If you’re looking to upgrade your home, you might be considering new flooring. A new floor can quickly make your space look more aesthetically pleasing. Here are some things you should consider before you redo your floors.
Know Your Style for Your New Flooring
You’ll want to first decide what kind of floors and look you want. Is there a certain color or pattern you want to try? Consider the different floor textures you like such as sturdy hardwood, a plush carpet or sleek tile.
You will also want to consider your current furniture, appliances, and accessories. You’ll want to pick the flooring that compliments your existing space unless you want to do a complete remodel.
Consider Your Lifestyle
You will also want to consider how you use the room that you are installing new flooring in. How do you use that space?
For example, If you’re an avid cook you might want to skip tile which isn’t fun to stand on for long periods of time. If your kids leave water on the bathroom floor, you’ll want tile which can withstand water. For pets that track mud in your hallway, go for concrete.
Make sure your new floor not only looks good but can stand up to the daily wear and tear your family puts it through. Here are some flooring suggestions for specific rooms.
Kitchens
Most importantly, you want your kitchen floor to be durable and easy to clean. Go with either a ceramic tile, linoleum, or wood. All of these materials are common in a kitchen.
Linoleum is less expensive and gives you an easy to clean surface. Linoleum also comes in a range of designs.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms get a lot more moisture than kitchens. For your bathroom floor, you’ll want either limestone, marble, ceramic tile or granite. These materials are popular, functional and come in a range of different prices and need various levels of experience to install.
Living Areas
For your living areas like the living room, bedroom, and den, your floor choice is really up to you. Some people like tile in their living space, while others want wood, or carpet, or maybe all three.
Crunch the Numbers
Once you decided what type of new floor you want and where it’s going, you’ll want to figure out how much it’s going to cost. Figure out your budget by keeping in mind that in addition to the cost of your new floor, you may need to factor in underlayment, delivery, and installation.
You might also need to factor in the cost of removal and disposal of your old floor. And of course don’t forget about any additional materials you might need like stains, adhesives, and baseboards.
Square Footage Budget
You’ll also want to figure out what your budget is per square foot. If your budget is $2.00 or less then you will only find a bargain laminate flooring for this price. This kind of flooring won’t be glamorous but will have a wood-like appearance.
You will also find sheet and tile resilient flooring at this price range, as well as some gorgeous porcelain and ceramic tile. However, tile is labor-intensive to install, which you should also factor into your budget.
If you can afford more like $2.00 to $5.00 for square foot, then you’re in that sweet price range. Here you can afford some solid hardwood or engineered wood flooring. You can also get some more attractive laminates or high-quality luxury vinyl.
If you can afford $5.00 or more per square foot, then you can get some harder, more exotic hardwood like Brazilian cherry, mahogany, or the highest quality, premium laminate and luxury vinyl.
Other Factors to Consider With New Flooring
In addition to your budget, lifestyle, and decor, you will also want to consider the environment of the space your new floor is going.
For High Moisture Areas
If your floor is getting installed in a full bathroom, basement or another high moisture area, you will need a more water resistant floor. Consider ceramic, concrete, porcelain or vinyl tile.
Know that moisture isn’s a limiting factor, and all types of flooring can still be used. These materials will give your floor more durability.
For Pets or Children
If you have children, pets or other needs for durable floors, then you’re going to want a floor that has a lot of resistance. Some flooring might appear to be wear resistant but actually is not. Take site finished solid hardwood, for example, these floors can easily scratch.
Instead go for a ceramic or porcelain tile, plank vinyl, laminate flooring or even carpeting.
For Self Installation
Installing floors on your own can cut your cost of flooring in half. So if you are able, you might want to consider it. The easiest floors to self-install are laminate and plank vinyl.
This is because they are both floating floors, meaning they connect to an adjacent board instead of the subfloor. Porcelain and ceramic flooring, on the other hand, is not as easy to install without professional help.
You can always practice installing your floor with an out of the way room like a basement bathroom.
Also, know that wall to wall carpeting is hard to lay down perfectly flat if you’re doing it on your own. You’ll also want to engineered and or hardwood floors installed by a pro.
A lot of flooring retailers do not offer in-home installation but might have a list of local installers they trust. You can also check Angie’s list for floor installers or try this company.
Low Maintainance Flooring
If flooring that requires very little maintenance is your main focus, then you’ll want any type of resilient vinyl floorings like tile, sheet or plank.
Laminate floors are also easy to maintain, but it does need more attention when cleaning. You should only use a damp mop or Swifter on a laminate floor, as very wet mops can ruin the flooring.
Get Your New Flooring Today!
Now that you know what to consider for your new flooring, start updating your floor today. Consider budget, lifestyle, style and how your floor will be installed. Before you know it, you’ll have a new floor that you absolutely love.
Stay tuned to our blog for more flooring insights.
