The kitchen floor is more often exposed to various damages than floors in other rooms. Spilled water, oil, or hot soup, a dropped heavy pot or sharp knife, all these can cause the floor covering to be damaged. To prevent this, the appropriate method of floor finishing should be chosen. Natural wood is beautiful but not very practical, and ceramic tiles have become too common for many people.
We suggest which floor panels to choose for the kitchen. Modern laminate or vinyl floor panels are an excellent alternative to previously known solutions. Such panels are best suited for home use, although they also embellish floors of public buildings.
Elegant floor panels for the kitchen
Many people associate floor panels mainly with living room or bedroom furnishing, or possibly a hallway. However, modern waterproof floor panels are also perfect as a kitchen floor covering. Nowadays, we have a wide selection of various floor panels differing not only in colors and sizes but also in the materials from which they are made. The most frequently chosen kitchen floor panels include:
- laminate panels,
- vinyl panels,
- cork panels,
- wooden panels.
You will easily find good quality floor panels that will match your preferences and the style of your kitchen. Modern material floor panels are available in a very wide range of colors - alongside natural wood shades, you'll also find kitchen panels imitating stone tiles or even raw concrete. Choosing floor panels should not cause you much trouble.
Which floor panels to choose for underfloor heating?
When choosing floor panels for the kitchen, several aspects must be taken into account, one of the most important being underfloor heating. Contrary to what many people believe, there are no objections to installing floor panels with underfloor heating. Among other things, this is why vinyl or laminate floor panels are better than traditional wooden panels or ceramic tiles.
Both laminate and vinyl panels can be used with underfloor heating. Most manufacturers provide information about this on the panel packaging. If you do not choose products dedicated to this type of heating, the only thing to remember is the thickness of the floor panels. The thinner, the better they conduct heat, so an optimal thickness will not exceed 8 mm. Unless you opt for vinyl panels - these basically work well with underfloor heating in any variant.
What to remember when choosing kitchen panels?
Each package of floor panels features markings indicating the most important characteristics of this type of panel. When buying kitchen floor panels, features such as the wear class and usefulness class of the panels should be considered. These determine the panels' resistance to mechanical damage. As for thickness, the thicker they are, the more durable and stable they are. On the market, laminate and vinyl panels are available with thicknesses ranging from 6 to 12 mm. It's worth familiarizing yourself with the other basic parameters as well.
Regarding wear class, it is described on a scale from AC1 to AC5. Those with the lowest number are suitable for residential rooms with low traffic, such as bedrooms or closets. The higher the wear class, the more resistant the panels are to abrasion. In the kitchen, vinyl panels with an abrasion class of AC4 are ideal.
The use class also describes the level of traffic the laminate and other floor panels are adapted to. The use class is determined by two digits: the numbers 21, 22, 23, 31, 32, and 33. The digit 2 at the beginning indicates that these are residential panels, and the digit 3 indicates they are intended for public utilities. The second digit in each of the numbers represents the intensity of use of the room.
Which kitchen panels are best? Which to choose?
A wooden floor looks beautiful, but natural wood requires special care. A good alternative to wood may be a floor made of laminate or arranged from vinyl panels. A panel pattern that perfectly imitates real wood will introduce a cozy atmosphere into your kitchen while vinyl or laminate floor panels are easy to keep in perfect condition.
Laminate panels
Laminate kitchen, bathroom, and other floor panels ensure that a room finished with their help will look really elegant. A wide range of colors makes finding panels suited to individual preferences no problem at all.
Good panels properly installed will certainly serve you for many years, becoming a true decoration of your home. When choosing them, you should pay attention to the descriptions on the packaging, as not all are suitable for laying on underfloor heating, similarly regarding their resistance to water. Poorly chosen ones may be damaged by moisture.
Vinyl panels
The best panels for the kitchen are made of solid vinyl. Their most important feature is water resistance, the upper layer of the panels prevents water absorption, which in practice means that even a pool of water cannot damage the panels. Resistance to moisture makes them the best choice not only for the kitchen but also for the bathroom.
The best floor panels
It’s difficult to point out the best kitchen panels since much depends on the future owners' taste. However, when choosing, it’s essential to note whether they are completely waterproof and what abrasion class they are marked with. Kitchen panels should be marked with a high abrasion class because only such panels perform well in heavily used rooms and must also be resistant to mechanical damage. This way, you won’t worry about something happening to them if a glass of water spills or a heavy object is dropped on the floor.
Not sure which panels will work best in your kitchen? Ask Mexen experts.