The Most Popular Flooring Materials, Compared

Stone tiled flooring

There are parts of your house that define its character and style, selected by taste that is distinctly your own. Among these is your choice of flooring. While it is relatively easy to change or modify some of these parts of your home, using materials to match the ever-shifting style of the times, your choice of flooring is not that easy to remove or replace,  in case it ever goes out of style. Your choice of flooring, like epoxy flooring in NY, must therefore be durable, serve its purpose, and look great despite the changing trends in the housing industry.

Flooring Basics

Different kinds of flooring are available in the market: marble, granite, bamboo, tatami. The list goes on and on, but typically, flooring materials all fall into one of three basic categories: stone, wood and vinyl.

Stone Types

Marble is a common type of stone flooring, and is as attractive as it is strong. There are several kinds of marble, most of which are named for the place or region they came from. These include Makarana marble, Italian marble, Ambaji green marble, and Romblon marble.

Granite is another popular material for stone floors. As an igneous rock, it is as hard and strong as they come. These do not feel as cold as marble, but may be harder to install because considerable time is needed to grind them into a perfect fit. Granite also may cost more than marble.

Sandstone, limestone, and slate are some other popular stone flooring materials. Sandstone is made up of loose quartz sand that is rough in texture. Its natural beauty is ideal for both interior rooms and exterior installations, because of the patterns in the stone and the relatively coarse nature of the stone. Limestones are sedimentary rock that have beautiful texture. This material does not have patterns like sandstone, and is perfect for bathrooms and hallways. Finally, slate is a metamorphic rock that is formed into layers.  These layers are easily split into sheets that are then formed into tiles that are ideal for entryways, patios, and kitchen surfaces.

Wood Types

Wooden floor across the room

Wood is by far the oldest material used in constructed homes. In ancient times, solid wood was the only type of wood flooring available; the tools needed to reshape the wood into planks or slats didn’t exist yet. Today, we have access  to engineered wood flooring that consists of plywood with solid wood sheeting on top, to simulate the feel of solid wood.

Laminate wood flooring is made from a fiberboard, with a photographic image of wood on top. Beautiful as this may seem, laminate wood flooring is not as durable as real wood.

Given all these different types and characteristics of flooring, so many options are available when you need to transform your home or business establishment into a cool place that will definitely catch the eyes of your guests or clients. When selecting a supplier for your floors, find one who can render the kind of job that will make your place stand out, in no time at all, and always within budget.

Scroll to Top