Advice needed for healthy kitchen flooring

[Hope]

We need to get a new kitchen floor. I am very concerned that the products available will have chemicals of some kind that we will breathe in and could be a problem for my son with tics.

 

We are thinking of a natural tile or laminate tile. Even if we choose the natural tile, what about the adhesive used to glue it down?

 

Anyone go through this already?

Suggestions for alternative types of kitchen flooring that will hold up with 3 young kids?

We want a safe, healthy environment for our kids.

 

I appreciate your advice!

 

Thanks!

[faith]

Hope,

If you could go with natural tile (ceramic tile), I'd go with that. I don't think they use adhesive, they use a some sort of cement mix, forget what its called, but we have that in our foyer and that's how they did it, then they grout in between. Also, they have a wood flooring that is already pre-stained and already shelaqued so they just nail it in plank by plank so you don't have to sand and stain (we did this in our den). Of course laminate is much less expensive, but they do have some peel and stick type laminate tiles that can look pretty good and almost like real ceramic or stone. I would think all these options would be pretty benign if its just chemicals and fumes you want to stay away from

 

Faith

[Vanessa2]

we have bamboo through out our house...environmentally friendly. Not sure about the process of putting it down, i think its just a nail gun. it is also in our kitchen and has held up nicely. on the same lines we are thinking about doing our counter tops and we want something without toxins etc...i have read certain types of granite emit radio activity..

[Caryn]

I agree with Faith.

Ceramic tile is probably the most cost effective and non-toxic.

 

As far as floors go, you could get a pergo wood floating floor that just snaps together and is glueless. It depends on what you like. If you have hardwood and want to refinish there are green ways to do that and materials that are less toxic, etc....

 

A kitchen needs materials that will hold up to wear and tear, especially if you have pets and little kids. Not familiar with bamboo, as we are in the midwest, but am familiar with cork, etc....

 

The grout used in ceramic tile is cement and sand. Some are pigmented. There is latex in some of the mixes, so if you want to avoid latex you need to do your research.

 

Non-dyed grout is grey naturally, and in my experience the best tiles to choose are ones that match the grey grout, as it looks more uniform.

 

As far as counters go, you may want to consider stainless steel? Granite is a natural stone and bacteria will soak into it. There are other eco-friendly options in counters-- glass is one.

 

Caryn

[Hope]

You guys are great! Thanks for the responses!

Keep them coming!