How to choose your new floor and what to consider…
Firstly you need figure out what floor is going to be best for you and find the colour, quality, finish and price that is perfect for you.
When choosing a new floor, we need to decide if we need wooden, laminate or a luxury vinyl tile flooring and this is all depending on footfall/traffic, conditions of the room and not to forget personal preference. If we can narrow down which floor to go with then we can then choose our final product.
We will start with with listing the properties of each floor, take note and see which floor best benefits you.
- Suitable for:Everywhere in home excluding areas prone to intense heat, cold and moisture.
- Installation: Nailed to a wooden sub floor or full bonded
- Sub floor preparation: Checking of R/H levels, Damp Proofing, Leveling and Priming
- Advantages of a solid wood floor: Can be sanded many times, Re-oiled & Re-stained. Ages & distresses with time
- Disadvantages of a solid wood floor: Installation can be costly and timely, Solid Wood can dent and mark.
- Suitable for: Everywhere in home excluding areas prone to intense heat, cold and moisture.
- Installation: Nailed to a wooden sub floor, fully bonded, Floated on underlay
- Sub floor preparation: Checking of R/H levels, Damp Proofing, Screeding and Priming
- Advantages of a engineered wood floor: Can be sanded many times, Re-oiled & Re-stained. Ages & distresses with time, No need for glues or dpms if using a click engineered and underlay.
- Disadvantages of an engineered wood floor: Most engineered can only be sanded upto approx 6 times in their life time, Engineered wood floor still dents and scratches easily.
- Suitable for: Lounge, Bedroom, Hallway, Kitchen, Dining Room, Conservatory, Utility (Always check with manufacturer) (Water proof laminate available)
- Installation: Floated on an underlay
- Sub floor preparation: Checking of R/H levels
- Advantages of a laminate floor: Floated on an underlay, click systems save time during installation, Hard wearing and clean.
- Disadvantages of a laminate floor: Can be cold underfoot and produce a tapping sound.
- Suitable for: Lounge, Bedroom, Hallway, Kitchen, Dining Room, Bathroom, Utility (Always check with manufacturer)
- Installation: Floated on an underlay or Fully bond to the floor
- Sub floor preparation: Checking of R/H levels, Leveling, priming, Ply boarding.
- Advantages of a LVT floor: Floated on an underlay, click systems save time during installation, Hard wearing and clean, can be fully bonded..
- Disadvantages of a luxury vinyl tile floor: Can be cold underfoot and produce a tapping sound if not fully bonded.
Now we know the pros and cons of the floors we can decide what floor is going where.
The key things to remember are;
- Is the area a high traffic area?
- Is the area prone to moisture?
- Is the area prone to intense heat or extreme colds
- Do you like the aged & distressed look
- Do you have the time and funds to install a fully bond floor
- Does your fitter have the key skills to deliver (Fitting a solid wood floor takes years of experience)
With that in mind you should now have a good idea of what products are suitable for what areas, below is a quick re-cap.
The luxury vinyl tile is perfect for bathrooms due to its waterproof and hard wearing qualities.
Laminate flooring is ideal choice the hallway/bedroom/lounge due to the hard wearing ratings they posses.
Solid & Engineered wood floors are the warm and cosy choice for the lounge. Aging with the family and becoming part of the house for years to come.
Have we now decided which floor is going where? (Ill take the nod at the PC screen/Tablet/Mobile to mean yes!)
So, now, how do we pick which Colour? Size? Texture? Finish? Stain? Unfortunately there’s only one answer to that question, By looking! Order samples and feel and see the boards, do they work with your current interior? are they scratch resistant enough for you? Does your family agree?
I hope we have helped in some sort of way.
The FlooringVillage Team.