Practically everyone recognizes the appeal of hardwood floors. We see it every day when we are walking customers through options in our Columbus flooring showroom. But most of those customers also recognize that wood flooring can be sort of a white elephant. It may help them to project an image of style and sophistication, but it comes with much greater demands for upkeep than most other types of flooring, as well as greater risks of serious damage.
Among those customers who are drawn to hardwood floors, there are plenty who walk into Fedco Floor Services with solid ideas about their possible alternatives. Laminates have become a huge part of the Columbus flooring market, and that trend is repeated all across the country. We highly recommend wood patterned laminate flooring for households that are highly trafficked and for those that contain children and pets who would pose a greater threat to traditional hardwood.
But for those who express a broader curiosity about alternative flooring types, we’re quick to point out that laminates aren’t the only viable replacement for hardwood. One other option that is getting more and more exposure in the consumer market is wood-pattered porcelain tile. When carefully sourced and professional-installed, this alternative can really surprise homeowners with how closely it mimics the look of hardwood.
Of course, porcelain strays farther from the feel of wood flooring, compared to well-made laminates. But with either choice there are tradeoffs, and we find that some customers actually prefer the acoustics of tile and enjoy the way a shoe-clad footstep sounds on that surface more than on laminate.
Others think about the installation and repair process and conclude that tile flooring is just easier to replace in the case of damage. This is generally true, but in fact, both types of flooring boast a very simple process of installation, and can quickly be removed in small sections for repair, cleaning, and further customization. Not that repair is often an issue for our customers. The porcelain tile that is on the market today can withstand heavier impacts than you might imagine, and laminates have all the resiliency of hardwood without the risk of scratching.
If you’re willing to compromise the authenticity of real hardwood, you will almost certainly find that all of your other standards for Columbus flooring are satisfied by laminates, wood-pattered tile, or both. In fact, it’s even possible you might determine that one alternative is especially suitable for a certain area of your home, while the other is a better fit somewhere else.
For growing numbers of customers, wood-patterned tile presents a surprise opportunity to maintain the same hardwood aesthetic in the kitchen and bathroom as in other parts of the home. Some even seize the opportunity to embrace the risk of traditional hardwood in comparatively safe areas, then install a closely-matching, damage-resistant alternative in areas that are more highly trafficked, more prone to moisture, or just in need of a different feel, with the same basic look.
