Floors are one of the most vital finishes for your home. Let’s face it, you’ll see your floor every day as you step on it every time you are in the house. Since conventional PVC floor types harm the environment and are also monotonous, having better flooring options is a breath of fresh air.
The trick is to have a floor that meshes well with the house design and the overall look you’re trying to achieve. In many instances, when you’re building a house or doing renovations, your interior designer will present you with the different floor designs to pick. But with the many design options available today, you should have a say and a little knowledge of the floor options that can make your space look even better.
What Do You Consider When Choosing Flooring?
When installing a new floor, there are a few considerations you’ll need to factor in before making a decision.
Durability
The floor you choose to buy must have longevity to give you value for your money.
Some flooring like PVC is waterproof, whereas hardwood is not. So think about this depending on where you want to install it. Hardwood wouldn’t be the best option in the bathroom or kitchen.
Some materials get worn down more easily than others. Stone flooring like granite or travertine, for example, can easily last a lifetime, whereas carpet will get worn down with use. So for high-traffic areas, it’s something worth considering.
There are several durable options when it comes to flooring. Concrete floors are one such durable choice. Using recycled or fly ash concrete will lower the high environmental impact of conventional concrete and concrete stains can open up a range of design looks.
Other durable options are stone, tile, PVC, SPC, and engineered hardwood. Stone and tile look great, but they also are cold on the feet.
If you really like the look of hardwood but want something that requires less maintenance you could opt for PVC or SPC or engineered hardwood, each requiring a different amount of maintenance to keep them looking good over the long run.
Engineered hardwood has a wear-resistant layer above the wooden veneer and a multi-layer plywood underneath. It’s somewhat durable, but will show scratches and dents whereas SPC that’s made of a stone-plastic composite. It’s dense, durable and will resist scratches. It has a high resolution picture of wood printed on it, which can look incredibly realistic, but if you want the real wood look engineered wood is a better option, though more costly.
Durability is first on this list of considerations because it has a big impact on sustainability. If you opt for a material like hardwood flooring, which according to this Buildings 2021 study will last on average 44 years, and compare it to stone or concrete that lasts 100 years, you would have to replace your flooring twice in the time you could have one floor (see the below picture from the study to see the many ways wood flooring can degrade over time).
That’s double the amount of material, transport, packaging, installation labour, and waste. That’s a heck of a lot of waste. So even though concrete and stone are not as sustainable of a material, they last longer so you could make an argument for them being sustainable in that way – all of that is assuming you would keep the flooring that long. If you tear it out and replace it after 30 years none of this really applies of course.
Material
This article is geared towards sustainable flooring so we’ve presented several material options in the “What Eco-friendly Flooring Options Are Available Today?” section below. If you’re opting for eco-friendly flooring, the sustainability of the material should guide your decision. However, there are other factors at play, including the location, look and suitability, which we’ve covered below.
Location
The same type of flooring doesn’t fit every room. Each room should suit the type of floor design and its functionality. For instance, flooring your bathroom with wood tiles may not be the best idea. The reasoning here is that wood and water don’t befriend each other very well.
Style and Suitability
Each floor has specifications and degrees of finish that distinguish it from others. Choosing a suitable flooring material and design should be inspired by its ability to fit the overall home design. The aesthetics and style of the floor must suit the type of home you have and your vision for that home, whether it’s rustic or urban, Victorian or contemporary.
The floor has to serve your design intention, but you can also add features that make floors more suitable to you. If you don’t like having cold feet (who does!) you can achieve great levels of comfort with underfloor heating. This practice is viable through electric cable heating or piped hot water heating.
If you’re going for a certain decor, you’ll need a matching flooring option to complement the look. There are so many different interior decor options and equally as many flooring options so you should have no problem finding multiple options that match. That’s the problem – there’s so many options to choose from that it can be hard narrowing them down! One way to help guide the decision is to consider the other factors listed here, which will exclude certain flooring options.
Affordability
This seems straightforward, but all floors have different pricing depending on the style. That is why you can find stone flooring that comes with widely different prices. So if the price falls in your budget range and it has both the look you want and the features (eg sustainability, waterproof, longevity) you can give it the green light.
What Eco-friendly Flooring Options Are Available Today?
1. Cork
Cork comes from the bark of the cork oak tree, which is native to the Mediterranean area. The trees aren’t cut down to harvest the bark, which regenerates every 9 to 12 years, making it a sustainable resource.
Cork contains antimicrobial characteristics that help to minimize allergens in the home. It’s also fire-resistant, easy to clean and functions as a natural insect repellent. Think about cork for living and dining areas, offices and dens.
2. Linoleum
When people think of linoleum flooring, they usually think of vinyl, although the two are nothing alike. Vinyl is a toxic synthetic produced from chlorinated petrochemicals. Linoleum comes from linseed oil, cork dust, tree resins, wood flour, colours and powdered limestone, among other things.
Like cork, it’s a durable material and can retard fire. It is suitable for entryway, kitchen and bathroom floors due to its water resistant properties.
3. Woolen Carpets
Wool carpets are made out of sheep’s wool, which is spun and the yarns woven into a carpet. It’s a renewable resource and can last decades with good care. It has a soft feel and is very warm and welcoming, giving it the perfect characteristics for a lounge or bedroom. For more sustainable carpeting ideas read our article Your Options for Eco-Friendly Carpeting.
4. Bamboo
Bamboo is a grass that grows really fast, making it a highly renewable resource. It’s also affordable, versatile and durable. It can give a room an antique look with warmth and calmness, or create a cool, ultra-modern aesthetic. It’s perfect for lounges, living and dining areas. If you get a top-quality bamboo, it can also be super durable, lasting 50 years or more with proper maintenance.
5. Hardwood
Similar to bamboo, hardwood flooring is a sustainable option, particularly if sourced from a responsibly managed forest (look for the FSC logo). Trees are a renewable resource that regrows 40 to 60 years after being cut down for flooring. However, when properly maintained, hardwood flooring can last 100 years or more. And for the time it’s installed in your home it storing carbon.
Wood flooring requires less energy and raw materials than most other flooring options to produce. And at the end of its life, there are several ways to dispose of it. It can be burned, recycled, or just tossed in the landfill, where it will decompose.
Wrapping Up
Nowadays, it really is easy to get lost in so many different flooring options, but if you narrow down your choices to the most eco-friendly options it’ll be a lot easier to decide. With so many different factors that might affect your judgment, the smartest way of doing things might be putting it all down on paper. Do the good old pros vs cons comparison, and then go for the option that best suits your budget, visual preferences, ease of installation and has the lowest impact on the environment.
Feature image: Pixabay; Image 1: Pixabay
