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Pavers as Kitchen Flooring
Pavers as kitchen flooring gives you a durable floor that's easy to care for. Kitchen brick floors can be as formal or informal as you want, determined by the pattern you choose and throw rugs you scatter on them. Brick flooring is absorbent so does need to be sealed to protect it from water, grease and dirt stains so common in kitchens. If you have an environmental focus in your home, consider reclaimed brick that is used as flooring.
The choice that you make for your kitchen flooring dictates the entire feeling of your kitchen. In most homes, the kitchen is the central hub of activity of the entire family. That's why most people want flooring that makes the kitchen feel warm and inviting.
Installing pavers as kitchen flooring can help create a warm feeling in your kitchen so that it feels more welcoming. Although this is an unusual choice for kitchen flooring, it is a choice that can make your kitchen into that one of a kind showplace that you want it to be.
When most people think of brick pavers, they think of outside spaces. Brick pavers are used outside for patios, porches, steps, and sidewalks, but they are also a great choice for indoors. Brick is extremely durable and easy to take care of, which is why it is an ideal choice for a high traffic area like the kitchen. The kitchen is one of the most traveled rooms in the home and it needs flooring that is durable, easy to clean, and that is beautiful.
Brick pavers as kitchen flooring add texture, color, design, and beauty to your kitchen no matter what your tastes are. Brick flooring is one of the most neutral flooring choices that you can make as it goes with almost any color, any wood, and any decorating style. The beautiful, natural pattern of brick adds interest and appeal to the rooms as well.
Many companies offer reclaimed brick to use as flooring. Reclaimed brick is brick that was taken from a building that was scheduled to be demolished. This brick is then cleaned and repurposed for use in other homes, business, and buildings. This is a great way to recycle brick and the natural aged look of the brick can create a floor that others will be envious of!
There are many different ways that brick can be laid in your kitchen. The most common designs that are laid are the running bond, herringbone, and basket weave designs. Running bond is when the brick pavers are laid end to end in staggered rows. Herringbone is when bricks are laid in a diagonal direction and basket weave is when the bricks are laid at cross angles to each other as if woven. These different designs help create an unusual look and texture in the kitchen.
Brick flooring must be sealed so that it does not stain. If sealed, brick flooring is easy to take care of with simple sweeping, vacuuming, and cleaning with a mild detergent. This makes them ideal for rooms where messes reign supreme such as in the kitchen, family room, or other rooms that see a lot of messes.
Kitchen brick floors will instantly update your kitchen from cold and uninviting to warm and welcoming. If you are looking for a kitchen floor that is easy to clean, durable, and beautiful, then brick pavers as kitchen flooring are a choice that you will definitely want to consider.
Comments
How do I find someone to put brick down on the kitchen floor? I plan to use the pavers from Lowes that have the "antique" look and it will be going on a slab. I want to make sure the brick layer really knows what they are doing. I live in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Thanks!
Liz at May 5, 2008 09:10 PM
Hi Liz!
Usually the best way to go about this is to ask around (friends, family, co-workers, etc.) to see if anybody you know can recommend some good brick layers or home remodelers. Another good route is to look in your phone book and start calling.... ask if they can do the project and ask for references. After that you can start getting quotes to make your decision of who to have do the work.
You wrote that the pavers would be installed on a slab.....I presume you mean a concrete slab? If so, no problem, just need to consider whether you're going to have a moisture barrier of some sort applied first before starting the brickwork. If you were to have a floor supported by joists, you'd have to make sure that they will bear the weight of the pavers, strenghtening them would be in order.
Best of luck with your project - you'll have to let me know how it turns out!
The Flooring Lady at May 6, 2008 10:11 AM
We are getting ready to install brick pavers for our kitchen floor. We are attempting to do this ourselves. Is there instructions for this and how do we seal the floor and with what.
Tracey Keith at May 29, 2008 07:17 AM
Hi Tracey!
This has been addressed several times. The biggest thing is to make sure your floor is STRONG enough to handle the extra weight. Use the search function in the upper right-hand corner and search for brick or paver along with strong or strength. Same goes with sealing & polishing. It depends on largely upon whether you want a high gloss or lower gloss polish.
The Flooring Lady at May 29, 2008 08:38 PM
I have bricks on my floors and have sealed them with Thompson's waterseal. What can I put on them to make them shine? Thank you.
phyllis at July 4, 2008 10:51 AM
Hi Phyllis, I've never used Thompson water seal myself, so I don't know what other products would be compatible with it. There should be a phone number on the container that you can call and ask them.
The Flooring Lady at July 4, 2008 04:16 PM
We want to use brick pavers in on kitchen. We have found them at Lowes, can you recommend any other stores that carry them? What kind of moisture barrier were you talking about with Liz? Also, can you ever use pavers on walls or as trim decorative work, or does it look tacky? Thanks, Linde
Linde Dean at July 20, 2008 08:25 PM
Hi Linde!
There are many companies that make brick pavers - I'd suggest using a search engine like Google and type in brick pavers manufacturer and see what kind of hits you get - or even just type in brick pavers. Most of the manufacturer's websites will have a link somewhere showing where you can buy them. Lots of stores have pavers, Home Depot, True Value, etc.
There's different kinds of moisture barriers you can use, it just depends on your situation. You didn't mention if your kitchen sits on a concrete base, if you have a crawl space or what. I really think you should read up on the Moisture Proofing and Sealing Basement Floors sections of the site.
Yes, you can use pavers as trim - it can be a little tricky since you're putting them on vertical surface though. I couldn't tell you if it'd look tacky or give you a case of 'over-kill' though since I don't know how your kitchen is set up. It would probably be best to lay the floor first and then decide. You could always take a photo of your kitchen with the new flooring down and draw in where you'd want the paver accents to be (or do it in a computer photo editor program!) - it should give you a better idea of how it'd look and you could then decide from there.
The Flooring Lady at July 21, 2008 12:40 AM
Hi Liz,
Our house sits 32" off the ground and I wanted to put brick pavers in our laundry room/rear entrance, what do I need to know about this?
Christina at August 7, 2008 07:57 AM
Hi Christina,
Well, first of all I would think that you need to make sure your floor joists are strong enough to support the additional weight. If not, they'll need to be beefed up.
Moisture is always a problem for brick - you'll need to make sure you seal it really, really well and it doesn't hurt to put a coat on before the floor is laid - it'll make it easier to remove the grout haze after it's been laid, before you put the final sealer on it. Do you have a moisture barrier of some kind on top of the dirt in the crawlspace and running up part of the 'wall' of the crawl space? It's always a good idea to do so - that way water vapor can't degrade the joists.
Search around on this site and using a search engine to find out about problems that others have had and what solutions were used. In short, I guess my best answer would be to educate yourself as much as possible before you start the project.
The Flooring Lady at August 7, 2008 11:41 AM
