Best Flooring for Each Room of the House

hardwood - best flooring overallWhat is the best flooring for each room of the House ? There are practically unlimited flooring options. Choosing which is best can seem overwhelming, especially when choosing for several rooms. To simplify the decision making we’ve narrowed it down to the most widely recommended flooring type for each room. These choices are the most common & generally offer the best value and performance.

Here Are the Best Flooring options for Each Room of the House:

• Entryway, Living Room, Dining Room – Hardwood, Ceramic Tile
• Family Room, Media Room, Office, Bedroom – Hardwood, Laminate, Carpet
• Kitchen, Bathroom, Laundry Room, Mudroom – Porcelain Tile, Vinyl
• Garage – Polished Concrete, Epoxy, Vinyl Tile
• Basement – Polished Concrete, Epoxy, Vinyl Tile, Engineered Wood, Carpet
• Home Gym – Rubber Tile, Vinyl Tile
• Screened Room – Polished Concrete, Indoor/Outdoor Carpet, Ceramic Tile

Entryway, Living Room, Dining Room

Hardwood (especially Oak) is overall a most popular choice for the common areas in any American home. It’s a timeless, classic look that adds value to any home. Solid hardwood is all natural, can be refinished many times & can last a lifetime. Ceramic tile is also an elegant, traditional choice, though it can get colder than wood. These common areas of the home are especially where you want high quality flooring for look, performance & added value.

Family Room, Media Room, Office & Bedrooms

laminate flooringMatching hardwood throughout a home is a practical choice for all rooms where there’s little moisture exposure. This would also include the family room, media room, office & bedrooms. Many homes do also have the kitchens in hardwood. You just must make sure that liquid spills are cleaned quickly.

Considering that these rooms are more private, it’s practical to consider more affordable options like laminate or carpet. Laminate flooring can look almost indistinguishable from hardwood while costing much less. Carpet also can save money while providing more of the casual, comfortable factor you may want in these rooms. If a bedroom is a children’s playroom then it would be especially important to have the softness of carpet. The biggest downside of carpet is keeping it clean. Look for hypoallergenic carpet to minimize mildew & allergens.

Kitchen, Bathroom, Laundry Room, Mudroom

tile-bathroomThese are the rooms that need moisture resistant flooring, especially the bathroom. Porcelain tile is the finest choice and is ideal for shower stalls & bathroom floors. It’s highly water proof and scratch resistant and can last a lifetime. Ceramic tile is also recommended, though ceramic is slightly less water proof. It’s also less costly, as is vinyl.

Ceramic and vinyl flooring are still great choices for the kitchen, bathroom floor, laundry & mudroom. Vinyl tile is highly water resistant. Vinyl sheet offers even better water resistance because it is seamless.

Garage

garage floorUpgrading the garage with a floor covering is a very worthwhile investment. It greatly enhances the appearance from plain concrete. Bare concrete easily absorbs stains and can quickly become ugly looking. Polished concrete is low cost, low maintenance, extremely durable and can look as beautuful as stone, marble & tile. The concrete is ground & polished to a mirror like finish. It can be stained or dyed to any color or combination of colors.

Another choice is to coat the concrete with Epoxy. Professionally applied epoxy is a much higher quality coating than do it yourself garage floor paint. It is much thicker, durable, longer lasting & can give the same look as polished concrete. Also vinyl tile is a great choice. It’s durable, inexpensive, offers some resilience & is pretty easy to lay down yourself. Vinyl tile can look great & even mimick wood, stone or ceramic tile.

Basement

polished-concreteBasement options are similar to the garage. Basements, like garage floors are concrete and can be subject to humidity & cold. The best flooring materials offer good moisture resistance. Again, polished concrete, Epoxy coatings & vinyl tile are ideal. Engineered wood flooring is another option if you want wood flooring. Engineered wood is alot more resistant to moisture than hardwood, though it will still require a moisture barrier. Carpet is also sometimes used in basements though it also requires a moisture barrier along with a plywood subfloor.

Home Gym

For a home gym rubber or vinyl tile are ideal. These materials offer resilience & cushioning to resist heavy impacts. These materials resist moisture from sweat and can easily be cleaned. Rubber tiles interlock for easy installation.

Screened Room

screened-room-carpetScreen rooms are subject to humidity & possibly moisture from rain. So you also want moisture resistant flooring there. Most screen rooms are on the ground floor on a concrete slab where polished concrete is an ideal choice. No need for additional floor materials, but you will need a professional to grind & polish the concrete. It looks as good as ceramic or porcelain but likely costs less. Tile or polished concrete are fine choices but can both become cold. For something warmer, inexpensive & easy to install yourself, indoor/outdoor carpet is ideal.

Deciding which floor coverings are best for each situation really depends on numerous factors like budget, durability, exposure to moisture, maintenance, look & feel to name a few. For a complete list of all types of flooring and their qualities see our flooring comparison chart

best flooring

The Floor Master

Hardwood flooring expert for over 30 years, serving in the NYC area.

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