Hard flooring is incredibly popular in modern homes throughout Australia. It offers a sleek and impressive finish, which can complement a range of interior design styles. If you’re looking to get some hard flooring for your property, then you must know which options are available.
So, we’ve created a short guide to help you discover which hard flooring is right for you:
Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is incredibly versatile and possesses several benefits. Appearance-wise, it can look just like timber flooring – but with a protective layer on top that offers a glossy finish. It’s very easy to clean – spills can be wiped from the surface, and debris can be swept or vacuumed up.
Instantly, these are some excellent benefits as it makes the flooring very low-maintenance. To add to this, laminate flooring is cost-effective and very resilient. As such, it’s perfect for homes with a lot of foot traffic – particularly in halls, living rooms, and possibly even bedrooms.
However, it’s not the most soundproof option, so bear that in mind if you live in an apartment.
Timber Flooring
Timber flooring is a classic option that gives your home a very high-end finish. Solid timber planks are very robust, which makes them excellent at providing soundproofing. So, this may work beautifully in apartments, or in upstairs bedrooms to minimise the sound of footsteps.
It’s available in many colours and designs too and really helps complement a more traditional interior style.
There are some drawbacks, however. For one, it requires more maintenance than most other options. Secondly, if your home is very humid, then this flooring won’t be ideal as the timber doesn’t react well to lots of moisture. Lastly, it can deteriorate quite quickly in high traffic areas, unless adequately maintained. So, if you have a few kids running around all day long, then it might not suit your home.
Engineered Floorboards
Engineered floorboards are unique in that they combine two different flooring materials. Typically, a timber veneer is attached to an actual timber board. As such, you have something that almost combines the qualities of both laminate and timber flooring.
Engineered floorboards can be used all over the home because they’re hard-wearing and easy for you to clean. They also come in lots of different varieties, so you can choose one that matches your overall design theme. Engineered floorboards come with great soundproofing capabilities too, which makes them perfect for apartments.
You can use these in family homes – thanks to their durability – but they’re perhaps not the best option for bathrooms or other humid areas – due to the timber in them.
Take a look at all three of these hard flooring options and think about which one will be best for your home. There are a few key points to consider:
- How much foot traffic does your property have?
- Do you need flooring for soundproofing?
- What room do you want hard flooring in?
- How much are you willing to spend?
- Can you keep up with the maintenance?
Answer all of these questions, and you’ll soon see which flooring option works best for your home. After all, there’s no true winner; it all depends on you!