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I hate my kitchen floor. It was a "free" floor, donated by offering up my house to one of those "how to renovate your home" type TV shows. Damn thing is high quality but I went from being luke warm to the pattern to despising the floor with a passion once we were living together as it always looks dirty. Yes, I "settled" and we know how well that works out in the long run, lol.

I was going to put down a laminate floor, but haven't found the right colour/grain. So that's out at the mo' unless I widen the search.
I HAVE found a "wood" vinyl tile with a clever interlocking glue system and a "you must glue it yourself" vinyl tile in "marble" that would work within the (small) budget.

In some ways, I am leaning to the "wood" vinyl but have some concerns. Part of it is I have always hated "fake wood" and they have really improved this type of product so perhaps I am being unfair to hang onto this prejudice. It looks great at night; looks good in daylight other than when it meets the real hardwood floor at the entrance to the living room. It's then you see it simply doesn't have the depth of the 'real McCoy'.

Has anyone had a "wood look" vinyl floor and how did they like living with it?

A top of the line Armstrong sheet vinyl professionally installed by Armstrong. Still "perfect" 10 years later, but oh my, that floor is the bane of my existence.

edit to add: It is the only 'layer' on the floor. On the show, Armstrong explained how one could install sheet vinyl over a preexisting floor (if it didn't have texture, 'padding' or flaws). They removed the existing vinyl and demonstrated why it had failed due to the poor sub floor. They replaced the sub floor and installed their product.

There are no flaws with the Armstrong floor; it is as rock solid as the day they installed it.

I don't like the vinyl wood floor, it looks fake, because it is. After a while you will probably be sorry & wonder why you just didn't buy the real wood flooring. Personally I'd save up & have the real wood installed, but that is just me.

I have a mother in law cottage at the far end of my yard, we installed the vinyl wood & hated it. After about a year it lost it's shine & no matter what we did it looked dull & scuffed. We ended up putting down real wood, which we found used at a second hand store. It looks great.

Call Armstrong & tell them about the floor, they may have a product that will restore the finish.

*Manny* wrote:Have you ever considered putting in a ceramic tile floor? Or is that beyond your budget right now?

You could pull up the present floor, which would be a major job....or lay a new floor right over the vinyl/linoleum one you have now. [depending on thickness]

Ceramic is out because of expense, difficulty of installation, higher breakage (I'm a clutz) and lack of warmth underfoot. Part of the kitchen is over a storage area so the floor is colder in winter.
I so do NOT want to go thru the effort of removing the existing floor. And the disposal costs!

dotcom wrote:I have a mother in law cottage at the far end of my yard, we installed the vinyl wood & hated it. After about a year it lost it's shine & no matter what we did it looked dull & scuffed. We ended up putting down real wood, which we found used at a second hand store. It looks great.

That's my fear. I'm told these materials stand up, but I don't know anyone who has one. We put a laminate floor at my mum's farmhouse and it has withstood heavy traffic and muddy farm dogs... but I'm not convinced vinyl wood will stand up as well.

Call Armstrong & tell them about the floor, they may have a product that will restore the finish.

The finish is actually fine. Still perfect; this is a great floor, it just ALWAYS looks dirty. It's one of those floors where the pattern/colour looks like it needs to be cleaned - even before you put the mop away! A poor choice of the limited selection on my part (they, quite naturally, only wanted to feature their new product on the show, so I had a very limited colour selection at the time. I chose poorly.)

My friend put those wood look vinyl thingees on her floor. She's satisfied. Too shiny for my taste.

I used laminate in a rental four years ago. It still looks great. I had to replace one piece that got water under it from a drain leak. It swelled up four times it's size.

You can never go wrong with hardwood if you're not a pc do gooder. Bamboo is beautiful, durable, and renewable. I wish I could afford it. Slate is popular right now.

Vinyl has always been an instant turn off for me. I usually go with wood throughout and ceramic in bathrooms/ entries. I'm always thinking of resale though.

They have heated wires you can install under ceramic floors pretty easily. I've watched them go in. I suspect once they break they are done forever.

*sigh* Back to the flooring store. *trudges off*
Thanks for your help!

ItsMargo wrote:*sigh* Back to the flooring store. *trudges off*
Thanks for your help!

Be aware that bamboo is also very brittle, may not be suited to kitchen use, ...laminate flooring has the opposite problem, they both tend to mar and scratch very easily and don't "repair" well. If you shop around (may be tough in the GTA to find) and find a wood floor installer who sources their own material, ...a maple or oak floor can be not much more expensive and has the option of giving you more back in equity, and ultimately, ...it (unlike laminates) is quite repairable, hence: Forgiving. If you were closer to Quebec, I could get you a premium wood floor laid for cheap, ...

ItsMargo wrote:The finish is actually fine. Still perfect; this is a great floor, it just ALWAYS looks dirty. It's one of those floors where the pattern/colour looks like it needs to be cleaned - even before you put the mop away! A poor choice of the limited selection on my part (they, quite naturally, only wanted to feature their new product on the show, so I had a very limited colour selection at the time. I chose poorly.)

For kitchens, ...sometimes this type of floor is the best choice, especially for maintenance, ...you may want to consider just getting a decent pattern?