Yesterday’s post reviewed 5 popular floor coverings. Today’s post continues with five more. If you’re building, remodeling or redesigning a space, you should consider the pros and cons of available floor coverings, your preferences and your lifestyle. Read on…
More Underfoot
Stone - Marble, slate, granite, brick, etc.
Photo americanslate.com
- Pros: High quality, low maintenance, enduring beauty, perceived luxury.
- Cons: Needs sub-floor, can be slippery, hard on feet and magnifies noise.
- Cleaning: Vacuum or dust and a damp mop.
- Best Used In: Anywhere except nursery because it is cold and hard.
Concrete - No other flooring provides the opportunity for so many creative looks.
Photo concretenetwork.com
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Pros: Concrete can be colored and special effects can be created with paints and dyes. Decorative pebbles, tile, shells and tumbled glass and inlays can be added. Commercial rubber stamps can create patterns. Shapes can be cut into the concrete. It can be polished to a glossy or shiny surface.
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Cons: Hard, slippery when wet, can be cold and may crack.
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Cleaning: Sweep, dust, vacuum and damp mop.
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Best Used In: Indoors and outdoors.
Bamboo – relatively new in the flooring industry, bamboo is highly environmental as it’s a renewable grass.
Photo free-flooring.com
- Pros: Durable, elegant and versatile.
- Cons: Can scratch and dent.
- Cleaning: Sweep, dust, vacuum and damp mop.
- Best Used In: Any room.
Linoleum – Often confused with vinyl but linoleum is preferred environmentally because its main ingredient is Linseed oil.
Photo linoleumstore.com
- Pros: Rich beautiful colors due to mineral pigments. Available in varying thicknesses, highly durable, easy to install and comfortable to stand on.
- Cons: Flooring can be cut and then difficult to repair. Slight odor.
- Cleaning: Sweep, dust, vacuum and damp mop.
- Best Used In: Any room.
Cork - Due to its popularity in recent years some people think cork is new – but it’s actually been used for hundreds of years. Harvested from mature trees it is environmentally friendly.
Photo realcorkfloors.com
- Pros: Naturally resilient to rot, mold and mildew. Resistant to insects and fire retardant. Reduces noise and vibration.Easily absorbs stains so it can be colored any hue and it’s available in a variety of natural patterns and designs.
- Cons: Heavy furniture can leave dents, direct sun may discolor floor over time, can be damaged by water absorption.
- Cleaning: Sweep regularly and every few years sand and re-coat with urethane.
- Best Used In: In any room but must be ureethaned in moist rooms.
What Floors You?
Which of the 10 floor coverings presented yesterday and today are underfoot in your home? Do you like one covering better than another and, if so, why? If you were to replace a floor covering which would you get rid of and what would you replace it with? Tell us what floors you! Use the comment link at the bottom of this post or email solutions@yourdecoratinghotline.com.
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I still prefer the concrete flooring or bamboo flooring. We are using bamboo flooring in our house in our province and it’s been there for decades now. I don’t want the linoleum flooring.
We had old wall-to-wall carpeting in our house, took a peek underneath it and found original oak hardwood flooring. Yay! After ripping all the carpet out we found there was a lot of damage to the floors–gouges, paint/pet stains, square cut-outs in the wood (???), etc. So lots of time, energy, and $$$ went into getting most of the rooms looking decent, but the easiest solution for some of the rooms might be recarpeting them
unless the new owners want to tackle them 
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We love the hardwood and like using area rugs on them. I found a berber area rug that was the perfect color, but what a mistake. I had NO idea that a berber is one continuous thread (or something like that) and when our dogs snagged a toenail on one of the “loops” that half the rug would unravel, not to mention all the barking and howling going on until they were rescued from the snare!
Sindy