Flooring is the foundation of your home, and the type of flooring throughout your home not only makes a statement but determines how long your flooring will last. Whether it’s hardwood, vinyl or laminate, there are both pros and cons to each type of flooring. Today we’ll be talking about the different types of flooring and which one is best within your house.
Before we begin, what are the types of flooring that D&M Flooring offers? We offer types of flooring: hardwood, vinyl and laminate. Hardwood flooring is made from dicot trees, primarily found in tropical and temperate forests. Most hardwood is either made from deciduous or evergreen trees. Polyvinyl chloride, or vinyl flooring as we call it, is a synthetic flooring material that is durable, affordable and easy to install. There are two different types of vinyl flooring, but we’ll cover that in the later portion. The last option for installation is laminate flooring. Now you may think vinyl and laminate are the same, but there are a few key differences between the two. According to the people at thisoldhouse.com, they say;
“Most of the time, the base layer of vinyl sheets are made of fiberglass and coated with PVC vinyl and a plasticizer. Then, it’s embossed with a design and finished with layers of wear protection like no-wax polyurethane. Laminate, on the other hand, has a core made of wood byproducts. It’s then sealed with a resin.”
Now that you know all about the 3 flooring options we offer, how do you know which type of flooring is perfect for you? Ask yourself these three questions when deciding what flooring is right for your home:
- How much traffic (people walking, kids playing, dogs running) will there be on the floors
- What’s your budget?
- What’s the moisture and climate like in your area?
Got those questions answered? Let’s run through the pros and cons of each of the flooring types offered by D&M Flooring!
Hardwood
Hardwood is one of the most beautiful and durable flooring you can put in your home. Hardwood not only comes in many wood grains and types, but also the number of styles and sizes leave you with plenty of options. With hardwood there are a few things that need to be considered. In the question earlier, we asked how much traffic will there be on your floors. If you said high traffic (kids & dogs playing) you’ll need a harder type of wood like hickory, oak, maple and beech. If you’ll have low traffic in your home, a softer wood is the better choice. A few examples would be pine, spruce, fir and cedar! Oak is the most common wood used in hardwood floors as it looks beautiful in any light and matches most cabinets! One thing to note is that hardwood floors need to be refinished every 5-8 years to keep that brand new look and feel!
Vinyl (Vinyl sheet flooring vs Luxury Vinyl Tiles)
Vinyl flooring is a great option for those who are looking for flooring that’s budget friendly, water resistant, and easy to maintain! When choosing vinyl flooring there are two types to consider:
- VInyl Sheet Flooring
According to the people at Tarkett manufacturers they say that “Modern vinyl roll is a durable, practical and affordable flooring option that also offers an extraordinary choice of designs: from brilliant colors, playful abstracts and black and white, to perfect reproductions of natural materials such as wood and stone. Vinyl roll is a multi-layer vinyl with a printed top layer. It comes in large, continuous, flexible sheets, and there are usually very few if any seams when installed. Vinyl roll is therefore usually recommended in areas subject to moisture, such as the bathroom, kitchen and laundry.”
- Luxury Vinyl Tiles
The same people from Tarkett manufacturing say that “LVT, which stands for luxury vinyl tile, is a multi-layered, waterproof, resilient flooring available in either rigid or flexible vinyl tiles or planks. Similar to vinyl roll, LVT is a durable and practical flooring option that also offers a wide choice of designs and styles, from timeless and classic to trendy designs.”
Because it is a better, thicker product, luxury vinyl does feel softer on the feet and has better sound blocking than traditional vinyl flooring. Luxury vinyl flooring can also be installed over existing flooring whereas regular vinyl would need a new subfloor to install.
Now that we’ve covered vinyl, let’s move on to our last choice. Laminate!
Laminate
When looking at vinyl and laminate you may notice no difference. Truth is the differences are subtle but make a great impact in your home! Laminate and vinyl planks feature plastic design and wear layers. But vinyl planks also have plastic cores, while laminate cores are made from wood composites. If you’re looking for a floor that has better moisture control, we recommend vinyl flooring. However if you live in a low moisture zone and want more colors and designs to choose from, vinyl may work better for you. Our flooring experts here at D&M recommend using vinyl over laminate.
There you have it! We’ve provided some pros and cons for each of the flooring options that we at D&M Flooring offer. Thinking about putting new flooring in or have some questions about the types of flooring we provide? Click here to give us a call and we’ll be here to help with all of your flooring needs!
