Choosing flooring should be simple. Unless you are particularly aesthetically-minded, you probably give little thought to the flooring in your home. It’s just the thing you step on and occasionally have to clean. You barely even notice it’s there unless there’s a problem with it.
It’s this usually-dismissive attitude that can make choosing flooring so difficult. You might need to change your floor due to wear and tear, or want to try something new as you renovate the rest of the room -- but the conundrum remains the same. Flooring isn’t easy to just replace if you get tired of it in six months time, so you have to try and make the right decision from the start.
To try and aid in this, below, let’s consider the three most popular flooring options and how they might work in your home.
Tile
Good For: Tile is often used for areas that are prone to wetness, such as the kitchen or bathroom. This makes sense, as tile is waterproof. Any spills will just sit on the surface while good grouting can ensure no water permeates into the floor beneath. Tile is also being used more and more for entranceways, to help protect against muddy boots and dripping umbrellas.
Bad For: The bedroom. One of the major problems with tile is that it gets cold. You can install underfloor heating to counter this, but that can be expensive. Cold tile is never nice to step onto, but it’d even worse on cold mornings. If you use tile in your bedroom, you won’t want to get out of bed for fear of how cold it might be underfoot!
Important Point To Keep In Mind: Tiles are best cleaned with a mop, as you probably know, but it’s important to remember you need to replace the mop head regularly. Too many people use the same old head, which over time is spreading bacteria rather than actively cleaning the floor.
Hardwood Flooring
Good For: Hardwood flooring is perfect for areas of the house that receive a lot of foot-traffic, such as hallways and landings. It can also work in kitchens if you would rather not use tiles. Like tile, it will not absorb any spills, which is useful if you’re something of a messy cook!
Bad For: While hardwood floors can handle the occasional splash of water, regular exposure could warp the wood and ruin your floor. As a result, don’t use hardwood flooring in bathrooms. If you do want to use it in an entranceway, then you’re going to need a rug to ensure shoes can be wiped of any mud or moisture before it’s walked on.
Important Point To Keep In Mind: You have to be very careful when vacuuming this kind of floor. Heavy vacuums being dragged along the wood could cause premature wear, so ensure you invest in the best cordless vacuum for hardwood floors to prevent deterioration.
Carpet
Good For: Bedrooms and living rooms. Effectively, any area of the house where you might ever want to feel warm and comfortable will suit carpet well.
Bad For: You can use carpet in entrance areas and hallways, but it tends to deteriorate very quickly. If you do want to use it in these areas, you will need rugs to help absorb some of the impact.
Important Point To Keep In Mind: When installing carpet, you will need to buy a good underlay to help increase the longevity of your carpet and provide extra comfort underfoot.
Hopefully, after reading through the above, you have a good idea of which flooring type might work for each area of your house.
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