We have such a tiny kitchen. I think this is a great opportunity to put in a premium floor. I would appreciate ideas from all of you builders.
We are thinking of a light wood (like maple) for the cabinets and then a dark floor. We want a modern, sleek look.
The exposed floor will only be about 5×11. We don’t have our hearts set on any certain material.
Thanks!
Replies
Rubber would be excellent for a small floor.
http://www.rubberflooring.ca/products/activa-rf.htm
My vote's for cork. Lots of options for color and pattern at http://www.ifloor.com .
Do you have the FHB Kitchen and Bath Issue yet? (See directly above) There's a great article on flooring options.
...get an up-north attitude...
Initially, when you said dark, premium, floor, kitchen, I thought "well duh, black marble". But looking at that rubber floor website, that's not what I pictured at all. That stuff might be worth a look. Can't be as expensive as stone, easy on the feet, not cold in the morning, cleans up easy . . . I'm talking myself into it already. Some of the photos don't look at all like rubber. That might make a really good shop floor, hmm. . .
My votes always for wood but c'mon..you didnt give us much in the way of specs or yer tastes, Modern sleek? You into country? contemporary, traditional, esoteric, gothic, boring, Andy Warholesque, I mean modern sleek to me means metal with accents in wood. Be more specific so we might get creative.
Be well
Namaste
Andy
It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
If you can squeeze another foot out of the long dimension, granite slabs are 5 x 10. You can get either 20 mm or 30 mm thickness. I think a seamless, flame finished granite floor would be way cool. Polished would be even more cool, if you can live with the increased slip hazard. Can you imagine a whole floor in seamless, polished Blue Pearl? No need for it to be cold if you put radiant heat under it.
The current plan of record for my house includes a two piece granite floor.
I did mine with stained concrete, it looks like marble.
Great job on the concrete. Patented finish system, or your own?
Thanks all! Great ideas. I think the style will be the light maple with stainless steel appliances. It's just so darn tiny.
I love the idea of a big slab of granite. Would that be hard to maintain?
My sister has a soapstone floor in her sunroom. In the winter the soapstone soaks up the warmth of the sun and it feels like warm talcum powder!
This kitchen has a wall of windows at one end so I have considered soapstone.. again, I worry about maintenance.
I'll look into all of your ideas. I love wood, stone but rubber? I'll have to take a look at that!
Does cork gouge easily? We have a border collie that tears thru the kitchen. His nails may dig into it.
Thanks!
The addition of the dog adds a different perspective to the question. Wood and cork are out if maintaining the floor is not your primary job . Go for stone. Go for hard stone such as granite. Or if you really don't have a budget issue, use terrazzo. Unlimited colors and patterns. You can add mirror flakes and the terrazzo glitters. With all of the stone and terrazzo options make sure that the floor system can support the weight and that the floor has limited deflection.
Does anyoone know if there's still a poured-in-place, vinyl-like flooring around that went by a name like Torginol, about thirty-some years ago? You essentially mixed and poured out the liquid, and scattered the combination of colored flakes of your choice into it. Voila! Seamless, resilient floor!
The neighbors next door to my parents house did that back in...sometime in the early 70's.
I thought theirs was more of an epoxy. Other than that, it was exactly as you described. Rim boards were set, gallons and gallons were poured, and handfuls of sparkles were sprinkled throughout.
I dug into the files top discover a file from this company, but again, it's epoxy:
http://www.liquidplastics.co.uk/products/flooring/d_products.htm
I don't think I've ever heard of poured vinyl.
Edited 11/11/2002 12:00:49 AM ET by Mongo
Could easily be that it wasn't vinyl. That was long before I was in the trades, and I really am not sure what the base material was.
>> I love the idea of a big slab of granite. Would that be hard to maintain?
It would be tough to keep a high polish on a granite floor, unless you're willing to do like the Japanese and many Europeans and not wear your street shoes in the house. Flame finished granite shouldn't be any harder to keep up than ceramic tile.
About 10 years ago, when we lived in a unit my wife & I did up the kitchen. For the floor we used a light coloured 14in square glazed floor tile - laid on the diagonal. Looked great, and the laying on the diagonal lifted it above the ordinary. Subfloor was T&G and we used a flexible two part epoxy adhesive designed to accomodate movement. The glue bed was about 5/8 thick and required the use of a notched trowel with 5/8 stand-offs.
There's no end of floorings that will look good, but someone still has to stand on them to work. Wood is still one of the best choices for resilience and longevity. Find an exotic that comes from a source that isn't endangering the species, and go for it.
How about bubinga, Brazilian cheryy, purpleheart, Honduras mahogany, padauk, rosewood, or walnut? All of them are darker woods, and would provide a stunning contrast to lighter cabinets.
I was going to offer soapstone and cork. The addition of a rambunctious dog results in the removal of the cork.
TimberGrass makes a bamboo flooring with a very, very durable aluminum oxied finish. It has been put in houses with dogs and it still shows very well. Bamboo is not for everybody, but it does have a somewhat sleek, contemporary feel to it. Check out the flat product, which shows the knuckles for a "bamboo" look. The vertically laminated product is cleaner for a sleeker look. Natural finish is light, the carbonized is darker.
Another thought, though I think it a more traditional than sleek look, would be an end-grain wood block floor. Nothing is going to wear that out. A well-done end-grain flor looks fabulous, and it's unique as well.
Marmoleum is another synthetic floor, I'm hestitant to call it 'rubber', but I guess that's pretty much what it is.
http://www.forbo-linoleum.com/home/index.html
I am really fond of combination floors, using wood and stone together. Using marble tiles set in a hardwood grid is very dramatic.
Cork is great for a kitchen, and it holds up well to traffic and the unique operating conditions that a kitchen subjects a floor to.
any stone looks nice in a kitchen, but it's hard on the feet and cold unless you put a radiant heat membrane in when you install it.
Bamboo is getting great reviews, although I have not used it myself I would definitely consider it. Some very interesting inlays are available in bamboo as well as a number of color and texture options.
More rubber flooring at http://www.norarubber.com/. While it's definitely unique, and a great surface in a kitchen, I think of it as more of an industrial, contemporary look, not necessarily a high-end showstopper.
Edited 11/11/2002 4:17:46 PM ET by BEMW
Rubber lacks glitz, but I think it would be great. It has a lot going for it in a kitchen. It will be hard to obtain in small quantities though since it is mainly for commercial use.
If you do go with hardwood, consider setting the floor off with an inlay, pattern, border, or combination of the above.
Ian has nice examples on his site.
http://www.iandgilham.com/floors/FloorPage.html