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Wood kitchen flooring offers some of the largest number of choices of any flooring material on the market today. When you figure the different types of wood, grain pattern, stains, etc. you can come up with an almost limitless number of choices which can be both a good and a bad thing depending on how good you are at figuring what you want.
Other then the type of wood flooring you choice another big option is going to be if you go with strips, planks, parcel, or hand-scrapped flooring and if you are going to go for the unfinished or pre-finished type. I personally recommend the pre-finished type unless you enjoy the task of finishing the wood flooring and are good at it or you will probably end up messing up a lot of the flooring.
As far as the other choice of strips, planks, parcel, or hand-scrapped that is really a matter of personal preference and the look you are going for. Strips and planks are both long narrow pieces of wood that are fit together to form the flooring. Planks are the wider of the two types and most people feel they help give a more spacious look to your kitchen. Parquet wood flooring is put together from pieces of wood flooring and if done correctly can lead to some truly impressive, and unique, looking wood kitchen floors. Hand-scrapped kitchen flooring has a rustic look to it and is great if you are planning on some minor damage to the flooring because it hides scraps, cuts, and other assorted damage better then the other three types.
Wood flooring is obviously a potential fire hazard because it is made of wood and wood burns so make sure that whatever wood flooring you purchase has been treated to help retard a fire in the event that you are unfortunate enough to have it happen to you. Wood is also very susceptible to water damage and needs to be sealed correctly to ensure that you do not damage your floors the first time you spill something on them. Even with the best type of sealant if you allow water to sit on top of your wooden floors it is going to damage them so I always recommend a mat where water is a potential issue along with making sure that any liquid spill is wiped up immediately.
Pros:
-Hardwood flooring gives kitchen a type of warmth unlike any other flooring material.
-Easy to install
-It can last a lifetime if properly sealed and maintained
Cons:
-Prone to damage from scratches, dents which can cause it to need to be refurbished.
-Sceptible to water and fire damage
As far as cost goes hardwood has a pretty wide range because of the number of choices that are available to you as the consumer. A typically wood kitchen floor will run you anywhere from $ 4-12 depending on the different types of options you pick. Wood flooring today is very easy to install so unless you are going for a truly unique look you can probably avoid the extra cost associated with labor and make it a DIY project.
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