ᐅ Installing Vinyl or Laminate Flooring in the Kitchen

Created on: 12 Feb 2019 09:28
S
sauerland
Good morning,

I’m looking for ideas, experiences, or advice.

Here’s the situation:

Old building – subfloor with wooden planks – looking for flooring for hallway and living room with open kitchen...

Both laminate and vinyl are probably not ideal for the kitchen – but tiles are not an option because of the wooden floor, and I don’t want to deal with two different floor coverings due to the open space.

A floating installation is planned.

Yesterday I visited two stores and got two different opinions...

Store 1: Use vinyl for the kitchen... It’s more water-resistant and warmer underfoot. Install it completely, then set up the kitchen.

Store 2: Use laminate... it’s more resistant – a bit of boiling water will cause vinyl to bubble up... it fades and is just as sensitive to water as laminate... Installation: set up the kitchen first, then lay the floor only behind the kitchen kickboard, because otherwise the floor can’t move due to the kitchen being too heavy.

So... what now?

Does anyone have laminate or vinyl in the kitchen?

I’m really unsure...
H
halmi
12 Feb 2019 20:23
Use the vinyl without any backing board.
S
sauerland
12 Feb 2019 20:31
I’m afraid this won’t work for me without considerable effort, Halmi…

The base layer isn’t screed but floorboards (from the 1930s)…
So there will probably be some unevenness here and there.
N
Nordlys
12 Feb 2019 20:52
Floorboards from the 1930s? Made of oak? Go to a painter and have them make some suggestions. I would sand them down and then apply a white wash. Cool. Or a classic satin-matte wood finish, unfortunately really great, but you’re probably joking about putting laminate flooring over it. That’s not possible, you hear me, it’s criminal behavior in construction. Anyone who does that deserves to be stuck with textured wallpaper. Karsten
H
halmi
12 Feb 2019 21:00
We currently have exactly this situation in our old house. The house is about 130 years old, and we have vinyl flooring with an underlay board and an additional 2-3mm (0.08-0.12 inch) foam cushioning underneath, installed over a wooden plank floor with joists.

As you’ve probably noticed, it’s not "waterproof," but it is probably the simplest solution.

I still wouldn’t recommend laminate flooring.
S
sauerland
12 Feb 2019 21:11
No idea what the floorboards underneath look like... I’m afraid they might be painted with a terrible color – as was often done in the past...

In fact, I’ve also thought about sanding them... BUT: ground floor – underneath a 40 cm (16 inch) cavity filled with construction debris, and below that the basement...

I think it would then get damn cold and dusty through the gaps in the floorboards...
H
halmi
12 Feb 2019 21:14
However, the vinyl/laminate flooring doesn’t get much warmer. In our case, some areas under our kitchen/dining room are unheated. Unfortunately, the floor there remains cool to cold. I wouldn’t expect too much in that regard.