Pretty, Durable Floor Options Are Surfacing

Conventional choices for a kitchen floor include tile, sheet vinyl, a Pergo-type laminate and hardwood. What are the unconventional ones?

Funky high-tech sheet flooring made from recycled automobile tires, fancy and refined tiles made from post-industrial wood waste and that old stand-by, linoleum, are among the choices.

The linoleum made today is completely unlike that used in nearly every kitchen in America until the 1950s. In those days linoleum had a limited and generally drab color palette, and the material was marbleized with lots of black and white swirls that conveniently hid dirt and the manufacturers’ inability to achieve consistent texture. The wear surface was thin; when it wore through, the black or brown backing appeared in unsightly spots. The glue absorbed water, and this eventually made the seam edges pucker.

Now linoleum’s color palette includes every color in the rainbow and then some. The material is manufactured in Europe, and each of the three companies that sell it in the U.S.--Armstrong, Azrock and Forbo--offers more than 30 colors. The flooring can be a solid color or slightly to highly marbleized, and the marbleizing can be in vividly contrasting colors.

Forbo and Azrock also offer 2-and 4-inch borders in floral or geometric patterns that can be ordered in almost any color combination. Solid colors, which range from bold red and teal green to a more restrained beige and light gray, would seem a great choice for a floor, but every dog hair, food particle and dust ball will show. For this reason, manufacturers advise using solid colors sparingly for borders or accent areas. The material oxidizes slightly; to see the true color, you must expose a sample to sunlight for a day. At $5 to $8 a square foot installed, the price is comparable to that of upper-end sheet vinyl flooring.

Linoleum has a thicker wear layer now, so wear spots are not an issue and acrylic sealers, which were not available 50 years ago, have made maintenance easier. Puckering seam edges are not a problem because a different type of glue is used and seams are heat-sealed.

Linoleum is also appealing because it is made entirely from renewable materials: linseed oil, jute, wood flour and cork flour. It is highly durable, becoming harder and more dent-resistant with age. Another plus with linoleum is its ability to create an unusual look in a kitchen because you can also use it for counters and tabletops. In both cases, the edges would be finished in wood. If you wanted to take a kitchen’s linoleum approach to an unprecedented level, you could finish your chairs in linoleum.

The downside is that it can be scratched or cut with a paring knife, so you would have to be conscientious about using a cutting board when preparing food. Peter Danko, a furniture maker in Red Lion, Pa., has designed a line of stackable chairs that are made of molded maple plies and molded linoleum.

If the idea of using the same material for flooring and countertops appeals, another possibility is Madera tile, which is made with post-industrial wood waste from furniture factories. The wood is ground to a powder, colored and then heated under pressure to produce a very dense fiberboard “as stable as nylon” that is waterproof and highly scratch resistant. More expensive than linoleum, Madera runs about $8 to $9 a square foot, installed.

Matrix, the Toronto-based firm that manufactures Madera, initially marketed it as commercial flooring; the firm began courting the residential market last January. The residential tiles are available in 24 colors and three finishes: textured slate, tumbled stone and etched stone. The tiles look like ceramic ones, but in winter they are warm to the touch; you can pad around all day in bare feet without discomfort.

To minimize the effect of abrasive dirt and grit, a Madera tile floor needs to be swept regularly, mopped occasionally and cleaned periodically with a neutral floor cleaner formulated for hardwood flooring. The material is highly scratch resistant, but if you use it for a countertop, you will have to be conscientious and use a cutting board during food preparation.

If you forget occasionally, though, a scratch can be repaired with urethane. The material is stain-resistant, but you should seal the grout and clean up food spills promptly. If your counter or floor gets a stain, you can remove it with acetone or nail polish remover.

Madera tiles are available in 12-by-12-inch or 16-by-16-inch sizes. For a countertop, the tiles can be cut with a table saw. A plus from an installer’s point of view: The tiles can be cut with woodworking tools and no tile bed is required, so they can be glued directly onto a wood subfloor. Madera’s Lignosil fiberboard can also be molded into furniture parts--legs, arms, back and seats--and Matrix is developing a line of chairs to complement its tile lines.

If you want a funky high-tech look for your kitchen, Ecosurface could be your ticket. The material is made from recycled automobile tires. Dodge-Regupol, the manufacturer, uses 3 million used tires a year and post-industrial ethylene propylene diene monomer, a synthetic rubber product that is used in the manufacture of roofing, garden houses and numerous other products.

Ecosurface flooring’s most salient characteristic is its slip resistance, and it has been marketed as a commercial flooring for areas where this is critical--foyers, health and fitness centers, ice skating arenas and grocery store produce sections where water is always present and precautions must be taken. In a home, Ecosurface’s slip resistance can be handy in a bathroom, kitchen or laundry, though it has more often been used in home exercise rooms because of its resiliency. The flooring will not get dented or otherwise damaged when dumbbells and weights are dropped on it.

Ecosurfacing is slightly permeable to water. Because it dries quickly, it can be installed over a wood sub-flooring and used “as is” in a kitchen, but ideally, you should apply an elastomeric sealer in rooms where water is present after the floor is installed. Maintenance is easy: routine sweeping and regular mopping.

Ecosurfacing is available in 34 colors. At $5 to $6 per square foot installed, Ecosurface is comparable to the lower-priced linoleums.

For More Information

Web site information for linoleum:

Armstrong’s Marmarett at https://www.Armstrong.com, (877) 276-7876; Azrock’s Linosom at https://www.domco.com; Forbo’s Marmoleum and Artoleum at https://www.forbo-industries.com, (800) 842-7839; linoleum-finished chair: https://www.peterdanko.com; click on “chairs,” then on “Bodyform.” (800) 882-5300.

Recycled wood waste tiles:

Madera: https://www.maderatile.com, (800) 767-4495.

Recycled automobile tire sheet flooring:

Ecosurfaces: https://www.regupol.com, (800) 828-9461.

*

Katherine Salant is a syndicated columnist who writes on newly built homes and is the author of “The Brand New House Book.” She can be reached via e-mail at salantques@aol.com.