Kitchen original flooring - good idea?

[lizziecupcakes]

Hi all
We discovered original (we think) pine flooring under the kitchen vinyl/lino. It’s in good condition and needs sanding and then oiling.

Thing is, we do a lot of cooking and love spending time in there. Do you think it’s a good idea to have exposed flooring in the kitchen with the risk of spills and stains??

I can use a kitchen rug, but it won’t cover all the floor and would also be a bit pointless.

Just not sure what we could do. I have had laminate flooring in kitchens before (rental flats in the past) and they were super easy to clean and I didn’t think twice about it.

It is suspended flooring too, so there is the thing about the cold coming through more too, in the winter time. It’s not dissimilar to the rest of the ground floor anyway.

Would love your thoughts! Thank you

 

[Cubist]

Ordinarily I favour exposed wooden floors... but as far as kitchens are concerned there can be some drawbacks, some of which may be slightly mitigated if the boards are tongue and groove rather than PSE - T&G would prevent spilled foodstuffs getting into the void where, over time, an unpleasant odour may arise or worse, attract vermin

Noting that you are considering using an oil coating, might you be thinking of using the OSMO products again? If so then you would be wise to think again. Whist their products will resist even red wine stains - provided they are not left to stand - you would find that the much more damaging product(s) would be the detergents commonly used in kitchens. These can very rapidly penetrate the hard coating of the surface to leave 'bleached' stains that, whilst repairable, may mean that the whole floor may need a new application as 'blending' a repair into the surrounding area can be very difficult. Spills of hot water can produce similar effects but hot cooking oils can be more problematic insofar that these can change the hue/shade of the underlying colour of the previously oiled wood making any repair considerably more difficult.

With the above in mind I would suggest that you avoid using one of the 'hard finish' oils and perhaps consider using a less engineered product instead such as linseed oil. One or two coats of linseed pre-thinned (50/50) with white spirit can be applied with a soft brush to provide a matt finish that predominately highlights the reds and darker colours of the boards and affords some resistance to spills whilst being very much easier to repair in the worst cases.

Mats and/or high gloss finishes on kitchen floors are more of a health risk than the worst cook in the house.