What is the best flooring for a kitchen?

One of the busiest rooms in any house, a kitchen’s floors sees a lot of action. Unlike other flooring around your home, the solution you choose for your kitchen needs to tick many different boxes.

Kitchen flooring must be stain-resistant and simple to clean, but it also needs to be comfortable for walking on and look stylish. There are other factors you might take into consideration too, like whether your flooring choice works well with underfloor heating and how does it suit different floor constructions and surfaces already in place.

You also may have budgetary concerns that affect your choice and even if you don’t, you will want to make sure the style of floor you choose is designed to last, to avoid the inconvenience of replacing it often.

In the following sections we explore our top two options for kitchen flooring and discuss their individual advantages.

Vinyl flooring

Vinyl can be an ideal option to consider for your kitchen. The latest generation available Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) is water-resistant and easily cleaned, making it a perfect choice for kitchen spills. It is also comfortable underfoot when you need to spend time cooking or cleaning up.

Vinyl flooring can reflect a wide range of sought-after surfaces, from gently contoured wooden floors to smooth ceramic tiling. This versatility of vinyl’s appearance is one of the characteristics making it best suited for kitchen floors. If you want the look of a stone floor without the chills or a warm wooden-style kitchen without timber boards getting damp, vinyl can offer you the style you seek without any negatives.

High quality vinyl will include a specially designed “wear layer” that protects it from scratches and other damages, so as long as it is professionally installed, your flooring will last for many years. You can avoid dents from kitchen furnishings like tables, chairs, and stools by fitting them with rubber pads to safeguard your floor. If you are using underfloor heating in your kitchen, you will also find many vinyl products are fully compatible.

Laminate flooring

Another flooring that is a great fit for the kitchen is laminate, but it can pay to invest. Although a variety of lower budget options exist, they may not always be as hardwearing or resistant to water when you need to clean up or suffer spills and splashes.

High-quality versions are readily available, however, and like vinyl can mimic a wood grain, tile, or stone surface. Laminate flooring is constructed from a melamine backing, a High-Density Fibreboard core topped with a high-res image of wood or stone and then covered with a protective transparent “wear layer.” This last layer makes laminate flooring highly resistant to scratches and scuffs in daily use. Even at the high-end, laminate is still a relatively affordable option for your kitchen floor and is equipped with the latest waterproofing technology, which means it will not require sealing.

If you are planning to lay a new floor in your kitchen, consider these two innovative options for your home.