Kitchen Flooring Options

tcs

Am trying to decide what to put on my kitchen floor. Want to do front hall the same as the kitchen (only talking 2-3 sq yards in hall) but overall looking at 24-25 sq yards. Floor's a bit uneven so would need a bit of levelling for most flooring options. Have been quoted €15 per sq yard for that.

Options are:

• Tiles. Most durable me thinks but oh so cold... Probably looking at €1,500 give or take again I get tiles, grout, adhesive and pay someone to lay it. Would get away without levelling floor.
• Linoleum (as in real lino - Marmoleum(Forbo)/Marmorette(Armstrong?)). Would need to level floor. This in an environmental option - ya know made from natural ingrediants - cork flour, wood flour, linseed oil, ground limestone, jute backing and all that good stuff. Was out at the Marmoleum showroom in Dean's Grange but other than that having difficulties finding people who do it. Coming in at over €2,000 & since I comes in single colour sheets, would have to decide on some kick-a** design that would really make it effective. Got price of €76 per metre/yard?? (can't remember) supply & fit without a design but having to cut and lay a design's obviously gonna hike the price. And there'd be the levelling on top of that.
• Cork - e.g. www.naturocorkflooring.ie Renewable resource so environmental option. I was standing on some in a shop and the guy pointed out to me that it was cork! It was painted a light colour and I didn't realise it was cork. It's lovely and warm. They say it can be used in kitchens as it's sealed etc. but what happens if you need to pull out an appliance? Do you risk gouging chunks out of the cork flooring? It's spency too €90 sq yard supply & fit + €15 sq yard for floor levelling so we're coming in over €2,500 - aaaagh! It's really nice though!
• Laminate tiles. Would probably get away without levelling the floor cos of underlay. Not so environmental as Cork or Lino. Relatively inexpensive (if I pay someone to fit say Quick-Step Uniclic stuff it comes in at less that €1,200 though I could probably lay it myself) compared to other options & warmer underfoot than tiles. Am sure there are cheaper laminates too but gotta look around a bit. Thing with this is, will it work in a kitchen say if a dishwasher leaks. It's something we hope will never happen but no guarantees. Guy in flooring shop suggested that if I keep some extra of it, then in the event that some got damaged then I could just replace the damaged bit.
• Karndean. Like Amtico but a bit more affordable. The top of the range stuff'd cost same as Cork (2.5K) again I get floor levelled and at the lower end of the range it'd come in a bit below €2,000. Need to find a few more places that do this to see if they're all looking for €25 sq yard for fitting & €15 sq yard for levelling.
• Bog standard Vinyl. This'll be warmer underfoot. Not very environmental at all! Some of the sturdier, less nasty looking stuff (e.g. Armstrong Rhinofloor) comes in at short of €20 per sq yard and fitting is relatively inexpensice (€6 per sq yard) but the floor will need to be levelled. I'm looking at max of €1,000 (€625 for supply & fitting + €375 for levelling). I can go for cheaper stuff to but I really don't want anything too nasty.

Have I missed any options???

All prices above were based on prices I got from one or two shops in Dublin & I plan to shop around a bit but it's hard enought to find shops that do stuff other than Bog standard Vinyl. Suggestions of places to try in close reach of Dublin (in Drimnagh so Kildare'd probably be a decent option too) would be much appreciated.

I'm sure others have had this dilemma - what did you decide on?

Thanks

T

davidoco

You haven’t mentioned it all so maybe you are totally against the idea but solid wood or semi solid is really no problem in the kitchen. If your kitchen has not been fitted yet, you can tile about 8” out and all under the cabinets in a nice tight fitting contrasting tile to your units and run the floor up to that with a flush jointing strip. Get a 10 euro water alarm and leave it under your press for early warning of any leaks. This is something I am planning on doing this summer.

I’ve done three kitchens to date in ceramic floor tiles and hated two of them in the end for different reasons. The only one I liked was a smallish kitchen 8’ by 8’ floor space done in €60sq yard 5” inch square mixed colour tiles.

Any floor in any kitchen I’ve been in has had spills of liquid wiped up immediately due to the hazard of wet floors so I wouldn’t worry about spills damaging your wooden floor.

tcs

I've just discovered the existence of stuff called Caralium by Gerflor - http://www.gerflor.com/en/residential/products/caralium/index.asp

Am looking into it and will report back on it...

sweetie

There was stone carpet in my last house and I really liked it. Very durable and tactile and a nice feature of the room.

PRman

If you want the same floor in the hall you could always use a good quality laminate like ballterio - you can get this for 12-15 euro a square yard if you shop around. looks the biz and is reasonably resistent to water. I've had no problems so far anyway....

tcs

I'm putting in Maple shaker cupboard doors and didn't want to go overboard on the timber thing - wanted something airy-er looking so decided on light tiles/tile look so davidoco, solid wood or semi solid was never being considered.

PRman - one flooring place I was in indicated that laminate (like Balterio) would be fine in a kitchen, another said they'd never ever put laminate in a kitchen. I guess I just read too many reviews of dishwashers when I was researching what dishwasher to be totally put off the idea of laminate (or wood flooring if that was the style I was after) for the kitchen. Horror stories of leaking etc...

sweetie - yeah the stone carpets are really nice. I just think I'd spend way too long deciding what I'd like & given the cost the pressure'd be on to really get it right. I procrastinate about a lot of things and know that consideration of this one'd set me back a lot.

I actually got the Caralium today - €1,270 including grout & adhesive. They're self spacing tiles and targetted as a DIY job for laying. The bed of adhesive wouldn't be as thick as that for regular tiles so I will be getting the floor levelled (it's in bad shape).

I did a test with a sample of porcelain tile, a sample of Caralium, a sample of Karndean, a timber floor & a bare foot. The warmest underfoot were the timber floor & the Karndean. The tile sucked the heat out of my body & the Caralium was only marginally cooler than the timber/Karndean options yet looked like a real tile. It's made from a mineral composite & I'm quite excited about how it'll turn out so fingers crossed.

rokossovsky

Have to put a floor in hallway liveing room and kithcen so want a uniform look. I have my doubts over putting in a wooden floor and tiling the kithcen area around the units so I was thinking of AMTICO. Anyone ever used it. Is it very expensive?

ada1984

Hi,

I have CARALIUM Tiles for sale if anybody is interested.
They are BRAND NEW and still BOXED.

Caralium Slate Ocre – 67 boxes (covers 100 m2)
Caralium Beton Blue – 47 boxes (covers 70 m2)
Caralium Slate Grege – 23 boxes (covers 35 m2)
Caralium Beton Anthracite – 20 boxes (covers 30 m2)
Caralium Beton Blanc – 17 boxes (covers 26 m2)

I bought the whole thing for £4800, however I will sell ALL for £2200.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME ANYTIME.

email: Fuall84@hotmail.com

I’m prepared to listen to any reasonable offer.

ada1984

Hi,

I have CARALIUM Tiles for sale if anybody is interested.
They are BRAND NEW and still BOXED.

Caralium Slate Ocre – 67 boxes (covers 100 m2)
Caralium Beton Blue – 47 boxes (covers 70 m2)
Caralium Slate Grege – 23 boxes (covers 35 m2)
Caralium Beton Anthracite – 20 boxes (covers 30 m2)
Caralium Beton Blanc – 17 boxes (covers 26 m2)

I bought the whole thing for £4800, however I will sell ALL for £2200.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME ANYTIME.

email: Fuall84@hotmail.com

I’m prepared to listen to any reasonable offer.

FREE DELIVERY

u2thepale

Hi,

Just wondering whether anyone has had experience with Caralium Tiles.

Have recently put down new laminate floors in the hallway and now looking to do the kitchen floor.
There's mouldy looking ceramic tile in there at the mo and I cant' wait to take them up..

Tcs how did you get on ???????

Anyone else have good /bad experiences......??
Finding it hard to find a substantial review on caralium ...which makes me wonder...!!

Cheers

sandrocks

Where do you get the 10 euro water alarm. Sounds brilliant.

davidoco wrote: »

You haven’t mentioned it all so maybe you are totally against the idea but solid wood or semi solid is really no problem in the kitchen. If your kitchen has not been fitted yet, you can tile about 8” out and all under the cabinets in a nice tight fitting contrasting tile to your units and run the floor up to that with a flush jointing strip. Get a 10 euro water alarm and leave it under your press for early warning of any leaks. This is something I am planning on doing this summer.

I’ve done three kitchens to date in ceramic floor tiles and hated two of them in the end for different reasons. The only one I liked was a smallish kitchen 8’ by 8’ floor space done in €60sq yard 5” inch square mixed colour tiles.

Any floor in any kitchen I’ve been in has had spills of liquid wiped up immediately due to the hazard of wet floors so I wouldn’t worry about spills damaging your wooden floor.

davidoco

this is a version of the water alarm
http://www.eireshop.ie/products/view/6184/WaterAlarm.html
very simple device but you got to remember to keep the batteries fresh.

Things have moved on since 2007 and have now fitted in hot press and under sink one of these http://aesecurity.com/47wiwase.html I have it attached to a Honeywell alarm but I think they would work with any alarm system.

sandrocks

Thanks for info!

davidoco wrote: »

this is a version of the water alarm
http://www.eireshop.ie/products/view/6184/WaterAlarm.html
very simple device but you got to remember to keep the batteries fresh.

Things have moved on since 2007 and have now fitted in hot press and under sink one of these http://aesecurity.com/47wiwase.html I have it attached to a Honeywell alarm but I think they would work with any alarm system.

johnydesouza12

Before you start your dream kitchen renovation, there are some things you need to know to avoid unnecessary stress and frustration. Save time and money by choosing the projects do-it-that you know you can complete. If you doubt your ability to lead a project successfully, hire a professional.

Joey the lips

Go with tiles. A good quality one. Like solid beige porcelaine. Keep 3 boxes spare for brakes and enjoy the look. Dont worry about them being cold... Better than looking dinted from kids dropping toys on wooden floors.

Consider getting a mosaic border of sorts around the edges.

goat2

ada1984 wrote: »

Hi,

I have CARALIUM Tiles for sale if anybody is interested.
They are BRAND NEW and still BOXED.

Caralium Slate Ocre – 67 boxes (covers 100 m2)
Caralium Beton Blue – 47 boxes (covers 70 m2)
Caralium Slate Grege – 23 boxes (covers 35 m2)
Caralium Beton Anthracite – 20 boxes (covers 30 m2)
Caralium Beton Blanc – 17 boxes (covers 26 m2)

I bought the whole thing for £4800, however I will sell ALL for £2200.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME ANYTIME.

email: Fuall84@hotmail.com

I’m prepared to listen to any reasonable offer.

FREE DELIVERY

do you deal with other floor coverings,

tcs

u2thepale - slow turnaround on response I know just haven't been on boards in ages...

Few bits off feedback on the Caralium tiles

• they're amazingly easy to cut/shape as needed. A handsaw was the perfect tool. Downside of that was that they're defo much softer than real tiles - a carpenter fitting the kitchen units a few weeks later decided to cut stuff on my kitchen floor rather than outside and there's a dirty saw mark from his circular saw on one of the tiles. I had a tenant for a few months too who had a habit of wearing heels with the plastic tips gone off them => bare metal & she left half moon shapes on the flooring and on pine floor boards in her bedroom & the sitting room. Pine floors were damaged a lot worse but there are a few damaged areas particularly near the sink.
• I laid the tiles myself as "it seemed" as though it wasn't going to be too big a challenge. It ended up taking me 3 days I think!
• I got the desired warm underfoot finish so am happy with that aspect
• The floor should have been more level. I had a plasterer in at the time and had him level the floor for me but since he'd never seen Caralium tiles before he didn't understand just how level the floor really needed to be. On hindsight now I wish that I'd gotten the shop who sold the tiles to install them doing the correct amount of levelling etc. The problem was that grout between tiles cracked and some tiles didn't adhere properly to the floor. I'm now faced with doing a repair job - pulling up and re-laying some tiles etc.
• Also, it was a divil to get the grout off the surface of the tiles and even now (nearly 4 years later) dirt seems to build over the areas where I didn't get all the grout off properly.
• The grout is not regular grout => more expensive

paddy147

marble an option for you by any chance??


I was originally going for beige porcelin tiles,but then had the oppertunity to get a big job lot of solid marble tiles at a very very good price (right place at the right time).

I put down solid cream marble tiles in my kitchen.

25mm thick and 600 x 600mm size.

I then put down a 175mm wide x 25mm thcik brown marble border tile to offset the cream kitchen with the marble tiles and also then offset the wallnut worktops with the brown border tiles.

Worked a treat and looks fairly cool.

Infact they blow the beige porcelin tiles out of the water,with regards looks and style.