At Fuzion, we get asked all the time “Is there any such thing as life-proof floors?” While there are a lot of options out there, there’s no single flooring choice that’s right for every situation. In the end, it really depends on what your life looks like, and picking products that work for your family and your style. For example, toddlers, pets, and the amount of traffic coming and going through your home every day can wreak havoc on your floors! Taking a look at your family dynamics and making a few smart choices can go a long way toward protecting the beauty and performance of your flooring for decades to come.
When you think about your home, think about the spots that get a lot of traffic. Entrance ways, mudrooms, and laundry rooms are all high-traffic areas that get a lot of abuse. Wet shoes, winter boots, high heels, Fido’s nails, and anything thing that gets delivered to your home all end up on the floor in your entranceway or mudroom. These are great places for durable, scratch-resistant luxury vinyl. You can check out Fuzion’s selections of luxury vinyl here. https://homeowner.fuzionflooring.com/product-category/luxury-vinyl/
Fuzion’s selection of waterproof flooring is ideal for areas that experience spills, standing water or high humidity. They are more stable and denser than traditional laminates, with a tighter seal between the planks, allowing them to resist standing water for up to 100 hours. Waterproof technology lets you enjoy these beautiful floors without worry!
The new generation of luxury vinyl is not your parent’s vinyl flooring! New technology offers stunning style choices that mimic the appearance of wood, or even stone and ceramic. They have a scratch-resistant coating to defend against pets, toddlers, and footwear and are very resistant to spills. Luxury Vinyl flooring is very cost-effective and comes with lengthy warranties—great for busy families on the go!
Another thing to think about when choosing life-proof flooring options is kids, and why they seem to hate floors and want to destroy them at all costs the second you leave the room. Kids, of all ages, are rough. They like to bang things, drag things, hammer things, draw outside the lines, then outside the pages, and then onto your new floor. Thinking about where your kids spend their time is your first step in prolonging the life of your floors! (Think, bedrooms, playrooms, and family rooms.) Kid resistant choices like Vinyl and Laminate will pay off for years to come thanks to their durable nature. They are both scratch-resistant and handle impact much better than both ceramic and hardwood. They’re also spill-resistant and stain-resistant, so juice, food, play-doh, and most kid-friendly markers aren’t going to do any lasting damage.
Whether or not you have kids, dogs, in-laws, or run a small business out of your home, kitchens and bathrooms can be chaotic places at certain times of the day. They’re both exposed to moisture, and high traffic, and prone to having things dropped on them. Luxury Vinyl planks or tile are great choices for these rooms. They are resistant to both water and durable, meaning they aren’t as likely to sustain permanent damage from things getting things dropped on them.
Next up, your living room, the heart of your home, a place to spend time with family, entertain or just relax at the end of the day. Hardwood flooring is an excellent choice for living rooms. The unmatched beauty and warmth of hardwood set the tone for the entire room. While hardwood is more susceptible to damage than Vinyl or Laminate, there is much less traffic in your living room, and it is less susceptible to moisture or impact. Hardwood is also a great choice for bedrooms.
Laminate flooring is a great choice for living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, and home offices. They have the beauty and warmth of hardwood but are much more durable and cost-effective than hardwood. Laminate is also a great choice for basements. It can be placed directly over concrete and is now available in waterproof options, like Fuzion’s TidalCore line of flooring.
No matter what your flooring choices, a big part of ‘life-proofing’ is how you treat them. Here are a few tips to help maintain the beauty of your floors.
- Keep floors clean to maintain their finish. Dirt and grime can wear away your flooring’s finish. It is important to use the right cleaning supplies on each of your floors. Speak to your flooring supplier to get the right cleaning supplies for your floors. Visit Fuzion’s Care and maintenance page https://homeowner.fuzionflooring.com/support/care-maintenance/ for more information.
- Maintaining the right humidity in your home is important, especially for hardwood flooring, to avoid unsightly gaps, cupping, and discoloration. Speaking of moisture, standing water will damage almost every floor, and should never be left for any length of time. This is important to think about in bathrooms, kitchens, mudrooms, and basements.
- Protect your floors by putting down mats or rugs in high-traffic areas, and encourage your family and guests to leave their footwear at the door. Mats are also great for home office chairs that are constantly being jostled around. Protective pads on the bottoms of chairs, or anything else that may get dragged around will reduce scuff, scrapes, and other unsightly marks on any flooring.
When you think about your flooring choices, think about how your floors will get used and abused over your home’s life. Having a better idea of the demands your floors will face will help you make the right flooring choice for every room in your house, and help keep your home beautiful for years to come. Talk to your flooring specialist to help choose the floors that will match your style and your life.
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