Exploring the Properties of Carpet, Hardwood, Vinyl, and Tile Flooring Options for Home Remodeling Projects

Planning a home remodeling or renovation project can be a really exciting and fun time, especially if you’re doing so to improve your existing space and stay put rather than remodeling it to sell. If you’re staying put, there are no limitations in terms of creative expression when choosing colors, textures, styles, and personal finishing touches. And though there is still room for a little creativity when renovating a space in preparation to sell it, adding personal touches is not recommended. Regardless, the renovation and remodeling process can be quite fun in both cases.

But one common mistake that many homeowners make is that they completely forget about seemingly minor details that are actually quite major. After all, the devil is in the details and this is especially true when it comes choosing flooring options for a home. For as important as flooring is, it often gets swept under the rug — no pun intended, well, maybe a little — because greater emphasis and attention is placed on fixture selection, choosing a color, lighting requirements, and more. The truth is however that flooring is of the utmost important when it comes to remodeling a space. It has the ability to make or break an environment in terms of both aesthetics and function.

There are available flooring options to suite everyone’s personal taste, style, and needs. From vinyl tile, to ceramic tile, to hardwood, to carpeting, to polished cement, and more, there are plenty of flooring choices to discover. But with all these flooring options, it’s perfectly understandable that home renovators may feel a sense of confusing in making such a major decision. One kind of flooring option isn’t necessarily better than the other. Rather one might be a better choice for a particular environment or achieve a desired look. But without knowing the properties of each kind of flooring, choosing the best flooring option can be difficult.

Here is a basic run down of what each kind of flooring option has to offer.

Vinyl flooring

Unlike tile and wood flooring options, vinyl flooring is backed by a thin but soft layer of foam or or felt, which provides more flexibility and makes it easier to stand on for longer periods of time. And because it comes in an array of colors, styles, and designs at affordable costs, vinyl is an extremely popular flooring option. It can even be installed in such a way as to mimic the look of hardwood or ceramic flooring without the expense of those materials. Vinyl flooring also wears well and is extremely easy to clean and maintain. However for those with chemical sensitivities, vinyl flooring may not be the best option. It contains polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and will give off volatile organic compounds (VOC).

Hardwood flooring

Hardwood will always be a popular flooring choice due to it’s warm, rustic, and polished appeal. It was the material of choice for many early American home, and many of these colonial homes still have hardwood flooring to this day. This is no surprise, given the fact that natural wood flooring can last over a hundred yeas when properly maintained. While they’re relatively easy to keep dust free, hardwood floors can be tricky to maintain in order to keep their natural luster.

Ceramic tile flooring

Ceramic tiles have always been a popular choice for flooring, especially in hotter, more humid areas of the country or those that have been influenced by Spanish architecture and aesthetics. Tile is especially popular due to its versatility and ease of maintenance in terms of cleaning. Furthermore, tile is extremely durable and can be adapted to meet needs of any room, such as a kitchen, bath, or living area. And due to it’s low cost and ease of installation, tile will always remain a popular flooring option.

Carpet

Slightly more than half of all American homes contain carpet in at least part of their living space and it’s easy to see why. With a cushiony, soft, and comfortable feel, carpet will always be a popular flooring choice! Carpet can be difficult to clean and can collect dust, allergens, and pet hair over time.