Looking for the best type of flooring for your next home remodeling project? House to Home Solutions has you covered with a wide range of attractive and functional options. Whether you’re envisioning a bright, modern space or a rustic, warm design; here are some of the best flooring materials to accomplish your goal.
Porcelain Tile Flooring
Porcelain tile flooring is created by firing highly refined clay at high temperatures, leading to a dense polished surface.
Porcelain tile is a beautiful, low-maintenance flooring material with a range of styles to choose from. Porcelain tile can last for years due to its dense construction and tough exterior. Additionally, porcelain tiles are easy to clean with wet wipes, making them an excellent option for bathrooms, kitchens, and mudrooms.
A heavier flooring option, porcelain tile may not be well-suited for rooms above the first floor. Due to their density, they are also thicker and more challenging to cut and install than other tile materials. Professional remodelers should be contracted to install porcelain tiles.
Porcelain tiles are considerably more durable and harder to damage than ceramic tiles. Homeowners select porcelain tiles for their resistance to wear, low maintenance, and gorgeous range of styles and colors.
Porcelain Tile Flooring Cost
With professional installation, porcelain tile flooring is one of the more expensive options with prices typically ranging from $15 to $50+ per square foot, depending on the quality of the material. For porcelain tiles alone, prices range from $3 to $30 per square foot.
Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is created by layering synthetic materials and printing a high-resolution design layer onto the top, which is sealed with a protective resin. Since laminate is manmade, it comes in a tremendous range of styles, colors, and finishes; allowing you to select the exact style you’d like for your design. Laminate floors are also fairly low maintenance and more water resistant than hardwood.
While laminate flooring offers several benefits, it cannot be sanded or refinished like hardwood, meaning that if damage occurs, laminate floors must be fully replaced. Laminate floors are also more prone to scratches and have a shorter lifespan than hardwood floors. The quality of laminate flooring can vary widely with higher-end options offering greater durability, water resistance, and realism.
Homeowners seeking affordable flooring with easy maintenance may turn to laminate flooring, especially for areas prone to spills or higher humidity.
Laminate Flooring Cost
Laminate flooring is typically the most affordable option with options ranging from $3 to $7 per square foot.
Hardwood Flooring
Hardwood floors, including engineered hardwood flooring, are a classic option for any space. Homeowners frequently select hardwood flooring for bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and more.
Hardwood flooring comes in a variety of colors and designs, making it appropriate for a range of interior styles including traditional, modern, rustic, minimalist, and more. Additionally, this flooring is easy to maintain and repair. It is also naturally insulating, making it easier to keep your home warm in the winter.
Hardwood flooring also comes in many grades, with some allowing for greater stability and reduced overall wear. If you opt for wood planks wider than 4”, we highly recommend selecting engineered hardwood flooring. When purchasing engineered hardwood flooring, consider how thick the wear layer is, if the wood can be refinished, and how many layers of backing there are. Adding more layers of backing creates a more stable surface with less potential expansion and contraction.
Despite its benefits, hardwood flooring can be damaged by water, fades with heavy sun exposure, and is susceptible to scratching.
With its milieu of benefits, hardwood flooring is attractive to homebuyers and one of the only flooring materials that can increase the resale value of your home. Speaking with an expert will help in choosing the best product for your application.
Hardwood Flooring Cost
Depending on the material selected, hardwood floors cost anywhere from $5 to $25 per square foot. The largest determinants of cost are the type of wood and finish selected and the installation process.
Ceramic Tile Flooring
Ceramic tile flooring is created by shaping and baking clay at high temperatures. Some tiles are glazed to enhance their sheen and increase their water resistance.
Ceramic tiles come in a variety of designs with some resembling natural stone and others showcasing bolder patterns and colors. These versatile tiles are an excellent option for kitchens and bathrooms since they are durable, water-resistant, and easy to clean.
Ceramic tiles require regular cleaning, as dust can accumulate in grout lines. Like porcelain tiles, they are a heavier flooring option than wood or vinyl. Ceramic is not as hard as porcelain, though, and can chip if something is dropped on it. Proper installation is required to minimize cracking.
Ceramic tiles are an excellent option for homeowners seeking water-resistant flooring with a wide range of design options.
Ceramic Tile Flooring Cost
Ceramic floor tiles typically cost $10 to $30 per square foot, making them a good mid-range option for flooring.
Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl flooring is made from synthetic materials and comes in a range of styles including sheets, tiles, and planks. It may be glued down or click-and-locked into place.
Vinyl flooring is incredibly versatile and can be made to replicate natural wood and stone, making it appropriate for almost any room. This flooring is waterproof and easy to maintain.
While vinyl flooring can be an excellent option, its quality varies. Lower-end vinyl flooring can degrade and dull over time. However, luxury vinyl tile and planks (LVT/LVP) offer greater durability and resistance to heat, stains, scratching, and moisture. These enhanced surfaces also have an extra layer of underlay for built-in soundproofing and insulation, making it a great option for basements, condos, and second levels.
Vinyl Flooring Cost
Traditional vinyl flooring costs between $2 and $8 per square foot while the LVT/LVP options range between $6 and $12 per square foot.
Marble Flooring
Marble is a natural stone flooring material created by exposing limestone to intense heat and pressure. The resulting material is smooth with distinctive swirling bands of color.
Marble comes in a wide range of colors including subtle hues of white, cream, and gray, as well as bolder options like green, pink, blue, and black. With all these options, marble flooring is excellent for kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, and even outdoor spaces. If properly cared for, marble flooring is also heat resistant and relatively durable.
Marble is a very porous stone. If it will be used in a wet area or prone to dirt and spills, it is recommended to take a sample home and test it with water and other solutions that could be regularly spilled on it, to determine its resistance to stain. Marble needs to be regularly sealed and polished to maintain its smooth, refined appearance.
With its stylish beauty and durability, marble is an excellent option for a range of room tones and designs. A cool marble floor can be a welcome surface underfoot in warmer climates and summer months.
Marble Flooring Cost
Marble is a more expensive flooring material with the average cost per square foot ranging between $20 and $40 per square foot.
Concrete Flooring
Concrete is created by combining cement, water, sand, and aggregates such as gravel or stone. The mixture is then poured onto a surface and leveled. The concrete is left to set and harden, or cure, which can take a few days.
Concrete flooring is a durable, versatile option for high-traffic areas in your home. This flooring can be stained, dyed, stenciled, and polished to create unique designs. Additionally, concrete can be produced to replicate various tiles, stone, and brick.
Despite its versatility, concrete can be susceptible to moisture and requires proper sealing to reduce the risks of cracks. Concrete flooring is also hard underfoot, making it less ideal for living rooms and bedrooms.
For eco-conscious homeowners or those seeking a luxurious, modern design, low-maintenance concrete floors can be the durable, eye-catching option they’re looking for.
Concrete Flooring Cost
The average cost of concrete flooring ranges from $10 to $30 per square foot depending on whether you select polished, stained, stamped, or basic concrete.
