How to Choose the Right Type of Flooring

Whether you are thinking about replacing a floor in an existing home or about flooring a new home, there are many decisions to be made. There are many types of flooring on the market. When used in the right setting, any one may be the right choice.

If hardwood flooring is the best choice for your room, consider the fact that mahogany, cherry, teak, even walnut hardwood have all come into play along with traditional oak or maple. Wood gives a softness to any room and is a popular choice. There have been innovations in wood flooring that allow it to be installed very quickly. Some of the more "outside the box" colors of wood are gray and white.

Bamboo is becoming very popular as flooring for the right room. Choosing a woven bamboo floor will make upkeep and care easy and it will resist moisture.

If you have an aversion to noise, carpet may be your first choice. So many different textures, types of yarns, colors, patterns, and whether you prefer looped or not make the choice almost overwhelming. Some of the trendy colors today are country rose, fiery red, soothing green, modern gray and indigo blue.

Tile and stone are both pretty and practical. A tile installer can make the area beautiful as well as practical by laying the floor with geometric designs and even colored grout. Tile will resist stains and scratching and will be easy to clean.

Perhaps your budget won't let you choose hardwood or tile. Your choice could be a laminate that can have the appearance of either hardwood or tile and is lower in cost. This flooring is ideal if you have a floor subject to high traffic or one used frequently by children and pets. It resists scratches and stains and will look like new for years to come.

Another less expensive choice may be vinyl wood flooring. To anyone not trained to notice the difference, this flooring may actually look like the real thing without the expense. Vinyl wood flooring is also fairly easy to install and only takes adhesives that can be purchased at a home center or hardware store. There is no need to gather a list of specialty tools when installing this flooring.

Maybe you have thought that only bulletin boards were made of cork but it makes a good flooring also. It comes in a wide variety of colors, shades, textures and patterns such as marble. Walking on cork is easier on your feet, easier on dropped dishes, and easier on the environment. It is made from the bark of the cork oak tree. These trees are not cut down and stripping the bark does not kill the tree. Bark starts to grow back immediately and can be harvested again after about nine years. Another advantage to cork is that it is naturally fire retardant.

One of the most important decisions you can make at the very outset is to consult with an interior designer. A good designer will not impose personal ideas and tastes on you. The goal is a final product that will be flexible and functional and will satisfy you.