Choosing Flooring for Your Home Baltimore MD

There are many important factors to consider when deciding on flooring for your home. Lifestyle, budget, climate, style, comfort and degree of use all play a part in determining what your flooring choices should be. Once you've answered these questions, the choice of flooring should be almost easy!

1. Lifestyle. Different types of flooring require varying levels of care. If you lead a very busy, active lifestyle, you will want flooring that is easy to take care of and needs very little maintenance. Also take into consideration the other members of your family, including the four-legged kind! If you have children or pets, flooring that can be easily cleaned is definitely a plus. Hardwood flooring is easy to clean, but it needs to refinished periodically and can be easily damaged by water or spilled drinks. Laminate flooring can closely mimic the look of hardwood, without the high maintenance and susceptibility to damage from liquids. Cleaning is easy with laminates - you simply need to use a damp mop to clean it when needed. Ceramic tile is easy to take care of, but it does require you to seal the floor about once a year. Carpet is certainly low-maintenance, but it can be very difficult to clean.
2. Budget. Flooring is available in a range of prices. At the top end of the range is hardwoods. The most popular hardwoods are oak, maple and cherry. American cherry is a hardwood that starts out as a light red-brown. It will darken over time to a very deep shade of this color. It is a fairly soft wood compared to most wood flooring. It is also one of the most expensive hardwoods. If you like the color of American cherry, but are looking for a harder floor with a better price tag, Brazilian cherry is a good option. Since it is more readily available than American cherry, the price is significantly lower. Maple flooring is another choice for hardwood floors. Over time, it will age to a deep golden color. It's also very hard, which makes it more durable. However, it does not accept stain well and is prone to shrinking and swelling with weather changes. Oak is the final choice among the common hardwoods. Oak floors have been the traditional choice in wood flooring for over a hundred years. Oak has a distinct, open grain which makes it look less refined than cherry. Red oak is the most popular choice in flooring options. It is a golden color with red undertones. It is very hard - harder than maple or cherry, and it the least expensive option of those listed here. If you do not like the red tones which are present in red oak, it can be bleached. White oak is also available. It is very similar to red oak, but usually has slightly green undertones. It cannot be bleached.
   
   Laminate flooring is similar in price to hardwoods, but because it's more durable and needs very little in the way of upkeep, it may be more economical in the long run. Laminates can emulate the look of nearly any hardwood you can imagine. The more you spend on your laminate flooring, the more likely it will look like real hardwood. In fact, with some high-end choices, you can't tell the difference until you touch it!
   
   Ceramic tile is a less expensive option for flooring. You can also install it yourself in most cases, which can be a big money-saver, since a large portion of the cost in flooring consists of installation labor.
   
   Carpet can be a very inexpensive choice, or it can cost more than hardwood flooring, depending upon which carpet you choose. Very plush, dense carpets tend to be more expensive, while those with shorter, more sparse fibers are less expensive....

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Author: Tonya Sandersfeld