Flooring is crucial, whether you are creating a new house or remodeling an existing one. Making the proper flooring choices is crucial to completing the look of your room, as they offer you everyday value. The floor is permanent and cannot be easily replaced, although furniture and other indoor decorations can be easily added or removed.
Make sure you know the pros and cons of healthy home flooring to choose the ideal option for your house. Moreover, while choosing flooring material for your facility, you should pay special attention to maintenance because it contributes significantly to the overall material and installation costs. It’s necessary to use cautions when choosing the healthy home flooring type— an affordable, simple-to-install material could be challenging to maintain, whereas a costly, maybe easy to sustain.
Here are all the pros, cons, and maintenance you should know about the most popular types of floorings: hardwood, laminate, marble, stone, vinyl, carpet, and tile.
Hardwood
Advantages: It contains a variety of colors and styles. It is adaptable, and adds value to the property. Moreover, it is simple to clean and maintain.
Disadvantages: It is the most expensive to install. Plus, it is not long-lasting. It can also not withstand moisture and walking on it can be noisy.
Maintenance: The best way to clean your floors is to sweep or vacuum them daily. A small amount of cleaning each day helps to prevent significant accumulations of dirt, dust, or liquid on your floors. Your daily hardwood floor cleaner should be a microfiber dust mop. Softer rubber or smooth plastic-coated wheels on hardwood floor vacuums prevent scuffing and scratching.
Laminate
Advantages: It has the benefit of simple installation and affordability, durability, and easy maintenance. A broad range of styles makes it a good choice for your home.
Disadvantages: It is unable to restore its material with a short lifespan. It contains hazardous chemical substances and can be damaged by humidity. It has installation challenges.
Maintenance: Laminate flooring is simple to maintain and requires no special cleaning agents. Laminate floors should be cleaned at least once a week with a vacuum cleaner and a special detergent on a soft piece of cloth. When water penetrates the joints, it can cause damage to the surface, including swelling, bending, or warping of the boards.
Marble
Advantages: It has unique Styles and natural material which is radiant with heat.
Disadvantages: Due to the challenge of installation, it is very costly to afford repair cost.
Maintenance: Spills must be removed as soon as possible, particularly acidic spillages like tomatoes. Use a rug or runner in high-traffic areas. Water stains are difficult to remove, so avoid leaving water on surfaces for an extended period of time.
Stone
Advantages: Every stone floor is unique and highly long-lasting. It is very simple to keep clean, is sustainable and above all it increase the property value.
Disadvantages: It is prone to water damage and is highly porous. It readily absorbs stain marks. Time-consuming installation is a negative point plus it is very expensive.
Maintenance: Nonslip mats or area rugs are used to protect floor surfaces. Coasters, trivets, or placemats should be used to protect countertop surfaces. Surfaces should be cleaned with a mild detergent or stone soap. Due to its porous nature, natural stone should be sealed with a high-quality sealant.
Vinyl
Advantages: This type of flooring is simple to install, cost-effective, durable, and resilient. A wide range of finishes gives a complete look to the floor.
Disadvantages: Repairs are not possible. Negative impacts come on home resale value. In addition, removal is difficult, mainly if the adhesive is used during installation. It is not environmentally friendly and difficult to recycle.
Maintenance: Do not allow spills to dry on the floor. To avoid damage, wipe up spills as soon as they occur. Use a vacuum with the beater bar turned off. To remove stains from vinyl floors, do not use steel wool. When moving, avoid dragging heavy furniture across the floor.
Carpet
Advantages: They are warm and soft. Plus, they are reasonably priced with a large variety of colors and styles available. It provides insulation and easiness to clean.
Disadvantages: Flattening and hardening may occur. Mold can grow in areas with a lot of moisture. Large spills are absorbed into the pads beneath. Carpet needs professional cleaning. Hold odors and bacteria.
Maintenance: Vacuuming should be done weekly. Immediately address spills. If furniture-related dents are present, they need to be removed.
Tile
Advantages: Useful for all-purpose products, is available in a variety of price ranges. They are water-resistant, and easier to install.
Disadvantages: They are remarkably challenging to replace, not appropriate for high-traffic areas, prone to slipping, and can easily be broken.
Maintenance: Regular vacuuming or dust mopping seals the grout. Make an effort to get into the corners where dirt accumulates—once or twice a week as needed. Dip a rag or chamois mop into the solution instead of a sponge mop. Squeeze out any excess acid or bleach.