Decorating your home for the first time is a completely new chapter in your life where all your ideas and dreams are finally coming into play. Whether you are renovating your apartment or buying a new house, there are many things to decide about and many discussions and financial plans to be done. Especially when it comes to such a significant element like the flooring.
There are many types of flooring to choose from, but currently, most homeowners tend to opt for vinyl. Residential vinyl flooring offers beauty, low maintenance and durability – and all of that with an attractive price tag. So, if you’re leaning towards vinyl too, here’s what you need to know.
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Vinyl Floor Types
- Printed vinyl: This type of vinyl flooring has a printed design on white or clear vinyl and can give many multiple colours. This can allow you to bring the natural look of wood or stone to your home. It can even be used with emblem items to make it look like a personalized painting.
- Solid vinyl and composite vinyl: This vinyl flooring is made of waterproof vinyl composite material and is flexible to install anywhere. It is installed on a click together joint system with minimal disturbance.
- Textual improvement: Even though vinyl flooring for home may feel flat or plastic, there are many solutions to give it a dimensional feel. Some vinyl types use textural patterns to create depth and add unique beauty.
Vinyl Flooring Colour Considerations
You will definitely want to choose a colour that complements your home’s style and is in trend. You can find residential vinyl flooring available in every possible shade, from earth tones to bright hues. Picking out the right colour may be quite a challenge. To help you, here is a list of common colour palettes for vinyl floors:
- Nude and neutral shades – With floors in neutral shades you will always be on a safe side. This colour scheme will allow you to experiment with different interior trends. Neutral shades are also known to help create a calming effect in your home.
- Warm, earthy shades – Dark wood shades are always in style even though it’s usually a traditional choice. When paired with light coloured furniture, dark shades make for some dramatic contrasts in the interior.
- White shades – White shades will open up your space and give it a new, chic look. It will allow you to play with any colour design, from monochromatic tones to black and white, or any bold colour combination.
Maintenance and Durability of Vinyl Home Flooring
Vinyl flooring for home offers easy maintenance and long-lasting durability. It’s a great choice for any home. Because of its soft surface and resilience to scratches, vinyl flooring is great for families with children. With good installation and correct maintenance, vinyl flooring may last from 10-20 years. That’s why it is a great choice for rooms where you get the most traffic.
To achieve a full life of 10-20 years of vinyl use, there are some additional precautions to apply and products that are not recommended to be used on this surface
- Proper maintenance – It’s relatively easy to maintain vinyl flooring. Regular vacuum cleaning or sweeping will be enough, and additional cleansing with mild detergent, whenever there is a liquid spillage is enough.
- Prevent direct exposure to the sun – Direct sunshine can affect the colour of vinyl flooring with time. So, invest in blinds and curtains on time!
- When vacuuming vinyl, don’t use a beater bar attachment because it can harm its smooth surface.
- Do not use very harsh scrubs and abrasive cleaners, because it can leave permanent marks on the floor.
- Do not use paste wax or other firm glosses.
- Do not use ammonia solutions because it can cause cracks in the flooring.
Functional Disadvantages of Vinyl Flooring
Unfortunately, even though it’s long-lasting and attractive, vinyl flooring still has some disadvantages. It can be susceptible to permanent stains when it comes into contact with certain materials.
For instance, your floors have prolonged contact with rubber, it can create chemical reactions that lead to leaving a stain on the surface. For this reason, rubber ended rugs should be avoided and the same rule appeals for wearing rubbered shoes indoors as well. This may go for children toys too. Rubber can lead to discolouration of vinyl flooring and should be avoided as much as possible.
Even though vinyl floors don’t scratch easily, they are still susceptible to damage from sharp objects like high heels and similar things. These may leave marks on the soft surface of the vinyl flooring.
