Your choice of flooring is very important to get right the first time around when remodeling your home. The wrong material in the wrong setting can result in a ruined floor. Other factors to take into consideration when deciding on your flooring include: cost, installation difficulty, required maintenance, and durability. Find out more information about our flooring installation and repair services.

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How to Choose Flooring

Several factors will guide you in making a decision on your flooring. Consider:

• Budget: Material cost and installation cost or cost of tools if installing yourself.
• Time: How difficult is a given material to install, and how long will it take?
• Durability: Children and pets can destroy certain types of flooring in no time at all, make sure you plan ahead.
• Room Setup: Where is the flooring going? What is the subfloor material? Is the subfloor flat? Is moisture an issue?
• Style: What do you like? There are options for everyone these days, just find what you like the best and go from there.
• Future Return: Flooring is usually a large factor in the price of a home. Higher quality usually means a better return, but not always.

Flooring Material Types

There are several common flooring materials used in residential homes, from stick on laminate to solid stone tile. Use the guide below to better understand your home flooring options.

1. Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood has long been a top choice for home flooring, mainly for its appearance, but also its longevity and variety.

Hardwood Flooring Pros:

• Very appealing, both visually and feel under your feet
• Tons of variety. Wood species, plank width, grain pattern, finishing options
• Can be refinished many times (3-6 usually), depending on the thickness of the original board

Hardwood Flooring Cons:

• Often more expensive than other flooring options
• Harder install than some other flooring, like vinyl or laminate.
• Can develop scratches and dents over time
• Not waterproof, hardwood floors can be ruined from moisture

2. Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring offers more versatility than most other types of flooring. There are several pros and cons to consider.

Laminate Flooring Pros:

• Relatively cheap
• Easy to install
• Durable
• Even more variety than hardwood, can be made to look like tile and other flooring.

Laminate Flooring Cons:

• Usually prone to moisture damage. *Some laminate flooring brands now claim their product is waterproof.
• Can be difficult to repair if something does manage to damage it
• Because of the moisture concern, usually not advised for use in kitchens or bathrooms

3. Vinyl Plank Flooring

Vinyl plank or luxury vinyl plank (LVP) is similar to laminate flooring. The biggest difference is vinyl’s water resistance.

Vinyl Plank Flooring Pros:

• Similar price to laminate
• Easy to install
• Easy to maintain
• Durable
• Similar variety to laminate
• Water exposure will hurt vinyl

Vinyl Plank Flooring Cons:

• Doesn’t feel as nice on your feet as hardwood, slightly colder.

4. Ceramic or Porcelain Tile Flooring

Most common in bathrooms and kitchens, ceramic or porcelain tile are both great options for these and other areas.

Tile Pros:

• Thousands of different designs and varieties
• Durable
• Ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, and entryways
• Waterproof

Tile Cons:

• One of the more expensive options on the list
• Difficult to install, adding to cost
• Can chip and scratch. Every floor can be damaged though, this could usually be repaired or replaced

5. Natural Stone Tile Flooring

Natural stone is arguably the most expensive and labor intensive flooring option, but also arguably the most durable and beautiful option there is.

Natural Stone Pros:

• Very durable
• Large variety
• Good natural insulator
• Good if you have kids and/or pets
• Very visually appealing

Natural Stone Cons:

• Very expensive
• Difficult and expensive to install
• Some stone tile is porous and will allow water to travel through it
• Repairs can be difficult and expensive if required

6. Carpet

Carpet has long been a favorite for many people. It is best suited for bedrooms, but can be used in a variety of places (even bathrooms if you are nuts)

Carpet Pros:

• Soft and warm on your feet
• Variety of colors and designs
• Cost-effective
• Good soundproofing

Carpet Cons:

• Requires more maintenance than other flooring types
• Can absorb smells and stain
• Not great with pets, depending on the situation
• Not good in wet areas like kitchens or bathrooms (it has been done though)

Other Flooring Types

There are a number of other less common options I did not touch on above. The most common of these would be stick on vinyl or linoleum. This is a cheap option, that generally doesn’t look great, but is very durable. I am not going to get much into the alternative flooring options, but some of these are: bamboo, cork, poured rubber material, marmoleum, and I am sure there are others I don’t know of.

Flooring Options Compared

Depending on your situation, some types of flooring may not be practical.

The Most Durable

• Vinyl plank
• Porcelain tile
• Vinyl sheet
• Hardwood

Best Whole House Flooring Option

Commonly there will be more than one type of flooring in a house. If you are going to use the same thing everywhere then your best bet would probably be vinyl plank, hardwood or tile.

Best Flooring for Cats, Dogs or Other Pets

Ideally with pets you want a non-slip, waterproof, scratch resistant option. Solid stone or porcelain tile is ideal for pets, but vinyl plank is another good option. Depending on the size of the dog, they can gouge hardwood flooring

Best DIY Flooring

Generally a floating floor is among easiest to install. The best option for this is vinyl plank or a floating engineered hardwood.

Easiest to Install and Maintain

Vinyl plank or sheet. All you need to do is sweep and mop.

Cheapest Flooring

Stick on vinyl sheet, or carpet are generally the cheapest options, running lower than $1 per square foot for material.

Most Visually Appealing

This is really all based on what you like, but hardwood and natural stone are widely regarded as the prettiest options.

Fire Resistance

The only thing that isn’t going to burn super easily is concrete, stone or porcelain tile. Most other flooring options have no chance against sustained high temperatures.

Best Flooring Option for Soundproofing

Cork or carpet are your best options. Cork can also be used as an underlayment between the subfloor and flooring material for additional sound dampening.

Best For Kids

I would consider vinyl plank the best option for small children, but carpet is another good option if you get carpet that is stain resistant.

Flooring Options for Radiant Heat

• Natural stone tile
• Ceramic or porcelain tile
• Laminate/vinyl plank
• Engineered hardwood

Best for Resale Value

You really can’t go wrong with installing quality hardwood or tile in your home, if you are concerned about the potential resale value.

Flooring Options by Room

Living Room

Hardwood or carpet are the best options for the living room, vinyl plank is another that you could possibly consider

Bathroom

Moisture will be a problem, so tile or vinyl plank/stick on vinyl will be your best options.

Kitchen

Similar to bathrooms, tile or vinyl is best, but you may get away with hardwood, or engineered hardwood.

Entryway

High traffic areas such as entryways call for something super durable, tile or vinyl plank/stick on are the best choices here

Hallways and Stairs

Hardwood or carpet are most common on stairs and in hallways, but mix it up if you want, anything really can go there as long as it isn’t very slippery

Bedrooms

Generally carpet offers the best feel on your feet of any other flooring, it is also a decent sound dampener making it good in second story bedrooms

Basement

Engineered hardwood, tile, and vinyl plank are all great options for the basement. The main thing to consider is what types of flooring you can put directly on top of concrete. Anything that will not be affected by water should be fine for this.

Garages

Concrete is easily the best flooring for garages. There are different finishing options for concrete such as epoxy coating.