- 4 min reading time
- Küchenboden
The kitchen floor: What matters when choosing the floor covering
The kitchen is often the most frequented room in private flats and houses. This is where food is stored and prepared. Even if meals are eaten in the living room or dining room, it is often the meeting place for the family or shared flat. This results in special requirements for the floor.
We have not considered some floor coverings for the kitchen. Not because they are completely unthinkable, but they do have distinct disadvantages. These include wood parquet, laminate and linoleum floors. They are comparatively too sensitive to moisture, dirt and stress in the kitchen. If you have such a kitchen floor covering, don't tear it out just because of that. But if you are re-flooring or renovating, we advise you to consider the following criteria.
Laden Sie sich jetzt unsere Checkliste für die Auswahl des optimalen Bodens für Ihre Küche herunter!
Durability
Chairs and tables etc. go crazy, you run back and forth. Add to that the weights of kitchen furniture such as a dishwasher, refrigerator, furnishing cabinets and not infrequently a washing machine. A kitchen floor has to withstand a lot of friction, weight and weight shifting.
Tiles are particularly resilient to the effects of physical forces. A solid tile does not break easily and pressure marks do not occur. They are considered the most durable floor coverings and can last a lifetime with normal use.
PVC flooring are hard-wearing on the one hand, but externally sensitive to scratches on the other. Their longevity is very dependent on the product quality. 15 years is a good average. High-quality products can also last 30 years. It is advisable to pay attention to the manufacturer's guarantee.
Vinyl flooring are robust and dimensionally stable. Temporary loads and corresponding pressure points level out again. Dirt can be wiped off easily if it is not allowed to dry for a long time. The service life of high-quality vinyl floors can be up to 20 years.
CERAMIN Tiles are in no way inferior to good design floors in terms of their resilience and dimensional stability. Since they are made of a ceramic-like composite material, they are very hard-wearing despite their low weight. Depending on the product, CERAMIN Tiles have a guarantee period of between 15 and 25 years. Exact details in our Warranty conditions.
Moisture and care
The average humidity of bathrooms and kitchens is 50 to 60 percent, about 10 percent higher than in other living spaces. The wet area around the kitchen sink is comparable to that around a washbasin.
Unlike in the bathroom, however, the splash areas in the kitchen have to deal not only with water, but with all kinds of liquids - from ice-cold to boiling hot fats, sauces and alcohol. Depending on how they are used, lacquers and solutions can also come into play. This does not happen in a concentrated way, for example during and after showering/bathing, but spread throughout the day. And finally, all the dirt is wiped off with a damp or wet cloth.
Tiles are largely waterproof and even fire-resistant. But breakages can hardly be adequately repaired and the tiles in question have to be replaced. The joints are real dirt traps, not only because they are deeper, but also because they have a rough surface. Some newer ceramic tiles that are proclaimed to be particularly slip-resistant bind dirt and stains especially stubbornly.
PVC flooring are generally considered water-repellent and easy to clean. Nevertheless, you should not put them under water when wiping. Other liquids, from varnishes and solutions to hot sauces and greases, should be wiped up directly if possible. Otherwise they can dry out and permanently damage the material. For cleaning, PH-neutral agents are recommended for all plastic coverings.
Vinyl flooring should be laid and glued in one piece if possible. We also recommend PH-neutral cleaners here. Slightly thicker coverings are even suitable for damp and wet rooms. However, you should make sure that there is an appropriate backing board underneath. Some, such as HDF coreboards, are not moisture-resistant. This can lead to deposits under the vinyl.
CERAMIN Tiles are made of a ceramic-like composite material with a particularly low density. This combines the best properties in terms of moisture and durability. Like vinyl floors, they should be installed in one piece in the kitchen if possible. Here, too, PH-neutral cleaning agents are recommended
Hard and soft floors
Especially in apartment buildings, footfalls can be a serious nuisance for people living below. Hard floors such as parquet, solid wood floorboards, laminate and tiles (ceramic, natural stone) transmit the footfall almost unfiltered. But this can also make you uncomfortable within your own four walls.
Hard floors do not give way. Fragile crockery and glasses have little chance of falling onto hard floors. Conversely, tiles can also be damaged if heavy utensils, pans or stone pots fall onto the floor. A dent in the design floor will at least largely recover, but a cracked tile will not. The damaged areas result in cracks and moisture and dirt can penetrate.
Note for tiles:
Forces not only act on the floor covering and the subsoil from above, but also in the opposite direction. Tensions, movements, displacements, vibrations from the subfloor, for example on roads with heavy traffic, are transferred to the surface covering. Especially in the case of tiles, this can cause damage over time. To prevent this, decoupling mats can be placed between the substrate and the tiles.
Health and environment
Sustainability plays a major role in the construction industry. This concerns the health of the occupants and the environment. Asbestos contamination in insulation layers or even in older PVC floors represented the beginning. Nevertheless, some old PVC floors are only now being replaced, decades later. But asbestos is not the only problem. Especially in PVC and thus also in most vinyl floors there are plasticisers. The particularly dangerous phthalates are generally found in PVC. The effects on health (e.g. greatly increased risk of cancer in children) have been proven in studies for many years. Unfortunately, manufacturers are still not obliged to list all the ingredients of their products.
More on this topic and what consumers can do about it here.
For plastics such as PVC and vinyl, the situation is still poor in terms of opportunities and the will to dispose of them. Only a small percentage of plastics are recycled. For quite a few, the material quality also deteriorates as a result. Not so with CERAMIN Tiles. Here, the quality remains 100 percent intact. Old CERAMIN Tiles become new ones.
According to an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) study published in February 2022, global plastic production nearly doubled between 2000 and 2019.
Of the waste from this period, 9 per cent was recycled, 19 per cent was incinerated, 50 per cent was simply dumped in landfills and 22 per cent was disposed of illegally.
More on this topic here.
In terms of health and the environment, CERAMIN Tiles are unique among all plastic floor coverings.
Checkliste der perfekte Boden für die Küche
Wir haben für Sie eine interaktive Liste erstellt, die alle Anforderungen an den idealen Boden in der Küche übersichtlich zusammenfasst. Mit unserer Checkliste können Sie sich bestens informiert für den optimalen Bodenbelag in Ihrer Wohnung entscheiden. Unsere gründliche Aufzählung garantiert, dass Sie keinen Aspekt vergessen. Sie können die Liste kostenlos herunterladen!
