<p>I love, love, love my porcelain tile floor. So do my dogs during hot weather. Used to have wood laminate and it did not hold up at all.</p>
<p>We have lived in our house for 14 years and have not yet had the wood floors refinished. I have to say…probably should be done in the next year or so. The secrets…rugs by the sink and stove (they look nice too), and we do not keep our shoes on in the house. Shoes stay in the mudroom. So…no dirt or grit on the floor. We also vacuum and mop regularly. Our floor was finished with stuff called Street Shoe (this was 14 years ago and I don’t even know if it still exists), but it’s the same finish they use on bowling alleys. I think the finish is the key. You need something durable. </p>
<p>We don’t have a dog…no little claws on the floor either.</p>
<p>We have wood rather than wall to wall carpet throughout the house and I love it…but for the kitchen I am still a fan of linoleum or vinyl flooring. Not too hard, not too cold, durable, and it comes in nice patterns you would swear are tile.</p>
<p>We used to have tile (tiny brown ugly things) in the front hall, and I had it taken out and off-white vinyl put down. It looks so nice, it’s quieter, and IMO superior for all the reasons listed above.</p>
<p>Another vote for hardwood - and it can be stained in any color you can purchase paint in!</p>
<p>Wood! One of the best things we did was to get rid of the tile flooring in the kitchen and replace it with wood to match the rest of the floors. It’s great! It’s warm, easy to clean, and glasses and dishes don’t smash into a million pieces when dropped.</p>
<p>I had Saltillo paver tiles in my old kitchen with wide growth. It came with the house. The floor cleaned up well and I had no problem with the grout. It was great for kids and dogs. Not so good for fallen plates.
When I built my present house about 11 yrs ago we went with wood in the kitchen. It has a urethane finish and it still looks good and we are not careful. I still find it hard on my feet if I have to stand in the kitchen for any length of time. What I hate about my wood floor is the grooves. The dirt tends to build up and it is hard to clean.</p>
<p>When I lived in a hot summer area, I adored my ceramic tile floor; now I have 12x12 “slate” stone in the entry and master and I still like it, I appreciate that there is no need to worry about water.</p>
<p>I have had wood in the kitchen for almost 10 years and in this colder climate it makes sense, but I am always watching for spills, and have had several spots get water damage 
and doggie toenail damage.</p>
<p>Tile with in floor heating could be perfect. Yes, things break, but they break when they hit the granite or tile counters too. I cannot answer the “too hard” as I was too young then to notice ;)</p>
<p>I have no experience with wood or tile in the kitchen. I still have vinyl. I have 4 inch tile in my bathrooms and really don’t like it. My neighbor recently told me of a friend (over 45) who got tile for her kitchen floor and has experienced back problems that she never had before.</p>
<p>I love my ceramic tile floor. We have a dog (with muddy feet) and a cat (whose hobby is vomiting). The upkeep is so easy. I don’t worry about the grout. Just put in dark grout and then don’t worry about it. I’ve never had back problems and I’m in my fifties and I even cook a fair amount. Our dog loves the floor for being cool in the summer. In the winter, we all wear socks anyhow, so I never notice that the kitchen floor is cooler than the rest. My ceramic floor goes from our back door in the laundry room through the kitchen and on to the front door. It is the one floor I don’t ever plan on changing. I don’t want to ever have linoleum again.</p>
<p>My new wood floor is drying as I type this. I’ve had ceramic in my past two homes and found that after 30 minutes in the kitchen, my legs and feet start to hurt. Ceramic may be fine if don’t cook much.</p>
<p>I have porcelain ceramic tile in my kitchen and it is wonderful. Cold is not a problem in our climate. We put pads at the cooktop and sink, and soon got used to the hardness of the floors - of course our house is on a slab, so all the floors are hard downstairs.
My floor is a dark terracotta color with brick colored grout, and it NEVER looks dirty. White crumbs do show up but that is it. In contrast, I have light cream tile with light grout in the bathroom, and it never looks clean. I also have heard the advantages of epoxy grout, and I will do that when we change the bathroom.</p>
<p>I have the same choice to make and haven’t yet decided between porcelain tile or limestone and wood. I had wood floors in my old house and never cared for them in terms of looks (I used to feel that the wood cabinet wood floor look was too rustic looking ) or ability to really scrub them clean . But am coming around to considering them again for the reasons that you mention - there are really unlimited options in wood flooring today, some of them quite contemporary looking. When we moved into our current house we put in these:</p>
<p>[Mirage</a> Hardwood Floors](<a href=“http://www.miragefloors.com/]Mirage”>http://www.miragefloors.com/)</p>
<p>throughout the living room, dining room and hallways of the first floor - they are gorgeous and easy to take care of but I hear that the factory finish is something that is not quite duplicated when it’s time to refinish, so we’ve put off doing it. With any wood floor, not just the prefinished ones, pets are going to be an issue, though. A friend just put in beautiful bamboo floors - they are already well scratched up by the dog. </p>
<p>Even if I wanted to continue with wood through the kitchen, I have another dilemma - the family room/sun room that is connected to the kitchen is on a slab and so it’s a bit more difficult to place wood floors there (although it could be done, it also affects the height of the floors and the transitions between the rooms). On the other hand, no doubt that stone or tile IS very hard on your feet and back - and I spend a lot of time there and work out of my kitchen, too. If I do go with the stone, I figure I"ll just put those cushioned mats in front of the sink and be careful not to drop things.</p>
<p>roshke - what you describe…wood floors with wood cabinets is exactly how I ended up with porcelain tile. I have stained maple cabinetry throughout the house and I just thought wood on the floor was going to be a little too much. I still think I’ll go with wood in the ‘next house’, put perhaps consider lighter, more natural wood cabinets with a ebony-stained wood floor. (I’ve seen a few black wood floors and it’s a really sharp look.)</p>
<p>My hair stylist just moved into new digs and they have stained/etched concrete floors with scoring and mosaic accents. Mosaics on the ceiling as well…it is gorgeous. But those stylists all have the thick cushioned mats you mention at their stations. I think I may have to get one of those things for my kitchen too! :)</p>
<p>A little wood terminology for you. BunsenBurner mentioned maple as a softwood. It’s not, actually, and is harder than oak. That’s one of the reasons they make basketball floors from maple.</p>
<p>A “softwood” is any conifer. A “hardwood” is any deciduous tree. Generally softwoods (Douglas fir, white cedar, yellow pine) are softer than hardwoods (rock or sugar maple, red oak, white oak, tropical hardwoods [such as “Brazilian Cherry” which isn’t cherry and frequently not from Brazil], and black cherry [which is from North America]). Heart pine, a softwood, is harder than walnut, a hardwood. </p>
<p>Contrary to what most people think, North American hardwood forests are in good shape. Due to the movement of farming out of marginal areas, woodlots are now covering what were farms 100 years ago in places like New England and around the Great Lakes. Using northern red oak or maple floors might be more “green” than using bamboo, which can only be turned into lumber by ripping the bamboo stalks into pieces and the using a variety of nasty adhesives to turn it into sticks.</p>
<p>Anyway. I love to hear any story that ends with hardwood kitchen floors being OK. I’ve always been kind of nervous putting them next to water.</p>
<p>My wood kitchen floors are five years old and look great.</p>
<p>They are Brazilian cherry (a very hard wood indeed) finished with an oil and wax product from Germany. The floors can be sanded in small areas, then rerubbed with the oil to refinish just the small area. A couple of times a year I repolish them with old-fashioned carnauba wax, then buff. Beats the heck out of polyurethane. I even have two long-nailed poodles and the scratches wax-and-buff right out. My floors have a lovely matte finish that beads water (just like a car).</p>
<p>If you opt for epoxy grout just make sure your installers are experienced in its application. We had tile with epoxy grout installed in our kitchen about 15 years ago and the installation was a nightmare – the grout wouldn’t set and the installers couldn’t get helpful advice from the manufacturer. The tile and grout were white (I know, I know…young and stupid) so although the dirt did not penetrate the epoxy grout it did stick to the grout and get lodged in the minute nooks and crannies of the grout and make the floor look filthy. We were so happy when we replaced it with wood about eight years ago.</p>
<p>Love both tile and hardwood. Have them throughout all my houses.</p>
<p>Worried about cold floors and scratching in high traffic areas? Two words: Area rugs. Lots and Lots of Area rugs</p>
<p>dmd - what is the german oil & wax product you use & where do you get that & the carnuba wax?</p>
<p>We have hardwood floors that have never been polyeurethaned. We sanded about 20 yrs ago & then finished with many coats of tung oil. Very nice result. Sometimes I use a great product called Qwik Shine which gives them a nice sheen, but I’ve often wondered about using the old-fashipned wax method. Can you give any more info about the products & process? Thanks!</p>
<p>Wow. It seems like people have a definite preference for one or another. I’m going to have to give this a lot of thought. Somebody else told me just to keep what I have and put rugs down.</p>
<p>The floor oil is: [ecohaus</a>, formerly Environmental Home Center - building health in Pacific Northwest communities since 1992.](<a href=“Eco-Friendly Homes | Green Living Homes | Environmental Home Center”>Eco-Friendly Homes | Green Living Homes | Environmental Home Center)
The wax is:
[ecohaus</a>, formerly Environmental Home Center - building health in Pacific Northwest communities since 1992.](<a href=“Eco-Friendly Homes | Green Living Homes | Environmental Home Center”>Eco-Friendly Homes | Green Living Homes | Environmental Home Center)</p>