5 Beautiful Durable Flooring Styles for Your Home

There are so many different types of beautiful durable flooring styles available these days. Homeowners no longer have to choose between style or durability.

Advanced flooring technology can capture the look of real barn wood flooring. Porcelain tiles can be made to look like Calacatta marble. It’s now easier than ever to incorporate these beautiful surfaces in your home.

This article breaks down key areas in a home and picks two of the best flooring materials to address the difficulties of each area. Follow our recommendations and you’ll have floors that look beautiful for a long time.

1. Laminate Wood Flooring

With the invention of 3D printing, laminate flooring can now recreate the look and style of natural materials: for example, laminate flooring can look like wood and stone. Laminate flooring is a fraction of the cost of hardwood or natural stone making it an affordable option for homeowners.

Laminate is adaptable to many different styles and home decor. Laminate flooring can look nice in a modern home, rustic country home, or a traditional home. Here are some things to consider when thinking about installing laminate flooring.

• Laminate wood flooring is commonly produced using HDF ( high-thickness fiberboard). HDF is usually made from reused hardwood.
• Laminate wood flooring is not waterproof. 
• Laminate wood flooring is not a good choice for businesses that are prone to spills.

If you have pets of children there are a few types of “life-proof” laminate wood flooring that are a bit more durable. There are options including spill-proof, scratch-resistant, noise-reducing, and high-traffic flooring, laminate wood floors are durable beyond measure.

2. Natural Stone

Natural stone has endured for many years and is quite durable. The beauty of natural stone is that no two pieces look the same. The term natural stone refers to a variety of mountain-born mineral substances including slate, marble, limestone, travertine, granite, and sandstone. Each type of natural stone flooring has its own unique characteristics and some may be more appropriate for specific locations.

If you are considering natural stone flooring you’ll need to find out the absorption rating for your material. The absorption ration will tel you how porous a given material is. This will tell you how likely your stone flooring will be to stain. Absorbent materials can also be prone to cracking if you live in a colder climate.

Natural stone very greatly in their absorption rates with sandstone being the most porous.  Travertine, limestone, and slate have medium absorbency, while granite is relatively waterproof. Polished materials also absorb less water than honed or cleft surfaces.​

Absorption rates are classified according to the following terms: 

• Non-vitreous: This is the highest absorption level. In most cases, non-vitreous tiles should not be used in any damp environment. 
• Semi-vitreous: While these tiles are less absorbent, the more liquid they are exposed to, the more maintenance they will require.
• Vitreous: This is the standard absorption level for flooring tiles and these materials are generally considered appropriate for most low- to mid-traffic indoor and outdoor applications.
• Impervious: These materials are resistant to the absorption of liquids and thus will be easier to maintain. They are often used in high-traffic commercial applications.

3. Tile Flooring

Tile is one of the most beautiful, durable flooring surfaces. Many different types of beautiful tiles can match the styles of your home. Porcelain tile is the way to go for a durable surface you can trust. The hard tile is dense, making it tough to cut and install yourself, but it is worth the effort. Tile flooring is great for bathrooms, kitchens, or any room prone to dampness or spills. Tile has a coating making it impervious to scratches and a great choice for pet owners.

Because the color of porcelain tile is consistent all the way through, chips and cracks are nearly invisible. Be sure to check out new porcelain tiles that come with a marble finish. They look just like the real deal.

A perfect fit for high-traffic regions of the home, porcelain tile beats every other flooring material we tried for protection from scratching.

Tile comes is a vast array of sizes, colors, surfaces, plans, and styles to fit any room. You can get hex tiles for a custom mid-twentieth-century look or 4-foot faux wood tiles. When laid firmly along with a coordinating grout they convincingly have the look of real wood. Add them into bathrooms or kitchens without the feat of ruining your wood floors.

Tile is low-maintenance. Keep it clean, wipe it down a and it will look beautiful for a long time.

4. Cork

Cork flooring is prized for its natural wood look and its cushiony, warm feel underfoot. It’s also largely made with natural materials and is one of the more versatile flooring options, suitable for most areas of a home. Cork is available in easy-to-install planks that click together to create a “floating floor” that needs no fasteners or glue. This makes cork popular with DIYers on a budget who plan to install their own flooring.

Cork flooring is environmentally friendly. Cork is a renewable resource made from the bark of the cork oak tree that grows in the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe and Northern Africa. These trees are grown to harvest their bark. The harvesting process does not harm the trees, and the bark naturally grows back every 9 to 10 years, allowing a single crop of cork oaks to continue producing for decades.

Cork flooring is made with either slices or cork or granulated cork mixed with resin binders. There are two main types: solid-cork tiles are the traditional option and are designed for glue-down applications. Cork planks are a laminated product made with a bottom layer of compressed cork, a core of medium-density or high-density fiberboard, and a top decorative layer of cork. Planks typically have click-together edges for floating floor installations.

Cork is a unique blend of hard and soft flooring. It is a smooth, hygienic, easy-to-clean surface that’s also easy on your feet and ears. Here are some of the many benefits of cork flooring.

• Softness: If you have ever pulled a cork from a wine bottle, you know how soft and pliable this material can be. It has a yielding surface beneath the feet that is very comfortable to stand on, even for long periods of time.
• Quiet: Cork flooring is relatively quiet to walk on, much quieter than hardwood or laminate flooring.
• Renewable: Cork flooring is primarily made with wood products and is resource-efficient.
• Resilient: Cork’s ability to bounce back from impressions means that most objects will not leave dents in its surface.
• Non-slip: Even when wet cork can provide a good level of traction for your feet.

5. Concrete

The main motivation for people to choose concrete flooring is durability. But these days you can find some beautiful and durable concrete floors in cafe’s metal garages, gastropubs, and modern loft apartments. Concrete floors give your home a beautiful, modern look.

Concrete flooring can be polished, etched, or stained. This gives the concrete flooring a different look and a long-lasting surface. If you still think of concrete floors as primarily utilitarian surfaces, then perhaps it is time to tea a look at concrete flooring again. These days concrete floors are exotic, colorful, and very stylish.

A concrete floor is extremely strong and durable, and if it is properly installed and maintained, it can last for as long as you own the house. And the design options are remarkably diverse. But concrete is also very hard and cold underfoot, and it is a practical choice only where there is an existing concrete slab, such as in homes with slab-on-grade foundations, or in the basements of homes built over basement foundations. Since these floors on “on-grade”—directly contacting the soil—they can be susceptible to moisture migrating up from the ground into the living space.

Keeping a concrete floor looking its best is fairly easy. It needs to be sealed or waxed every 3 to 9 months, depending on the level of traffic, in order to maintain the protective layer. Other than that, you can use a neutral cleaning agent to mop the floor clean periodically. A blue utility pad can be used for particularly stubborn stains.

You Can Have Both Beautiful and Durable Flooring

With so many different styles of flooring these days choosing a flooring that is both beautiful and durable is easier than ever. Take a look at these different flooring options and weight the pros and cons of each. Choose a beautiful durable flooring option that will match your homes design and your taste.

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