Flooring Does your home's floor look like it's been run over by a heard of buffalo? Scratched and scuffed up parquet, yellowed and pealing linoleum? Well if you haven't looking at flooring for a while you'll be surprised at the wide assortement of flooring types you can install. Many of the new types are also surprisingly easy to install and are reasonably priced as well. Not that long ago if you wanted flooring you had a choice between hardwood, ceramic tile or linoleum. And most of those are still not bad choices, however you now have many more options. However, with all the choices it is easy to get confused, and harder to decide what's the best choice for your needs. In this article we're going to cover flooring in three steps. First, an outline of the more popular flooring products, with a brief overview of each. Then a quick overview of what flooring is generally recommended for specific rooms/purposes. Finally we'll finish off with a quick suggestion guide to help you get started. Types of Flooring As mentionned above, if you are shopping for flooring you have many many choices to choose from. So we'll start out by covering the most popular flooring choices and how they differ. Wood Flooring: Wood flooring has been around forever, and if properly maintained it can be a beautiful and long-lasting flooring solution. Wood flooring is available in many different sizes, colors and types. The most popular hardwoods include oak, beech, maple and birch. Bamboo is a recent addition to the hardwoods, but will be discussed further below. For the softwoods, the most popular ones are pine, fir and hemlock. In terms of different styles, wood flooring can come as parquet, strips or planks, and can be either unfinished or prefinished. Prefinished flooring is a lot less work to install, since neither sanding or finishing is needed, however, note that pre-finished wood flooring has grooves between boards. This are required to ensure proper fit of the pre-finished planks. To most people this is not a big deal, however, it is best to know about it, rather than being surprised later. Common installation methods include floating, glued-down or nailed-down. A floating installation is very flexible as it can be installed over existing flooring without the need of tearing it up. Cork: This flooring is made of the same material used to cork wine bottles, however, it is pressure treated when used for flooring. Cork flooring is softer than other wood flooring, and it is a better sound and heat insulator. However, cork is not very moisture tolerant, and not as durable as other hardwood floors, therefore it is not suitable for wet places like bathrooms or entrance halls. Cork is also interesting due to the look of it, the variety of texture to the material. Bamboo: This is a new hardwood material that is rapidly gaining popularity, not only because of its look and durability but also due to its environmentally friendly nature. Bamboo grows very fast, hence it takes 5 to 10 years to replace a harvested patch, instead of 80 for other trees. Like cork bamboo has a very insteresting appearance, with a lot of visible grain and character marks. Bamboo is naturally a yellowish color, but now it is available in a whole range of colors like the other hardwoods. Advantages: Wood flooring is cleaned and maintained easily. Although not as hard as laminate flooring, wood floors can be renewed if they get damaged over the years, at a fairly low cost. Wood is a natural insulator and stays warmer than a tile or linoleum floor A nice wood floor makes a very nice impact and can increase the value of the home Ceramic Tile: As with most flooring types ceramic tiles comes in literally thousands of styles and colors and can be adapted to any room. Tiles can be glazed or unglazed, with glazed tiles being generally more durable and moisture resistant. Although they are generally colder than other floor types, they are ideal for radiant floor heating due to their heat capacity, and stay warm for a long time. Another important consideration is that most tiles become very slippery when wet, so when looking for tiles for your bathroom or kitchen, keep that in mind, and look for low-slip tiles. Tile flooring also does not dampen sound, and can contribute to noisy environments. Installation is more complicated, as the subfloor must be very rigid and level, otherwise the tiles will crack. Tiles are then mortared to the subfloor and finally grouted. Doing this work yourself in a large or prominent room in the house is not recommended. Ceramic flooring is generally easy to clean and maintain with the only problem being grout in high moisture areas, where mold likes to grow if not kept in check. Ceramic tile flooring is not a cheap flooring solution, and there is a big range in quality of tiles so be wary of buying the cheapest ones you find. Advantages: cleaned and maintained easily, and do not trap dust. Very durable, suitable for high traffic areas Stain and moisture resistant Keeps appearance over time Laminate: This flooring is a highly-durable type of flooring, that is very easy to install. For these reasons it has been gaining popularity very rapidly since its introduction 10 years ago. Though it looks closely like wood flooring it is actually layered, pressurized fiberboard, that is made up of three layers: the backer core, the decorative layer, and the top wear layer. Laminate flooring can be extremely durable, but if it does get worn it needs to be replaced, you cannot refinish it like wood flooring. It comes in easy-to-connect strips (tongue-and-groove) and is installed as a floating floor. Advantages: Laminate floors are cleaned and maintained easily, and do not trap dust. Cost efficient Easy maintenance and installation Many different styles available, can simulate floors from hardwood to tile. Linoleum: These floors have been around forever (since the 20's). They are made from wood floor and linseed oil, and are therefore natural. Because of this fact, their color stays constant even if they are worn down 1/8 of an inch. They are resistant to moisture and easily cleaned as well. The cost is typically the same as higher priced vinyl sheets. Since these floors have been around for so long the linoleum look is sometimes considered old-fashioned, and these types of floors are generally reserved for bathrooms, kitchens and mudrooms. This type of flooring usually comes in sheets or tiles, that are glued down to the subfloor. The installation is fairly easy, but removal is a pain, and it is often easier to install a new floor overtop. The flooring is moderately durable, but due to its thickness irregularities in the subfloor will show through, and blisters, scratches, tears and holes can occur. Vinyl: Similar to lineleum, except that it is not natural but manufactured vinyl is an inexpensive and practical flooring alternative. It comes in very many styles and patterns but since it is not natural the pattern is only on top, and can be worn away. This is especially true for the cheaper versions. Advantages (Vinyl & Linoleum): Fairly easy to clean and maintain. Many different price ranges Many different styles and colors available. Carpet: Carpets are made from a variety of different materials, generally synthetic but also natural fibers. Common materials include acrylic, nylon polyester and rayon from the synthetics, and cotton, wool or silk from the naturals. Of course, natural material carpeting is much more expensive than the synthetics. Carpet is installed using tackless strips along the edge to hold it down. Pieces of carpet are attached together using seaming tape. Installation in large areas in not very easy as special tools are required to stretch the carpet and attach it to the tackless strips. Obviously carpet is harder to clean and more susceptible to damage from stains, spills and heavy traffic, hence it is most often used in bedrooms, and not recommended for kitchens or bathrooms. Carpet also traps dirt and dust, wich can be a problem for people with allergies or asthma. Advantages: Warm and soft. Good sound insulator Many different styles and colors available. As you can see there are very many different types of flooring avaialable and even within each category there are tons of choices for style, quality and material. The best way to choose the floor for your particular need is to walk-test as many floor types as possible and try to narrow down the choices. As an added decision making guide, below is a list of typical floor uses and alternatives. These are based on generally deployed uses, but you may always have something completely different in mind. Below we'll take a walk through a home and look at the types of flooring and characteristics for each room in a home. Floor that Room Entrances & Halls: These areas of your home get steady traffic, and lots of dirt and moisture, especially for the entrance and mudroom. Therefore stains and wear are more visible and occur more often. For these rooms you should look for sturdy materials, but ones that also match with the rest of the flooring in the house. Finally entrances should make an impression of your guests, since they are the first part of the home that your guest see! Suggestions: Ceramic tile is a good solution for these areas since they are very durable, easily cleaned and come in many different styles, and nice inlaid patterns can be created. Other alternatives include patters of hardwood parquet, or low-slip laminate flooring. Living Room: This room is the centerpiece of the home in many cases. Its functions also varies depending on the occasion and home, from family room to formal recieving room. The flooring should be moderately durable and match the room's decoration and function. Suggestions: Carpet comes in many styles that can be appropriate for both a formal or information setting as well as making a room feel warm and full.