Is Wood Flooring Suitable For Kitchens and Bathrooms?

In short, the answer is yes as long you are installing Engineered Wood Floors. The extra structurally rigidity provided over a more traditional Solid construction, mean Engineered Floors can be installed in all of the environments mentioned above and more. However, although Engineered Wood Floors are able to cope with the more extreme fluctuations in humidity levels, it’s important to properly acclimatise the floor and install following the manufacturer's installation instructions. Extra care must be taken to ensure spillages are wiped up immediately as longer exposure to water will still cause major problems. In Kitchen spaces, this is normally easy to keep an eye on and you’d do this naturally with any floor covering. Bathrooms, on the other hand, can be trickier.

We do not outright advise against bathroom installations, however, but instead leave it to you to decide how vigilant and careful you are prepared to be. Excessive water can damage the floor and void your guarantee, but if you wipe up spills promptly you should never really have issues as Engineered Floors can cope with extreme changes in humidity.

Basements are arguably the least problematic of these three installations. Risk of long or frequent exposure to spillages is small. However, chances are the humidity levels will be very varied, especially if you have tumble dryers etc. But as long as you allow generous expansion gaps and acclimatise & install following the manufacturer's instructions you shouldn't have any issues.