Regarding home decoration, flooring is a critical step that can impact the aesthetic and functionality of living space in a house. Selecting suitable flooring designs and types can be daunting, with many options available. Fortunately, this detailed and concise guide will walk you through choosing the best flooring for your home. From aesthetics, durability, and maintenance cost to sustainability, we will cover each aspect to help you make an informed decision.
Checklist to Choose the Best House Flooring
The best flooring option for your house is the one that matches your lifestyle and budget and is least susceptible to environmental wear and tear. Following is the checklist to choose the right flooring for your home.
- Affordable: A 1000-square-foot flooring will cost between $2000 to $15000, depending on the quality and luxury.
- Durable for specific foot traffic: Select the one durable enough for your foot traffic. For example, if you have a large family and a busy home environment, use the flooring with better durability.
- Pets and Children Friendly: If you have pets and children, choose the safe flooring for children and pets.
- Non-Allergic: Select a type of flooring safe for allergic members of you and your family.
- Ease of installation: If you cannot afford a professional flooring expert, opt for flooring that is easy to install on a DIY basis.
- Eco-Friendly: The flooring should blend with your home environment and not contaminate or cause any hazards.
- Moisture Resistant: Good flooring is water resistant. It does not rot or show unwanted expansion in rainy seasons or moist environments.
- Maintenance Requirements: Great flooring requires less maintenance.
- Refinishing Options: The best flooring should allow refining and refinishing whenever needed.
Does a perfect house flooring that checks all points exist? The answer depends on your choice, affordability, and your home. Remember the checklist points and choose which checks most of the points.
Best Flooring Options
Based on research and experience, our home decor and interior design experts have picked the eight best types of flooring suitable for your home.
Hardwood Flooring
A solid piece of milled wood creates an aesthetic and natural texture in this flooring. The popular hardwood comes from maple, oak, cherry, and walnut. Due to its versatile nature and quality, many homeowner love it for their homes.
However, hardwood is expensive due to its initial and maintenance costs. It requires monthly cleaning and yearly fresh coating. Hardwood flooring costs $5-$10 per square foot.
| Pros | Cons |
| Strong and Durable | Vulnerable to moist environments |
| Allows multiple refinishing touches | It can incur dents, stains, and scratches if the foot traffic is a lot |
| Increases the home aesthetics and value | Hardwood is the most expensive |
Engineered Wood Flooring
Engineered wood is affordable for those who want wood flooring but need help to afford hardwood material. This wood is a composite plywood with a hardwood layer on it. It is durable and long-lasting with proper care and maintenance.
Engineered wood flooring is an attractive option for DIYers who cannot afford the cost of a professional. An Install engineered wood flooring will cost you between $4 and $9 per square foot.
| Pros | Cons |
| Strong and Durable | Hollow underfoot sound |
| DIY Friendly | It does not support multiple refinishing |
| Actual hardwood layer on it | Emits VOCs |
Tile Flooring
We are talking about the classic “tiles,” with the most varied dimensions, colours and textures. They are often used in environments where it is necessary to ensure resistance, both to wear and water, such as in the bathroom and kitchen. It is a hard, waterproof, resistant, easy-to-clean material.
The installation cost for tile flooring differs due to varying quality; glazed ceramic flooring starts at $ 2.5 while porcelain tile costs $3.5 to $10 per square foot.
| Pros | Cons |
| Strong and Durable | Expensive |
| Water Resistant | Hard to install |
| Long Lasting | Requires prep work |
| Easy to clean | It becomes cold and slippery |
Carpets
The carpet flooring is luxurious and soft and blends in with the rest of the interior. Due to their beautiful decorative styles and comfiness, carpets are a favourite to many homeowners. Due to improvements in carpet technology, it offers stain and dust resistance.
In addition, it has proven to be one of the most cost-effective flooring options, with various costs ranging between $2.5 to $10 per square foot.
| Pros | Cons |
| Cost Effective | Hard to clean |
| It comes in many styles | Shows wear and tear patterns |
| Children and pet-friendly | Not suitable for allergic people |
Laminate Flooring
A less costly alternative for those who want to install hardwood flooring but can’t afford it. Each floor plank is built with particle-based wood with a hardwood or tile print to mimic hardwood’s visual and aesthetic qualities.
The valuable fact about Laminate flooring is that it supports DIY installation, saving you the cost of hiring a professional. In addition, it comes in unique and beautiful colours and textures to blend with the rest of your house’s interior.
The installed Laminate flooring, on average, costs between $3-7$ per square foot.
| Pros | Cons |
| Many options are affordable cost as compared to hardwood | Shows moisture damage |
| It comes in many styles | Hollow sound underfoot |
| Easy to clean and install | Not suitable for allergic people |
| Scratch resistant | Easily chips |
Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl planks are composed of plastic that is extremely water resistant. Even if the water stays on the floor, it can still bear it. It can come in tiles, sheets, and planks. Luxury vinyl planks (LVP) and Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) are the two most prominent flooring options because of their durability and cost-effectiveness.
The average cost for sheet vinyl, luxury vinyl tiles(LVT), and luxury vinyl planks (LVP) ranges between $1.6 to $7 per foot.
| Pros | Cons |
| Water resistant | It has a shorter life span than wood |
| Affordable | Can be slippery |
| Easy to clean and install | LVP and LVT are slightly more expensive than Laminate flooring |
| Scratch resistant | It cannot be repaired |
| Easy to maintain | Can emit Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) |
Stone Flooring
Stone flooring provides an elegant, natural, and antique look. This house flooring includes natural stones like granite, sandstones, marble, and travertine—one of the most popular, durable, and water-resistant options.
To install this stone, you will need professional assistance. The amount of the necessary finishing calculates the amount of the work required.
Due to the maintenance and initial cost, this option is considered one of the most expensive flooring.
| Pros | Cons |
| Water resistant | Expensive |
| Long Lasting | Hard to Install |
| Bold and elegant | Requires maintenance, which is difficult in this case |
| Suitable for allergic people | Slippery and cold |
Linoleum Flooring
Linoleum is a composite material made with linseed oil and cork to provide sheet form flooring styles at affordable prices and many types. The Linoleum flooring is sufficiently durable and can last decades given proper care and maintenance.
Due to its long-lasting and inexpensive qualities, it is gaining popularity among home interior enthusiasts. Linoleum flooring costs between $4 -$8 per square foot.
| Pros | Cons |
| Affordable | Home value remains the same |
| Long lasting | Susceptible to cuts and dents |
| Easy to install and DIY-friendly | Changes or diminishes its color when exposed to sunlight |
| A little amount of maintenance is required | Not suitable for water and moist environment |
So, we have learned about the popular available flooring options, but which is the best option for you?
As we said earlier, it depends on your choice, budget, and the ambience you want to set for your home.
Choosing the best flooring for your home
We have designed a table to help you choose the best flooring for your home.
| Flooring | Abience | Cost/sq.ft | Allergy | Ecofriendly | Durability | DIYs |
| Hardwood Flooring | Aesthetic Luxury Natural | $5-$10 | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Engineered Wood Flooring | Aesthetic Luxury Natural | $4-$9 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tile Flooring | Modest Professional Aesthetic | $2.5-$10 | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Carpets | Aesthetic Luxury Natural | $2.5-$10 | Yes | Slightly not | Less durable | Yes |
| Laminate Flooring | Aesthetic Luxury Clean | $3-$7 | No | Yes | Less | Yes |
| Vinyl Flooring | Aesthetic Clean | $1-$6 | Maybe VOCs | No
Emits VOCs |
Less durable | Yes |
| Stone flooring | Natural Elegant Antique | $5-$10 | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Linoleum Flooring | Aesthetic Clean | $4-$8 | Maybe | No | Yes | Yes |
House Flooring based on Living Spaces
A typical home has a living room, bathrooms, bedrooms, storage, yards and garages. Different kinds of flooring can be used in other living spaces.
- Bedrooms: For bedrooms, carpets, vinyl, hardwood, engineered wood, and laminated flooring are preferred.
- Living Rooms: Similar to bed rooms+Tile flooring
- Yard, Garages and Kitchens and Bathrooms: Tiles and Stone flooring.
Some interior designers use hardwood and linoleum in the kitchen as well, but it needs regular cleaning.
By following the information given above, choose the flooring option that ticks the most options for you.
Bottom Line:
How to choose the best flooring for your home is a question with no concrete answers. The exact relies on various factors. If you want water-resistant antique and natural flooring and affordability is not a problem, you can choose hardwood, stone flooring, or tile flooring. A carpet is better for comfort, aesthetics and a children-friendly environment. In conclusion, you should always go for the flooring that checks the most boxes for you.
