4 Most Durable Flooring Options
Floors are the unsung heroes of the house. Whether it’s handling food that gets dropped on them or surviving your cat’s sudden life mission to passionately scratch their surface, floors are subjected to a lot of abuse through the years.
To manage such misfortunes, well-made durable flooring is a must.
There are a lot of ways of measuring durability in the industry but we’ve simplified the selection process for you by listing what all to really look for.
In this article, we’re going to share 4 of the most durable flooring options.
What Does Durability Mean?
Defining the word “durability” is easy; the ability to withstand damage can be called durability. However, when it comes to flooring, this interpretation gets a little complicated.
There’s no single all-powerful flooring that can withstand all kinds of damage. For this reason, it’s better to inspect a few key characteristics that make flooring durable.
• Impact Resistance
This is probably the first image that comes into our mind when we think of durability; how well a flooring can handle shocks of various weights before it breaks or forms permanent dents.
• Scratch Resistance
Another common way to describe durability is how resistant the floor is against scratches. For some flooring options, it can be argued that scratches enhance their aesthetic. However, for the rest, scratches usually ruin the overall look.
• Longevity
Buying flooring is an expensive venture. Most people want to buy the type of flooring that will last for at least twenty years, so for them, durability means longevity. This way of looking at longevity may or may not involve minor repairs.
• Supporting Constant Weight
Durability can also be seen as the overall strength of a flooring to support a lot of heavy weight almost indefinitely. Think about it; at any given time, a floor is supporting the weight of all your furniture, appliances, and house members.
• Waterproofness
We don’t always use the word “waterproofness” in the same category as durability. Nevertheless, moisture-related problems are certainly a type of damage some floors go through and so it may be a good idea to keep this factor in mind as well.
2 Important Factors to Know About Durability
Before we get to the 4 most durable flooring options, there are just a few more things you need to know about durability:
• Durability Differs Room to Room
Most houses consist of a living room, kitchen, few bathrooms, some bedrooms, and sometimes a basement. All these rooms have their own uses that may render a particular type of durable flooring useless if it is not fit for the room’s main purpose.
For instance, installing hardwood flooring in bathrooms is a recipe for disaster.
• Price Matters
Sometimes a cheap version of a durable flooring might lose to an expensive version of a less durable flooring category. We don’t mean to say expensive is always better but sometimes it’s as simple as “you get what you pay for.”
4 of the Most Durable Flooring Options
1. Tiles
Tiles are one of the most popular flooring options in the world of floors, and why shouldn’t they be? Not many floorings can rival its vast range of designs. In terms of durability, tiles are the best option if you’re looking for scratchproof flooring.
There are many varieties within tiles, with granite being the strongest out of all since it is a natural stone. However, granite also requires sealing every one or two years to maintain its finish, so the next best option is porcelain which is unbelievably strong and often much more affordable too.
The one area tiles suffer the most is in impact resistance. If anything thing of considerable weight falls on them, chances are high that it might break your tiles. This is not to say it can’t handle minor accidents, but you still have to be careful.
2. Bamboo Flooring
Bamboo flooring is a super trendy flooring option in 2022. It’s easy to maintain, can look like hardwood flooring, and is environmentally friendly. It is also extremely durable when it comes to supporting weight for a long time without creating dents.
You might be surprised to know that strand woven bamboo flooring is even harder than some of the American hardwood varieties; coming at around 3000 points on the Janka hardness scale.
The major disadvantage of bamboo flooring is that it is prone to getting scratches. It is also not a waterproof flooring option since bamboos are made from grassroots, which are known for absorbing water easily.
3. Hardwood Flooring
There’s something about that charming warmth hardwood floors create that no other flooring can imitate.
However, the thing we like the most about this flooring is its unbelievable longevity of at least 75 to 100 years. Yes, hardwood flooring is prone to getting scratched but it can be refurnished almost endlessly; each time looking completely new.
There is a great range of species that can be used to construct the flooring. Some of the exotic varieties like ebony and Brazilian walnut score higher than strand woven bamboo on the Janka hardness scale; however, due to unethical felling and distribution, it’s best to stick to some popular American lumber instead.
Species like teak score an impressive 2230 points, with hickory coming close with around 1820 hardness points. Unfortunately, hardwood is even worse than bamboo flooring when it comes to waterproofness. You can explore some engineered hardwood flooring options to minimize this problem.
4. Concrete
Whenever we talk about the durability of concrete flooring, we like to point out that this is the same flooring that is used on street basketball courts. Day in and day out, this flooring is subject to massive impacts from the basketball being repeatedly dribbled and dropped on it from crazy heights. Its impact resistance is unparalleled.
In the case of concrete flooring, it’s really all about the coating that makes the biggest difference. Some of the usual coatings are polyurethane, polyaspartic, acrylic, and epoxy floor coating, out of which epoxy is the most popular in terms of adding more strength and water resistance to the floor.
Even though this flooring is completely different from bamboo flooring, it’s almost identical in terms of its durability. Concrete flooring might just be a bit harder; however, that difference is significant enough to make this floor dangerous to fall on.
Conclusion
There are a lot of factors that come into play when you have to decide which flooring to buy. Keeping durability high on that list is a good way to lay down the foundation for a safer and happier home.
We again stress that durability can be defined in a lot of ways. Rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach, think about the practical needs of each room in your house and use this guide to find the most durable type of flooring for each of them.
To summarise, in this article we’ve looked at 4 of the most durable flooring options -
1. Tiles
2. Bamboo Flooring
3. Hardwood Flooring
4. Concrete
Want more information about a specific flooring? Floors2day is here to help!
Reach out to us at Floors2Day by giving us a call at 877-356-6759 or booking an appointment online using this link. (If you book online, you say $150!) We offer our flooring services in Maryland, Delaware, Washington D.C., Virginia, Wisconsin, and Illinois!
Here at Floors2Day, we provide the best quality flooring products, coupled with excellent customer service, and quick and easy installation.
With over 20 years of experience in flooring, we have seen it all. Every client is unique, and our services are always custom to your needs! We also proudly offer 12-month 0% interest and 90-days deferred financing, learn more here! So, sit back and relax as our team provides you with an amazing, worry-free renovation experience.
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