How should I cover my kitchen floor?

[michael]

I’m looking for some ideas for a durable’ attractive, hygienic and easy to clean finished floor surface for the kitchen of my 19thC home. The main floor is original pine boards but much thicker than modern floorboards, about ¾” thick. Last year I laid some 6mm ply onto this surface and then black and white vinyl tiles in a diamond pattern fixed with adhesive. It looked ok for the first few weeks but then it very quickly became scuffed and dirty requiring constant daily maintenance. I’m now thinking about laying ceramic tiles but I understand that this would normally require at least a ½” ply subsurface. Do you think this would be necessary seeing that my floorboards are so thick? The rest of the house has the floorboards exposed, just sealed and beeswaxed so I am trying to avoid a step up into the kitchen caused by a layer of extra thick ply. I don’t think bare pine boards would be a practical solution in the kitchen particularly with food and liquid spillages and heavy foot traffic, so any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I have used Rhino Flooring, a hard wearing cushion floor covering. The one I chose looks like wide oak floorboards. I think you will find a website if you google it,

 

[Lady_Mari]

Over the years & properties I have had I have tried many different kitchen floor surfaces from stick on vinyl tiles, cushion floor, rhino floor, carpet, Flotex, Heuga & solid oak.
I have come to the conclusion that nothing beats good quality tiles. True they do raise the floor levels, especially if you add UFH as well (which we have done) but a wood step between rooms hasn't been too much of a problem for us.
I have dogs & find my tiled floors are the perfect solution both easy to clean & hygienic.

 

[AMc]

The issue with the thickness of the boards is less important than their ability to move independantly of each other. At our previous house the builder had laid MDF boards over the joists and tiled on top. He'd done a fair amount of rebuilding and as the back of the house settled and the joists moved the floor cracked across the middle of the tiles. The adhesive holding them down was stronger than the tile itself.
It would have been messy job to fix probably requiring me to rip it up and start again - luckily we had to move

Depending on the size of the kitchen you might be able to get away with screwing the existing boards down and a thinner layer of ply on top - but if it does move it will be a lot of trouble and cost to put it right.

I also agree that ceramic tiles are the best floor covering esp. if you can heat them. The wood effect laminate we have now has a chip in a board thanks to me dropping something and never seems to clean up as well as I would expect.

 

[michael]

Many thanks for the suggestions.
I guess I’ll have to resort to ceramic tiles on extra thick ply with a step up from the main living room with a hard wood edging. This could be a trip hazard though so maybe a ramp would be better.
Just out of interest, dose anybody know how they protected or covered kitchen floorboards in the 19th century?

 

[chuckey]

You say your floorboards are 3/4" thick, but are they bowed or dished?. If the existing ply is nailed at 6" centres onto flat boards, I would have thought that that would do. If however the existing boards are bowed with the 6mm ply only being supported at the edges of the boards, it will bow when trod on and the ceramic tiles won't!
Frank

 

[michael]

The boards aren’t bowed and all seem fairly ridged. The 6mm ply (6 x 4) is laid at right angles to the boards i.e. across the board joins and in complete sheets where possible however some obviously had to be cut. These ply sheets were screwed down at roughly 1ft intervals with an extra screw here and there where it looked a bit vulnerable.

I think if I go for ceramics, I will probably go for a thicker ply just to be on the safe side.

Incidentally, a friend of mine laid some 3ft x 3ft “rubber” tiles in his bathroom which are only about 2mm thick, hellishly expensive but apparently very hard wearing and fully waterproof (as tough as car tyres) Dose anybody know if these are good for kitchens?
It would at least keep my floor levels down.

I’m still interested to know how kitchen floorboards were originally preserved and kept in good condition if anybody knows?

 

[Ian Bond]

Perhaps scrubbing and mopping, and not being fussy about a perfectly varnished and glossy modern finish?

Linoleum came along in the 1860s (I think) so maybe that was used over the boards to make the job a bit easier.

 

[chuckey]

I have a cottage that is at least 200 years old, the original beams are completely untouched either by polish or varnish. I would have thought that in the "old" days the floors were mopped every day and that was all the TLC they ever had. FWIW the dormitory and day rooms at my school (100+ years old) had bare boards which were mopped once a year. Ouch those nail heads hurt!
I think over the years our expectations have changed.
Frank

 

[SaraJo]

Ive found this topic quite interesting..I am updating my kitchen & under 3 layers of tiles I have found floorboards which are in brilliant condition. As my kitchen comes straight off my lounge and the floorboards in there are stripped and varnished, is there any reason at all why I cant do the same in the kitchen? Im unsure of hygiene reasons etc etc, but it would look so much nicer than tiles if the flooring is the same throughout the house. I live on my own so its not like I have children or animals running through making lots of mess!

Does anyone know of any reason why floorboards shouldnt be exposed in the kitchen? And if not, what they would reccommend using to seal them and keep spill stains to a minimum? I have used Aqualec clear sealant for floors throughout the rest of the house but unsure whether this is hard wearing enough? :?:

 

[michael]

I guess you could protect the timber boards sufficiently but I suppose the other thing to consider is how to stop crumbs, food debris and other spillages going down between the gaps in the floorboards. What do they use on timber boat decking i.e. the black coloured strips between the planks? Some type of bitumen perhaps? This is obviously very tough yet flexible and totally waterproof. It wouldn’t look to dirty either if it’s naturally black in colour.

 

[Moo]

I agree about the gaps. Crumbs and other edible debris could keep a fair sized colony of mice going indefinitely.

 

[Flyfisher]

I think over the years our expectations have changed.

I agree; besides, kitchens would have been mainly frequented by domestic staff so I doubt the owners would have even been aware of the floor covering.

 

[Flyfisher]

What do they use on timber boat decking i.e. the black coloured strips between the planks? Some type of bitumen perhaps?

Marine caulking is relatively cheap and available from most chandlers. However, these days it's mostly intended for use with thin decorative wood strips and is more like grouting in that it relies on a solid substrate - usually the fibreglass hull, so I don't think it would be very useful for suspended floorboards.

Perhaps something different was used for traditional all-wooden boats, but I always thought they relied on the wood swelling slightly when wet - a bit like a wooden barrel.