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What’s the Ideal Material for Kitchen Flooring?
November 2, 2022
Soumadip Dey
Designers share their views on their preferred choices and how open kitchen styles impact the choice of kitchen flooring.
The kitchen is perhaps the most used part of a functioning house. Over the years, the role of the kitchen has transformed from just a space for cooking and meal preparations to something of a social centre for the house. With the emergence of open kitchen styles, we see more integration of living room space with the kitchen. Deciding on the flooring material for the kitchen is by no means an easy task. It is not only subjected to spills and cooking mishaps but also must look good and blend in with the overall theme of the house. We at Kitchen Ideas talked with a few architects to understand what materials they prefer when it comes to kitchen floors and how open kitchen styles impact the choice of kitchen flooring.
When it comes to designing we feel that when we design houses, especially in India those are being designed for specific families and not mass housing. The kitchen plays an important social role within the family unit. While Indian kitchen styles are westernising in terms of the equipment they are using, more countertop less floor-based designs. Even when this is happening, the cultural significance of a kitchen in an Indian home is still quite high. So, there are a lot of things that a family does that are centred around the kitchen. This plays a role in refining the architect’s choice of material for kitchen flooring.
In some parts of the kitchen, performance will be a priority and the material should be clean, easy to maintain, and looks presentable but if there is a stain it is easy to remove. The material can be like stones that are hard, marble-like and can take that kind of punishment and in the long run, can be polished and repaired easily. When you are building an apartment then the kitchen is designed only for efficiency and will have an extremely hard floor.
For performance, hardiness, and ability to clean, and maintain hygiene, the harder stones are the best because you can join them seamlessly and polish them. In some kitchens people like to enter bare feet, so the stone does not work in such kitchens. Here engineered wood can be used as they are very hard and has a high-performance level. Another option that can be considered is tile; it has the largest variety of finishes and has to be chosen based on aesthetics and availability.
Madav Raman
Partner
Anagram Architects
The kitchen flooring should be unpolished. It should not be slippery because there are chances of water and spillage. The material should be easy to maintain, that is the most important factor to keep in mind because it must be easy to wipe off stains from the kitchen floor and keep it clean.
My favourite material for Kitchen flooring is anti-skid tiles. While marble is a widely used flooring material in high-end luxury projects, in my opinion, it is not really suited for a place like a kitchen. The main reason is spillage and the chances of the polish of marble getting hampered when in touch with lime. A polished material is not the best option for the kitchen floor.
If it is an open kitchen then the colours and materials must blend in. It cannot be something totally different like it is in a closed-door situation. In closed doors, you have many different options, if it is an open kitchen you need to have a scheme where the living areas and the kitchen areas complement each other.
Radhika Vishwanathan
Founder
Radhika Viswanathan Associates
When selecting the kitchen flooring the most important factor to consider is hygiene. In a kitchen, a lot of cooking will take place and things will fall on the floor. Things will seep into the joints so hygiene should be the top parameter especially for kitchen floors that has many joints. It should be a material that does not absorb anything; it should be something that does not age or crack easily.
A large format tile is my favourite choice because it does not absorb anything; it needs to have some fiction to it. Being a large format, there are minimum joints. Since the tile is engineered, we know that there will not be any expansion contractions resulting in cracks and seepage.
The flooring of an open kitchen always depends on the project. So, if the kitchen is going to be subjected to a lot of aggressive cooking then I would stick to regular kitchen floor materials. If it is a space that will handle delicate cooking, then the same stones which have been used in the drawing room or living room can be incorporated.
Rudraksh Charan
Founder
42mm Architecture
The most versatile material for the kitchen would be marble flooring because it is hard, resilient and it is able to take all types of wear and tear. It is also low on maintenance, but it must be a good-quality marble. Another material that can be considered is granite because of its hard and resilient nature. Vitrified tiles are also a good option for kitchen flooring if the budget is limited. It comes with anti-skid and gives the kitchen floor an aesthetic appeal. Vitrified tiles are easy to install and can be easily replaced. However, they do have some problems, since these are artificial, they do not have enough grip and resistance that is usually present on stone flooring.
If budget is not a concern, the ideal choice for the kitchen floor would be Italian marble or engineered stones. However, while selecting the flooring for an open kitchen, care should be taken to match the designs. The kitchen should be an extension of the living room. In such situations, ceramic tiles that look like wood can be used. Marble is always a good option when it comes to an open kitchen.
Madhu Garg
CEO & Founder
Creative Consortium
The most important factors that need to be kept in mind while selecting a material for kitchen flooring are durability, how much the substance gets corroded by water and the colour of the material. The kitchen flooring should not be porous, and it should be easy to clean. These three are the main factors that go behind selecting the kitchen floor material.
The most used material especially when it comes to high-end projects is a marble. In marble, there are lots of polish coating options to make it non-porous. Italian marble as well as engineered marble are preferred kitchen flooring materials for Vilas and projects where budget is not a concern.
Even in projects where there is an open kitchen, using marble helps in maintaining continuity from the dining room to the kitchen. Wooden flooring may look good but is not practical and the maintenance is also high. Tile is also a good option for kitchen flooring and is usually the preferred choice for mid-ranged projects, but they have joints that slightly reduce the quality of the kitchen flooring.
Arun Prasad
Principal Architect
Arun & Associates
The ideal material for kitchen flooring should be anti-skid, and non-slippery. The colour of the flooring should be neutral one, so that dust and dirt are clearly visible. The material should be hard, with no or very low absorption capacity.
Hardwood, Concrete, Natural Stone and vinyl are a few examples of materials that can be used for kitchen flooring. Materials with a textured finish and low absorption like vitrified tiles or Ceramics work very well, especially for the Indian market.
In the case of an open floor plan, it is extremely crucial to not introduce several flooring types. For instance, using concrete and vinyl flooring together divides the room strongly with its high contrast and further erodes the sense of the space. In cases, where there are sudden level changes introduced within the same space, transition strips can be recommended. Variations in look and feel can be brought with accents like furniture pieces, rugs on the floor and wall decor. Having a consistent design theme becomes crucial for any kitchen design. With a wide variety of tiles available, it is easy to create a harmonious look which can fit well within the design concept and is technically sound for not just a kitchen floor but also the living or dining space.
Sidharth Bhatia
Co-Founder & Creative Head
Brickwood419 Design Studio
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