Today a customer is bombarded with choices with regards to home flooring. While previously choices were limited to the traditional hardwood, stone, tiles, concrete etc., today people are willing to experiment with new flooring options like cork, rubber, bamboo, vinyl etc. Thus an expansion in the variety of choices has led to confusion among the customers with many opting for a flooring option yet finding it not suitable after its installation. This makes for a handsome waste of time, money and energy which could have been saved by keeping the following points in mind.
Functionality: This is the paramount thought which should influence the flooring one chooses for a room or a house. How the space where the flooring needs to be installed is to be utilized, makes the basis for the type of flooring chosen because:
- Space utilization for different rooms is different,
- Furniture and decorative items placed on the floor of a room differ in weight,
- Foot traffic for every room is different,
- Water utilization in a room needs flooring conducive to it,
- Maintenance factors involved,Longevity and durability of the flooring chosen,
- Whether the floor will be covered or free etc.
Style: The style and décor of a room, its colour scheme, pattern themes etc., are other physical dimensions which too have a bearing on the choice of the flooring. For houses which are being newly built, it is important to visualize and formulate an interior design for the room in totality before going on a flooring material buying spree. But for houses where the floors are being changed or the house interiors are undergoing renovation, the design and style prevalent in the room becomes a deciding factor in the choice of the flooring.
Longevity and durability: While the style factor of a room does have some bearing on the final choice of the flooring material, the longevity and durability of the flooring material should be the deciding factor when making the final selection. Thus, one needs to be very careful and think diligently about the longevity and the durability of the flooring material since changing a floor involves a good amount of monetary investment and thus cannot be done as easily as changing the paint in a room. The hassles involved in the process of changing the floor too do not justify their frequent change and makeover. Thus floor selection should always be done thinking “long term” where longevity as well as durability is concerned. Since both the terms are interrelated wherein a good solid and durable material ensures longevity and vice-versa, they attain the same priority and go hand in hand when making the final selection of the floor.
Budget: This is the defining factor of every shopping spree. It puts a curb on the dreams and ideas of people thereby making them much more realistic and practical. Hence a choice between flooring patterns almost always boils down to the investment required. However, when deciding the budget for the installation of a new floor, it should be kept in mind that the budget:
- Needs to take into account both perceived, hidden, incidental and supplementary costs,
- Should be realistic enough to enable choice of a durable flooring material which is also long-lasting,
- Style and pattern themes can be accommodated to some extent and
- There are no short cuts to the installation of the floor of a house and hence cost-cutting should be kept at minimum.
Diligently taking the above points into consideration will enable the buyer to make the correct choice of the flooring material and also stop him from getting overwhelmed with the variety of choices available in the market.
Author Bio: The author is not only an expert in “Carpet flooring” but also holds considerable knowledge about the different types of flooring materials available. His articles are thus a perfect combination of practicality, functionality and aesthetics, something which is a rarity in this field.
Hi, my name is Kevin Moore. I was born in San Diego, CA and studied at the University of San Diego. I am passionate about sharing my knowledge with interested people and have years of experience in the field of business, health . information technology.
