Carpet, Vinyl, Ceramic Tiles, Laminate or Wood Flooring?

One of the questions we often get asked at Wood and Beyond is whether or not wood flooring is a better option than the alternatives.  While of course we’re a bit biased (because we’re human after all), we do have a clear and professional understanding of the floor covering market.  In this article we’d like to share with you the pros and cons of each option by looking at how you might make your decision based on the type of sub-floor you have; the budget you have available; the complexity of installation; the durability in service life, the day-to-day wear tolerance; maintenance and of course the look.

Carpet

Carpet doesn’t need much of an introduction, as most of us are familiar with it.  That said, in the last decade or more, more of us have been ripping it up than installing it.

Type of sub-floor –  If you choose a good quality underlay and a nice thick carpet, this option can be really tolerant of unforgiving sub floors.  That said, carpet, and any sort of humidity issue in your sub floor never make good bedfellows.

Budget –  Carpet can be bought at anything from a couple of pounds a square meter to hundreds of pounds a square meter.  Like most things in life, you get what you pay for.  While it’s unlikely that you’ll need to spend hundreds per square meter, it’s well worth investing as much as you can afford to get a good quality solution that will stand the test of time.

Complexity of installation –  Laying a carpet is similar to laying any other sort of flooring, install it badly and you’ll not only risk damage to your carpet, but you’ll spoil the look too.

Durability in service life –  Once again when it comes to durability, you get what you pay for.  Cheap carpets, if well fitted might look good for a short while but are unlikely to last.  To get a long-lasting, good looking result, you need to invest in both the carpet itself and its installation.

Day-to-day wear tolerance –  If you have heavy traffic or high footfall, anything but a top notch carpet that has been pre-treated will show the signs of wear and tear very quickly.  Stains and spills aren’t well tolerated by anything but the best carpets, so on this count, so carpeting doesn’t score particularly well here.

Maintenance –  When it comes to maintenance, with a carpet all you really need on an ongoing basis is a decent vacuum cleaner.  While you might want to do an annual or bi-annual shampoo of your carpet, this isn’t something that should cause you too much hassle.

Look and comfort factor –  Carpet is lovely and cosy; there’s no getting away from that.  It can also look great.  With a broad choice on the market, all you really need to be sure about is that you choose the best option you can for your budget and invest in getting it well laid.

Vinyl

Vinyl is a man-made floor covering that first made it to the mass domestic market between the late 1970s and the early 1980s.

Type of sub-floor – Unlike carpet, vinyl is pretty unforgiving when it comes to a lumpy or bumpy subfloor, so you may need to invest in leveling your subfloor before installing vinyl flooring.

Budget – Like carpet, vinyl comes in every price range from a couple of pounds a square meter up to hundreds. Again, you get what you pay for, so seek out quality every time.

Complexity of installation – Vinyl is reasonably easy to install, but to make it look great relies on a superb finish. The right preparation and the right installation will help a cheaper vinyl stand the test of time better.

Durability in service life – A decent vinyl is durable and should last a good few years. That said, you’d be foolish to expect decades of return on your investment, unless you invest in a top of the range option and have light traffic.

Day-to-day wear tolerance – Easy to clean and pretty tolerant, a decent quality vinyl can’t be knocked when it comes to day-to-day wear tolerance.

Maintenance – A decent sweeping brush or vacuum cleaner and a mop are all you need to keep any vinyl floor in great shape.

Look and comfort factor – A well chosen, reasonable quality vinyl can look good as long as it’s well installed. It can also be pretty comfortable under foot.

Ceramic Tiles

Ceramic tiles have been popular in warm climates for decades, but in recent times have become the choice of many in UK homes.

Type of sub-floor – Ceramic tiles can be installed on most types of subfloor if the right preparation is carried out beforehand. If you have a wooden subfloor, you may need to introduce a layer of ply or chipboard so you have a good stable surface to work on.

Budget – Like most types of flooring, there are tiles at pretty much every level of the price scale. That said, once again like most types of flooring, you get what you pay for so it’s important to shop carefully and choose appropriately for your project and budget.

Complexity of installation – Whilst tiles aren’t all that complicated to install, unless you know what you’re doing, it’s unlikely to be a job that you’ll take on on a DIY basis.

Durability in service life – A decent quality ceramic tile floor will stand the test of time and will resist spills and stains comfortably and without effort.

Day-to-day wear tolerance – No matter how many kids, dogs or cats you have, a tile floor shouldn’t bat an eyelid at what your life throws at it.

Maintenance – Like any hard flooring surface a sweep or vacuum and a mop are pretty much all that’s needed to keep a tile floor looking great.

Look and comfort factor – There’s no getting away from the fact that tile floors can look great but, unless you have under floor heating, can be a bit cold under foot. Add to this that they’re a particularly hard surface and you’ll get an idea of this slight downside of tile flooring.

Laminate

Laminate flooring is a bond of different layers that is effectively topped with an image of a flooring material such as wood or tile.

Type of sub-floor – Because laminate is effectively just layers of bonded man made fabric. It sometimes with a sub-layer already attached but often requires a separate sub-layer to ensure a good finish.

Budget – Laminate flooring is, generally speaking a budget solution, suited to those who want a reasonable looking floor for the short term at a low cost.

Complexity of installation – Laminate flooring is easy to install and even a DIY-er should be able to get a reasonable looking result.

Durability in service life – While there are some quality laminate flooring options, there is no getting away from the fact that laminate flooring is simply an image that has been ‘printed’ on to a material to look like wood, stone or tiles. From this point of view, the life expectancy of this option is relatively short.

Day-to-day wear tolerance – Laminate flooring, unless you choose a top-notch, high quality, high budget (relative) solution is likely to show the signs of day-to-day traffic very quickly.

Maintenance – As with most of the ‘hard’ floor options, a sweep over the floor to pick up dust and grime, followed by a mop is all that’s required.

Look and comfort factor – Laminate flooring, when it’s new can look good and will feel reasonably comfortable under foot, however, you should be aware that this flooring option mightn’t necessarily stand the test of time like some of the others mentioned here.

Wood Flooring

Wood flooring comes in engineered and solid versions and each provides a natural, healthy flooring option.

Type of sub-floor – Hardwood flooring works over most types of sub-floor as long as your sub-floor is dry and level.

Budget – This flooring option comes in budget and luxury options, but the good news is that no matter which option you choose, if you choose a good product and supplier, your floor will stand the test of time. This means that you get great value from your floor, over a long period of time.

Complexity of installation – With a whole range of installation options from simple click-systems to more complex glue-down fitting, hardwood flooring has something for everyone.

Durability in service life – A good quality wood floor will last a lifetime and often a whole lot more. You only need to look at the stately homes and castles across the whole of Europe that still have hardwood floors in place that were laid hundreds of years ago to see evidence of how long this option can last.

Day-to-day wear tolerance – With a range of finishes available, you can ensure that your wood floor stands up to the day-to-day wear and tear that your household throws at it, no matter how many kids or pets you have.

Maintenance – Hardwood flooring is as easy to look after as any other hard flooring option but has the unique benefit of being able to be re-sanded and re-finished a number of times in its life time, which means that you can have a ‘new’ floor every few years if it starts to look a bit tired.

Look and comfort factor – Wood isn’t only a warm looking floor product; it feels warm under foot too. A well-laid floor will be a pleasure for even the most sensitive of feet for many, many years.

If you’d like help to make your flooring decision, why not get in touch? At Wood and Beyond we’re here to help.