What do you want for your floor?

Floor type can be one of the important factors to determine the value of a home. After all, the total area of the floor is generally the total living area (well...not for spider man, who can even rest "on" ceiling...). Since the floor is like the skin of a home (interior), the texture and the color do matter. Well....The walls are also like the skin of a home, as you may argue, but it's rather easy to change the color and generally people don't want to do too much other than painting....  If you want to buy a home of 1000 square feet but you want to change the floor type to hardwood floor, you will have to pay roughly 4500 CAD (just for the floor material)  + labor fee in additional to the asking price, considering an average material price of 4.5 per square feet. So, it's an expense that you can't ignore. So, knowing the differences between different floor types would be important to determine what you want for your home. Therefore, I tried to make a brief summary showing respective properties based on information collected from reference websites.



1. Carpet
Carpet flooring is one of the most popular flooring type. It's easy to install, and there are a lot of colors and patterns to choose. You could easily make your home stylus or luxurious without spending too much when using carpets. However, the maintenance and cleaning of carpets can be difficult some times. Therefore, the life span of carpets is usually short. On the other hand, carpet flooring may be a good and economical choice for people who want to change the theme of the home frequently. The quality of carpets depends on the density of fiber. The higher, the better. Carpet padding can also be used to extend the life span of carpet.

One major disadvantage of carpeting is that it can easily accumulate dust, termite, bacteria and other pollutants to affect people's health. Carpets need to be cleaned weekly with high-quality vacuums, and the cleaning process should extract as much water as quickly as possible, enabling the carpet to be totally dry in a few hours.

2.Hardwood flooring
Hardwood flooring used to be very common, but it became less common nowadays due to the relatively high cost for the material. There are two common types of hardwood flooring: plank or parquet tile. Parquet type is generally cheaper and easier to fix than the plank type. Therefore, it's quite common to see parquet flooring in rental apartments or houses. You may have also heard "engineered hardwood." Engineered hardwood flooring is composed of several layers of wood in the form of plank. Engineered hardwood flooring can be more expensive than traditional solid hardwood flooring since engineered hardwood flooring is easier to install and it can be used in many occasions that traditional hardwood flooring can't be applied.

Hardwood flooring is easily scratched when small stones or grits rub against the floor due to traffic. Regular cleaning with vacuums is a must. Also, hardwood flooring is susceptible to damage from water. Wipe the floors only minimally with a damp cloth, as constant dampness will eventually discolour the floor. Also, too much sun light exposure may cause discoloration.



3.Laminated flooring
Laminated flooring consists of several thin outer layers of paper or wood and usually a core layer of resilient foam. Laminated flooring is easy to install and maintain. Compared to hardwood flooring, it is rather resistant to scratching and denting. but it still has a look of "hardwood flooring." Laminated flooring is not recommended in damp area, such as bathroom, since it swells when getting moisturized. Unlike hardwood floor, laminated flooring can't be refinished when the finishing is damaged. It will need a replacement.


4.Ceramic flooring
Ceramic flooring is generally more durable than the previous types of flooring at a higher initial cost of labor. There are a wide varieties of colors and patterns to choose. Ceramic flooring is resistant to moisture, stains and heavy traffic. It is also recommended to use ceramic flooring when radiant floor heating is used. However, ceramic flooring is not good for long-term standing and it can be very slippery when it gets wet. Also, since ceramic flooring does not dampen sound, it may sometimes contribute a noisy environment. The other common issue is that it's generally hard to find tiles with identical pattern in the future when you want to replace a broken tile. It is suggested to keep spare tiles when installing the ceramaic flooring.

5.Marble and granite flooring
Marble and granite are the most luxurious and expensive material for flooring. They can generate a feeling of elegance to your home. They are much harder than other materials and more resistant to damage than all other types of flooring. On the other hand, due to its hardness, even the toughest glass can shatter easily when you accidentally drop it on the floor, which may cause some danger to you. The marble and granite flooring is generally "cold," which you probably want to avoid direct contact in winter. Although marble and granite flooring is generally very sturdy, it is very difficult to fix once there is a damage.

Hope this brief summary can give you some basic ideas.


Reference website:
http://192.197.69.107/en/co/renoho/refash/refash_008.cfm
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5267322_types-floor-finishes.html
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/how-many-type-of-floor-material-and-how-to-use-them-427817.html
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/typesoffloor
http://www.onlinetips.org/marble-pros-cons