Asklemmy

Our kitchen is integrated into the living room (open kitchen space) and the whole room has hardwood flooring. Due to the room layout it would be hard to establish a "border" where the flooring could change (e.g. tile floor in the kitchen area). It it easier to have one type of flooring across all the room.

We rent, and unfortunately we were the first ones after the hardwood flooring was put in, which means that every spill and every scratch is on us. We decided not to bother, as every spill leaves a mark (regardless how fast your clean-up effort is), and thus adds character to the floor. It's a living room after all.

We know that a chunk of the security deposit will likely be gone if we move out. It would probably be as much money as to have the floor sanded down by ourselves.

Despite hardwood flooring has some disadvantages regarding spills and scratches, it makes the room much more cozy than any other type of flooring. The most durable type of flooring would be sealed screed flooring you expect in a warehouse. But that wouldn't look cozy.

Wear and tear adds to the charm of a well lived kitchen imo

What the fuck are you doing to your floors?? Hardwood is easy to clean and doesn't crack like tile.

Hardwood floor sealer exists. It's called vitrification

You'd be nuts to install a hardwood floor and not protect it!

What kind of cutlery are you dropping that requires refinishing your floor?

Better impact resistance compared to tile, easier to repair than vinyl or linoleum (sand and restain)

It's easier to clean than carpet

Edit: I can only assume that one down vote is from the Big Carpet Cleaning lobby

IMO the best flooring for kitchens is cork or real linoleum (not vinyl).

When I bought my house it had 2 layers of carpet in the kitchen. I replaced it with hardwood because I didn't want to stain the carpet.

You've obviously never slid over to the kitchen sink with socks on. Bonus points for doing a spin.

I put whatever I want in my kitchen because I'm a superstar and fuck your disapproval.

To me its the same as the thought about survivorship bias .... you want the best flooring material for the place that will most likely get the most damage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

You seldom use the bedroom floor because all you really do there is sleep ... basically wake in the morning and walk on at night before bed. And you seldom bring anything serious into the bedroom like liquids, hot / cold food, drinks or cups or containers.

The living room has moderate traffic and again you don't really use it during the day.

A high traffic area is the bathrooms because everyone goes there on a regular basis.

The most high traffic area in any house will always be the kitchen because everyone is constantly working and walking there .... and it is always exposed to liquids, solids, spills, hot stuff, cold stuff, broken stuff, glass, ceramic, metal, pots, pans. And you sometimes have crowds of people there ... all working and basically scrubbing the floor with all those feet.

It's the reason why you should have the best, hardest and most expensive flooring in any house.

If you are going to invest in expensive flooring ... put it in your kitchen because that is where it will be most useful and last for years in your house. If you install cheap floor in your kitchen, you'll be replacing it in less than 10 years or even less if the flooring is really cheap. After you replace flooring two or three times, it would have been the same cost as buying one good layer of expensive flooring anyway.

A good poly and an appropriate hardwood selection can do a lot to protect the floor.

Would I ever do a natural wood floor in a kitchen or full bathroom? Absolutely not because I actually use a kitchen and have a dog that would maul hardwood with zoomies.

Hey, it's better than carpet.

Though I do get your point, ceramic tile is probably best, but to each their own 🤷‍♂️

It looks nice. And if it's finished well spills will clean if you're quick.