Everyone who has a house or apartment wants a floor that not only plays up the decor of the room but is beautiful and durable in and of itself. But lovely floors, be they made of stone, tile or hardwood, can be pricey. The good news is that now you can still have a luxurious floor without the luxury cost. Here are three examples of flooring options that can save you money.
Laminate
As its name implies, laminate flooring is made up of layers. The bottom is made of paper or melamine that supports a fiberboard core. The design layer is on top of the core, and it is often an actual photograph of a more expensive material such as natural stone or porcelain tile. Some really deluxe laminate flooring is even textured. Then, on top of the design layer is a tough, transparent wear layer to protect it. Homeowners prize laminate flooring because it can be placed over an old floor without the old floor needing to be taken up. It doesn’t need to be sealed, resists stains, dings, scratches, and fading and can stand heavy traffic. These attributes also make laminate flooring easy to clean. It needs to be broom swept at the end of the day, and damp-mopped once a week.
Carpet Tiles
Carpet tiles have the beauty, warmth, fun designs and softness of wall-to-wall carpet without the labor and expense of wall-to-wall carpet installation. They are easy to clean and only need regular sweeping and vacuuming, and badly stained tiles can be popped out and washed. Carpet tiles have multiple advantages in addition to being a low maintenance flooring option. They can be installed by a layperson with ease and speed. They have few drawbacks, but two of them are edge fray, and if a person really looks, they can see the lines between the tiles.
Linoleum
A type of resilient flooring, linoleum is also easy to clean and resists water damage and stains. It got its name because it was first made out of solid linseed oil, but now it can be made from wood flour, resins or cork dust. As with laminates, technology has allowed it to mimic far pricier materials. The one caveat with linoleum is it shouldn’t be installed in a place where people are coming in from the swimming pool, such as the mudroom or a cabana, because it can be damaged by chlorine.
Just because flooring inexpensive doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful and long-lasting. Laminate floors, carpet tile, and linoleum all come in fun designs, are easy to keep clean and can last for years even if the floor gets heavy traffic.
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