Kitchen/living area rubber flooring?

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paddyodoors

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Hi All

We will shortly be knocking through the wall seperating the kitchen and dining area and then also going to add onto this a sun room to create one big space for living.

We have a baby who will be One y/o in just over a week with another on the way at the end of the year.

With the space so large and also the fact that it will be the main area where the kids will be we are not sure on the flooring to use.

Wooden floors in the kitchen area is a worry due to the risk of flooding and tiles too cold and hard to use everywhere. I dont like the idea of having two different flooring types as it will split the rooms and defeat the purpose.

Am looking into Rubber flooring which I have read on a few websites are being used more for domestic kitchen use. It is apparently hard wearing, easy to clean and warmer and softer than ceramic tiles. which sounds reasonable - but what do they look like?

I would appreciate if anyone has any thoughts on this flooring or any other comments and suggestions.

Cheers
Paddy
 
We have what you don't want :) Open area with specific predefined areas ie one half is kitchen and the other half is sun room. We have wooden floor in the sunroom section and ceramic tiles on kitchen section. We have 2yo and 4yo and they both sit happily on the tiled floor (even the one without nappy protection!) I can't comment on rubber floor I'm afraid. Tiles great though for spills, pukes etc.... we have a breakfast bar in our kitchen, so that kind of naturally splits the area also, so not sure having different floors is a problem. At least not for us - would be interested to see the rubber floor comments. It would be softer on the head anyway...my son is a terror for banging head off things incl floor...
 
We did as you are doing a few years ago & went for the tiles. Our youngest was 2 at the time. Worked out fine, tiles are not as bad as you think from a cold point of view and are great for spills & puke. Your kids will only be toddlers for the blink of an eye.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I have seen the amtico stuff - but was quoted €140 per sq m. incl fitting. Cheaper vinly tiles at 2.5 mm thick come in at €90 per sq m incl fitting. which all sounds very expensive for "lino".

The reason I was asking was incase anyone had specific feedback on rubber tiles.

I have ceramic tiles now and they are cold, very cold in the winter, no question about it. also are very hard, just thought the rubber would retain heat, still be waterproof and durable. Maybe a better option than Vinyl

I have found a website in the uk aptly named: , that has sent me out a couple of sample bits and they seem fine - but can't really imagine what it is like on the floor. Costwise its £43 per sq meter and is 3.5 mm thick. but this does not include fitting.
 
Hi Paddy, You can overcome the "split the room" problem by getting as close as possible colour match for ceramic in the kitchen and wood in the living area. ie, cream ceramic with maple wood or possibly terracotta with certain types of Oak. Have a look at a few show houses and you will see how this is done. Cant give you a solution to the fact that ceramic is cold in the winter, but that taken into account there is a reason why it is in such common use. LS>
 
We tiled the entire ground floor of our new build and put some Devi electric heating mats underneath the tiles. Come on for an hour in the mornings in winter to take the bite out of the coldness. We have a 19 month old that has never had a problem learning to walk on them - never once banged head, knees, etc. As another poster says, they are only toddlers for a minute, and do you want to be looking at a rubber floor when the kids are teenagers?
Personally we find the tiles to be great - make the rooms look bigger and lighter, plus flooding, puke, and various other baby bodily secretions are not a problem...
 
We had the same problem in our house as our living room and dining room are connected and we didn't want different flooring . We opted for a good quality laminate throwout the hole floor downstairs except the kitchen. Its water resistant , very hard to scratch, wide planks oak effect with texture and v-grooves, very realistic looking and very easy to keep. We found that the house seems much bigger and brighter.We have 2 young kids and they play on it constantly and still is in great condition after 5 years.
 
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