Hardwood vs. Luxury Vinyl Plank vs. Tile for Kitchen Floors

Most kitchen flooring decisions in a remodel come down to three materials: wood, luxury vinyl plank (LVP) and tile. Each is the right answer in some kitchens and the wrong one in others. This page puts them head to head on the things that differ in daily life. For subfloor preparation, running flooring under cabinets and the rules on removing old floors, start with the overview of kitchen flooring options for Pacific Northwest homes.

Head to head

Water

All three handle the everyday kitchen: a splash at the sink, a dropped ice cube, a wiped-up spill. They part ways when water sits.

Tile is the least affected. Porcelain is defined by the Tile Council of North America as tile with water absorption of 0.5 percent or less, so the tile itself takes in almost nothing. The floor as a whole is not a waterproof membrane, though: cement grout is porous and the perimeter is open.

LVP planks do not swell. The weak point is what lies underneath. Water from a dishwasher leak can pass through the joints or around the edges of a floating floor and stay on the subfloor, out of sight.

Wood absorbs water and changes shape. The damaging events are slow ones: a weeping supply line, a failed dishwasher seal, a pet bowl that overflows daily. Good finish buys time for spills and does little against a leak from below.

Dents, scratches and wear

Wood hardness is measured by the Janka side hardness test, and the species matter. In the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Wood Handbook, northern red oak measures 1,290 pounds-force, white oak 1,360 and sugar maple 1,450, while black walnut is 1,010 and black cherry 950. Harder is more dent resistant, not dent proof. The species table and finish choices are in hardwood floors in the kitchen.

LVP wears through its clear wear layer, and when that is gone the printed image under it goes too. Tile, particularly porcelain, outlasts both in traffic. Its risk is breakage: a cast-iron pan dropped on a tile over a hollow spot can crack it.

Comfort, warmth and noise

This is the case against tile. It is hard, it is cold on bare feet for much of the year unless it is heated, and it is loud. People who cook for long stretches, or who have back, hip or knee trouble, often prefer wood or vinyl for that reason alone. If anyone in the house is unsteady on their feet, read aging-in-place and accessible kitchen design as well.

Slip resistance belongs here too. Tile sold for floors is classified under ANSI A326.3 by where it may be used, and the "Interior, Wet" class is based on a wet dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) of at least 0.42. That is a spec to look for, covered in detail in tile kitchen floors. Wood and vinyl are not rated the same way. Texture matters more than material: a wire-brushed wood or an embossed vinyl grips better than a glossy one.

Renewal and lifespan

Hardwood is the only floor here that can be made new in place. A solid floor can be sanded and refinished several times, and the color can change each time. Engineered wood can be refinished as many times as its top layer allows, which ranges from never to several.

LVP cannot be refinished. A damaged plank in a floating floor can be replaced, which is easier near a wall than in the middle of the room, and only if you kept spare planks from the same lot.

Tile does not wear out in a house. What ages is the grout and the style. Grout choice is where upkeep is decided, and the grout guide compares the types.

Floor heat

Tile and electric floor heat suit each other: tile conducts heat well and is not harmed by it. Wood can go over radiant heat with care. The National Wood Flooring Association says the system should be designed so the wood surface never exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit unless the flooring maker says otherwise, and it notes that not all engineered products are suitable. Vinyl makers set their own maximum temperature. The systems, and the permit that goes with them, are in heated kitchen floors.

Subfloor and what is under the house

The structure below narrows the choice before taste does.

• Wood-framed floor over a crawl space. Common in older Vancouver homes. Any of the three can work. Tile needs the floor checked for stiffness, and wood needs the crawl space dry: the NWFA notes that crawl space humidity is raised by evaporation from the soil and that a ground vapor retarder greatly reduces it.
• Concrete slab. Tile bonds directly to a sound slab. LVP floats or glues over it once moisture is tested. The NWFA says solid wood should not be installed below grade unless the maker recommends it, while engineered wood can be installed above, on and below grade, so engineered is the usual wood choice over concrete.
• An uneven floor in an old house. Vinyl and large tile both demand flatness. The correction is done in the subfloor, and it is real work.

Transitions to adjoining rooms

In an open plan the floor that already runs through the living and dining areas usually decides the kitchen. Matching existing hardwood is possible, and a flooring contractor can lace new boards into old and refinish the whole. Matching existing vinyl or tile years later rarely is, because lines are discontinued.

Where the kitchen is a separate room, the question becomes height. Tile on its underlayment is usually the thickest build-up, and floating vinyl the thinnest. Each difference has to be taken up in the subfloor or bridged with a transition strip at a doorway.

Cost and resale

As installed floors, vinyl plank is usually the lowest of the three, with hardwood and tile in the mid to higher tiers depending on the product and how much subfloor work is needed. JDI Construction's published planning range for a hardwood flooring add-on to a kitchen project is $5,000-$12,000 before sales tax. That is a planning range, not a quote, and kitchen remodel cost in Vancouver shows how add-ons sit within a whole project.

On resale, we do not have a verified figure for what any floor adds to a sale price, so we will not give one. As general guidance, buyers respond well to continuous hardwood in main living areas, accept good tile anywhere, and judge vinyl by how convincing and how new it looks.

Who should choose which

• Choose hardwood if the kitchen is open to rooms with wood floors, you want a floor that can be renewed, and you will deal with leaks and spills promptly.
• Choose engineered wood if you want wood over a slab or over radiant heat, or wide planks with less seasonal movement.
• Choose LVP if water tolerance, comfort and budget lead, the kitchen is a rental or a hard-use family room, or the subfloor is sound and flat but the budget does not stretch to tile setting.
• Choose tile if you want the most durable surface, plan floor heat, have an exterior door opening into the kitchen, or want a material that will look the same in decades.
• Think again about tile if you stand at the counter for hours or the floor framing is bouncy.
• Think again about wood if you have had a slow plumbing leak before and did not notice it for weeks.

The buying details for the vinyl option are in luxury vinyl plank for kitchens. Before any old floor comes up, read asbestos and kitchen remodels in Clark County. JDI Construction settles the floor with the cabinet plan so heights and transitions are drawn before anything is ordered; to start, see our Vancouver kitchen remodeling page.