Home Flooring Ideas that will Add the ‘Wow’ Factor

Planning a home renovation?

Why not give your home a glamorous look this time, and make it world’s best place to live in. All you need is the right flooring, as it is the key to enhance the appearance of any house. It can make a room look larger or smaller, elegant or funky, vintage or ultra modern, or anything that you desire it to be. However, beyond the style and looks, choice of floorings has other considerations too, including, their performance factors, durability, cost factor, and your lifestyle etc.

So, before you just pick a style and opt for the flooring according to that, have a look at our top 5 flooring options with their advantages and disadvantages.

Hardwood Flooring

Use of hardwood floors really gives you the sense of being close to the nature, and that is the foremost reason for one to consider hardwood flooring. The natural looks and warmth underneath your feet, make it timeless and most attractive choice among all the other floorings options for home.

Since ancient times, original hardwood floors have always been the first choice of traditional homes in Australia,. However, higher cost can be a factor to distract any builder away from it, more towards the artificial wood look-like options. Further, the original wood flooring is losing its popularity due to deforestation concerns as well.

However, if you are a hardwood floor admirer and don’t want to go on the wrong side of nature, you can exercise another viable option that's available. Reclaimed wood is the ideal solution for the eco-friendly hardwood flooring, as it re-uses the existing wood from the old trees which were chopped down a really long time ago. So, you can still make your traditional home or beach house look as beautiful as you want, with the salvaged wood.

Pros

• Extremely durable and can be sanded and refinished many times over the period of their lifetime
• Sturdy, very easy to clean, and wear resistant
• Earthy yet classic looks

Cons

• High cost and labour intensive to install
• Might shrink or expand according to the seasonal temperature
• Does not retain heat or damper sound

Laminate Flooring

If you are working with a strict budget for your flooring plan, you can always go in for laminate flooring, and achieve a hardwood or stone appearance. Over the past few years, the laminate flooring has emerged as a strong alternative of traditional flooring.

Laminate flooring is made of multi-layers of synthetic material that is fused together with a lamination technique. The biggest advantage of such flooring is that it can simulate almost everything you want, including, wood, stone, pictures, and nowadays 3D arts too.

Pros

• Low cost, easy and quick to install
• Huge range of variety to opt for
• Durable and easy to maintain
• Water resistant
• Burn, scratches, and chipping resistance surface
• Simple and easy to replace without damaging the existing floor

Cons

• Difficult to repair, and can get scratched off easily
• Hard, slippery, and does not absorb sound

Vinyl Flooring

Similar to the laminate flooring, the vinyl flooring also offers a variety of looks, from natural wood to stone flooring. This is synthetic polymer flooring with added pigmentations for coloring. Unlike any other artificial flooring options, this one offers your a fairly soft platform underneath your feet and does not fade quickly.

Pros

• Very low cost and easy to install
• Durable, flexible, and the texture would last long
• Easy to clean and maintain
• Water resistant

Cons

• It is an artificial flooring made of synthetic polymer, which can emit volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) into the air, over a period of time
• Too soft to resist scratches, and chipping
• Hard to repair once it is gauged

Bamboo Flooring

The eco-friendly flooring solution is now becoming one of the strongest competitors of the traditional hardwood flooring. The natural texture, durability, and elegant looks, with a variety of colors ranging from honey brown to light tan, make this flooring stand out of the crowd.

If you are looking for greener, yet classy solution for your home, bamboo flooring could be the best choice. The flooring can help you achieve the traditional wooden appearance with a strong surface.
 

Pros

• Fast growing and eco-friendly flooring solution
• Cost efficient and easy to install
• Hypoallergenic: Does not trigger any kind of allergies
• Remarkably durable, easy to maintain and clean
• Doesn’t scuff or scratch

Cons

• The color texture may be affected over the time or due to sun exposure
• Susceptible to water damage
• Comparatively thinner than hardwood flooring

Cork Flooring

Cork flooring is the latest trend in the market. This is a great eco-friendly solution for nature lovers, who want to have a natural appearance inside their home but at the price of chopped down trees. Cork is harvested from the bark of the cork oak trees (largely found in the Mediterranean forests). Tree aren’t cut down in the process of harvesting the barks, and these barks usually grow back in 2 - 3 years.

The cork flooring is highly sustainable solution for your home that would give your house a natural earthy yet elegant look.

Pros

• Highly sustainable, and eco-friendly
• Durable and can last approx. 30 years
• Heat and sound insulation
• “Springs -back” from wear and tears
• Stain and mildew resistant
• Natural insect repellent
• Anti-microbial properties that reduce allergens
• Anti-bacterial

Cons

• Hard to refinish
• Can absorb water if not properly finished
• More expensive than other flooring options in the market

While all the flooring will have pros and cons associated with them, it is really your preferences that define what would be the ‘perfect’ flooring for your home. If you are looking for more options, do check out ProjectLink’s complete list flooring material, with 18 unique options, including, bamboo, carpet, stone and floorboards. So, go on, listen to your instincts, and pick the perfect flooring that would assign that unique appearance to your home.

Source: https://www.projectlink.com.au/blog/home-flooring-ideas/