High Traffic Flooring - Choose the best flooring for a busy household

The best flooring for a busy household

Not all floors are created equal. In a busy household where children and pets are always running around, housework is being done, and guests frequent the main areas, it's important to choose a flooring product that will withstand the heavy wear. Flooring that is easy to maintain is also useful in high traffic areas, because regular cleaning will be essential. In this article, we will explore the best flooring for a busy household, ensuring you make an informed decision that will keep your floors looking great for years to come.

Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood floors are excellent choices for a busy household. Being real wood flooring, they can come in a few variations. The main of these are engineered wood floors and solid wood floors. Engineered wood floors are the more common, and usually safer, choice for most rooms for their versatility and cost effectiveness. For more on the difference between these floors, click here. 

Real wood flooring is not only durable, but also beautiful, remaining trendy for hundreds of years. It’s not hard to see why, with each board bearing its unique grains and patterns, bringing the warmth of nature within the home. Hardwoods such as oak or maple are strong and can therefore handle heavy foot traffic without losing their charm or character. It's important to select a hardwood species that is known for its hardness and resistance to scratches. Oak and maple are excellent options that can withstand the demands of a bustling household. Most real wood floors on the market will be made of oak, and all use hardwood veneers for strength and durability. 

An advantage of real wood flooring is its longevity with the correct maintenance. During the course of its life in a high traffic area, it is liable to be scratched or dented. This is not a problem, because real wood floors can be sanded and refinished, refreshing their look to make it look brand new. Engineered wood floors can only be sanded a few times before the thin veneer of hardwood is eroded, but a solid wood floor can be refinished more due to the thicker hardwood board. 

Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is a budget-friendly alternative to hardwood flooring while providing exceptional durability. Resistant to scratches, stains, and fading, laminate flooring is an excellent choice for high traffic areas. Maintenance for laminate flooring is simple, requiring a regular schedule of sweeping with a soft bristled brush, or cleaning with a damp cloth for harsher stains. Unlike real wood, however, laminate flooring can not be sanded or refinished because the top layer is a wear layer that consists of a digital image to make it resemble real wood. So any scratches can not be sanded away, as this would result in the digital image being worn out to reveal the MDF core beneath. 

Laminate flooring can mimic the appearance of more than just real wood. With effects such as tile and stone, laminate flooring brings great versatility with style and choice, giving your home a sophisticated look without the high maintenance.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring

Luxury vinyl flooring, sometimes known as LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile), LVP (Luxury Vinyl Plank), or simply just vinyl flooring, has increasingly become popular in recent years due to its durability, versatility, and affordability. LVT flooring is designed to be hard wearing, with some variants, such as SPC rigid core vinyl flooring, made from stone to give it extra strength. On top of all this, LVT flooring is fully waterproof, making it ideal for high traffic areas with pets or children where spillages are more likely to occur. The durable surface also makes it more scratch resistant than laminate or wood flooring, though it is not impervious to scratches. And like laminate flooring, LVT flooring can not be sanded and refinished.

Vinyl flooring is available in many styles, from real wood effects to tiles, stone, and various parquet flooring effects such as herringbone.

Conclusion

Choosing the proper flooring for a busy household is important for maintaining the longevity of your floors, saving you time and money in the long run. Real wood flooring, laminate, and LVT flooring are all excellent choices that offer durability, resistance to wear and tear, and easy maintenance. Of all the options, LVT flooring is the safest due to it being completely waterproof, and despite the thinner boards, the polymer compounds (or stone if the flooring is SPC vinyl) will stand up against heavy footfall more effectively for the cost effective price. Real hardwood is another good choice, and it can be repaired if needs be, though it will require a higher up front investment due to it being a natural product. 

Your choice will ultimately come down to personal preference, and will be influenced by your own personal circumstances. But the three options we have listed above are all adequate for high-traffic areas.