Having the freedom to make your home truly yours is one of the best things about owning your own place. While some landlords are happy for you to make changes, when you own the property, you make the decisions. The main areas which often change when you move into a property you own are the fixtures which have to be purpose-built and fitted such as the kitchen and bathroom, the wall colours and the floors. But what is the best flooring for family homes?
It’s crucial to get these decisions right as they can be expensive to re-do. This becomes even more important when you have a family to support. In this post, we’re going to focus on the best flooring for family homes and the different options available, with the pros and cons of the three main options, specifically when you have a family.
Carpet
In some areas of the home, it’s hard to beat some lovely carpet. In others, it can be the worst possible choice. There are several benefits to having carpet in your home.
Firstly, it’s a warm option, when compared with ceramic tile or traditional wood. This makes it great when it gets cold, particularly during those dark winter months first thing in the morning.
Secondly, a new carpet can fee lovely underfoot, and you’ll probably find yourself walking around barefoot to get a better feel of the carpet. If you have a young family with small children, a carpeted floor is one of the more comfortable options for them to play on.
Finally, carpet provides good sound insulation. If your home is an upstairs flat, having a carpet is a good way of reducing the noise for your downstairs neighbours. Even if you’re in a two-story house, having some carpet upstairs can reduce the sound of people walking around in the bedrooms upstairs for those relaxing downstairs.
There are, however, some significant drawbacks to carpet. The first and most notable is the cleaning and maintenance requirements. Carpets require vacuuming twice week. Furthermore, to clean a carpet properly, you need a specific carpet cleaning machine or steam cleaner. Top tip: Spares2You has a wide variety of parts for the latest Vax Steam Cleaners and Dyson Vacuums to help keep your flooring fresh.
Furthermore, if you do have a young family, spills and stains are common, so having a floor which is hard to clean thoroughly and can stain easily isn’t a great idea.
Lastly, there are some rooms which carpet is simply unsuitable for. The kitchen and bathroom are rooms where carpet should be avoided at all costs. Because they’re made with fabric, carpets are excellent at absorbing moisture and the by-products which come with that. In bathrooms and kitchens, there is often a lot of moisture either in the air with steam or coming into direct contact with the floor through a spill or wet feet. If carpets become damp, mould can easily grow and lead to other problems.
Vinyl flooring
While some may think that carpet offers the most choice when it comes to patterns and design, the range of options and flexibility of laying patterns with luxury vinyl flooring makes it just as versatile. One of the main benefits of vinyl flooring is the range of style options available. Without the drawbacks, you can get floors which look like wood or stone and create some really interesting and beautiful patterns which can enhance a room.
Secondly, vinyl flooring is highly durable while also being easy to clean and maintain. For young families, this makes it a great option and also a good choice for a wide range of rooms and areas of your home. Unlike carpet, vinyl is water-resistant, so works well in bathrooms and kitchens. Other flooring options, unlike vinyl, can become misshaped and need replacing when water damaged.
Also, because of its low maintenance requirements and the fact it’s easy to clean, vinyl is often installed in entranceways or hallways where foot traffic is high and sometimes muddy. Vinyl also works really well with underfloor heating to create a lovely warm and comfortable surface.
While vinyl isn’t as soft as carpet, it’s still softer than options like wood and stone. The only real issue with vinyl flooring comes if it gets damaged. Despite vinyl being durable and long-lasting, there can be accidents which cause damage such as cuts. If you do get a cut in the vinyl, you will need to replace the tile.
Wood
When it comes to the best flooring for family homes, wood floors are really traditional but still work well in modern homes. With the range of wood types you can use, along with a variety of patterns to install, there are numerous combinations to help reflect your style. The basic cleaning of wood floors is easy, and they can be kept looking good with regular sweeping and occasional cleaning.
One of the other key benefits with hardwood floors is the impact it can have on your home’s value. If and when you do come to sell your home, having Engineered Wood Flooring can be a great selling point and potentially add value, particularly if they have been well maintained.
However, there are some drawbacks to hardwood flooring. While it may add value to your home in the future, wood floors are costly to install initially. Also, while it’s always advisable to have a professional install your flooring to achieve the best results, with expensive wood flooring you really don’t want to be taking the risk of damaging the wood by installing it yourself. If the wood is damaged during installation, it could end up costing you even more money in the long run.
If you’d prefer an expert on hand, a professional team like Quicksand Flooring can offer a range of flooring services to make sure your installation goes smoothly. From careful restoration to ongoing maintenance, expert support will help your hardwood floorboards stay in beautiful condition for longer.’
The second major issue with hardwood is maintenance. To ensure the wood is always looking its best you should occasionally have the floors refinished by sanding them down and oiled. This is not only time consuming but expensive. Finally, hardwood, unlike carpet, can be noisy when walking across it, not only for you but any downstairs neighbours. To combat this, it’s often a good idea to put down a rug to help reduce the noise in high traffic areas.
Overall, choosing the right flooring option for your home, especially when you have a family to consider and the needs which come with that, can be tricky. We’re not going to say which option you should go for, but it’s important that you consider these three main options and work out which is best for you and your family, if you are looking to update your flooring.
What do you consider to be the best flooring for family homes?
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