Under 'ideal kitchen' a number of respondents said they wanted a tiled floor
with a drain hole. This sort of thing can be specified by health
authorities for commercial kitchens where cleanliness has to be top priority
and where, due to time pressure and crowding, they may drop quite a bit on
the floor. In my view it is just crazy for a home kitchen.
My reasons are:
- you don't really need it as you can wash the floor quite well without
tiles and drains;
- realistically how often are you going put on your rubber boots to wash the
floor anyway;
- what is good (necessary) in a commercial setting does not necessarily make
sense in a domestic one;
- commercial furniture, benches and equipment is mostly stainless steel,
domestic is more susceptible to water damage;
- on a cushioned floor, glass and ceramics often bounce, never on tiles;
- on a cushioned floor a dropped knife makes a repairable hole, on tiles the
knife needs repair, my knives are more important to me than my floor;
- hard floors are really *hard* on your legs and back, a little cushioning
is so much better to work on, to me this is more important than anything
else.
In my view good seamless vinyl or well maintained cork tiles are the way to
go. And I would go for coved edges before a drain, the time saved not
chasing stuff into corners/edges with the mop will be far more than that
saved by being able to flush it all down the drain.
David