Different Flooring options

Different Flooring options

Flooring is a very important space in any building. Homes, offices, factories, large offices, garage, godowns, every space needs a decent flooring. A good flooring helps the user in keeping the space arranged tidy clean and good looking.

Now when you are decorating a space flooring becomes a very very important element. To enhance the look and feel of the space a nicely designed flooring ads lot of value. If you happen to visit a five star or premium property you will notice that the flooring of that space has been very nicely plant and executed.

The flooring also adds to our comfort and convenience. In very cold areas we need flooring which are not chillingly cold to our feet. In extreme cold countries heating systems are installed below the flooring.

While planning your flooring you have mainly two types of flooring options:

• Hard Flooring
• Soft Flooring

We will try to explain the above two types of flooring. This will help the user in deciding which flooring is suitable for them in which areas.

Hard Flooring

Hard flooring means the flooring which once installed will not need lot of maintenance and will stay there with you for a very long time.

The main hard flooring products are :

• Marble
• Granite
• Any other stone like Kota Stone in India
• Vitrified Tiles
• Ceramic Tiles

These are all hard floorings. All the above floorings need to be installed by using sand cement motor or cement based stone or tile fixing adhesives.

Advantages of Hard Flooring

There are many advantages of hard flooring. For the convenience of the reader we will jot down the advantages of hard flooring in pointers below:

• Long lifespan.
• Less maintenance.
• Easy cleaning.
• No problem with water.
• Cannot be damaged by termite.
• Can be installed in any space.
• Very good option for open or exposed areas.
• Different good looking designs can be created.
• The stone flooring can be repolished.
• Gives additional support and strength to the floor base.
• Very good for heavy traffic areas.
• Recyclable.

As we all know that anything that has some advantages will also have some disadvantages. The disadvantages of hard flooring gives way to the second part of our article the soft flooring.

Disadvantages of having hard flooring are as below:

• Time consuming installation process.
• Dusty installation process.
• Difficult to install and difficult to remove.
• Renovation process is difficult.
• Less colour options.
• Weather sensitive. Cold when cold and warm when hot.
• Very uncomfortable during cold weather conditions.
• Difficult to create germs and virus free spaces as are made up of organic material.
• Requires regular mopping and cleaning.

Hard Flooring is best suited for high traffic areas, common areas, open areas, wet areas and areas where a great level of maintenance cannot be done. Hard Flooring can be washed and cleaned harshly using water, cleaning agents and pressure pumps etc.

Soft Flooring

Soft Floorings luxury floorings. They can add and improve the decor of the space where Soft Flooring is used. The Soft Floorings are normally installed to add Luxury to the space. Along with all the above features, soft flooring adds lots of convenience.

Following are the category of Soft Floorings:

• PVC Vinyl Flooring
• Wooden Flooring – Laminate, Engineered and Real Hardwood
• SPC (Stone Plastic Composite) Luxury Vinyl Planks Flooring
• Wall to Wall Carpet

We have to further bifurcate the above into two different types of floorings. There are two types of Soft Flooring – a) High Maintenance b) Less Maintenance.

High Maintenance Soft Flooring

• Wooden Flooring
• Wall to Wall Carpet.

Wooden Flooring and Wall to Wall Carpet may be required to be maintained and taken care of. Wooden Flooring and Wall to Wall Carpet needs to be protected from Water and pests. Wooden Flooring can get damaged if cleaned using water

Less Maintenance Soft Flooring

• PVC Vinyl Flooring
• SPC Flooring

Pvc and SPC Flooring are two types of flooring that does not get damaged by water. However excessive water can delaminate the adhesive of PVC Vinyl Flooring. The water may get trapped in between the base floor and SPC planks. This trapped water may generate bad smells and help in germination of organisms in the trapped water area.

You can mop clean both Pvc and SPC Flooring.

Now let us talk about the advantages and disadvantages of Soft Flooring.

• Very fast installation.
• The installation process is relatively cleaner in comparison to hard floorings.
• Easy and convenient to install and easy to remove.
• Very easy and fast renovation process.
• Wide range of colours and designs.
• Helps in keeping the area warmer in cold.
• Best solution in cold weather conditions. Helps in keeping the floor relatively non chilly in winters or cold weather conditions.
• If maintained and cleaned properly, may keep the floor clean and safe.
• Less cleaning is required in comparison to hard floorings.
• No major wastage or excess buying for installation.
• Systematic installation process and all accessories for proper installation is available.
• The product is available in wide price range to suit different price bracket.

Now let us talk about the disadvantages so that you take a better decision.

The disadvantages of Soft Flooring are as below :

• Life of Soft Flooring is very less than Hard Flooring. Still if maintained and used intelligently, it can last around 10 years.
• Proper maintenance and care during use is required.
• Except PVC Vinyl Flooring, Soft Flooring cleaning requires informed cleaning with precautions and tools and machines like vaccum cleaner.
• Water is the main concern in Soft Flooring. Careless use of wet cleaning can damage Soft Flooring.
• Carpet and Wooden Flooring can get damaged by termite.
• Cannot be installed in outdoors and wet areas.
• Can only be used in indoors and protected areas and spaces.
• Flooring once damaged cannot be repaired.
• It is just like a skin on the base floor. Any defect and undulations on base floor can be visible on the soft floor like carpets and vinyl.
• Not suitable for areas of extreme heavy traffic.
• Few of the Soft Flooring products may be Recyclable.

Now you know the different type of flooring options available in the market. The major two types of floor – Hard Floorings, Soft Floorings. Further two minor type of Soft Flooring. I am sure you will be in a better state to take your decision.

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