With So Many Flooring Choices, How Do You Know What To Choose?

Posted Feb. 21st 2012 under Real Estate Trends

Trying to decide what type of flooring to put in your home and no idea where to start? Selecting flooring for your home can be a tricky task with so many options available.

Here's a look at the most popular flooring choices for your home.

Carpet
Carpet is a great choice for the home as it keeps your feet warm. Carpet also hides sub-floor irregularities and can be used throughout the entire home, including the basement, where moisture can ruin other types of flooring materials. It's also inexpensive to install and comes in a variety of colours and textures, making it easy to decorate with.

If you're thinking of carpeting for your home, it should be short and dense. It should also be made with a tightly twisted yarn and a good quality cushion to resist crushing and matting. If you are looking to reduce the risk of piling, look for continuous filament nylon (CFN). CFN begins as a long strand before it is spun into yarn.

Do you have allergies? If you have allergies, you may want to avoid carpeting as dust particles can be easily trapped.

Ceramic tile
Ceramic tile is a great choice for kitchens, bathrooms and entranceway as it is resistant to moisture, odour, fire, stains, scratches, allergens, and bacteria. Tiles that are shiny and glazed should be limited to walls as the surface can be slippery and scratches easily.

When thinking about ceramic tile for your home, consider that laying it can be a costly and lengthy process. Also, floors must be completely level, otherwise you will have cracking that cannot be repaired.

Hardwood
Hardwood flooring is one of the most popular and beautiful flooring choices. However, with hardwood flooring it can wear in high-traffic areas. If you have pets, there is the possibility of damaging the flooring. If you really love hardwood, sanding and refinishing the flooring every few years will keep it looking good. Another option is using an area rug or runner to protect the hardwood from scratches and wear.

Laminate
Do you love the look flooring like hardwood, tile or marble, but you can't afford these finishes? An alternative to those flooring options is laminate. Laminate can resemble any flooring as it is a photograph placed under a clear wear layer.

Laminate is almost impossible to scratch, burn or stain due to it being a collection of planks that interlock or squares that are glued to one another. Laminate is also easy to replace if you want to update your floors and it is moisture-resistant.

Vinyl
When you think of vinyl do you get "Goosebumps"? Vinyl has been the number one flooring choice for kitchens for numerous years due to its ability to resist stains and spills, hide scratches and east maintenance. However, vinyl has also been one of the ugliest flooring choices available. With vinyl expanding to include a larger variety of colours, patterns, and textures let's hope vinyl will no longer give us the "Goosebumps."