Making improvements to your home can often feel like an overwhelming endeavour. Between scouring swatches for new colour schemes and choosing between tiles for your next bathroom, it can seem like there is little space for you to take your time on a decision. When it comes to flooring, there are many more variables at play – which can only add to the stress.
Here, some of the more essential properties of flooring are outlined, in order for you to streamline your decision-making and choose a living space floor without the stress attached. 🏠
What are Your Aims?
Before making a final decision on your living room floor, you should first take the time to review your key aims and desired outcomes. For starters, what functions do you want your floor to provide? This might seem a simple enough question, but the answer differs from household to household; family households might want a floor that is stain-resistant and easy to clean, while other households might be looking for a floor with strong insulative properties.
Of course, your floor needs to be more than purely functional. You will have aesthetic goals for your floor as well, whether to match the overall décor of your home or to create the foundation of a new, bold aesthetic. The look of your living room floor is necessarily impacted by the type of material you choose – which brings us to material concerns.
Choosing Materials
Different flooring materials lend themselves well to different applications and aesthetics. Carpeted floors can come in a wide variety of colours, patterns and even textures; they can also act to insulate living spaces better than smooth surfaces, but can be susceptible to staining.
Vinyl or laminate floors are sleek, cheap and easy to install. They are also easy to clean, but can look as cheap as they tend to cost as they wear over time. Wood flooring is traditional and highly aesthetically pleasing, but timber costs have increased significantly in recent months – to say nothing of potential labour costs. Lastly, stone flooring is perhaps the most expensive of all, and a poor form of insulation to boot. However, stone floors are immensely characterful, long-lasting and hard-wearing.
Preparing for Install
Often, installation of new flooring is best undertaken with help from experienced tradespeople. However, the labour costs can be somewhat prohibitive to your overall home improvement budget, and some floors are relatively simple to install DIY. If you intend to do so, though, you will need to make some key preparations.
For one, you will need to gather the right tools to properly undertake your flooring project. If you do not already have a full set of power tools to hand, DeWalt power tools may be a shrewd investment for ensuring quality workmanship. Further to gathering your tools, you will also need to make comprehensive and accurate measurements of your floor to make sure you get the right volume of material.
Maintenance and Aftercare
Lastly, there is the matter of aftercare to consider. Some flooring solutions will wear quicker than others, and may be costlier to look after – but some simple things can improve the longevity of your floor. Wood floors benefit from hardy finishes, while rugs can prevent over-wearing from high footfall.
Hope these tips have been helpful. Eager for more? Here’s a collection of how-to articles to peruse.
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