Faced with the number of flooring choices on the market, some people just turn and run. It does not have to be a difficult task.
“Without exaggerating, there are so many choices on the market for flooring these days that people just take one look at the selections and throw up their hands in despair. What to choose? Pre-finished, unfinished, laminate, carpeted, engineered, antique planking, marble, ceramic tile – well, you get the idea. It’s daunting, but it does not have to be,” said Dean Dupre, who owns Champion Tile, a Clearwater Flooring, Tampa Flooring, and tile installation company.
There have been a number of changes in the market place, in that pre-finished and unfinished solid wood are not the only kind of flooring that may be considered to be hardwood. “There is now something referred to as laminate floors and engineered floors. These two newer players on the block have given homeowners more options in terms of style and affordability,” Dupre said.
Solid hardwood consists of every plank being crafted from one piece of wood, which is about three-quarters of an inch thick. Hardwood also reacts to changes in temperature and the humidity in the air, which means the planks expand in the summer months and contract in the winter months. “You would not want solid hardwood on top of concrete floors or in basements. Yes, hardwood is expensive, but for the areas that you can use hardwood, if you can swing it with your budget, it’s a good investment. It holds its value very well on resale,” said Dupre.
Laminate flooring is a surprise for most people, because they are not aware that it is made by pasting a photo to high density fiberboard, using heat and pressure. The picture is then covered with polyurethane, for scratch resistance. The better quality laminate a person buys, the better it is at resisting scratching, because it is infused with aluminum oxide. Laminates are very versatile, can be installed just about any place with a solid surface and contracting and expanding is not an issue. Bonus, they are less expensive than hardwood and never have to be refinished, largely because laminates cannot be refinished.
“The choice is yours. Have a bit of fun with it, and you will have a floor that suits your lifestyle and budget,” Dupre said.
To learn more, visit http://www.champtile.com.
