Durable Flooring Options

Durable flooring is an essential factor to consider when remodeling your home. Various flooring options can last for years and provide a beautiful aesthetic to any space. Whether you're looking for something classic like hardwood or more modern like laminate, plenty of long-lasting flooring options will fit your needs. This article will explore the most durable flooring types and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.

#1: Luxury Vinyl

Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) and Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) have become extremely popular due to their durability. Luxury vinyl is ideal for basement flooring, kitchens, bathrooms, playrooms, or even mudrooms – wherever messes tend to happen! However, while luxury vinyl is one of the most durable flooring options, it is not ideal for outdoor use due to expansion and contraction.

Luxury vinyl has multiple synthetic layers. It is a waterproof flooring option that is endlessly customizable, making it an ideal faux wood flooring option. Rigid-core luxury vinyl flooring is durable; it can easily withstand heavy traffic, children, and pets. Moreover, protective finishes and wear layers make luxury vinyl extraordinarily scuff-resistant. In addition to the many advantages of luxury vinyl flooring, the cost of materials and installation is affordable. Luxury vinyl has different wear layer thicknesses; the thicker the wear layer, the more durable and resistant to scratching the product. You can find a range of wear layers to meet the needs of your specific household!

Luxury vinyl is not the most environmentally friendly flooring option, as it is primarily plastic. However, some brands are making efforts to change this by offering recyclable luxury vinyl at the end of its lifespan.

#2: Porcelain Tile

Porcelain tile is one of the most durable floorings. Porcelain's high density makes it one of the most scratch-resistant flooring options, making it ideal for homes with pets.

Are you concerned about water damage? Porcelain tile has a water absorption rate of less than 0.5%, making it waterproof. This makes porcelain tile an ideal choice for areas prone to moisture. Porcelain tile is an excellent flooring option for bathrooms, steam showers, laundry rooms, entryways, outdoor spaces, and even kitchens.

#3: Hardwood

When shopping for hardwood flooring, you have two main options: solid wood and engineered wood. Solid wood is a single slab of wood, and engineered wood has a core (commonly plywood) with a thin layer of natural wood on the surface. Solid and engineered hardwood floors both have their benefits and drawbacks. While they are both very durable, they each have qualities that suit different needs.

Solid wood flooring can be sanded down and refinished when needed, unlike engineered wood. On the other hand, engineered wood will hold up better to humidity, making it the only hardwood choice for concrete substrates. Unlike solid hardwood, engineered hardwood has a core layer that is more dimensionally stable. This results in it being less prone to warping and cupping compared to a high-quality solid hardwood floor.

Depending on the thickness of the veneer, engineered hardwood can only be refinished once, sometimes not at all. However, nowadays, the best engineered wood flooring brands produce such high-quality floors that they don't even need to be refinished more than that.

The key advice when choosing between solid and engineered hardwood is whether or not you want to be able to sand and refinish to change stain colors or refresh the finish.

#4: Laminate

Laminate flooring is popular because of its durability and budget-friendly alternative to hardwood. Laminate is a combination of a high-density fiberboard or plywood base board, topped off with an image layer and protective wear layer. It mimics the look of hardwood or stone while offering resistance to staining, scratching, and scuffing.

When comparing luxury vinyl to laminate flooring, one will notice many similarities. Due to their realistic design layers, they are two of the best wood floor alternatives available. Additionally, installing laminate flooring is often the least expensive of all types of flooring, sometimes even lower than vinyl. But, unlike luxury vinyl, laminate is water-resistant but not waterproof. So its practicality is reduced in damp or spill-prone areas.

#5: Carpet

Carpeting has been designed to be durable these days and withstand a lot of foot traffic. This is something you might not expect, but good-quality carpets are indeed built to last. As with all types of flooring, you get what you pay for. Cheap carpets may not be very durable, but choosing the highest quality carpet brands and fiber types can be an excellent choice for any space!

If you prioritize durability and must choose between cut and loop pile carpets, we recommend going with a loop carpet. Loop carpets have an interesting construction method - looping individual fibers into the base material, making them incredibly durable, resistant, and a top choice for staircases.

Regular maintenance on the carpet is essential to keeping your carpet looking newer longer. Regular vacuuming and professional steam cleaning every 12-18 months will keep your carpet looking its best!

That's it for our breakdown of the five most durable flooring options. Call our Flooring Consultants here at Creative Carpet & Flooring to talk to the real experts. We'll help you find the right durable flooring to withstand your home and lifestyle.