Wood Floor Refinishing and Restoration

Cooking With Wood
May 2002
By Michael Purser

The site of a wood floor in kitchens used to be something that caught homeowners attention and often provoked the question, "why"? The age of linoleum and hard tiles always seemed to offer a more resilient and maintainable surface in an area where high traffic and food preparation and consumption would push any flooring material to its limits. The variety of liquids that found their way on to a kitchen floor, either accidentally or intentionally, pretty much vetoed any effort to put wood under the cook and his or her table. Heck, wood floors were hard enough to maintain in areas that got far less use and abuse so why flirt with disaster and failure?

My, how times have changed. Not only is it fairly common to see wood floors in kitchen and breakfast areas, some might even say it is becoming the norm. And if you are in the process of weighing the options, let me put my two cents into why this change in attitude occurred and why it is a change for the better. The change in attitude came about for one simple reason - consumers wanted it. As many people have found out after experimenting with alternative flooring materials, you just cannot beat wood. It offers far more options and it does it economically and efficiently. And because of the advances in coatings technology, the "king of all building materials" not only has much better protection, it is easier to maintain than ever. Lets look at the many pros and very few cons of this trend.

Improved protection & maintenance
One of the main reasons for the change is due to the improvements in coatings. Urethane coatings have long offered far better wear than any other wood floor finish products. With the introduction of waterborne polyurethane's in the late 1980s, the options got even better. Of all the coatings that have been offered for use in high traffic and high use areas, waterborne urethanes have truly met the challenge and continue to exceed expectations. And the industry is not static and willing to sit on its laurels. The major manufacturers of waterborne coatings continue to research, develop and improve their product more so than any of the other coatings manufacturer. These are also the first group of coatings that specifically developed their own cleaning products to make life easier. In the past, you went into the hardware or grocery store and rolled the dice on what product would cure your wood floor ills. That says a lot about these manufacturers and their dedication to the customer. And if a kitchen floor does start showing wear and signs of use, just have the surface recoated (see my last message of the month). It adds another layer of protection and greatly improves the look. Waterborne urethanes have made this easier than ever. The ability to maintain and refurbish this high use surface has been a huge factor in why there is wood under the cook and their guests.

Don't like the color - change it!
Go take a look at your other flooring options, pick one and then a couple of years later, decide that you just want a different color. How easy is that going to be? With wood, just pick up the phone and call a good contractor and get a color chart handy. Sand off the old, check your samples and presto, you have changed the décor of the room entirely. Try that with your Mexican tile! And for those of you that do spend a lot of time in the kitchen, wood is much easier on your feet and back than the other hard materials. Many years ago, studies were done to see what the fatigue factor was on workers on various types of floor materials. Wood won that contest with ease.

And lest we forget, the economics of wood.
I said earlier that wood is the "king of all building materials" and when you put it under your feet, you are getting the best bang for your buck. If the day ever comes when you need to part with your castle, potential buyers see wood floors in kitchens as a huge plus. Real estate agents will always tell you that wood floors in a house will not only enable it to sell quicker but for more money as well. Even if the buy doesn't approve of your choice of colors, they know they can change it easier and cheaper than any other material. And don't pass up the opportunity to check out the increasing variety of different specie of wood that you can use in this highly decorative area.

All in all, wood floors in a kitchen area do exactly what other products have tried to do, but just does it better. You have the options, the flexibility, the increase in value and the warmth that only wood can provide. I am not saying it will enhance the taste of your cooking or make you savor the flavor of a good sauvignon blanc but it doesn't hurt them either. If you have wood floors in this area, flaunt it. If you don't, get it.

Previous messages: The Recoat Option - A Good Investment March 2002