Tips on Choosing Flooring Material for Your Home

There are the traditional materials: hardwood, stone, ceramic tile, which have been in use for centuries. More modern choices range from linoleum and vinyl flooring to the most recent trends such as laminates and engineered wood. And for those who are ecologically concerned, there are "green" choices: cork, and bamboo.

In this first module, I'll tell you about the first three of your options for choosing flooring.

Hardwood flooring is more expensive than most of the other options, but it providess the most elegant look for your home. It is available in a wide range of styles: reclaimed, pre-finished, unfinished, parquet, and planked.

Due to its extreme durability, stone flooring is a good choice for entryways and bathrooms. Limestone, soapstone, slate, and marble can be cut to be used as flooring, and there are "man-made" stones like concrete, brick, and terra cotta as well.

Ceramic flooring looks similar to stone, and can also take a lot of wear without losing its beauty. It is fairly easy to install and needs very little care, other than an occasional wet-mopping.

In future modules, I will cover the remaining six options. If you can't wait, then by all means go over to my website, cheap-flooring.net, where there is a lot more information to help you in choosing flooring for your home-decorating project.

The next two options for choosing flooring are more modern -- they're man-made materials -- but they've been around for some time. Their popularity continues, as they are low-cost, but durable choices for the home. And they're also widely used commercially for those same reasons.

To say that linoleum is modern is stretching it a little. It was invented in Scotland in 1845, and is made of linseed oil combined and solidified with wood or cork dust. It has many advantages that make it a viable choice even today as a flooring material.

Linoleum itself is environmentally friendly, but it can't be recycled because of the glue with which it is installed. It is durable, easy to clean, impervious to water, and comes in many sizes, shapes, textures, and a rich variety of colors.

Vinyl flooring was invented in the thirties, but didn't come into popular use until after the War. It is made of plastic that comes from petroleum. Layers of the vinyl are bonded together, and the pattern is then printed on top.

Although it is quite wear-resistant, and will remain beautiful for years if properly cared-for, vinyl doesn't last forever, and it doesn't increase the value of your home.

The next chapter in this series will discuss two more recent developments in flooring materials: engineered and laminate flooring. In the meantime, why not take a look at my website, cheap-flooring.net, for more help in choosing flooring for your home.

Two very popular options for choosing flooring that have been introduced in recent years, laminate flooring and engineered flooring, are both quite similar in their composition and properties.

Similarities:

• They are constructed of various layers that are bonded together for greater stability.



• Although a manmade material, both types of flooring can be made to look like real hardwood.



• They are both easier to install than other types of floors, so are naturally more appealing to people who want to do their own remodeling.



• Both types can be installed below grade or over pre-existing floors -- even over concrete -- as they are moisture-resistant.

Differences:

• The materials used in the two types of flooring are quite different. The layers used in the manufacture of an engineered floor are made of real wood, glued together in a cross-ply construction. Laminated floors are mostly fiberboard, compressed and impregnated with a tough plastic resin.



• The top layer of a laminated floor has a synthetic design, overlayed with a tough transparent material for protection. This means that laminates can be made to resemble just about any type of material -- even stone. Engineered floors, on the other hand, have a top layer of real wood, so they can be sanded and refinished to any desired specifications.



• Each type of floor is superlative in a different respect. Engineered floors have the most stable construction of any type of floor on the market. And laminated floors are the easiest to maintain once they are installed.

The concluding module will be about the ecologically correct choices: cork and bamboo flooring. Don't forget to drop in at cheap-flooring.net for more information on choosing flooring for your home remodeling project.