Best Flooring Materials for Your Home – Types, Uses & Comparison

Dikshita Sarkar — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 15:05:35 +0000

Best Flooring Materials For Home

What’s under your foot has a lot to do with the look and feel of your home. Irrefutably, it also brings big impacts on how well each room performs and lays the foundation for the functionality of the space. So, at some point of your home improvement project, there stands a need for you to address the surface underfoot – that’s your flooring.

Choosing the best flooring material that happily takes a lot of abuse, from dirty shoes to muddy paws to furniture leg scrapes on a daily basis, is a big undertaking. And the multitude of flooring material options available in the market adds to the decision-making burden. So, in order to help you choose the best flooring option, we bring you here the complete lowdown on the flooring material types, uses and comparison. Read it before you splash it!

Types of Flooring Materials

Hardwood Flooring

Pros of Hardwood Flooring	Cons of Hardwood Flooring
Made of planks milled from pieces of timber, hardwood flooring has unmatched natural beauty and goes with any decor.	They are relatively pricey as compared to other flooring options.
Since it can be refinished several times, hardwood flooring lasts long.	They warp if exposed to moisture for a long time. So, not a great choice for bathroom, laundry rooms and kitchen.
If maintained well, these floors will retain their beauty and increase the resale value of the home as well.

Laminate Flooring

Pros of Laminate Flooring	Cons of Laminate Flooring
Laminate floors can easily reproduce the look of wood or stone for a lower price.	As they are made from High Density Fiberboard (HDF), laminate floors can be damaged by moisture.
The process of installing laminate floors is easy and quick.	They cannot be sanded, re-polished or re-done but can only be replaced.
As they are fairly resistant to stains and impacts, cleaning and maintenance is not quite a job.
Also appreciated for its toughness and durability.
Stands firm against every day wears and tears.
Unlike wooden flooring, laminate flooring does not contract or expand.

Vinyl Flooring

Pros of Vinyl Flooring	Cons of Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl flooring is a less expensive, comfortable, durable and also easy to maintain flooring option.	They don’t stand up against scratches and can be easily damaged by sharp objects.
Vinyl flooring stands up well to heavy foot traffic.	Its colours can fade with exposure to too much direct sunlight and also when it comes in contact with rubber.
This versatile option is available in a ton of colour choices and patterns to match every décor.
Vinyl flooring is also best known for its stain resistant and water-resistant properties.

Vitrified Tile Flooring

Pros of Vitrified Tile Flooring	Cons of Vitrified Tile Flooring
It comes in a huge variety of colours, shapes, and patterns, so it can easily gel with any style of the home.	Compared to ceramic tile flooring, this flooring is high on cost because of the high-quality adhesives that are used to ensure its steadiness.
Since it has a glossy surface, this flooring is very easy to clean.	They get slippery when wet.
When maintained well, it does not lose its sheen for a long time.	As the chances of finding the same tiles again after a few years is very less, there is a need to buy a few extra pieces for future use.
It is scratch resistant, stain resistant, and moisture resistant. It also has a very low water absorption rate.
Doesn’t discolour or fade when exposed to sunlight.

Engineered Wood flooring

Pros of Engineered Wood Flooring	Cons of Engineered Wood flooring
It can mimic the real wood flooring at a much less price.	As its construction involves the usage of adhesives and resins, it can give off harmful gasses.
Due to its construction, it is more durable than real wood flooring.	It can only be refinished one to three times and this number is greater for real wood flooring than engineered wood flooring.
It is less likely to expand, contract, or warp when exposed to moisture, humidity and temperature shifts.
It is available in a dazzling array of colours, patterns and textures.
Its top layer can be sanded and refinished if necessary.

Marble Flooring

Pros Of Marble Flooring	Cons Of Marble Flooring
Marble flooring always has a unique and opulent look and makes for a royal flooring.	Real marble is incredibly pricey.
It is very durable and long-lasting.	It is also slippery underfoot.
It is scratch resistant.
It is available in a great range of designs, patterns, and colours.
This high-density material can easily take heavy loads on it and is also capable of withstanding all types of external pressure.

Granite Flooring

Pros of Granite Flooring	Cons of Granite Flooring
Granite flooring is incredibly tough, strong and also hardwearing.	Granite flooring comes with a high price tag, so not ideal for tight budgets.
This flooring is highly durable and will last for ages.	Installation process is difficult, time-consuming and expensive.
You will be spoilt for choice when it comes to design, pattern and colour.
It is stain-resistant, moisture resistant and also water resistant.
Not only granite flooring offers great functionality, but also increases the resale value of the home.

Other flooring options to consider

Some of the other unique flooring materials that are making their marks by being highly versatile and advantageous are

Terrazzo
Linoleum
Rubber
Parquet
Marmoleum
Bamboo, etc.

Uses Of FloorMaterials Based on Rooms

Flooring Material	Room
Hardwood Flooring	Good for Foyer, living rooms, halls, bedrooms. Avoid them in wet areas like the kitchen, laundry room and bathroom.
Laminate Flooring	For high-traffic areas such as kitchens, foyers, dining room, and kids’ room and their playrooms.
Vinyl Flooring	Best suited for wet rooms like kitchen, bathroom and laundry room
Vitrified tile Flooring	Almost for all rooms but more specifically the kitchen as it can be cleaned easily.
Engineered Wood Flooring	Foyer, living room, bedroom, kid’s room and dining room
Marble Flooring	For all rooms, but it is good to avoid them in elders’ rooms and kids’ rooms as they are slippery.
Granite Flooring	Almost for all rooms

Uses Of Floor Materials Based on Their Nature

Criteria	Best Flooring Option
Good-looking and stylish	Hardwood, engineered wood, marble flooring
Highly Durable	Marble, granite flooring
Best for high-traffic	Laminate and vinyl flooring
Kids and Pet friendly	Engineered wood flooring
Elder friendly	Hardwood Flooring
Best for resale value	Hardwood and granite flooring
Easy to install	Laminate Flooring
Easy to clean and maintain	Laminate, Vinyl, Vitrified tile flooring

Flooring Materials Comparison

Criteria	Hardwood Flooring	Laminate Flooring	Vinyl Flooring	Vitrified Tile Flooring	Engineered Wood Flooring	Marble Flooring	Granite Flooring
Scratch Resistant				✓	✓	✓
Stain Resistant		✓	✓	✓			✓
Moisture Resistant				✓	✓		✓
Water Resistant			✓	✓			✓
Expensive						✓	✓
Budget-friendly	✓	✓	✓		✓
Easily Maintainable		✓	✓		✓

Final Words

We hope this piece of content has given you a good idea about flooring options. Before you cherry-pick your favourite flooring material, make sure you consider your budget, family situation, kinds of room, and return on investment. In case, if you are in need of any assistance, be sure to tap on our interior design experts at ZAD interiors.

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