ᐅ Which types of flooring are recommended for single-family homes? What does the building expert community suggest?
Created on: 14 Sep 2020 07:43
E
exto1791Hello everyone,
We are slowly starting to consider the flooring for our planned single-family house and are still completely undecided.
We have an open-plan living-dining area with a kitchen. We believe that a seamless floor transition looks nicer than separating the kitchen from the living/dining area. For this reason, we want to have a uniform floor covering throughout.
Now the question: vinyl or tiles? We have already read about the pros and cons, but maybe we can get some first-hand tips or tricks here that might put some of the disadvantages into a more positive perspective?
1. Question: Is vinyl really safe to use in the kitchen? Is vinyl fully waterproof? How does vinyl flooring react if, for example, a knife slips from my hand and falls on the floor? Will I get immediate dents or marks? Are there vinyl floors that are significantly more resistant?
2. Question: How does vinyl respond to sunlight? Since we will have several large glass fronts in our living-dining area, vinyl "technically" seems to be excluded... Does vinyl actually deform? Is it true that vinyl, like parquet, fades significantly in sunlight?
3. Question: Is vinyl really only suitable for 10-20 years? What happens afterward? Do I have to replace the vinyl, or can it be refurbished or maintained?
--> We are considering tiling the entire area because then we would be "done," have a robust floor that works perfectly with underfloor heating, is simple, and very resistant to sun/fading/stains/impacts. We think generally that you can’t go wrong with tiles.
However, I see the problem that the tiles will likely stay in place for a lifetime, and I may not want or be able to replace them later due to the high effort involved. Also, any chip or damage to a tile will be visible for life since I can’t quickly repair it (true, vinyl also can’t be easily repaired, but I could replace the floor after 15-20 years). Another downside is cost. Tiles are generally more expensive, and I wouldn’t be able to install them myself (I don’t feel confident with tiles but feel okay with vinyl), so we are wondering what is best for us.
What flooring have you installed in your living/dining areas? What good or bad experiences have you had?
Now about the upper rooms:
1 bedroom and 2 kids’ rooms: vinyl/parquet/cork/laminate?
We are familiar with the pros and cons here as well. Parquet is "technically" out of the question because it is very expensive (is there good parquet for around 30€ (about $33)?). Opinions on vinyl are divided... We also have clear concerns (especially in the kids’ rooms) regarding plastic flooring... Are they really completely safe and non-toxic nowadays? If I pay attention to this, can I safely choose vinyl for the kids’ rooms? The kids’ rooms should be "good and affordable" above all. Cork might be an option? Laminate is somehow excluded because it is very noisy and offers no advantages over cork or vinyl.
Is parquet sensible for the bedroom? Here there is no fading, parquet is durable, and sunlight is limited. Very durable and might make the bedroom more visually appealing. What do you think?
We are open to any suggestions.
Where did you buy your flooring? From a hardware store? A specialist dealer? Are there recommendations, including manufacturers or models?
We are slowly starting to consider the flooring for our planned single-family house and are still completely undecided.
We have an open-plan living-dining area with a kitchen. We believe that a seamless floor transition looks nicer than separating the kitchen from the living/dining area. For this reason, we want to have a uniform floor covering throughout.
Now the question: vinyl or tiles? We have already read about the pros and cons, but maybe we can get some first-hand tips or tricks here that might put some of the disadvantages into a more positive perspective?
1. Question: Is vinyl really safe to use in the kitchen? Is vinyl fully waterproof? How does vinyl flooring react if, for example, a knife slips from my hand and falls on the floor? Will I get immediate dents or marks? Are there vinyl floors that are significantly more resistant?
2. Question: How does vinyl respond to sunlight? Since we will have several large glass fronts in our living-dining area, vinyl "technically" seems to be excluded... Does vinyl actually deform? Is it true that vinyl, like parquet, fades significantly in sunlight?
3. Question: Is vinyl really only suitable for 10-20 years? What happens afterward? Do I have to replace the vinyl, or can it be refurbished or maintained?
--> We are considering tiling the entire area because then we would be "done," have a robust floor that works perfectly with underfloor heating, is simple, and very resistant to sun/fading/stains/impacts. We think generally that you can’t go wrong with tiles.
However, I see the problem that the tiles will likely stay in place for a lifetime, and I may not want or be able to replace them later due to the high effort involved. Also, any chip or damage to a tile will be visible for life since I can’t quickly repair it (true, vinyl also can’t be easily repaired, but I could replace the floor after 15-20 years). Another downside is cost. Tiles are generally more expensive, and I wouldn’t be able to install them myself (I don’t feel confident with tiles but feel okay with vinyl), so we are wondering what is best for us.
What flooring have you installed in your living/dining areas? What good or bad experiences have you had?
Now about the upper rooms:
1 bedroom and 2 kids’ rooms: vinyl/parquet/cork/laminate?
We are familiar with the pros and cons here as well. Parquet is "technically" out of the question because it is very expensive (is there good parquet for around 30€ (about $33)?). Opinions on vinyl are divided... We also have clear concerns (especially in the kids’ rooms) regarding plastic flooring... Are they really completely safe and non-toxic nowadays? If I pay attention to this, can I safely choose vinyl for the kids’ rooms? The kids’ rooms should be "good and affordable" above all. Cork might be an option? Laminate is somehow excluded because it is very noisy and offers no advantages over cork or vinyl.
Is parquet sensible for the bedroom? Here there is no fading, parquet is durable, and sunlight is limited. Very durable and might make the bedroom more visually appealing. What do you think?
We are open to any suggestions.
Where did you buy your flooring? From a hardware store? A specialist dealer? Are there recommendations, including manufacturers or models?
We ultimately decided on a fully glued vinyl floor for the living room with an open-plan kitchen. From Vivafloors, in the fully glued version. It can definitely be wiped clean with water without any worries.
I wouldn’t recommend click vinyl for that area.
If a sharp knife falls exactly on its tip, you'd probably get a dent. Overall, vinyl floors do scratch, they are all pretty similar in that regard, but so do parquet and laminate, as far as I know. The only solution is to avoid bringing anything abrasive into the house (sand, small stones in your shoes, etc.).
The downside with tiles is that they can break if a really heavy pot or something similar falls on them.
But seriously: How often does that happen? I have never had a tile break in the kitchen. But I have also never dropped a knife so that it landed exactly on the tip. Everything can get damaged if you’re unlucky.
We ruled out tiles because, visually, we just don’t find them very cozy for the living area. However, they are ideal for underfloor heating if you can live with the look.
We tiled the hallway, utility room, and bathrooms. For the rest of the house, we chose fully glued vinyl. Apparently, it works a bit better with underfloor heating compared to laminate. Wood was too expensive for us. It looks nice but requires maintenance and is also prone to damage. I’ve been living for almost 10 years in a living room with parquet floors from the ’90s that were probably never sanded down and were not well cared for by the previous tenants. There are gaps of 0.6cm (0.24 inches), water damage from leaking aquariums, many scratches, and other dents and marks. That personally discouraged me from trying parquet.
I wouldn’t recommend click vinyl for that area.
If a sharp knife falls exactly on its tip, you'd probably get a dent. Overall, vinyl floors do scratch, they are all pretty similar in that regard, but so do parquet and laminate, as far as I know. The only solution is to avoid bringing anything abrasive into the house (sand, small stones in your shoes, etc.).
The downside with tiles is that they can break if a really heavy pot or something similar falls on them.
But seriously: How often does that happen? I have never had a tile break in the kitchen. But I have also never dropped a knife so that it landed exactly on the tip. Everything can get damaged if you’re unlucky.
We ruled out tiles because, visually, we just don’t find them very cozy for the living area. However, they are ideal for underfloor heating if you can live with the look.
We tiled the hallway, utility room, and bathrooms. For the rest of the house, we chose fully glued vinyl. Apparently, it works a bit better with underfloor heating compared to laminate. Wood was too expensive for us. It looks nice but requires maintenance and is also prone to damage. I’ve been living for almost 10 years in a living room with parquet floors from the ’90s that were probably never sanded down and were not well cared for by the previous tenants. There are gaps of 0.6cm (0.24 inches), water damage from leaking aquariums, many scratches, and other dents and marks. That personally discouraged me from trying parquet.
Vinyl is the worst material you can install, and my prediction is that it will be considered one of the biggest mistakes of today's construction era. Who would want to live and breathe on plastic flooring? We always talk about environmental protection, yet we cover our homes with the cheapest plastic. We have vinyl in the basement, and I regret it.
It’s better to choose something sensible. Tiles are very cold; parquet, cork, or natural stone are preferable.
It’s better to choose something sensible. Tiles are very cold; parquet, cork, or natural stone are preferable.
Bookstar schrieb:
Vinyl is the worst material you can install, and my prediction is that it will be considered one of the biggest mistakes of today’s building era. Who wants to live and breathe on plastic flooring? We always talk about environmental protection, yet we cover our homes with the cheapest plastic. We have vinyl in our basement, and I regret it.
Better choose something sensible. Tiles are very cold, so parquet, cork, or natural stone are preferable. We really want a seamless transition from the living-dining area to the kitchen because we don’t like the “broken-up” look. If we don’t use vinyl, then tiles are the only option left. Thanks to underfloor heating, the tiles are very pleasantly warm during cold days and nice and cool in summer. I don’t think that’s a disadvantage.
If I had the choice, I would go for wood-look tiles in the kitchen and living room. For the bedroom and children’s rooms, either laminate or vinyl— but everything should be consistent if the rooms are on the same floor.
I wouldn’t choose an expensive floor for the children’s rooms. You just end up regretting it later if something gets damaged.
We decided on click vinyl. Before that, we had quite good laminate. Even after 6 years, it still looked like new, but it was fairly cold and noisy.
Visually, we really like the vinyl floor, but yes, it is just plastic. Click-engineered hardwood was not an option. We had that once in a rental apartment and every scratch showed immediately. Maybe the quality wasn’t that good, but in my opinion, something like that is not suitable for a children’s room.
I wouldn’t choose an expensive floor for the children’s rooms. You just end up regretting it later if something gets damaged.
We decided on click vinyl. Before that, we had quite good laminate. Even after 6 years, it still looked like new, but it was fairly cold and noisy.
Visually, we really like the vinyl floor, but yes, it is just plastic. Click-engineered hardwood was not an option. We had that once in a rental apartment and every scratch showed immediately. Maybe the quality wasn’t that good, but in my opinion, something like that is not suitable for a children’s room.
FloHB123 schrieb:
If I had a choice, I would go for wood-look tiles for the kitchen and living room.
For the bedrooms and kids' rooms, either laminate or vinyl. But everything consistent, as long as the rooms are on the same floor.
I wouldn’t choose an expensive flooring for the kids’ rooms. You only end up regretting it later if something gets damaged.
We decided on click vinyl. Before that, we had pretty good laminate. Even after 6 years, it still looked like new, but it was quite cold and noisy.
We really like the look of the vinyl floor, but yes, it’s just plastic after all. Click parquet was out of the question. We had it once in a rental apartment, and every scratch showed immediately. Maybe the quality wasn’t great, but in my opinion, you can’t use that in a kids’ room. We completely agree! Vinyl with a wood look or maybe a light gray, there are already great options available; that would definitely be very suitable for our living/dining/kitchen area.
Yes, that is the question... Basically, I don’t see the point in spending a fortune on flooring for the kids’ rooms that will end up looking terrible after a few years anyway. So for me, it would clearly be vinyl... the only issue is the health concerns... That’s why cork was also considered... very quiet, natural product, affordable...
What do you have in your bedroom?
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