Replacing the flooring in your home is a significant investment and should only be done once every couple of decades or so.
Taking the time to reflect on a handful of essential questions guides Central Florida homeowners toward the best flooring choices for their lifestyle and long-term goals.
How to Choose Flooring: Answering These Questions Uncovers The Best Flooring For Central Florida Homes
It’s always best to schedule a personalized consultation with local flooring professionals who can help you work through the web of considerations that will lead you to the flooring selection that matches your lifestyle, long-term goals, and budget.
Working through these overarching themes and the inevitable questions that arise along the way ensures your final selections will stand the test of time.
1. Who Lives, Works, or Plays In the House Now?
First, it’s crucial to identify who lives, works, and plays in the house. In addition to getting a better feel for who you are, the answer to this question provides more insight into the level of daily wear and tear experienced in each living space.
For example, while there may be overlaps, choosing flooring for pets and kids has more restrictions than when we consider how to choose flooring for a single retiree who only occupies the unit for half of the year or so.
Therefore, evaluating who lives in the space, and the type of work or play that takes place there throughout the year, we consider things like:
- The need for water resistance.
- The risk of scratching, staining, or chipping.
- Which flooring should focus on slip-proof features?
- Whether children will be playing on the floor in a certain area.
- Are pet paws and claws a factor?
- What type of work is being done in the home (a home office has different needs than a home dance or yoga studio)?
- What level of entertaining is the norm, and where do gatherings tend to happen most?
- Are mobility aids being used by occupants or frequent visitors.
- And so on.
As we look at who lives there, including pets, we can also go room by room to determine which ones are best suited to carpet vs. hard surface flooring, or when tile may make more sense than laminate, and so on.
While you might not think of your house as having “personality,” you’ll find that working through who lives there and how they spend their time has a tremendous influence on which of the different flooring options make it into the ‘Yes” category and which are quickly moved into the ‘No” pile.
2. What Are Your Short Vs. Long-Term Goals?
Once we’ve a good idea of what is needed now, it’s time to consider your longer-term goals for the house.
If you tell us that you plan to sell the home within the next five years or intend to turn it into a rental, we may steer you in a slightly different direction than if you plan to stay in the home indefinitely or age in place.
Your long-term goals for the home shed additional light on the flooring materials that make sense for the budget. For example, let’s say you love the look of hardwood and are debating between vinyl plank (LVP) vs. laminate. If you plan to rent the home or have dogs and cats that scurry around, you may want to consider durable laminate floors, which feature a resin-injected core and an aluminum-oxide finish that makes them quite hard and more scratch-resistant.
3. What Are Your Design Preferences?
The first two questions are more dedicated to function over form, and that’s intentional. Now, however, it’s time to consider your personal design preferences.
As more folks decide to relocate to Florida from colder, northern climates, we’ve noticed a significant increase in the demand for hardwood floors. The only problem with that is that genuine hardwood doesn’t fare so well in our warm, humid climate, and the water-loving lifestyle that accompanies that. So, if you love that cozy, versatile look of wood, we’ll want to talk to you about LVP, laminate, and tile plank options that look (and feel) just like real wood.
Or perhaps you love the look of natural marble, but know it’s not the best option for busy households due to its softer and more porous nature. In that case, we’ll steer you towards stone-look tile that looks like your favorite natural stone options without the hefty price tag or need for regular sealing.
And, when you work with Creative Floors, you have the added benefit of working with professional design consultants with decades of interior design experience.
4. What Are Your Thoughts About Comfort?
We can all agree that water resistance and high-traffic durability are the top priorities for rooms like kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms, which is why hard surface flooring reigns supreme in those spaces. However, you may find that you desire a softer and more comfortable option for other rooms in the house. The best flooring for families should strike a balance between durability and comfort.
The great news is that we have carpeting to match any lifestyle, including families with young children and houses with pets, and Creative Floors offers the best-quality carpet options on the market. If you prefer soft carpeting underfoot, we’ll help you find the right fit, including options that are stain-resistant, and that do a great job of hiding wear and tear in high-traffic zones.
In addition to physical comfort, we also want to know more about your time and maintenance interests. Your lifestyle will be far more comfortable when you match your flooring with the level of time/interest you have in maintaining it.
5. Do You Have Special Considerations?
Once we’ve gone through the basics and learned all we can about your household, its occupants, and your lifestyle, we will delve a bit deeper to identify any special considerations we may not have been aware of thus far.
For example:
- Does anyone in your home suffer from extreme allergies or have respiratory issues? If so, we’ll talk about hypoallergenic flooring options that can support their well-being.
- Is anyone particularly sound-sensitive? Or, are you interested in reducing sound in a specific room or area of the home? For some, this may be a clue that carpet is the best bet. For others, we can discuss upgraded subfloor materials that reduce sound transmission from hard surface options.
- Are you working with specific calendar constraints? This can help us focus on flooring options that meet your needs and are readily available, making them quicker to install.
- Do you have a limited budget? Your budget is always an essential part of the picture, and we’ll ensure that our suggestions optimize style, durability, and longevity in relation to your total cost per square foot.
Schedule Your Personalized Flooring Consultation at Creative Floors
The Creative Floors family wants Central Florida clients to make informed choices for a lifetime of flooring satisfaction. Our personalized flooring consultations are the best way for you to learn more about selecting flooring that suits your lifestyle and goals.
We keep things easy, low-pressure, and as convenient as possible by offering appointments at our Orlando or Casselberry showrooms or in the comfort of your own home.
Contact us and let’s get started answering five essential questions that keep your flooring selection process simple, streamlined, and stress-free.
