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by Rachel Lyon, Editorial Director for The House Designers®
With all the extra stresses of today’s world, why install flooring that’ll heap more on? Exceptionally durable, waterproof flooring helps reduce damage concerns and is easy to clean to help contribute to a healthier household, so it’s well worth your consideration! It can even provide the luxurious looks of high-end materials for significantly less cost. Here’s why outfitting a home with waterproof flooring could be the best unexpected investment of your build!
Design Consistency
Transitions between rooms don’t have to mean transitioning the flooring. Jumps from wood to carpet to tile can be jarring on the eyes as well as your feet. And with the popularity of open floor plans, keeping a consistent base to tie the interior together is more important than it was in the past. Many builders shifted to installing hardwood in the kitchen to keep flooring uniform throughout the main living spaces, but high traffic and occasional splashes overlooked by homeowners can ruin wood long before its time. Then, doesn’t it make sense to outfit the home with something that stands up to the highest wear standards needed?
There are a number of waterproof flooring options to suit different aesthetics and budgets. Better yet, they can deliver durability with the look of everybody’s favorite—hardwood. Materials like luxury vinyl plank (LVP), engineered vinyl plank (EVP), and porcelain tile come with authentic tones and textures that’ll be an asset everywhere from the living room, to the kitchen, to bedrooms, to bathrooms. If you have your eye on a pricey wood species, you can even save money by selecting one of these mimics! You won’t have to worry about treating the floor too gently, but can expect it to withstand moisture, scuffs, stains, and even dents from heavy objects. Exactly what today’s homeowners want!
Functional Perks
Among different types of waterproof flooring, you’ll find a wide variety of perks. Vinyl products install quickly and easily to save time and money on the job. Tile is much more involved with mortar and grout, but you can also customize the final look by coloring the grout to match or contrast, playing up the wood look or making the tile aspect stand out more. Before you start laying the pieces, though, look into what you can put under the floor that’ll make you love it more.
Using additional padding beneath vinyl flooring will help dampen sounds, which is ideal for busy households. EVP typically includes a layer of padding on the underside while LVP typically doesn’t; you can lay separate padding under both types to reduce more noise. You’ll notice the difference across each story and between them, helping to keep bedrooms quieter! While you should definitely consider padding vinyl floors, you can’t pad tile because it requires a completely level and stable subfloor. The subtle flexibility of vinyl allows it to adapt to shifts—such as from heavy weight compressing the padding—without damage.
Vinyl and tile both work with underfloor heating, though! Radiant heating offers a more comfortable and efficient home than forced hot air, baseboard, or radiators because it warms the floor and the heat naturally rises to fill your living space. Other options create uneven gradients across rooms and drafts, resulting in warm and cold pockets and throwing off the HVAC system’s cues to start and stop. Radiant heat can be installed above or below the subfloor—either is fine for tile, but vinyl can’t be in direct contact with the heating element, so you’ll have to install it below. The extra installation effort that radiant heating requires upfront will definitely be appreciated every winter!
Easy Cleaning
Few people actually give their floors a good, thorough cleaning, largely because it’s difficult to do so without damaging them. While everybody can appreciate a clean home, those with allergies should definitely design with it in mind. Vacuuming is always an option, but waterproof flooring can also be wet-mopped. This removes dust, dirt, dander, etc., from daily life as well as the bigger messes that come with kids and pets. For those who want to take it even further, tile is the way to go, because it can even be steam cleaned. Cleaning doesn’t get much more effective than that!
If you’re in the market for waterproof flooring, check out Lumber Liquidators. They have all sorts of wood- and stone-look options that’ll make you see tile and vinyl in a whole new light. Beautiful, durable, and convenient, they expand the possibilities for every space. Find a local store to see the options in person!