Anybody have any experience with Marmoleum?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been considering redoing my kitchen (not RIGHT NOW, those of you who were helpful in my “make my refrigerator fit” thread) and have been considering flooring options. My house was built in 1928, but the kitchen and baths were given a budget ugly-ass el cheapo remodel about ten years ago. I’d like to restore both to plausible period. I know, however, that bungalow kitchens at the time period were very white and very boring and kinda crappy and I’d like to make a compromise between authenticity and modern kitchenhood.

Right now the floor is, I believe, actual linoleum. (If it’s vinyl, it isn’t any vinyl I’m familiar with.) I don’t know if I’d actually know linoleum if it walked up and played the flute, however. I know linoleum is period appropriate. I was thinking about tile or slate, but the kitchen is pretty small (about 100 square feet) and I didn’t want to overwhelm it.

I found online this Marmoleum stuff, which is the “new linoleum” and seems pretty cool. It comes in patterns and borders and all, so you can recreate some of the more elaborate linoleum stylings of the time period. It’s colored all the way through, so the color won’t wear off.

Anybody have any experience with using it? How does it hold up? Do you have, say, dogs or cats to scratch it? Does it feel nice on your feet?

(Anybody with the specific experience of restoring a late 20’s bungalow kitchen would be particularly welcome, particularly when it comes to getting a period look without sacrificing a modern kitchen or your resale.)

2

We used it in our old house (c. 1913) for the bathroom and kitchen. We really liked the look of it, and have installed it in the bathroom in our new house (c. 1926). It’s very durable, and didn’t scratch from our dogs’ claws.

The style we used was a matte finish, but you can give it a glossy finish with acrylic floor polish. A few coats of that and it looks very good.

There’s an office building in town that used it for their main lobby, with a heavy acrylic coating. It’s never looked worn in the several years it’s been there, even though it’s a very heavy traffic area.

3

Did you use sheet or tile? Did you install it yourself? I read a “This Old House” article about challenges in installing sheet linoleum, which looked like it might require somebody who has actual experience with it instead of just some tile guy my plumber knows.

4

Oh - also, since you had it in a kitchen, did you have any problems with scratches or tears or anything if you had to move an appliance?

5

Sheet, not tile. We had a guy install it who was familiar with it. He got two different colours and was able to cut the main sheet and insert geometrics from the accent colour into it. Very cool.

It seemed pretty durable, but we left that house before we had much experience moving the big appliances, so I don’t know for sure.

6

Oooh, that’s exactly what I want! I don’t know what I’ll decide on color, though - I don’t want to end up looking vaugely institutional on accident.

7

Our guy was pretty talented and did it himself, but marmoleum makes borders and inserts that you can incorporate.

Here’s a page with some of their borders and inserts.

And here’s some examples of how they can be used.

8

Yeah, I saw those pictures - they look pretty exciting, but I wish they had restoration-style examples! I’ve seen quite a few restored bungalows with red kitchen floors, but the kitchen is next to my dining room and the dining room is already red - I don’t want to clash. I was thinking perhaps a blue or green might be cheerful.