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5 Reasons to Buy Tile and not Wood for Kitchen Floors

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Alliance

Kitchens are some of the most important places in our home.  It tends to be where we gather for holidays and what many buyers consider the most important room in a house when searching for a home.  Cooking has become not just a chore anymore, but a hobby.   More and more people tend to want to cook at home for health reasons and to save money.  I picked tile that looks like wood for my floors and LOVE it!  My previous home had wood floors and I would never go back.  Here are five reasons I picked tile over wood in my new home.

1.     Wood floors fade and warp.   Wood floors often will fade from exposure to light.  The floor can warp from water which will notoriously splash from the kitchen sink and ice cubes that are kicked under the fridge, if the teens even take the time to do that.  Tile, if sealed correctly, repels liquids and will not warp like wood.  Every few years, you will also need to clear all of the furniture off the wood floor to have it sanded and resealed.

2.     Wood tends to be limited on size and color.   Although there may be some choices, wood floor planks are limited on size.  With tile you can change things around and play with different colors and shapes.  Tile allows for wider planks and more options to put in different colors.

3.     Trees are obviously cut for wood floors.  ​Clearly wooden floors need to come from trees and it takes a lot of them to make sure you have the perfect planks for a floor.  Tile can now be made to look like wood floors without trees being chopped down to create the same look. Tile now has the option of including knots, lines and colors that look like real wood. 

4.     Maintenance of wood is a pain.  I have two large labs and a bunch of kids so you would think that wood was the way to go.  Not so much.  My kids would drop a toy on the floor and cause a gouge.  I have dropped a large pan on the wooden floor and caused a chip.  My dogs' nails would cause scratches.  The grape juice that was not cleaned up very well led to stains (kids, remember?).  The only way to fix it was to hope sanding and staining/sealing would be the trick.  With tile I can fix one or two tiles and not have not worry about the entire floor.  It is also more durable so the dogs don't leave their nail scratches.

5.     Tile costs less to maintain.  The cost to buy and install tile is about the same as wood, depending on what you choose.  It is later that the cost savings for even regular maintenance makes the difference.  Remember what I said above?  Wood floors need to be resurfaced, restained and refinished every few years.  With tile, it is a matter of resealing.

 

Comments (2)

Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@Properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

When my kitchen was last redone, the contractor pulled up about six layers of old linoleum and found pristine oak floors.  He refinished them and they still look wonderful.  My floors were originally installed in 1915, and you probably can't get wood like this in Home Depot!

Dec 12, 2016 07:36 PM
Katie Coleman

I bet those floors are amazing!  Truthfully, if I found those and had not been building from dirt, I would have kept them as well.  No, they don't make amazing wood floors like that anymore and especially not the Home Depot stock.

Dec 13, 2016 08:47 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Katie

There are definitely some pros and cons to wood vs. tile in the kitchen, and some of the choice comes down to personal preference. It's certainly an important decision to make when remodeling.

Jeff

Dec 12, 2016 08:21 PM
Katie Coleman

It really is amazing how like real wood the tile can look these days!

Dec 13, 2016 08:46 PM