What is the best flooring type for kids?
When you have a family your interior design preferences often change to become more practical and safety conscious. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to completely forget about style. It is one of the contributing factors to the types of rooms and house size desired when looking for a new property. This information is important to share with the Estate Agents Cheltenham that you use for searching for your new property.
What factors should you consider?
If you can live with your flooring for a few more years this might be a better investment than getting it scratched or dented by toys and accidents. However, if you’re desperate for a new floor there are a number of options available that offer the practical benefits you require at a range of prices. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and you’ll need to decide what price, comfort, health, safety or environmental concerns are the most important.
Flooring types
There are many different types of flooring that you can use in a family home, including laminate engineered wood, vinyl and carpet, and your choice will largely be affected by how much usage a room gets and the durability that is required.
For instance, in a dining area that is not used all the time you could use quality engineered flooring. These are easy to install, but probably not durable enough for lots of spilled drinks, dropped food and scraped chairs. In this case, you’ll be better with one of the top rated solid wood, vinyl or laminate ranges that perform well in high traffic areas.
If you want a floor that provides greater slip resistance, you might be best with vinyl, which performs highly, and where engineered flooring does slightly less well.
Health concerns
For some families, health matters will be a crucial concern when it comes to your family home, and there are a number of issues to consider before deciding on the right flooring if this is the case.
There have been some concerns about the toxins, including dioxins, which are produced when the chloride in the PVC is manufactured. These can cause harm to people who live close to manufacturing sites and there is also a risk from phthalates that are added to some vinyl floors and have been linked to respiratory and reproductive problems.
Even though some types of vinyl flooring are certified as having low amounts of volatile organic compounds and it is extremely durable and versatile, there are professional bodies that advise not to use it in homes where small children live.