Repair Our Home

When decorating or re-decorating a home, flooring is one of the most significant decisions to be made.  Flooring is one of the most costly facets of any decorating, re-decorating, and building project.  It is supposed to last a long time, so it’s vital to make good choices the first time around.  What are some available flooring options, and what are the pros and cons of those choices?  Keep reading for some valuable information which will help anyone in making smart choices about their floors. 

One highly preferred choice these days is hardwood flooring.  Hardwood is gorgeous and durable, lasting generations if it is’s properly cared for.  With a wide variety of styles and finishes, hardwood can be a perfect choice for just about any room.  On the negative side, it is pricey.  Exotic hardwoods are perhaps the costliest flooring selections on the market.  Installation is labor intensive, which adds to the already high cost.  In addition, hardwood must be properly cared for in order to be actually enjoyed as intended.  Moisture is the enemy of hardwood, and most hardwood flooring also must be refinished now and then.  It’s best to have a professional take care of this.

Adding to the expense of hardwood is the proven fact that most of the people use it together with area rugs.  However, this combination is a time-tested winner, for lots of reasons.  Area rugs provide the heat and comfort of carpet, which hardwood lacks, and they can be relatively inexpensive compared to carpeting an entire room.  Area rugs provide the opportunity to make a statement with flooring that carpet doesn’t allow, because they are smaller and can simply be changed.  Area rugs are quite helpful ; even in a carpeted room, they work to add color and define separate areas of the room such as conversation areas and TV areas, for example. 

In rooms where hardwood and carpet are not options,eg bathrooms and laundry rooms, a popular debate goes on between 2 choices, vinyl and ceramic tile.  Each has it’s positive and negative qualities.  Ceramic is dearer, but is also more durable.  Vinyl, while considerably less expensive, has a tendency to stain easily, and if not installed properly, it can roll at the sides, leaving a particularly disheveled appearance.  Ceramic can also feel very cold underfoot, particularly during winter.  Technology has come a good distance in making vinyl flooring look more like ceramic tile, and in a number of cases, the difference isn’t straight away conspicuous without a closer inspection. 

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