Flooring Dos & Don’ts And How To Go About Them

Floor covering is the epitome of beauty in any room space. More so, when well complemented by other fantastic interior décor patterns and styles. However, you should never get overwhelmed with tons of flooring types available in the market when it’s time to make the right choice. Keeping in mind that quality, quantity, cost, and flooring preferences play a critical role in decision making, you should precisely know what you want. Now, to ensure you have the best flooring, what should you do or avoid? Here are the flooring dos and don’ts for your next project.

Flooring Dos and Don’ts

Flooring Dos

1. Consider the Layout of Your Home

Before you think about mixing flooring types in your home, you need to consider its layout. For example, if you have an open-plan layout or clearly divided rooms, you may need different flooring for these rooms depending on their need. Also, separate flooring for the rooms adds a different feel to each room. On the other hand, having the same flooring in an open plan home adds more continuity and may make your house appear bigger.

While considering your home’s layout, remember not to forget its architectural integrity. In addition, you need to make your home reflect your personal style. Such considerations can pay off if you ever choose to sell your home.  

2. Play with Different Flooring Styles

Most people often ask, should the flooring be the same throughout the house? The simple answer is no. If you have various flooring materials that you love, you can combine them. However, be careful when mixing colors and patterns. Flooring material is designed to last for several years. Ensure you choose style and material that can stand the test of time and not ones that will bore you. Interior designers advise you to select subtle tones of one color, which helps to liven up your home.  

3. Think About Your Region’s Climate

When reviewing whole house flooring ideas, you can choose various options if you live in an area with defined seasons. However, if your region experiences extreme temperatures, they can damage your selected flooring materials. Areas with damp and humid can warp hardwood floors or damage laminate flooring. For such areas, you can choose tile flooring. At the same time, you need to consider the floor wear and tear, depending on its installation location.

4. Consider Your Comfort

Carpets may not be an ideal choice of flooring to keep up with the trends. However, it adds more comfort to your home and space. You can review ideas such as choosing a flooring color for your home for a carpet that improves your space and home’s design. Think about the level of comfort you need in each home and choose a flooring material that meets this need.

You can look at factors such as rooms where you spend most of your time standing, family room, small kids who crawl on the floor, and others. You can choose a flooring material that adds more comfort and prevents trips and falls with these factors in mind.

5. Use Eco-Friendly Material

Whether you are considering different flooring in the kitchen and dining area, it is good to consider the environment. Often, you can rush to buy new flooring materials, which most homeowners do. However, reusing and renovating your current flooring material can have a fantastic outcome. You can choose flooring materials that don’t go out of style and offers high performance for a long time.

Flooring Don’ts

1. Don’t Compromise Quality for Cheap Material

Buying substandard flooring is one of the common flooring mistakes. With the current explosion in demand for fantastic interior décor, countless batches of flooring material are mainstreamed into the market, with a significant proportion of the materials coming from unspecified origins.  With such, you can easily pay for flooring materials that may not meet your expectations. And perhaps the substandard flooring may contain some of the harmful chemicals in intolerable proportions. Thus, you should buy your flooring materials from retailers with reputable sources. With such, you’re likely to enjoy the best return on investment. Isn’t it that plausible? 

2. Don’t Ignore the Cost of Flooring Complements

Many homeowners fall short of their flooring budget due to the cost of complementary flooring products. However, such inconveniences can be costly due to the additional costs. The problem may not only trample on your anticipated budget but may also put you on the spot for unfinished flooring projects.

As per the rule of thumb, you should always add 10% of the flooring cost for miscellaneous and at least 30% for installation into your budget to ensure everything goes well. Flooring complements consist of grout and sealants for tiles, padding for carpets, furniture moving, and the cost of flooring material delivery.

3. Don’t Mismatch Flooring Type and Rooms

Don’t install the wrong choice of flooring. Knowing the best flooring material for every room is essential. With that said, you should consider the traffic and the intended purpose of the room. Therefore, don’t install a solid-colored carpet in the dining or family rooms. Also, patterned rugs are a great choice since they mask spills, soils, and other loose debris on the floor surface. Besides, flooring materials that can’t withstand water are not ideal for moisture-prone rooms.

Never choose soft, delicate, and bright colored floors which are susceptible to scratching, scouring, or scuffing in heavy foot traffic areas. For instance, choosing light-colored carpet for high foot traffic may call for often cleaning and a pending replacement sooner than later. With the right choice of flooring for every space, you can save on the flooring cost maintenance and replacement.

4. Don’t Install Varying Thickness

When laying flooring in adjacent rooms, some installers forget to put the flooring of the same thickness or height as the adjacent places. When the flooring in adjacent rooms is not on the level, it may pose a tripping hazard and stubbed toes. Also, you should avoid installing slippery floors with no anti-slip treated surface. When it comes to flooring, safety is a priority.

5. Don’t Underestimate or Overestimate the Size

Avoid the purchase of large-sized carpet patterns for stairs. If you buy such, you will waste a lot of the material trying to match the various patterns when laying the carpet on the steps. The process may not only waste the flooring material but is also a waste of time and money. 

Don’t select a kitchen or dining rug that is small for the area. For your area carpet to adequately cover the floor, you need at least 36 inches from the table’s edge to the rug’s side. 

6. Don’t Ignore Architectural Design

Keep the architectural integrity of your home in mind. As much as you want to make your home appealing, you should make your place a true reflection of personal style. With that said, adhering to your home’s layout may never pay immediately but pays much when it comes to the home value at the time of resale.

7. Don’t Be a Know-it-all

Ask for help when you have doubts. It may be quite impossible to know everything about flooring. Consulting flooring professionals will cost you absolutely nothing but will save you money big time. Also, you’ll get a free quote that can help you make an informed decision before buying and installing your favorite flooring option.

These flooring dos and don’ts will help you to learn your flooring smoothly if adhered to. They apply for hardwood, laminate, vinyl, carpet, or tile flooring.