Floor covering for kitchen: the rules of the optimal choice

The kitchen in our apartments is traditionally the most inhabited place. Therefore, this room is trying to make everything cozy, functional and spacious, at least visually. Floor covering for the kitchen takes a special place in the overall design and requires the most careful attention. After all, the kitchen floor serves as a path to the very heart of the home, where in the evenings all family members gather in the family circle, friendly gatherings take place, a whole gamut of dizzying aromas arises and delicious dishes are prepared.

Due to the specific nature of this room, the floor covering for the kitchen must meet several important requirements. They are conditioned primarily by the operational features of this epicenter of family comfort and, of course, by aesthetic considerations. The floor covering for the kitchen should be resistant to dynamic loads and mechanical damages, have good moisture-proof qualities and inertness to the influence of aggressive chemicals, which are filled with modern detergents. In addition, the kitchen floor must be non-slip, resistant to abrasion, various vapors and sprays.

With all the variety of modern finishing and facing materials, not every option is suitable for the kitchen floor. As a rule, as a floor covering for the kitchen, either ceramic tiles, or laminate or linoleum are used. Of course, you can resort to a more economical option, which is a cycle of old parquet. Especially considering the high ecological compatibility of wood.

The term "looping the floorboard" hides a complex and rather labor-consuming complex of restoration works to give the floor covering (parquet) a clean, aesthetically attractive and even surface. But in terms of its performance and durability, this option is much inferior to the three above.

Such a floor covering for the kitchen as linoleum, now on the market is represented by a huge mass of all kinds of materials: fabric, synthetic, natural, combined, single and multilayer, containing various pigments and plasticizers, having a special protective coating and without it. This list can be continued for a very long time, and all new materials and their combinations are constantly appearing.

Some expensive types of linoleum are made on the basis of natural oils, waxes, wood flour and limestone. This kind of coating, possessing absolute ecological purity and extremely high resistance to various types of contaminants (including fatty ones), is capable of preserving its qualities for several decades. Possessing unique bactericidal properties, natural linoleum is even recommended for use in medical and children's institutions. True, this option is not cheap.

A more democratic kind of kitchen floor can be a synthetic linoleum, made of fiberglass. Although it is a completely chemical product, but, according to the requirements of GOST, its negative impact on the body is absolutely excluded. The palette of all possible colors of synthetic linoleum differs so huge variety that it is not difficult to choose suitable tones for any style.

The thickness of this type of flooring should be chosen in accordance with the individual operating conditions of the kitchen and the type of furniture it is installed. For example, the more surface-damaging mechanisms (wheels of furniture, etc.) are used, the thicker the linoleum should be. In standard operation, a synthetic medium-strength coating is suitable, which can withstand distributed mechanical loads. However, it can be dented, for example, from heels. To exclude the very possibility of such troubles, it is advisable, after all, to choose a coating of increased resistance.

Laminate is the most modern, beautiful and practical kind of kitchen flooring. But he is too demanding for the degree of flatness of the surface. Therefore, the laminate flooring assumes the presence of a concrete screed, which gives an ideal flatness to the floor plane. And in the rest it is quite convenient. The laminate assembly is extremely simple. For all its environmental safety, this type of coating is subject to some degree of deformation, which implies some caution in its operation.

But the unconditional generally recognized leader among the materials for the kitchen floor is ceramic tiles, which have phenomenal performance characteristics, excellent aesthetics and durability. Its merits can be listed for a very long time. It has only one drawback: it is almost impossible to change the tile, since it is mounted on a special glue, after drying, the surface is a strong monolith. But in this there is also a positive moment. Using ceramics as a floor covering, you can permanently get rid of the headache about changing the kitchen floor.