When it's time to remodel your home, where do you start? Why not with the floors? If you're unsure of what flooring options you have, take a peek at this guide for flooring options and get that remodeling project underway.
Wood flooring
Wood flooring is a simple way to add beauty and style to your home. With numerous options in itself, wood flooring is easily customizable to your needs and tastes.If you're remodeling an older home, luck may be on your side when you pull back the corner of your carpet: There may be perfect hardwood floors underneath. Depending on the condition of the wood floors, they may just need to be sanded, stained and sealed.
If you're starting from scratch, the options are limitless. You can choose from laminate flooring, natural wood flooring, reclaimed wood flooring and much more. Once you've figured out what type of wood flooring you'd like to add to your home, your wood flooring expert will be able to guide you to a material that's perfect for your needs.
Carpeting
Wall-to-wall carpeting is a popular choice for bedrooms. Installing a plush, high-pile carpet in your bedroom will add just a bit of luxury to your sleeping space. However, in living rooms and other high-traffic areas, carpeting might not be your best choice. Carpeting can soak up odors, spills and will likely stain overtime in high traffic areas like living rooms and hallways.
If you do want to install carpeting in your home, consider a stain resistant brand or a color that will wear well over time and hide stains and spills when they happen. If you just want to add a touch of carpet to your home, large area rugs are an easy option to bring a bit of luxury to your living areas without investing in wall-to-wall carpeting.
Stone and tile floors
Natural stone floors offer a sleek design and have the added bonus of keeping cool in the warmer climates. But be warned, they will stay cooler in cooler climates. Stone floors such as marble, slate, limestone or travertine will require careful installation. They can easily become chipped or cracked if not carefully prepped or if they're installed by someone who is inexperienced. However, once they are installed, they are durable and often one-of-a-kind. Stone floors are often one the more expensive side of the spectrum but they are an investment that will last for years to come.
Added bonus: radiant heat
When you're remodeling your home and deciding on flooring options, consider adding radiant floor heating. It's an added luxury that is best suited for use with floors that have natural thermal conducting properties like: stone, concrete, ceramic tiles. Wood floors can shrink and expand with fluctuating temperatures but your hardwood floor installer will be able to mitigate any gaps in the wood and manage shrinkage. Laminate and vinyl floors also have some limitations on temperature and carpets already have insulating properties so they might limit the flow of heat.
By adding radiant floor heating, you may even be able to feel warmer at a lower temperature. Because the heat is coming from the floor and rising, it will transmit heat to the surrounding objects. With forced-air the warm air will rise to the ceiling and then come back down as cool air leading you to crank the thermostat up.