What Type of Flooring is the Best for Me?

Upgrading your flooring can add visual appeal and real value to a home, particularly in a classic Philadelphia home. What are the best options for upgrading your flooring? There are a lot of options to choose from, but how do you know which one is going to be right for your home? Let’s take a look at some of the things you should consider when you wish to upgrade your flooring.

What Room or Rooms are You Upgrading

Depending on the room whose flooring you are considering replacing, the types of flooring you have available will vary greatly. You wouldn’t want to have carpeting in the kitchen or the dining room, for example, because of the frequency of possible spills in such places. You also want to consider if the floor you are replacing is going to be near or adjoining an entryway to the outside. Areas that have the potential for water or snow to be tracked inside are going to naturally move you away from carpeting which retains moisture and filth in the worst way, to something like hardwood or tile that can be easily cleaned up. Choosing appropriate flooring for the room can help to ensure that the floor is going to last a long time.

What is Your Household Makeup?

Who lives in your home with you? Do you have small children, pets or elderly family members living with you? Take the inhabitants of your home into account when you are choosing what kind of flooring to buy.

Tile floors, with their uneven patters and irregular surfaces can be difficult for elderly residents to navigate with walkers or wheel chairs. Likewise large pets like dogs can really put a hardwood floor to the test. Their claws will dig into, for example, engineered hardwoods and scratch it up or even cause the seams to begin to peel. Children are going put a lot of wear on a floor, so something like a laminate or an engineered wood might be better in this case.

What is Your Maintenance Level?

Are you someone who is going to put in a lot of time maintaining a floor that requires it, or would you rather forget about the floor being there unless you have to sweep or mop up a mess. Different types of flooring require different levels of maintenance. Make sure to pick one that is going to match the level of commitment you are going to have to up keeping it. If you select a floor that is difficult to maintain but don’t have the time to do so, you may find yourself replacing it much sooner than you would like to.

Allergens and Asthma

Consider any allergies or respiratory problems that might exist in your family. Hardwoods are much easier on the lungs than carpeting that can hold in dirt, dust mites and pollens that can trigger allergies or asthma.

Are you in the market for a new floor? Click here to get free custom quotes from reputable flooring contractors in the Greater Philadelphia Area. You’ll receive upfront pricing without having to invite a contractor to your home!