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Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

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Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

An Overview on Flooring for Your Home: Finding the Style That’s Right for You

An Overview on Flooring: Choosing What’s Right for You

Like most home remodeling decisions, choosing the right flooring for your home can seem incredibly daunting. There are so many options to choose from, each with its own pros, cons, and pricing — not to mention, the fear of improper installation.

That’s why ACo exists—to remove the worry by guiding homeowners through design and installation to ensure they truly love where they live. From area rugs to hardwood floors, we’re here to make your floor selection process simple and installation a breeze.

Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

Getting Started: A Flooring for Your Home Checklist

Before diving in to select your new floors color or size, it’s important to think through some basic flooring considerations. These will be elements that play a big role in the selection process and can influence your flooring decision.

To aid you in your flooring journey, here is a quick home flooring checklist of questions to think through.

Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

Will you install the flooring yourself or have it professionally installed?
While we always recommend having your flooring installed by a professional, we understand and respect the DIY drive to save on costs. Keep in mind, some flooring options are harder to install than others or may have specific manufacturer installation requirements, so it is important to discuss this with our professional team beforehand.

Will your flooring be installed in an area with high moisture (bathroom, basement, laundry room etc.)?
Over time, moisture/water can ruin certain flooring options. With this in mind, it’s important to know where exactly you need flooring in your home to ensure you select the right flooring for the job. For areas with high humidity, we recommend choosing one of the following options:

  • Porcelain Tile
  • Ceramic Tile
  • Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP)

Is your home a high traffic home (children, pets, parties, etc.)?
Because durability varies significantly between flooring options, it is best to consider your lifestyle when deciding between materials. For areas needing higher durability, we recommend the following options:

  • Tile Flooring
  • Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP)
  • Hardwood Flooring
  • Laminate

Do you want flooring that requires little maintenance?
Do you want to be able to clean your floors in 15 minutes or spend a couple hours keeping everything updated? Maintenance is always something to consider. If you’re looking for flooring with little time to clean and low maintenance, we recommend the following:

  • Porcelain Tile
  • Ceramic Tile
  • Hardwood Flooring
  • Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP)
  • Laminate
Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

Is your new flooring a long term investment?
The time your family is going to spend in your home will impact what flooring you use. How long do you anticipate floors lasting before they need replacement?

If you are not wanting to revisit the issue for another 10 years or more, hardwood floors might be the best option. It can withstand the test of time because of its ability to be refinished down the road. Tile is another great option that is both attractive and can stand the test of time.

Are you considering this for resale value?
If you are planning to sell your home in the next few years, you may want to select flooring that will attract homebuyers. The best and most eye-catching option to ensure your home sells quickly and at a higher price is going to be hardwood or LVP flooring.

It is always good to consider what the most popular and practical option is going to be for new homeowners. Flip through a few architecture and design magazines, Pinterest, or ACo’s Project Gallery to see what flooring options are trending, then talk to an ACo Designer for guidance on what best suits your home’s style.

Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

An Overview on the Basic Flooring for Your Home Options

You’ve completed ACo’s flooring checklist and now you’re ready to move on to selecting a flooring option.

Below are the most popular types of flooring for your home options:

  • Hardwood — Hardwood is popular largely because of its organic texture and the beauty it brings to your home. Hardwood flooring is a good option because it adds to your home’s value, brings warmth and class to your space, can be treated for long-term durability, and comes in wide ranging styles, colors, and textures.
  • Laminate — Many homeowners love laminate because it is designed to look like hardwood without the higher price tag. Due to its layered design, this material is durable and resistant to fading, impact and indentation – some varieties are even water resistant.
  • Luxury Vinyl Plank — LVP is an excellent choice and is often placed in high-traffic spaces due to its resiliency and easy-to-clean surfaces. It also gives homeowners the look they want as it is designed to mimic the appearance of both stone and wood. LVP is waterproof and a great option if you have kids or pets.
  • Tile — Tile has been known to last a lifetime, all while offering those who purchase the material with beautiful and versatile options. Its greatest benefits include the fact that it is scratch, water, and fade resistant. Not only that, but tile also offers hundreds of options in style because of the endless amounts of stonework.
  • Carpet — Carpet is by far one of the most popular options due to the warmth and coziness it brings to your home. The versatility of carpet also affords homeowners with varying tastes an extensive variety of styles, colors, patterns, and textures.
  • Concrete — Concrete floors are most commonly used in basements, patios, and garages, but have more recently been added to indoor rooms where owners seek utility flooring. This relatively inexpensive option is extremely durable with a surprising number of decorative options to choose from.
  • Cork — This flooring material provides a soft and comfortable surface to walk on and is available in many varieties for both color and style. Cork trees regenerate their bark after being harvested and last for centuries — making it a renewable resource that many owners prefer.
  • Bamboo — Bamboo flooring is a surprising option for homeowners because this incredible material can be installed in thinner strips or thicker planks and mimics hardwood feel when fully dried. It is also becoming more popular due to its eco-friendly nature. It can grow within 7 years as opposed to 40-50 years traditionally seen with trees.

Life is messy


Shaw Floors has you covered.

Life happens, and it can be messy. But your floors don't have to be. Waterproof, pet proof, life proof floors from Shaw. Available at ACo.
Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

What is the Best Flooring for a Kitchen?

Kitchen flooring can be tricky because there are quite a few options to choose from. Here are some of the options most commonly requested by clients that we recommend for your kitchen space.

The three most common types of kitchen flooring options we install are:

Hardwood

  • Benefits: Hardwood is a beautiful and long-lasting material that many new homebuyers seek out in their search. It comes in several types of wood and colors including walnut, cherry, and oak among others.
  • Considerations: This lovely finished product may be highly coveted, but it can be slightly more expensive due to material and installation costs.

Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) or Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT)

  • Benefits: Luxury Vinyl Plank is a smart choice for homes with high traffic areas located near water sources or homes with pets. It has become a popular option due to its inexpensive qualities, especially compared to hardwood. It can also be made to look like wood and stone and is water resistant and does not easily scratch.
  • Considerations: While this is a nice choice, it does not offer the feeling of walking on wood flooring. It also cannot be sanded or refurbished.

Porcelain or Ceramic Tile

  • Benefits: Tile is available in a versatile range of styles and colors that can be arranged in beautiful patterns to suit your style. It is also one of the most durable flooring options and can last a lifetime when properly cared for.
  • Considerations: This is one of your most expensive options for both materials and labor, and installation can take longer than other types of flooring. Tile can also be a bit cold, especially during our Midwest winters. If you go with tile, consider adding radiant heat beneath your floors to keep your kitchen cozy year-round.

ACo offers many options for kitchen flooring that you may not have considered such as large format tile or custom wide plank hardwood. Your options truly are nearly endless.

Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

The Ideal Bathroom Flooring Options

As you probably guessed, choosing bathroom flooring is a little different than choosing flooring for other parts of your house. The main issue being water—which can quickly ruin the wrong flooring (like carpet or solid hardwood). Here are the top five flooring options for your bathroom remodel:

Porcelain or Ceramic Tile

Tile is ideal for both interior and exterior floors but is an especially wise choice for high-traffic, high-moisture areas such as bathrooms. Whether you opt for porcelain, ceramic, stone or glass tile, selections in colors, sizes and shapes are endless. Tile is fairly easy to care for and maintain with regular cleanings, though the finish and grout will last longer if you avoid harsh chemical cleaners.

Luxury Vinyl Plank or Tile

Versatile and available in many attractive style options, LVP is highly water resistant and durable, which is perfect for any bathroom. It is also quick and easy to install and the most affordable option for bathroom flooring.

Floorte Hardwood Flooring

Believe it or not, hardwood flooring is an option in the high-moisture environment of your bathroom with Floorte Hardwood from Shaw. This waterproof hardwood is available in a variety of species and finishes, and is also scuff resistant, offers noise reduction, and is easy to install with a click profile.

Flooring Visualizer


With the Flooring for Your Home Visualizer Seeing Is Believing

From carpet and tile to hardwood and luxury vinyl plank, you can explore the many options available from Shaw and ACo and see what they will look like in your space! Simply snap a photo, upload it, and go!
Flooring for Your Home: Everything You Need to Know

Try It Out

If you want to explore and be inspired, you can also select from the app’s many sample rooms. Select a category (kitchen, living room, bathroom, shared spaces, etc.), choose a room, and play.

Building a home or remodeling one is a giant undertaking. The sheer amount of choices and decisions you have to make — like the flooring for your home —  can be frustrating and overwhelming, to say the least.

That’s where ACo comes in—we strive to put homeowners at ease by simplifying the remodel process and in turn eliminating the fear of the unknown.

And it starts with our worry-free approach.

Our cultivated team of experts, specializing in everything from design to construction, partner with you through every step of the renovation process (including the design and build and finding your style). And through constant, open communication, clear deliverables, and well-defined expectations, we guide you through the creation of your luxurious kitchen, lavish bath, beautiful cabinets, or stunning flooring space so you and your family can truly love where they live.

And when you’re ready to love where you live, we’re ready to make it happen.

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