Kitchen flooring options

When purchasing flooring for the construction or repair of a kitchen, you need to pay attention to some important points. Any owner of an apartment or house needs to have a floor in the kitchen, which has a whole complex of positive properties: not afraid of spilled liquid, grease stains and accidental damage, which facilitates easy wet cleaning.

The beautiful appearance and durability of the laid floor directly depends on the quality preparation of the original base.. It is not excluded that before installing the floor in the kitchen, you will need to prepare the base from scratch, ideally leveling the surface with a high-quality screed with a waterproofing coating. For laying the floor with the effect of heating it will be necessary to use suitable materials with good heat-conducting properties.In each case, before starting work it would be nice to take the advice of an experienced specialist.

The aesthetic look of the kitchen floor will of course depend on the size and design of the entire room. The limited space of a small kitchen dictates the use of a monotonous homogeneous coating, contributing to the visual increase in the space of the room. For large kitchens or variants of combining the kitchen with the living room or hallway, a perfect floor covering will perfectly suit and become an independent element of the decor. It is possible that the modest color scheme and the simple texture of the material of the floor will become the tools for the successful presentation of an unusual kitchen interior.

Nowadays, sellers of building materials offer a huge choice of materials: linoleum, laminate, natural wood, stone, tile, ceramic granite, mosaic and cork. Any type of flooring has unique advantages, has certain disadvantages, is subject to the requirements and restrictions on use, which must be taken into account before purchasing.

One of the most affordable and popular flooring options today is linoleum, which has a number of advantages. Linoleum allows you to independently lay the floor with high moisture resistance. The rich color palette of the material gives a wide scope for artistic experiments. The material has excellent insulating and soundproofing properties, quite wear-resistant. High-quality modern PVC linoleum with a foam or insulated base can last more than ten years.

With the help of linoleum just cover up the old board or parquet floor. Laying perfectly smooth floor of plastic linoleum requires serious preparation of the surface of the base. It is necessary to eliminate sticking nails, align the projections of the old floor, fill the gaps, remove the defective fragments of the boards.At the missing places to nail sheets of moisture-resistant plywood.

The disadvantage of cheap linoleum may be the release of smelling chemical compounds into the air. This problem is solved by modern eco-friendly and, accordingly, expensive materials like artolium or mormolium.

Linoleum coating is not resistant to increased loads, often dents from furniture are formed on the surface. Therefore, for more long-term operation, experts recommend using office or semi-industrial varieties rather than flat linoleum.

A kind of linoleum can be considered a liquid self-leveling floor made of polymeric materials. Such material is unpretentious in operation, resistant to mechanical damage. The key disadvantages of a self-leveling coating are a poor color variety, a strong chemical smell during the loading process and difficulty of dismantling.

Laminate is considered to be a material similar to wood in environmental properties, resistant to external influences and democratic in price. Some types of laminate have surfaces with an interesting texture for valuable types of wood, granite and allow you to choose the right solutions for different interiors.The material is very practical, as the lock mount allows you to make a replacement for the damaged panel.

Wood flooring has good hygienic, strength and thermal insulation characteristics. Stacked parquet floors or long deck boards, laid in artistic ways, add to the classic interior, the interior in a rustic style atmosphere of warmth and comfort.

The wooden floor is not resistant to moisture and temperature changes. Therefore, such a floor requires specific care. In order for the parquet or board to not be afraid of water, to become less porous and more resistant to wear, they are periodically treated with special mastics, impregnated or varnished.

The lack of wooden flooring - its value.Moreover, not only the elements of the floor, but also the work on its installation are expensive. However, given that with proper care, flooring will last for decades, pleasing the owner of the home with its aesthetics and environmental friendliness, wooden floor becomes a profitable acquisition.

Stone floor fits well into the interior of any kitchen, where installation of a heat-insulated floor is not required, is harmoniously combined with any decorative elements. The physical and mechanical properties of the stone provide the floor with phenomenal durability and practicality. The floor is resistant to abrasion, resistant to moisture, does not absorb pollution.

The stone covering is laid in several versions, in the form of slabs with dimensions of 2 meters by 3 meters, in the form of facing tiles and in the form of a mosaic. Such a floor, invariably focusing attention on the cut of natural material, can have different degrees of surface treatment from a sparkling mirror to an artificially aged one. The cost of the floor is directly dependent on the cost of natural stone that goes into production.

The disadvantages of the coating include the presence of voids and the heterogeneity of the structure of natural stone, which can lead to the formation of cracks and chips during operation.

One of the best and relatively inexpensive materials laid on the kitchen floor is tile. The ceramic surface of the material imitates the texture of natural materials, textiles, leather. A variety of colors, patterns and tile laying directions gives plenty of imagination when implementing the most unexpected design projects.

The tile is an environmentally friendly, fairly wear-resistant material, not afraid of water and detergents. For use in flooring to avoid injury, priority should be given to matte unglazed tiles.

In comparison with ceramic tiles, artificial porcelain stoneware does not have a wide palette of shades and textures, but this material has much higher strength characteristics. In contrast to the tile, which has a layered structure, the porcelain stoneware floor element is uniform in its structure. The material is absolutely not afraid of moisture, hot and aggressive straits. Today, expanding the range of porcelain stoneware manufacturers, offer consumers an unusual material with imitation wood structure.

Of the most exclusive materials for the floor is worth noting mosaic. Mosaic elements made of glass and stone allow laying a variety of paintings and ornaments on the floor. Perhaps the only drawback of the mosaic floor is the price. Experts solve this problem by combining tiles made of stone with fragments of mosaic ornaments.

In addition, cork floors do not electrify and do not attract dust, which is important for people with asthma and allergies.For use in the kitchen material is recommended to cover a special varnish, then the coating will resist spills of liquid and the formation of stains.

A carpet or rug on the floor is a traditional part of the dining room. Since the kitchen is the most passable room in a person’s dwelling, the question arises of the proper selection of a beautiful and practical carpet.

By choosing a carpet, the homeowner seeks to decide the following:

• create a comfortable atmosphere in the kitchen area, protect your feet from the cold;
• to complete the design of the kitchen with a striking element of decor, to delimit the space of a large kitchen into a cooking zone and a dining zone;
• make visual corrections in the proportions of the room;
• to strengthen the insulation of cold tile or stone floor;
• improve the noise insulation properties of the room;
• protect expensive flooring from damage;
• impart anti-slip properties to the floor covering.

It is better that the carpet in the kitchen had a short pile structure. There are the following types of fibers for the manufacture of carpet: cotton, jute, polypropylene,polyamide fiber and mixtures thereof. The most popular kitchen option is a high-density polypropylene carpet. The fibers are resistant to the absorption of moisture, liquid food contamination, wine. The average service life of such a coating is 5-7 years.

Polyamide fiber carpet is similar in its operational properties and appearance to pure wool. It should be noted that the most durable carpet of polyamide has a woven structure, the needle-punched structure of the canvas does not have high strength. The downside is the ability to cover burn out in bright sunshine.

Wool carpets are common classic covers. Natural or mixed carpets are hygienic, perfectly retain heat, able to last for several decades. The disadvantage is the ability to absorb dirt, removing stains from such a carpet is difficult. Also the pile can be damaged by the moth. Currently, these disadvantages are eliminated using special impregnating compositions.

In our time, fashionable carpet mats are becoming increasingly popular. They are made from environmentally friendly natural materials: coconut fiber, sisal, seaweed, wool.Properly matched in color and texture, a durable mat covering adds an element of sophistication and elegance to the interior of the kitchen space.

Depending on the needs, you can lay or stick on the floor a rolled canvas or a small mat-mat with an edge treated with an overlock. The lack of mat, which consists in increased hygroscopicity, limits the use of the material in wet areas.

Today, designers are actively using various options for flooring to make modern style in the interior. A variety of colors and textures allows, for example, to distribute the space of a large kitchen, conventionally highlighting the cooking and eating areas, and the recreation area.

For example, the floor in the cooking zone can be made of durable polymeric bulk material, ceramic or ceramic granite tiles, and the dining area can be finished using soft carpet or sisal mat. In this case, you can choose a coating that matches or contrasts in color.

In order to zoning the space in the kitchen, designers offer ideas for the construction of two-level floors on the podium principle.Such a solution of the kitchen space allows to emphasize the style and originality of the room, effectively divide the kitchen and dining areas.

For reasons of practicality, contemporary artists organize not just the demarcation of portions of the floor from snow-white ceramic tiles and light beige wooden parquet, but the gradual mutual integration of elements from wood and ceramics.

An excellent addition to the classic or modern minimalist design solution of the kitchen will be the floor, lined with black and white tiles in a checkerboard pattern. The color neutrality of the chess covering can transform the interior with a kitchen set in retro, Scandinavian or vintage style. The graphic quality of the chess pattern will help to visually correct the proportions of the room, using the diagonal arrangement of the elements.

In modern interiors it has become a trend to share floor tiles with glass elements. Here the imagination of designers knows no limitations. In the glass inserts can be captured flat and three-dimensional paintings.The glass surface of the floor illuminated by LEDs will be a spectacular decoration of the high-tech style kitchen.

Spacious kitchens are increasingly decorated with glossy, self-leveling floors. At installation the polymeric material both monophonic, and with the beautiful image in the 3D format is used. Combining a realistic three-dimensional image with a smooth or even classic parquet floor today has become the most impressive flooring technique that creates the shocking effect of optical illusion.