How To Find The Right Type Of Flooring

How To Find The Right Type Of Flooring


 

When it comes to home flooring, everyone’s got a preference. Some swear by the natural look and feel of a hardwood floor. Others prefer vinyl flooring or laminate flooring.

When it comes to carpet installation in a home, there are several benefits:

  • Carpet installation is fast, cheap and easy compared to wood flooring.
  • Carpet can be extended with regular vacuuming and steam cleaning.
  • Carpet offers a level of comfort that can be hard to get with hardwood flooring.
  • Having the right carpet can really make a room stand out and have a significant design impact on a particular room of a house where it’s installed.
  • Carpets made out of recycled content can be eco-friendly for a home and eliminate a potentially high source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which can cause serious health problems if they are not dealt with.
  • A good quality carpet can last between 10-15 years.

Invented more than 80 years ago, vinyl flooring is one of the most resilient flooring materials available today. There are two types of vinyl flooring: sheet flooring where flooring material is laid out in sheets and vinyl tile flooring.

Advantages of vinyl flooring include:

  • Durability: It stands up well to heavy foot traffic, which makes it a popular choice for commercial buildings.
  • It is less expensive than some other flooring options and is also easy to maintain.
  • It comes in a wide range of colors, so you can find the right color you’re looking for to match the décor of your kitchen, bathroom or wherever you might be installing vinyl flooring.

A third option for flooring is laminate flooring. Laminate flooring is a synthetic flooring material which fuses multiple layers together with a lamination process. Advantages of choosing laminate flooring as your flooring option include:

  • It’s fast and easy to install. Today’s laminate flooring often comes with a locking design allow you to construct a floor with laminate flooring that goes together like a puzzle.
  • It’s very easy to clean. A wet mop will usually do the trick when it comes to cleaning and brooms and vacuums work well too.
  • It’s durable and unlike some other types of flooring materials, laminate flooring stands tough against dents and scratches. Laminate flooring comes with a protective layer that protects other layers of flooring. In addition, laminate flooring can last between 15-25 years.
  • Laminate flooring often comes with underlayment, which makes it comfortable to step on. Without the underlayment, laminate can feel hard to stand on, but underlayment gives laminate flooring a bit of spring and makes it more tolerable in the kitchen.

Another option is of course hardwood flooring. A hardwood floor is strong, durable and requires a low amount of maintenance. Hardwood floors also allow for better air quality, make economic sense and are long lasting. For some home owners, hardwood floors are aesthetically pleasing, adding a certain amount of grace and charm to a house.

If you’re wanting wood floors, but looking for something different, bamboo flooring may be the answer. This type of flooring uses strands of raw bamboo which are woven and pressed to make planks.

There are many reasons to consider bamboo flooring and in many cases it outperforms most traditional hardwoods.

  • Top-grade bamboo flooring is very durable, but make sure to find flooring with a warranty. The Janka test is often used to deduce bamboo flooring hardness. This test measures the force required to embed an 11.28 millimeter (0.444 inch) steel ball into wood to half its diameter (0.222 inch). This method results in an indention 100 square millimeters in size.

    Only three flooring options have a harder Janka rating than strand bamboo flooring: Brazilian Teak, Tiete Chestnut, and Brazilian Walnut.
  • Bamboo flooring outperforms most traditional hardwoods because it has a clean and contemporary look.
  • Bamboo flooring can be refinished, but keep in mind the thickness of the floor.
  • Bamboo flooring, particularly laminated flooring is very DIY-friendly.
  • Bamboo flooring outperforms most traditional hardwoods because it is termite resistant and the cost of bamboo flooring is less than traditional hardwood flooring.
  • Bamboo flooring also outperforms most traditional hardwoods because it is more eco-friendly.

Whatever your preference whether it’s a hardwood floor, vinyl, laminate or some other material, it’s important to take time to research. Review the pros and cons of different types of flooring and then decide which one will work best.
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