Hardwood flooring or tile flooring - Which type is better for your kitchen in Albuquerque NM?

Hardwood flooring or tile flooring - Which type is better for your kitchen in Westchester?

Many customers get confused when it comes to kitchen flooring since there are so many options - tile flooring, hardwood, cork, laminate, vinyl, and even linoleum. But which one is best for you and your kitchen?

 

This of course depends on which factors are most important to you as well as your budget.  The cost for each option can vary widely based on what type of flooring and subfloor you currently have, as well as how level and even your floor is. 

 

For this article, I'm going to focus on the 2 most popular choices in Westchester County: Hardwood Flooring vs. Tile Floors.

 

 

Advantages of Hardwood Flooring for a kitchen:

1. Hardwood Flooring is easier on your feet. This is especially important if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking or entertaining or both.

 

2. Hardwood Flooring is warmer on your feet. Tile draws heat away, so tile flooring feels colder, especially in the winter. To compensate for the heat loss, you can install radiant heat underneath tile, but this definitely costs extra.

 

3. Hardwood can help make your home look larger, especially if the hardwood is the same type and color as the hardwood in the other rooms. By using the same surface and color it makes your space more cohesive and your eye flows from room to room giving the illusion of more space.

 

4. Hardwood is currently in style. Just take a look at all the kitchen magazines and you'll see how prevalent hardwood is, especially in the Westchester area (as well as Northeast and Mid Atlantic area).

 

5. Hardwood flooring is USUALLY LESS EXPENSIVE than tile flooring. This is especially true here in Northeast and Mid Atlantic, especially if you have a plywood subfloor. Don't be fooled by going to a store and looking at the prices...it will probably look like hardwood is more expensive than tile...but remember, these are the prices for the materials and not the labor. The labor for tile is a lot more than the labor for hardwood, so when you add labor and materials together, USUALLY hardwood is less expensive. This of course depends on which hardwood and which tile and condition of your floor and subfloor, but this is a good rule of thumb for the colder climates. (Note, in warm climates, labor for tile is lower so this equation may flip flop).

 

6. Many people feel hardwood flooring is easier to clean and maintain. When it comes to tile, many customers complain that the grout gets dirty and all the dirt gets trapped there. Yes, it is true that hardwood can dent and scratch over time, and you may want to refinish them every 10 yrs or so. But, I will note that is easily fixable and preferable vs. tile that cracks and can't be fixed. Once tile has cracked, there is very little that you can do about it. Once you refinish your hardwood floors, the hardwood looks new again. Plus, you can change the color if you like.

 

Advantages of tile floors for a kitchen in Westchester

 

1. Tile flooring is  better with water. You don't need to worry about water spilling at the table or extra water by the sink or if one of your appliances has a major issue or just leaks a bit. You also don't need to worry about who's cleaning it because these floors are close to indestructable.

 

2. Tile flooring is easier to match with a wider range of cabinets. One of the challenges with hardwood flooring is that it often doesn't go as well with mid-toned wood cabinets.  You want to contrast the cabinets with the floors, so often it is usually much easier to find a tile that will work with your cabinets as you can go lighter with the tile.  (White/beige cabinets and dark cabinets are very easy to match with either surface).

 

3. Tile flooring has many design possibilities. You can get really artistic and fun w/ designs by putting the tile on a diagonal or brick lay, using multiple sizes/shapes, adding inserts and/or adding borders.

 

4. If you are using radiant heat, tile will conduct the heat better. And, any type of tile should work with radiant heat - ceramic, porcelain or natural stone. With hardwood and radiant heat, your options are limited and you often need to buy the more expensive hardwoods as your choices have been narrowed since only some types can work with the radiant heat.

 

5. Some customers just prefer the look of tile. I can't explain this except to say that some people just like tile better, or they grew up with tile and therefore just prefer it or it's what they expect to see in a kitchen. So for these customers, tile is best for their style.

 

6. Tile won't scratch. Tile flooring is hard (especially porcelain) so you don't need to worry about shoes, chairs or other objects scratching or dropping on the floor.

 

Downsides to hardwood flooring for your kitchen:

1. Hardwood flooring is not waterproof, so be careful and pick up spills right away. The good news is that if small sections are damaged by water, they can be replaced, woven in and you can refinish the whole floor.

 

2. Hardwood floors will need to periodically be refinished. This is not terribly expensive and you may only need to do this every 10 yrs or so, but it can be a bit inconvenient.

 

Downsides to Tile Flooring for your kitchen:

1. Tile flooring can (and often does) crack. This can be for a number of reasons, but the most common reasons stem from poor installers and/or do-it-yourself installers. They often don't realize how important floor prep is, and as a result often install on top of plywood (which is a no no) and/or don't level the floor. Both of these will cause the tile to crack...it's just a matter of how long it will take. Or, over time a house can just settle a bit and cause cracks. And, if you're tile is cracked, it is extremely difficult (and often impossible) to repair just a few tiles without causing additional cracks in other areas). In the long run, solid hardwood will probably last much longer - in fact, I've seen many homes w/ hardwood that is over 100 yrs old..sometimes over 200 yrs old.

 

2. With tile, the grout gets dirty and starts to chip away. If you reseal your grout every year, this will help, but over the long run, the grout will often need to be replaced.

 

3. Tile styles change over time...your tile may look dated in 15-20 years. Yes, we have ripped out many tile floors that are in good condition, but just not attractive.  They look dated in terms of color, style, size and grout lines.  Hardwood never goes out of style - the color preferences may change (but that is easy to fix via sanding and refinishing).  Ultimately, the hardwood floors will have a longer shelf life than tile.

 

If you live in the Westchester NY/Stamford CT area and are thinking about kitchen flooring, give The Flooring Girl a call at 914-937-2950 for your FREE design consultation.

 

Kitchen Floors - Is hardwood or tile better for your home in Westchester County NY?

Hardwood Flooring - Carpet - Tile/Natural Stone - Laminate - Refinish Hardwood - Backsplashes

"The Flooring Girl"

Debbie Gartner, "The Flooring Girl" and owner of Floor Coverings International Westchester NY

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