Selecting the best flooring for your home

The answer can be as different as the options available to pick from, so we'll break down the different kinds, including pros and cons, as well as our own experience and opinions about each.

Solid Wood

Everything being considered, we're not sure you could beat the appearance of genuine hardwood. It's timeless and welcoming; it can be a great way to warm up any room and be a perfect match for any decor. It will last for a long time and is able to be refinished and over. If you have an unending budget and without maintenance issues to worry about, you can go for hardwood every day.

However, in actual life, there are a few negatives. It's suitable for damp areas such as bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms. The wood warps and buckles when humidity is high, and if you speak to the majority of homeowners in the area who chose to put them in any way, they'll regret it after a few months.

Engineered Wood

Engineered wood is just an actual wood layer over a composite. It's the ideal combination of both! Some used it in their homes, and they would usually go with the option over real wood.

There's a wide variety of styles, species, and prices to pick from. They are installed in a variety of ways: floating and glue-down or nail down. The cost varies, but generally, they're cheaper than solid wood, and there are some very nice alternatives within the range of $5 to $8 per square foot (or lower).

Most people aren't in a position to recognize that it's not wood (or even care about it, actually). Because the top layer is made of real wood, you'll be able to polish it at least every couple of years so that they last for a long time. You can keep using engineered wood for homes where appearance and quality are important the most.

Tile

In terms of design, tiles certainly offer the greatest variety of choices. There are always different materials, patterns, sizes, and shapes to try, and it offers the greatest creative freedom. Tiles can be the star of the show and are the ideal option if you're looking to create an eye-catching center area.

Installation is more complex than other types of flooring once you consider all the additional materials required (cement boards, thinset grout, saw, and tools), and the cost of labor adds quickly if you contract out. Suddenly, that low-cost tile you bought isn't cheap in the end. There are a few scenarios where it looks beautiful, elegant, warm, and classic (like brick pavers or traditional French limestone); however, it can create a room that appears like it's cold and chilly, particularly in rooms and living areas.

Luxury vinyl tile/planks

LVT, also known as LVP, is a buzzword of real estate developers and home flippers today. They are thin pieces of flexible vinyl coated with printed photographs which can be fixed or glued down. It is available at as little as $1/sf. And to untrained eyes (or in photos), it may appear like real wood.

Peel and stick vinyl has been in use since the beginning of time, however, the addition of this brand new "luxury" variety has changed the rules and offered various alternatives for those looking for the most bang for a budget solution. It's a DIY easy installation, too.