ᐅ Is wood parquet flooring recommended for the ground floor and also in the kitchen?

We would also like to install hardwood flooring in the kitchen because it looks better and tiles tend to feel cold.
If you’re unsure how durable hardwood flooring is, get a sample from the flooring installer and really put it to the test: water, hammer strikes, hot pots, dish soap... we did all of that as well.
It’s surprising how much the floor can withstand. Hardwood floors might get dents from falling objects, but sometimes tiles can chip at the edges.

We originally wanted hardwood flooring but ended up choosing wood-look tiles instead.
The reason is the maintenance effort. In theory, it’s simple, but in practice, nobody around here actually does it [emoji4] Mopping twice a week and oiling once a year? No thanks!
On top of that, we have two small children whom you can’t watch constantly all day. I’m always finding sticky spots on the floor, furniture, etc.
Finally, we have a sliding door to the outdoor side, and both the architect and window installer advised against installing hardwood directly behind it (I mentioned this recently), since sliding doors are never 100% airtight (the same applies to casement windows, which we don’t have).

We also wanted as uniform flooring as possible, and with hardwood, that would at least have to stop at the entrance/hallway.
We will probably use hardwood only upstairs for the bedrooms.

I have two kids and a dog myself. Sticky residues come off just like on tiles. For tiles, we also quickly wipe them down twice a week in the kitchen… If you generally clean less often, you don’t need to mop the parquet more frequently either. Our dog does shed some hair though. Oiling is obviously necessary to keep it in top condition; that’s just how wood is. It takes about half an hour a year for the kitchen, provided you do it yourself.

Regarding the sliding door facing the weather side… Yes, I can somewhat understand that concern, but I actually don’t know anyone who has experienced water coming in there (though that doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t happen, of course).

Bookstar schrieb:
It's just a trend again to have wood flooring in the kitchen and dining room.

Well, define trend. We've had it in our rental apartment for 8 years now. [emoji6]

Wood-look tiles—oh dear, that would be my personal nightmare. But as you said, it's all a matter of personal taste.

I don't really understand the maintenance and oiling argument. The idea that you have to re-oil once a year isn't really true; you can do it, but it's not mandatory. Industrial parquet flooring is quite durable and resilient, which is why it’s often used in commercial spaces with high foot traffic.

In a private setting, an oiled wood floor definitely has its advantages. If there’s a scratch, you can fix it locally rather easily: sand the spot lightly, apply some oil, and it looks as good as new.

Of course, it depends on personal preferences and the context. But generally, wood in the kitchen (even in the bathroom, although I wouldn’t personally do that) is an equally valid flooring option. If you leave water standing on wood for hours, it can cause stains. But honestly, who leaves water standing on the kitchen floor for hours? That seems unrealistic. It makes more sense in the entrance area, where wet shoes might be left around longer, but in the kitchen? The flooring is oiled (meaning saturated) or sealed, so water doesn’t soak in that quickly.

Installing industrial parquet flooring in private living spaces is, in my opinion, not very common. For me, it is practical but far from the visual quality I would expect in a new build (wood scraps glued together with a ton of adhesive).

Vertical lamella flooring is sometimes also called industrial parquet. That’s just what it’s called. If you want to conclude from that that it’s not suitable for single-family homes, well, you can do that, but it doesn’t really make sense to me... [emoji6]

I also don’t understand where the idea comes from that this wood consists of waste glued together. What do you consider wood waste? Even if the sapwood were cut from offcuts of other high-quality woods, where would the problem be, or any reason to give the impression that it’s inferior? I don’t quite understand your motivation...

At least our vertical lamella is sourced from local trees. The different pieces of sapwood are cut from the material, laid individually, and glued to the subfloor. There’s absolutely no pressing or tons of adhesive involved. Maybe there is a product like the one you describe, but that definitely does not apply to us. Since you already claimed this in another thread, I confronted our floor installer and carpenter about it. He couldn’t stop laughing and said it’s quite amusing what kinds of ideas circulate in forums that are then broadcast as universal truths without any expertise.

I think it’s similar to tiles: there are cheaper products and higher-quality ones that come with differences, including price. What satisfies whom is probably very personal.