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
exto1791
Hello 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?
hausnrplus25 schrieb:
I think it looks great in the pictures. Slightly darker than ours (in the apartment). I still really like the vinyl. Both the look and the feel. Maintenance was quite straightforward. Of course, after years some scratches are inevitable, but if the surface is textured, they’re hardly noticeable.
However, it unfortunately fades over time, and I’m curious if the dents from the table (our table is solid wood = very heavy) will come out again. I’m afraid when we move out, it won’t look so nice anymore (the furniture spots will be visible), but on the plus side, it’s fairly easy and residue-free to replace 🙄 Thanks – I haven’t noticed that with the furniture in our place yet, but our furniture hasn’t been there very long. After three months, we removed a solid wood display cabinet, but I don’t see any marks where it stood. I think over time fading is probably unavoidable. But I wonder if you can even see this on laminate?
I find vinyl is often criticized for drawbacks it shares with laminate. As far as I know, it can also get scratched. 🙂
Schimi179121 Jan 2021 10:16We have had vinyl flooring in the bedrooms upstairs for a year now, and there are no signs of wear. We did not want it in the living areas.
I cannot understand the discussions about its supposedly harmful properties, etc.
I cannot understand the discussions about its supposedly harmful properties, etc.
H
hampshire21 Jan 2021 15:06All floors show signs of the residents’ daily life. However, this does not automatically mean they become ugly – as can be seen with old hardwood floors. I would always choose wood again, as scratches are less random, and dents or chipping rarely occur. Alternatively, tiles, natural stone, and ceramic are also suitable flooring options for me.
In our children’s apartments, we installed laminate flooring because we expect to either rent them out as vacation homes or renovate them once the kids have moved out. After about a year and a half, the floors have not suffered much damage, only the area directly inside the front door shows increased scratches. One of our boys is quite careless with the floors and furniture. I expect that one of the floors will no longer look very good in 5 years, but I’m not bothered by that – the floor was never intended to be permanent anyway. That is the advantage of laminate and probably vinyl as well. I don’t trust the latter, and I try to avoid plastic materials.
In our children’s apartments, we installed laminate flooring because we expect to either rent them out as vacation homes or renovate them once the kids have moved out. After about a year and a half, the floors have not suffered much damage, only the area directly inside the front door shows increased scratches. One of our boys is quite careless with the floors and furniture. I expect that one of the floors will no longer look very good in 5 years, but I’m not bothered by that – the floor was never intended to be permanent anyway. That is the advantage of laminate and probably vinyl as well. I don’t trust the latter, and I try to avoid plastic materials.
hausnrplus2521 Jan 2021 21:32kati1337 schrieb:
Thanks – I haven’t noticed this with our furniture yet, but our furniture hasn’t been in place very long. After 3 months, we took down a solid wood display cabinet, but I can’t see any marks there. I think over time, it’s inevitable. But I wonder if this kind of damage is less visible on laminate?
I find that vinyl is often criticized for issues it shares with laminate. As far as I know, it can scratch too. 🙂 Absolutely, but that’s why we want wood-look tiles in the living area to avoid that, even though I might miss the soft feel underfoot 🙂.
We noticed it on a doormat that was placed for about 4-5 years in front of the balcony door (west side, large window). Let’s see how it looks with the furniture, as I said...
Tolentino schrieb:
I lived for years in an apartment with laminate flooring, and at my mother’s place there’s laminate that I installed 15 years ago. There are scratches and chips, but no dents from furniture.
I think laminate is simply harder in its overall construction. Yes, laminate being harder is one of the differences, which is why vinyl often feels nicer and is quieter to walk on (but it’s all a matter of personal preference).
hampshire schrieb:
All floors show signs of the occupants’ lifestyle. But that doesn’t automatically mean they become ugly – you can clearly see this with old hardwood flooring. I would always choose wood again, because with wood scratches aren’t so random, and dents or chips don’t occur. The scratches we have almost look like scratches in wood; you don’t see any chipping or “white” marks from lower layers at all. Absolutely not. I’m just certain that spots like these are always more sensitive to moisture and can, for example, swell. So that’s not an option for us in the living area. We will try to take one of our vinyl planks as a visual reference when selecting a wood-look tile 😀
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