Flooring 101: How To Pick the Right Type of Flooring For Your Home
How To Pick the Right Type of Flooring For Your Home
Do you think it is time for new floors and need some help picking the right one? Here is everything you need to know about picking the right type of flooring.
There will be much to consider while finding the perfect home or renovating your forever home. Flooring should be a top priority, as it can be a hassle to redo later and can set the tone for each room.
Choosing flooring may seem easy, but there is much to consider, including moisture, durability, costs, and aesthetics. Specific flooring types are better for certain environments and conditions. For example, concrete, ceramic porcelain, or vinyl tiles are best for a high-moisture environment.
Depending on your budget, some flooring types can be easily ruled out as an option. For example, if you can only pay $2.00 or less per square foot, you are limited to laminate flooring, sheet and tile resilient flooring, ceramic, and porcelain tile.
Typically, homeowners do not have the same type of flooring throughout the home. Particular flooring types are better for high-traffic areas like kitchens or types that can create a cozy vibe, like carpets. While you read over this article, ask yourself each question in order to find the perfect flooring for your home.
Keep reading to learn all about how to pick the best type of flooring for your home.
Chapters
1. Do I Need Pet or Child-Friendly Flooring?
If you have pets or children who may scratch or tear up the carpet, you will need more durable flooring. Some flooring may appear to be wear-resistant but is not.
Site-finished solid hardwood can be scratched easily; however, it can be sanded out. If you opt for these floors, remember that while it may be easy to fix, it will still take time and effort. Therefore, if you know your pets will frequently scratch the floors, this may not be the best option for you.
The most durable floor types are ceramic or porcelain tile, laminate flooring, plank vinyl flooring, or carpeting. Since hardwood floors are some of the most popular, they can show a lot of wear and tear. According to the National Association of Realtors, options like wood-look porcelain tile, which will look similar to hardwood but is much more durable, are also available.
Tile can be a good choice for high-traffic rooms such as kitchens. However, you should be careful because tiles can crack if something heavy is dropped on them. If durability is a main concern for you, then you should most likely stray away from hardwood or carpet in the most-used rooms.
2. What Is My Budget?
Similarly to buying a home, when searching for the correct type of flooring, you'll need to set your budget. Your budget may vary depending on whether you are redoing the entire home or just a few rooms. Also keep in mind that you may have to pay extra for removal and disposal of your previous flooring.
Typically, the price of flooring homes is determined by several factors:
- Material: Like any home renovation project, the type of material being used is the most significant factor in pricing. Synthetic materials are generally more affordable than natural materials. For instance, hardwood flooring costs between $6 and $25 per square foot, and linoleum costs between $3 and $12 per square foot.
- Labor: Labor costs are often double or even triple the cost of materials. With most home projects, you will want a skilled and trusted professional. The level of skill and knowledge required can vary depending on the project size. You should obtain quotes from several different flooring contractors to ensure you get the best deal.
- Size and Layout: The flooring price will be higher depending on your home's size or the number of rooms. Additionally, the overall cost may increase based on the complexity of the space. Open layouts are easier and cheaper to install than intricate layouts.
- Condition: The current condition of your floors may impact the price of installing new floors.
- Underlayment: An underlayment is a thin layer of material like fiber, felt, rubber, or foam that helps absorb sound and reduce wear on flooring. If you opt for this addition, the price will increase as underlayment costs between $30 and $50 per 100-square-foot roll.
- Additional Materials: Make sure you account for any other materials like baseboards, stains, or adhesives. These will vary depending on the type of flooring you choose.
According to HomeGuide, reflooring your home can cost between $2,000 and $7,500. Here is the average total cost for floor installation based on floor size (square feet):
| Floor Size (square feet) | Average Total Cost |
| 200 | $800 - $3,000 |
| 500 | $2,000 - $7,500 |
| 1,000 | $4,000 - $15,000 |
| 1,500 | $6,000 - $22,500 |
| 2,000 | $8,000 - $30,00 |
| 3,000 | $12,000 - $45,000 |
3. Who Will Be Installing the Flooring?
Depending on your skill level and knowledge, you may be able to install the flooring yourself, which would save you a lot of money. However, we recommend hiring a professional unless you know you can handle the job.
If you are new to floor installation, laminate and plank vinyl flooring are the easiest coverings to install independently and are readily available. Laminate panels fit together like puzzle pieces and do not require glue or grout. Vinyl is similar and comes in sheets, tiles, and planks for easy installation.
Engineered hardwood flooring is another type that can be completed without a professional. To install, you can nail it to a plywood subfloor, glue it to a concrete subfloor, or float it over a concrete or plywood subfloor.
Keep in mind that floor installation is a complicated process that will require special tools and knowledge. If you opt for professional help, be sure to check their reviews, experience, and qualifications and get quotes.
Apps like Angi are great tools for homeowners searching for local service providers. Here, you can easily browse local contractors and view their typical rates and reviews. If you are looking for solid hardwood, it should be installed by professionals.
4. Is This a High-Traffic Area?
While searching for the best type of flooring, you need to consider which room you are having redone. Certain types of flooring are best for open floor plans and high-traffic areas such as the kitchen or living room. Meanwhile, others are more high-maintenance and should be used in less-used rooms or covered by throw rugs and runners.
If the room is a high-traffic area, you'll need resilient, strong flooring to withstand much use. The most resilient flooring types include luxury vinyl, porcelain, waterproof hardwoods, and laminate. Porcelain tile is suitable for kitchens, bathrooms, and mudrooms because it is resistant to scratches, stains, and water.
Depending on your priorities, you may opt for more excellent flooring, which requires more maintenance. It takes great work to keep solid or engineered wood looking good.
Typically, bedrooms and dining rooms are relatively low-traffic areas, so durability might not be your top concern. In bedrooms, many homeowners would rather carpet over hardwood or vinyl. There are still types of carpet that are more durable than others; this is perfect if you are redoing your kid's room, which will be used often.
5. How Do I Want My Home To Look?
When building a home from scratch, redecorating, or simply updating a condo or single-family home, there will be many design choices to make. The most important thing is to know your style. This includes your favorite colors or patterns, the best floor textures, and more.
It is equally important to consider how you use the room. If you like to host parties in a room like the living room or kitchen, ensure it is a space you are proud of. Consider your lifestyle. Do you enjoy hosting parties with a lot of people? Or do you have multiple small children who need durable flooring?
If you know the basic type of flooring you want, for example, hardwood, you will still have other choices to make. These include the finish, colors, wood species, board widths, and colors.
Consider how much you care about aesthetics versus durability. This will set you on track to finding the perfect flooring for each room in your home. Here are a couple of different options depending on your personal style:
- Natural Look: Solid hardwood, stone, or engineered wood.
- Modern Look: Laminate, luxury vinyl plank, or tile.
- Cozy Look: Carpet or rugs.
Before buying the flooring, visit a flooring store to see the samples in person. You can even bring the samples home to see how they would look in your space. At home, you can compare different samples with the overall design of your home. We also recommend getting professional advice from a flooring specialist. They can tell you which types of floors are best for your budget and home.
Methodology
We used information and data from several different sources, as well as our own data, to determine everything you need to know about how to pick the best flooring for your home. Most of the data was sourced from the following sources:
- HGTV
- National Association of Realtors
- HomeGuide
FAQ: How To Pick the Right Type of Flooring For Your Home
Here are some commonly asked questions about picking the right type of flooring for your home.
What is the best flooring for a residential home?
For a residential home, the flooring should be durable and moisture-resistant, like ceramic tile, vinyl plank, linoleum, or hardwood. Most homes have different flooring types throughout the home, such as waterproof tile in the bathroom, carpeting in bedrooms, and hardwood in the kitchen.
What is the best flooring for a house value?
Typically, the most expensive flooring yields the highest returns and appeals to the most homebuyers. Hardwood is the most popular, followed by engineered hardwood and tile.
What is the most popular flooring in homes today?
According to HGTV, carpet remains homes' most popular flooring choice, accounting for more than 60% of retail flooring sales. Most of which are more fashion-oriented options with exciting patterns, designs, colors, materials, and cuts.
What type of flooring lasts the longest?
For high-traffic areas in your home, hardwood, ceramic tile, porcelain tile, natural stone, and bamboo flooring are your best options. All are durable but attractive flooring choices for the most used rooms in your home.
What is the new floor trend?
Today's homeowners are leaning towards warm tile tones. Inviting shades of cream, beige, and lighter wood-effect tones are becoming popular. This trend can be used with ceramic, porcelain, or natural stone tile.
How To Pick the Right Type of Flooring - The Bottom Line
Picking the right flooring for your home will impact both the functionality and aesthetics of the space. Each room is different, so it is imperative to consider how it is used and how often. These factors will help you narrow down your choices and find the perfect fit.
While looking for a new type of flooring, we recommend taking your time exploring the samples. This is the easiest way to envision how the new floors will impact the home. Always keep in mind that this is your home, meaning all that matters is that you love it.
When it comes time to sell, the type of floor you have can impact the home's value. This means you may be able to sell it for more than you bought it for after redoing the flooring.
Raleigh, NC, is a great option if you are considering a new start. Feel free to contact one of our helpful real estate specialists, as they are eager to help you find the perfect location. We know that investing can be overwhelming, but a real estate agent can walk you through the entire process.
Ryan Fitzgerald
Hi there! Nice to 'meet' you and thanks for visiting our Raleigh Real Estate Blog! My name is Ryan Fitzgerald, and I'm a REALTOR® in Raleigh-Durham, NC, the owner of Raleigh Realty. I work alongside some of the best Realtors in Raleigh. You can find more of my real estate content on Forbes, Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and more. Realtor Magazine named me a top 30 under 30 Realtor in the country (it was a long time ago haha). Any way, that's enough about me. I'd love to learn more about you if you'd like to connect with me on Facebook and Instagram or connect with our team at Raleigh Realty. Looking forward to connecting!
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