Flooring: Something to stand on

We often don’t think about flooring and when we do, it’s usually about covering it up with a rug. But floors can make a room brighter, warmer, more comforting and more stylish.

A flooring problem can be an expensive nightmare. Damage from flooding, a rip, tear, scratch, or even a deep stain on a hardwood floor can become unrepairable.

We have a stain at the top of the stairs — I guess we bought it with the house. It’s annoying that two refinishing efforts can’t seem to get it out, but still, we have a nice rug to cover it.

From the most luxurious to the most basic utilitarian type, a floor needs to be tough, resilient and long lasting. However, all flooring has advantages and disadvantages.

Choosing your flooring

Wood flooring comes in a lot of varieties and types. There is solid wood flooring, which is made from natural boards cut from trees the way all wood construction boards are cut. The flooring is then sanded, smoothed and may even have preservatives added. Wood floors can also be engineered, either by laminating a pretty wood onto a plywood backing, or by creating a new product like a “strand board” with adhesives and pressure. This kind of wood flooring is less expensive than pure wood but often harder and has the benefits of being solid all the way through. The laminates are very beautiful but cannot be refinished more than once, and even that is a very touchy process.

Vinyl is plastic flooring and usually wears very well. With the addition of sunlight protectors, vinyl can stand up to the sun better than most other flooring. Available in sheets and tiles, vinyl is very versatile and comes in a huge variety of styles and colors. Vinyl flooring is very good at imitating other types of floors. Depending on the manufacturer, good quality vinyl can be just as expensive as the best solid wood floors.

Linoleum Linoleum is a time-tested flooring made from wood byproducts and has been modernized to include a wide variety of styles, colors and finishes. Linoleum is usually much more economical than other flooring but not as resistant to wear. There is a reason we find linoleum in a lot of older houses — it lasts.

Tile and stone

Tile as a flooring can be the most durable of all the possibilities. However, when it does get damaged, it’s a problem. Although it seems like it’s pretty easy to replace a tile, after a few years it can be next to impossible to find a match. Excellent for high traffic areas or areas exposed to the outside, tile is probably the most durable of all flooring. Often it’s even tougher than stone. In many cases, stone floors can be repaired because stone is a solid flooring. Finding matching stone is usually easier, and scratches can be buffed or ground out. Stone flooring can be used very beautifully and effectively in showers, bathrooms and entryways but is not often seen in kitchens, hallways or living areas. Both tile and stone floors can be cold, so radiant heat is often used beneath them.

Recommendations

Solid wood flooring, including the new bamboo strand boards, is probably the best deal for beauty and durability. They resist dents and wear and many of them come prefinished with a factory finish that carries a guarantee. Solid wood products are also the easiest to refinish if you do have a problem.

Floating floors can be simple to put down, which is good for the installer, but don’t stand up very well to moving heavy furniture around. Floating floors can flex and crack under strain or with changes in temperature and humidity.

A big benefit of the new bamboo floorings is that they are “green.” Bamboo grows fast, making it one of the most renewable building materials available and can be very hard and sunlight resistant. Bamboo is warm like oak, but in its manufactured forms, can be much tougher.

Bottom line

Flooring is an investment-grade addition to your home and good flooring pays you back over the years by not adding additional cost to the upkeep on your home.

Good flooring can also be used as an accent by allowing the homeowner to change colors and styles throughout the home; however, flooring can make an “accent” permanent so choose carefully when adopting different styles.

With any floor, installation is the key factor that will affect it over time. Tiles and stone should never come loose. Older solid wood floors have an excuse to creak — they were installed with older technology.

Open call for Morris remodeling projects

We are looking for readers willing to invite us into their homes to show us their remodeling project. Email Eva Abreu, planning editor, EAbreu@GannettNJ.com.

Prentiss Gray’s weekly column will provide tips and advice on how to make your life better in Morris County, ranging from new apps that can run things in your house, to new gear for fun and recreation. Read “Domestitech” every Thursday in The Good Life section.