I think they would be wonderful for you. They are soft on the bare foot and are quite tough. No cleats, but othe then that, they'll take it. If your a clean freak then I would try to change you ways and only mop them a couple times a month. Hands and knees and keep the cloth as dry as you can... The great thing about wood is you can refinish it, so it should last a life time!

I've had hardwood floors in the kitchens of most of my houses for the past 40 years and in the bathrooms. Much easier on the feet. Easy to clean. I would recommend real hardwood, however. Mine are heart of pine and were original with the house (1921)

I've had two friends in the last 6 months with unseen leaks (one from the dishwasher the other the ice maker) under cabinets on the hardwood floors. Much damage and costly to rip out the cabinets to replace the flooring...it sure has made me re-think putting wood in the kitchen.

My hub installed ours during the OJ trial. Love it! Just had it re-done this past week. Would post a pic on here if I knew how. We had replaced the linoleum a couple times, that stuff just does not hold up. Hardwood is fantastic. We had been using an old mop for cleaning it, which I hated. Then we got a "steam" type and my hub loved it, but the guy who re-did our floors said not to use water, so he got a cleaner for hardwood floors for a very good price. This stuff they used on the ...»

Carol C. I have porcelin myself (20 years). If I ever had to do again, it wouldn't be porcelin. I have fallen numerous times, once took me to the ER, if i would have been an inch closer to the counter I wouldn't be typing this today. I regret it yearly, I have it in my vestible, forey and kitchen, the vestible and kitchen are the worst, both of which have potential of getting wet and that is what did it everytime! I can not wear shoes in either area, if you start to slip at least ...»

I have hardwood floors in my kitchen and love them. I have had no problems.

Virginia,

I did the same water experiment with a laminate sample. Haha.

We installed hardwood in our kitchen. Sure we have some scratches from chairs and dings from dropped silverware but if you can live with minor imperfections I say go for it. Just wipe up water asap and as far as leaks go we had an issue with our dishwasher whereby it leaked ever so often onto ...»

Have Oak Hardwood that was refurbed and coated with polyu in the kitchen and after 9 years, it is VERY worn looking in areas, especially near the fridge. But would I have something else? Not sure. I think using better floor cleaning/reconditioning products would have helped. Our fridge has a water dispenser, and the kids (now 8 and 6) help themselves...and ice drops and melts...etc. I LOVE the new large plank prefinished woods now too...really, by the time things wear out, it is often time to remodel anyway! Good luck :)

The best flooring for a kitchen is tile, Just pick a color that blends well with the wood. Yes you can poly over wood to protect it but you cant seal it off totally and if theres a way water will get in.

I refinished my first hardwood floor back in 1983...The FACT of the matter is wood in kitchens is far less robust than tile.

Kitchens see the highest traffic of any room in the house, add in leaking sinks, ice makers, dishwashers etc. and it is a recipe for failure. not so much if but when. I have done dozens of repairs to kitchen floor due to minor leaks where the floors buckled and required to be ripped out. ...»

If you want the look but not the work, add a little tile to the work area especially under your baking table or whatever work space you have, be creative with. The tile I did on the floor matches the tile I did on the countertops.

How much water are you talking about?? Splashes or buckets?? I have hardwoods through my whole house and I steam clean mine 2x a month and use a floor scrubber in between....the floors can handle water as long as it's not buckets of standing water....

No problem with normal splash in the kitchen and steam is the best as Donna dose. I did many project and I'm connected to all my previous customer and never had complain. This is a project completed at 2006. you can see even bathroom has same floor. Griffin,s residence at Alpharetta, GA

With over 30 years of experience as a woodworker...the use of steam and or water to clean wood floors is just BAD,BAD,BAD... Steam is used in woodworking to "bend" wood....not clean it.

I'm not the only one that feels this way many hardwood flooring companies advise against it.

http://bellshardwood.com/articles/steam_clea... ...»

Its not the water on top of the floor its what goes between and under it. If you have wood on top of a sub floor the water will totally ruin it. Our hardwood floors are actually our sub floor (1943). If water goes in between it goes completely thru to the concrete 6 inches below it. Its Heart Pine.

Try taking a sample of your wood and immerse it in water for a while. Then take it out and let it dry, see what happens.

BIG fan of hardwoods in the kitchen! (own it myself) Its not as hard on your feet and it takes quite the beating in my house with pets and my abundance of time cooking for my family. I realize there is risk IF there is a leak (which .... pardon me while I knock on that wood!)... but we have been fortunate to not have had one in 20 years.

Esthetically speaking? Its often the best choice too! I think hardwoods are beautiful, and when you have the opportunity to carry one floor material throughout your floor plan it gives continuity and flow to the space.

@KMS...hardwoods have been down for years...always steam clean them...no issues at all....Its a quick pass with a steamer not a long soak my husband who also works with wood said as long as it doesn't sit in one place too long its fine....quick pass kills germs...safer for the Grandbabies...

Donna D...I hate to burst your bubble on "killing germs" but a quick pass does not do squat in terms of killing germs. Before I changed careers I worked for a dozen years in the biotech (large scale pharmaceutical manufacturing) Industry. One of my areas of expertise was in "sterile" systems. I was the system owner for all of the autoclaves. To achieve "kill" levels you need steam at pressure ...about 250 degrees F or 121 degrees C for about 4 minutes. There is not a single floor ...»

Ok...well our white socks stay white the babies knees from crawling around stay clean and a few germs will help build their immunity and it makes me feel better to steam clean them....what can I say I am easily amused....hhhmmmm maybe I should steam clean the baby??? hehe...j/k but thanks for the info on the steamers I didn't know that....

white socks are good....LOL....I'm more of a slippers kind of guy...I can go outside (in the snow) to get firewood 8 or 9 months of the year in them.

That's hilarious KMS :)

LOL Used to go out in the snow barefoot to get Dads paper in the snow but that was a LOOOONG time ago....but since your a woodworker maybe you can answer a question about painting wood...ordered a bookcase and want to paint it white to match the trim in my home....does the sheen matter...high gloss...satin...flat....what would be best so my books don't stick.....

Sheen will effect how easy it is to keep clean...I would go with a sheen that matches the rest of the trim. The normal rule of thumb is trim goes one step shinier than the walls...ie:

Egg shell wall = satin trim

As far as the "sticking" the paint will need to be fully cured before use...the common mistake it to use stuff too early before the paint is fully hardened. In most of my woodworking projects I ...»

Silicone is the "death sentence" for wood floors when it come time to re-finish. It is the leading cause of "finish failures". Silicone residues create what is know in the trade as "fish eyes".