Laminate flooring is durable and can now be printed in many realistic patterns, making it a great flooring material. Laminate floors can be installed over almost any material and be walked on the next day. However, excessive moisture can cause a laminate floor to swell and buckle.
Cork flooring is the easiest flooring material I have ever installed. Cork floors are environmentally friendly, muffles noise and can be purchased in 12 x 12 cork floor tiles or tongue and groove panels. A cork floor comes in a variety of colors and textures from which to choose.
Inlaid wood flooring dramatically changes the look of a wood floor. These floors are usually expensive. You can opt to stain a pattern or border on your existing wood floor to achieve a similar look.
Area rugs are a great design element in a room. They are transportable, come in many sizes and you can have a custom area rug made for your room. For high traffic areas, you'll want a wool or imitation wool rug with padding beneath.
Sheet vinyl takes great skill to install. Sheet vinyl flooring failure almost always can be traced to the installer. The sheet vinyl may have been laid on unapproved underlayment with an unapproved adhesive, causing seams to pop open, curling and discoloration.
Vinyl floor tile is waterproof, easy to care for, low-cost and a DIY'er can install it. Vinyl floor tiles now come looking like wood, wood strip and marble flooring. The colors and textures for vinyl tile flooring are very realistic.
Wood flooring can be placed on concrete surfaces. The concrete slab must be above ground level and the concrete must be completely dry and cured before hardwood floor installation begins. Wood floors will be attached to plywood that is fastened to the concrete.
Underlayments are crucial to the success of the flooring on top of it. Many finished flooring materials require a super-smooth surface underneath them. Without smooth and solid subflooring, the finished flooring can fail or look very bad in a short amount of time. The new gypsum fiber panel is a good underlayment.
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