No matter what room, or rooms, in your home you are thinking of renovating, flooring is going to be a huge factor. There are so many types of flooring available but not all floors will work equally well in all homes and all rooms. As a rule of thumb, you might want to know why interior decorators suggest that the best flooring to use in almost all situations is vinyl or laminate. Here are some reasons why.
1. Both Vinyl and Laminate Flooring Are Waterproof
If laid correctly, both vinyl tile floors and laminate flooring are waterproof. This means that spills and mini floods will be much less likely to seep through to the underflooring. Even if you don’t have children in the home, there is always a danger of spilling a drink from time to time or a mop bucket being kicked over in passing. This would not do well on a hardwood floor or a room with carpeting, which is why vinyl and laminate flooring is almost always preferable.
2. Easier to Keep Clean
If you’ve ever had a laminate floor you know how easy they are to keep clean. There are special soaps formulated specifically for mopping laminates but if you don’t happen to have any on hand, you can use a teaspoon of regular dish soap per 4 litres of warm water. It’s that easy! Imagine trying to clean a hardwood floor or shampoo a carpet! It’s much easier to keep even the nicest laminate flooring clean with products you have on hand and a whole lot less work involved.
3. Cost-Effective
Even the finest vinyl and laminate flooring is much less expensive than hardwood or carpet. They are also easier to lay, which would reduce the cost of labour if you are paying to have them installed. Most DIYers will do all the other renovations in a room but the flooring they leave to the pros. Cost is going to be a huge factor and some of the latest vinyl and laminates are hard to distinguish between an authentic hardwood floor and a vinyl or laminate faux wood floor.
4. Free from Allergens
There is nothing worse than a carpeted room during allergy season! All those dust mites that take up residence between the fibres wreak havoc on sufferers of dust-related allergies. Even those who don’t have allergies will sneeze a bit when vacuuming a dusty carpet. To see for yourself, the next time you are vacuuming a room, look at a ray of light coming in through the window and you’ll see all those bits of dust floating around. You won’t see that with vinyl or laminate, and this is one of the most common reasons why today’s homeowners forego carpeting in just about every room in the house.
5. Less Expensive Maintenance
Finally, the maintenance on laminate and tile floors is much less expensive than with hardwood or carpet. Hardwood needs to be sanded, buffed, and stained if a portion needs to be repaired while often the entire room needs to be re-carpeted if one area becomes worn or torn.
These are just 5 of the most common reasons for preferring vinyl or laminate to other types of flooring, but very good reasons why they should be your flooring of choice when undergoing a home renovation project.
