Floorcoverings

This lists and compares floorcoverings as an aid to choice.

Characteristics

Ceramic Tiles

• Cold, unless UFH fitted
• Hard
• Slippery when wet, can be dangerous
• Very tough wearing
• Easy clean

Quarry Tiles

One of the longest lasting floorcoverings, with life expectancy over a century

Mosaic

• Can be a visual treat
• Can be made from broken tiles
• Less slipppery than ceramic tiled floors
• Less easy to clean
• Laying mosaics is laborious

Stone Tiles

One of the longest lasting floorcoverings, with life expectancy over a century

• Higher breakage than ceramic tiles during fitting, due to greater fragility
• Some stone is slippery when wet (eg polished granite, marble), some is not (eg limestone, riven slate)

Carpet

• Very soft
• Very warm
• Most comfortable floorcovering of all
• Particularly difficult to clean properly
• Harbours dirt, dead skin & dust mites
• Carpets sometimes smell bad after a while
• Unhygienic in bathrooms
  • captures the urine aerosol created by flushing.
  • captures dirty feet residues

Carpet Tiles

• very tough wearing
• often washable
• any damaged ones can be replaced

Bathroom carpet

This is a waterproof carpet with a watertight backing.

Lino & Vinyl

• Soft
• Warm
• Easy clean
• Easily damaged by moving heavy items such as washing machines

Vinyl Tiles

• Hard
• Warm
• Easy clean (except heavily textured surfaces)
• Tile edges can come unstuck and get broken.

Wood

Softwood

• Attractive
• Fairly hard
• Warm
• Damaged by dog claws
• Use wood with correct moisture content, otherwise it will shrink and create lots of gaps
• If varnishing, use a non-slip floor varnish, as some varnishes can be slipery when wet.
• Avoid all tinted varnishes, these chip over time exposing light areas. This looks awful.

Hardwood

• May be laid as boards or in tiled patterns, eg parquet
• Tougher than softwoods

Hardwood laminate

• A thin layer of hardwood on chipboard

Cork tiles

• Semi-soft
• Warm
• Decays if it stays wet or damp
• Suitable sealers make it easier to clean

Asphalt

A shiny hardwearing dark waterproof surface often found in factories, institutions etc.

• Available in black, brown & dull red
• Warm
• Very tough wearing
• Made from hot rolled bitumen & clay
• Some antimicrobial effect

Concrete

• Ugly
• Cold
• Hard
• Wear creates dust
• Difficult to clean

Painted Concrete

• Visually unappealing, but a real improvement on bare concrete
• Wear and dusting are stopped
• Paint wears through in time

Terrazzo

Concrete Terrazzo

Traditional terrazzo is concrete with extra stones in the surface, and the result abraded down and polished.

• Beautiful
• Cold
• Hard
• Very long lasting
• Important to use correct cleaners
• Stains if mistreated and neglected
• Metal crack control strips are built in to control & conceal cracking
• Shallow depths can not be laid, so not so easy to retrofit.

Resin Terrazzo

Resin based terrazzo is a lower cost modern version of terrazzo. It is typically a quarter of an inch thick, based in resin, and looks like concrete terrazzo.

• Beautiful
• Hard
• Important to use correct cleaners
• Not as tough as concrete terrazzo
• Easier to retrofit than concrete terrazzo

See Also

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