For the right ambience in your home, figure out what works best in each room. That may be tile or carpet.
“If you’ve been looking at your home recently and thinking that it’s time to do some updating, the first place to start is usually with the floors,” indicated Dean Dupre who runs Champion Tile, a Clearwater Flooring, Tampa Flooring, and tile installation company. There are a lot of new options on the market that didn’t used to be available and the prices are also better, so it’s worth taking a look at what is out there.
If the choices are overwhelming, narrow them down a bit and make a decision between carpet and tile. Carpet has some great benefits such as adding warmth to a room and muffling the noise factor. In many cases, carpeting is used to lay over an uneven floor; call it an augmenting material. Add in the bonus that the choices out there are numerous in terms of color, style and texture, and the world becomes an oyster of possibilities.
Choosing carpet that is patterned and textured, such as multi-looped Berber, gives a certain depth to the floor visually. And thanks to modern technology, many of the rugs today are much softer and more stain resistant than ever. This is a good thing if you have children and animals, since they quite often have “accidents” on the rug and not the tile.
“If you don’t care for trying to keep a carpet clean or pick free thanks to dog and cat claws, then tile would be your better option. Tile has even ‘more’ colors, shapes, sizes and textures than ever and the only limiting factor is your imagination. The most common tile used in homes today is ceramic and it is either unglazed or glazed,” explained Dupre. Be wary about what grade of tile is selected for the home, as only the higher grades such as III and IV glazed ceramic tiles are highly scratch resistant and still withstand a certain amount of moisture.
Remember to wipe up any liquids quickly to avoid staining the grout.
“There you have it. Carpet is less expensive, but higher maintenance. Tiles are more expensive (but not by much) and way easier to keep. In most homes today, the choice is tile simply because of how easy it is to keep clean and beautiful for a longer period of time. Carpets are nice for about the first month, until the novelty wears off and the kids start eating popcorn and coloring in the living room again, or the dog decides to bring up the grass he just ate outside right on the carpet,” Dupre said.
Ultimately the choice of what to have in the home will depend on what a person’s lifestyle happens to be. This is something that may be discussed with an expert contractor who will be able to offer suggestions and options to update the home.
To learn more, visit http://www.champtile.com.
