On Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:41:30 -0400, "J" wrote:

I had been leaning toward installing laminate flooring in our kitchen, but a
recent incident tells me that this might not be a good choice: Our water
heater resides in a closet that is part of the kitchen and during the middle
of the night, a leak sprung up that flooded the kitchen. How well would
laminate flooring recover from being flooded (or hardwood for that matter)?
With the water heater basically in the same room and our washer is also in
the kitchen, would it be more prudent to choose a different floor covering?

Thanks.




If water gets under a wooden floor, chances are that it will need to
be removed. It is not uncommon to see a wooden kitchen floor buckle,
then discover a long-term leaky pipe under the sink. From a
practical sense, vinyl is best. Tile is okay but this can crack or
chip, anything glass dropped will shatter, and tile is uncomfortable
after standing on it for a long time.