I'm having my kitchen remodeled...

Can you possibly post any pictures? What colour are your appliances?

Do you want flooring in the same tone as your cupboards?

Let's see, I had birch (light) kitchen cabinets and honey teak hardwood - looks great together.

I don't know what salmon granite is. I think some pics would really help, and also the size and layout.

Ah, to me it is how they work together (samples, samples, more samples, including several of the ones you like best to get some breadth to the sample. And pricing, natch.

Don't rush.

There is a lot to be said for real versus faux, but I suppose there is also a package of good reasons to pick faux.

http://www.stonemark.com/Siena-Rouge.aspx

http://homedepot.kraftmaid.com/doorsfinishes/index.cfm?navigationid=316X0&doorstyleid=160

The cabinets are in a toffee finish and I thought the granite had a different name. I'll see if I can sketch up a diagram---Thanks

I think the Salmon countertop looks like this, right Marty?



and Birch should look like this



I like the greyish tiles this model kitchen has.

Real is always best!

...so says the stone mason/marble & ceramic tile guy....wink

"Don't rush" is top notch advice.

agree with 2packs, for sure, and also CJ, re the gray.

New stained wood cabinets, granite coutrertops and laminate flooring? IMO, that's a mistake.

I'd recommend a porcelin or ceremic tile in a color that compliments one of the colors in your granite and you you want a little bit of contrast from your cabinets. Size is key here though. If you offset the cabinet color to far in a big room no one will notice anything but the floor. If the room is small and there is little contrast than no one will ever notice the floor at all.

Just based on the colors of the samples you linked I'd go with a light cream colored ceramic in 12"x12" tiles with tan grout for a large room or either an off-white or rust colored porcelin in a 8"x8" tile with a dark grey grout for a small room.

The laminate doesn't stand up as well or look as good as real wood, Marty. It does chip. I've seen a lot of tacky laminate when looking for homes.

I have ceramic tile in my kitchen and it looks great with the birch, which is lighter in tone than toffee - I think it's more natural colour, and my tile is a greenish-grey.

How big is your kitchen, though - how much floor space is there and how much of it is cabinets?

Memories of the night, just before I was about to sell my house in Venice, that I decided it would be keeno to polish the excellent sterling pepper grinder of good design that I'd picked up for $5. at the Salvation Army. Slob that I am, I left some silver polish on the laminate counter. (I know we're talking floors, but...)..

next day, I had this dreadful spot on the rather new counter. Took me a while but I finallly worked a faux laminate splotch + varnish so it still looked ok to anyone but me. But hey, richies came in and poured money, and then richies after those last ones. House is worth zillions even now. My poor baby house.

Re: CJ's post, the granite I picked out is more veiny and less speckly, its more of a beige/dark peach, the cabinets are right on. The room the kitchen is in is rather large since the prior owners added on the atrium.

RE: 2packs, would the natural stone tiles be hard and cold? Easy to keep clean?

Have hammer. will travel.

Yeah? But are you cheap?

Yes, I agree not to rush but shouldn't the floors get installed before the cabinets?

No. Subflooring needs to be in place but any other flooring is usually installed after the cabinets unless you have cabinets that are on legs (where the floor below would be exposed).

There is no good reason to pay for materals and labor to install flooring where it will never be seen. And ummm... I guess as a contractor I probably shouldn't mention this but, the flooring also hides any gaps betwen the cabinets and the subflooring. (Unless your home is perfectly level there WILL be gaps and I've yet to work in a prefectly level house.)

Thanks, I won't freak out about not having flooring picked out yet.

Yep, stone has its drawbacks...hard, definitely....cold, yes...but in a modern house that is well insulated stone is no more colder than sheet material..probably less actually...if your house is warm and cozy, stone will draw some ambient heat, I'm speaking of winter of course. Most raw stone {slate, quartzite, travertine} floors are sealed nowadays, so they are somewhat protected...granite and marble are almost always polished...slick and easy to clean.

Ceramic is cheaper, and for the most part far easier to maintain, you really can't hurt the ceramic itself {besides dropping an iron skillet on it, and even then most of the time it will just bounce} it's mainly the grout that you have to worry about...bigger tile equals less grout lines, so I usually recommend the biggest tile you can stand, or that the room will carry.

Not to disagree with Fishin, just from a different perspective...for the installer, wide open floors are the best, they lay a lot faster, especially if you are putting down an underlayment...durock, or one of the backer boards...kitchens can be tight, really tight if they have an island..durock can tear the hell out of a new finish with just a little slip while trying to wrangle a piece in under two opposing toe kicks. And you don't have to lay completely under where the cabinets are going to sit, which 12 x 12 being the most common size...will only add about a box and a half to a standard kitchen, if you did lay all of it. Often every dollar counts, but I will usually drop the price for a wide open room, so it more than works out.

If I get there before the cabinet guy, instead of cutting the piece to the cabinet base, I just lay that piece in full, or use a scrap that will at least get me an inch or so past the toe kick, then throw a piece of scrap along the back wall, so the cabinet will set "close" to level. When you cut to the cabinet base, you can only get so close, so you have a joint there...no matter what you do, this joint will crack...wood flexes...not that you can really see the crack, but it's there. Most cabinets are finished with a toe kick board, or with quarter round, those can hide most gaps, if there are any.

Friends have a slate floor in their living room.

Never again was their comment! Too Cold! even in summer.

I can't remember without rereading who said what, but some materials go together. Real stone floor, real, not veneered, wood cabinets, and so on. (then there is the matter of ecology...)

Some forget all this angst and go for stainless steel, except on the floor...



I'm a little ick'ed by the idea of a granite counter and faux floors....

and if I am, others may be, should you wish to sell in the future.


Counters (correct me if wrong) are easier to replace...