Kitchen Floors 101 continued / San Diego Kitchen Remodeling

Recently we posted an overview of pros and cons of kitchen flooring in our blog post Kitchen Floors 101. Here we present a few more choices for your kitchen remodeling project – the San Diego homeowner’s most exciting home renovation project par excellence. Clean Earth Restorations is proud to offer quality general contracting services to our San Diego customers and we are always eager and available to answer questions about your kitchen remodeling projects.

• Linoleum: linoleum was invented in 1860 and consists of solidified linseed oil, pine rosin, cork dust, wood flour and mineral fillers. It is often mistakenly considered the same thing as vinyl but is actually an all-natural material. Many people who are looking for “green” solutions find it enticing for its ecological properties. If linoleum sounds interesting to you, check out Forbo’s linoleum line called Marmoleum.
  Pros: durable, easy to maintain, available in many colors and styles, can be cut and pieced together for decorative effects, price range makes it accessible to wide variety of budgets.
  Cons: may fade or wear with time, may have to wax or polish from time to time, tricky to install, not a good choice for DIYers.
• Cork: cork is another natural product that brings beauty, warmth, and sustainability to the home. It comes from a part of the bark of the Cork Oak tree.
  Pros: warm and resilient under foot (comfortable to stand and walk on), sound absorbing, contains a natural substance called suberin that resists mold and guards against pests.
  Cons: needs regular resealing with wax or polyurethane to protect against the wear and tear of dirt and grit, requires frequent sweeping or vacuuming to prevent dirt from wearing the surface, damage from punctures or large cuts hard to repair.
• Concrete: concrete has only relatively recently become a more common choice for residential flooring in kitchens and other frequently used living spaces. Craftsmen are now able to stain, polish, and etch concrete for decorative effects.
  Pros: cool under foot (making it an excellent choice for warm San Diego summers), extremely durable and resistant to spills, stains, and scratches.
  Cons: hard under foot (may become tiresome for people who spend a lot of time standing in the kitchen), professional installation required, no doubt about it.
• Laminate: laminate flooring is a completely engineered product that is made (usually) to look like wood flooring.
  Pros: resistant to liquids and scuffs, can be used in places you might hesitate to use wood (bathrooms, laundryrooms, and kitchens), easy to maintain (sweep and mop), generally less expensive than wood.
  Cons: cannot be refinished as wood can.
• Rubber: true rubber flooring is a natural material made from the rubber tree. There are also many options for synthetic rubber flooring.
  Pros: extremely durable, comes in a wide variety of colors, textures, and patterns, easy to maintain (mop and warm water), liquids resistant, resilient under foot, heat resistant, dampens noise.
  Cons: can be slippery when wet.
• Brick: bricks are a ceramic material (usually clay-based) usually fired in a kiln for durability. They are often used for building structures and as outdoor pavers, but they can also be used for indoor flooring.
  Pros: very durable, resistant to scratches and damage from falling objects, resistant to spills, does not rot, can be patterned and arranged decoratively, heat proof, chipped or worn bricks can be individually replaced, easy to maintain.
  Cons: hard under foot (like stone and ceramic tile), heavy, uneven (may cause tripping for people unsteady on their feet).

Give us a call if you have any questions about your San Diego kitchen remodeling. We would be happy to answer your questions and give you a free estimate on your remodeling project.