Kitchen Floor Tiles

porcelain tiles

The floor covering for the kitchen can cause a lot of trouble during operation or quietly serve faithfully for many years. It all depends on the chosen material and the quality of the kitchen floor tiles. A bad example is laminate flooring on a board without waterproof treatment: after 1-2 years of regular changes in humidity levels, the fibreboard will begin to dry out, the floorboards will creak, and the open joints will quickly fill with dirt, turn black, and mold.

porcelain tiles

As for the design value, almost all modern coatings – porcelain tiles, PVC tiles, cork flooring, parquet board, waterproof laminate, linoleum – are represented by a wide variety of collections with decors for wood, natural stone, matting, with patterns and classic ornaments, as well as with thematic drawings.

Thanks to this, there will always be a suitable decor, it remains only to figure out which floor is better to choose for the kitchen in terms of technical characteristics and cost.

Basic requirements for kitchen flooring

  • Moisture resistance. The kitchen is an area with constant temperature and humidity fluctuations. Therefore, it is very important that the material is 100% moisture resistant, as well as water resistant (without deformation of the floorboards during direct prolonged contact with water). In addition, the joints of tiles or planks should not allow liquids to pass to the screed.
  • Simple care. The floor covering in the kitchen is constantly exposed to specific influences: spilled coffee, wine, stains from dyes, household chemicals. Difficult dirt must be removed without effort, without penetrating into the structure.
  • Wear resistance, impact resistance. Falling heavy objects is a typical damage to a kitchen floor and must be impact resistant. In addition, it is necessary to select the correct wear class with sufficient abrasion protection.
  • Antibacterial, resistance to odor absorption. Bacteriostaticity – the ability of a material to stop the development of bacteria. The kitchen is a breeding ground for all kinds of microbes, bacteria and fungi, so the hygienic flooring will ensure the cleanliness and sterility of the room.
  • Fire safety. For areas with an increased risk of fire, it is important to choose a fireproof finish.
  • Durability. Unlike living rooms, the interior of the kitchen is updated less often, so the forced replacement of the floor covering after 1-2 years of operation is undesirable.
  • Compatible with underfloor heating systems. Floor coverings come in warm and cold surfaces, but it’s always nice to be able to adjust the heating temperature.
  • Best choice: kitchen floor coverings
  • Quartz vinyl tiles
  • Quartz vinyl or PVC tiles – not ideal, but perhaps the closest floor covering: 100% water resistance, commercial wear resistance, impact resistance, fire safety, protection against absorption of dyes, compatibility with underfloor heating.

Under the vinyl floor, you will need a perfectly flat base, especially for adhesive PVC tiles, the thickness of which is only 2-3 mm and all screed defects will be displayed on the finishing surface.

Details on the pros and cons of quartz vinyl tiles

The Polov catalog contains a chic assortment of castle and adhesive vinyl tiles with wood and natural stone decors. In addition, we offer the latest SPC laminate, “pressed stone”: flooring on a rigid composite board made of PVC and a mineral filler, usually calcium carbonate. Due to the rigid base (in density not inferior to porcelain stoneware), base defects are allowed, as well as the use of a warm floor with increased heating – up to 40 ? C. Eliminated the disadvantages of quartz vinyl tiles without increasing the cost.

Porcelain stoneware

Ceramic tiles are a classic for your kitchen floor. With all the obvious advantages – water resistance, strength, wear resistance, a variety of decors, practicality – porcelain stoneware has a number of significant disadvantages: expensive and difficult installation (with the involvement of a tiler), difficult cutting, slippery and cold surfaces, blackening of the seams. However, all defects are compensated by the low cost of porcelain stoneware.

Natural wood floor

Wood flooring is not the best, but a possible option for the kitchen. The three-layer parquet board is resistant to moisture, but only with moderate drops. As for massive parquet, the water resistance is even less due to the natural properties of wood to absorb and give off excess moisture. Wood is pleasant to walk barefoot: a chic choice for a bedroom or living room, but a more practical material is needed for the kitchen.

Laminate Board

Unless a water-resistant treatment of the HDF base is provided, the laminate is not suitable for the kitchen. Fiberboard is stable only in rooms with moderate humidity: with regular drops, ordinary laminate slowly exfoliates, the edges swell, turn black, and mold. Even a waterproof laminate, for all its practicality, will not last more than 3-5 years in the kitchen.

Linoleum

PVC linoleum is a budget choice for a kitchen floor. The flooring roll covering is durable, wear-resistant, water-resistant, unpretentious in maintenance, unbeatable in price. However, linoleum is too popular and competitive material: there are many cheap and dangerous fakes on the market. When choosing a more expensive option, it is appropriate to consider quartz vinyl tiles.

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