walnut, and even exotic tree woodgrains can grace a kitchen floor without cutting down a single tree.

Renovating a kitchen can be a fun but challenging task. By selecting the most suitable kitchen floor products beforehand, you can ensure the kitchen renovation will enhance your home's overall appeal and create an inviting atmosphere that will last for years.