How do you choose the flooring for your home? Does it have to be comfortable under your feet, durable, cost effective, easy to install and with aesthetic appeal? Resilient flooring has most of these characteristics. Resilient flooring is effective and cost efficient for both residential and commercial applications including stores, schools and health care facilities. Resilient flooring is also becoming popular with modern laboratories, computer rooms, dormitories, spas, restaurants and libraries because of its performance, wide range of available designs and a myriad of colors to choose from.
For residential application, resilient flooring is more often installed in entryways, kitchens, bathrooms and in areas where heavy traffic is often expected. More and more apartments are also using resilient flooring, which replaces old carpets. This is increasingly becoming popular especially for people with known allergies to dust and mites because this doesn’t trap dust like carpets. Resilient flooring is also easy to clean and maintain.
All synthetic and resin based floor coverings are considered resilient flooring. Linoleum, cork, rubber, vinyl tiles and sheet floorings are all resilient floorings. However, linoleum is no longer as popular as it used to be in the past and is rarely used today.
Resilient flooring is very practical for families with small children. This is because of its flexibility, resistance to water and stain and it is very easy to maintain. Its soft property helps muffle noise and is comfortable to the feet and legs. Additionally this type of flooring offers a higher chance of survival for a dropped glass, because of its “bounce back” property.
Resilient flooring is also considered one of the least expensive types of flooring materials available in the market today. It is also the easiest and quickest type of flooring to install. Although it is cheaper to install resilient flooring compared with other flooring materials, it doesn’t mean your design is compromised with the low price tag. Forget the old look linoleum floors found in your mother’s house. New resilient floorings are already available in a wide variety of colors and designs, which range from simple geometric and graphic designs to sheets that mimic other types of floors. You can commonly find resilient flooring designs that imitate wood, marble, brick or ceramic tile. Creating your own design with resilient flooring is easy because each sheet is easy to cut, making design coordination with your existing flooring a breeze.
Designers suggest that you choose small design patterns for smaller rooms and large design patterns for larger rooms. It is important to choose designs that coordinate with the design elements of the room. Be aware that light colored floors require frequent cleaning. Be careful in choosing the color and pattern of your floor. It is often a mistake to choose a pattern from a small sample. Pattern from a small sample may look beautiful but the pattern repeat can become overwhelming once on the floor.
Finally, you will love resilient flooring because it will give you the opportunity to be creative. This will allow you to create a unique floor pattern that is distinctively your own style and taste. The next time you visit your favorite home building store, look for resilient flooring. You might just find something nice for your flooring project.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Flooring.