FLOORING OPTIONS FOR TODAY'S HOME by: Kathy Micheal

Flooring opens up many creative design possibilities for a home. Hardwood and laminate flooring can create a cozy country feel or an elegant urban setting. Vinyl and ceramic tiles offer an endless array of patterns, colours and styles, allowing you to truly use your imagination to achieve the perfect kitchen, bathroom or entrance!

Carpet (Broadloom)
Carpet is one of the best ways to add coziness and comfort to a home. The broad range of carpet colours and styles allows people to add their own personality to their living spaces, while the right shades can either open up a small room or create a warm intimate atmosphere in a spacious setting. There are also practical advantages that only carpet can offer: it helps prevent slips and falls; it helps to absorb noise; and its insulating properties can reduce the cost of heating and air-conditioning.

Area Rugs
Area rugs are a simple and effective way to add colour and style to a home. They are also an economical alternative to broadloom, providing the comfort and practicality of carpet while retaining the classic styling of flooring. Today, area rugs are imported from all over the world from such countries as Persia, China, Tibet, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey. There are two ways in which area rugs are manufactured: either by hand or by machine. Hand-made rugs obviously cost more because of the length of time it takes to make a rug. Machine-made rugs are usually less expensive than hand-made rugs, although today's machine-made rugs are just as elaborate in design.

Hardwood Flooring
Hardwood flooring is a sought after feature for both re-modelers and those purchasing new homes and condos. Hardwood adds style and elegance to a room. It also matches any decor, is easier than ever to care for and provides great value since it lasts a lifetime. It also improves the living quality of homes because hardwood flooring does not trap dust pollen or other allergens.
A popular trend is no-wax pre-finished hardwood flooring because it eliminates messy on-site sanding or unpleasant chemicals. It comes in many colours and is easier to install for the do-it yourselfer.

Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring is a durable and creative flooring option. It is constructed of a dense fiberboard core with top and bottom fibre pattern layers sealed under high pressure with a durable, plastic-like substance.

Laminate flooring is one of the easiest floors to install because it can be laid over any flat surface including ceramics, vinyl and short pile carpeting. Laminate is generating popularity and excitement because of the endless design options it creates. It is made to look exactly like hardwood, stone, tile and various other designs while providing the strength of laminate. The laminate flooring surface is so strong that it resists staining, fading, scuffing and scratching, making care and maintenance easy and stress free!

Ceramic Tiles
Ceramics are a popular choice for kitchens, bathrooms and entranceways of a home because of their beauty, elegance and style. With the multitude of patterns and colours available, there is no end to the design possibilities for your home. Ceramic tiles are also a very practical flooring option for high traffic areas, where tracked in dirt, accidental spills and excess moisture would make carpet maintenance difficult.

Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl is a very versatile flooring option. It is very easy to keep clean, so it's a top choice for kitchens, bathrooms, recreation rooms and other high traffic rooms. Vinyl flooring is considered a soft floor and comes in a broad range of colours, styles and patterns, similar to ceramic tiles.
Most often vinyl flooring is sold and installed in large adhesive sheets as opposed to single peel-and-stick tiles. As well, some top of the line vinyl floors are made to look almost exactly like ceramic tiles and even hardwood floors, providing all the style and elegance of these forms.