Flooring Types Pros & Cons

Best Flooring For Children

Flooring is an essential piece of any house. When looking at different types of flooring for your home, it’s important that you take your decision seriously. Kitchens, living rooms, and basements may all require something different, or you can opt for a versatile floor that will work for all spaces. When designing a home, you should consider the needs of all the family members that will be residing there, current or expecting. So, it’s a natural question to ask what the best flooring for children is. There are several options and specific reasons that you may choose any of them. When it comes to picking the best material for you the decision should depend on your home life and children.

Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl is a wonderful option for both flooring in a child’s bedroom as well as in other areas of your home. It’s recommended due to the resilience the flooring has. It’s easy to lay with tongue and groove interlocking, it’s waterproof, which keeps it from puckering with moisture like non-vinyl interlocking floors, and it’s a durable surface that protects from scratches and gouges from toys. Vinyl is fairly well priced, so you can go a little bit further with it than some other flooring types. It also comes in a large selection of colors. This is some of the best flooring for children that can also look nice and be placed anywhere in your house. Vinyl is a wonderful option, especially for pet-friendly homes. This flooring will hold up against pet’s nails, sloshed water bowls, and muddy paws, and is generally easy to clean!

If you’re considering vinyl floors for your home, we strongly recommend COREtec vinyl plank flooring.

Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring is both beautiful and strong. The top layers and finish of the hardwood flooring has a great level of durability while also keeping the ease of cleaning via a mop or Swiffer. It’s only rated under vinyl flooring as the best flooring for children for two reasons. Firstly, hardwood floors can become noticeably scratched, so they may require more upkeep or other covers like playmats or area rugs within the children’s main living areas, such as like bedrooms or playrooms. Scratching can also be a difficulty for animals with large nails, shifting furniture, or dropping of hard things. Hardwood flooring also tends to be more expensive. If neither of these reasons are an issue for you as a homeowner, there is no reason a sturdy hardwood floor wouldn’t be a wonderful option. Talk to your home designer about what the best hardwood type may be, and what kind of coating over top may best protect it.

Carpet

Carpeting is ranked third because of the typical issue of stains. When a carpet is stained from a simple spill of juice or dropped food it can take a professional cleaner to fully get everything back to how it was. That being said, we do also love carpeting for its soft texture and safety. Babies lay on the floor, fall from sitting positions, or fall while walking. A soft carpet beneath them can help put some moms and dads at ease knowing their child won’t get hurt when they inevitably fall on the floor. This can’t be said for our vinyl and hardwood options. While they can have a layer of padding for a shock absorber when walking, nothing put below the hard surface will be the same as a padded carpet. So, it’s up to you as a parent to decide if a carpet is the best flooring for your child. If you decide that it is, think about carpet color and how stains, walking paths in the home, and animals can affect it. Opting for a carpet with speckles of different neutral tones, such as Berber carpeting, can help hide some messes. There are also different types of fiber finishes in carpets which make some easier to clean than others. Ask about the padding levels, colors available, and ease of cleaning when you go to pick out carpeting.

Bonus tip on flooring for children

The best of both worlds — As previously mentioned, area rugs and playmats can be the perfect solution when you want the durability of a harder flooring but want the warmth and comfort of a carpet. There are several types of easy-to-clean area rug options on the market today, and some are advertised specifically to be able to put the top layer into a home washer and dryer. These rugs come in a variety of sizes and styles, and can be a fun option for children’s rooms or main living areas!

What flooring is not recommended?

White carpet of any kind. White is unforgiving when it comes to stains or pet hair, and should generally be avoided for children and pets.
Carpet with long fibers or faux fur. Faux fur can be really nice looking. However, babies tend to get small strands of hair wrapped around their fingers and toes, and these strands can cut into their skin. The fur is not something we recommend putting babies on. Longer stranded carpet is also difficult to clean. If a child drops food and it gets ground into the floor, it will take serious vacuuming to get it out. Even worse, for homes with pets, food ground into the carpeting might entice your pet to claw, chew, and rip at your carpeting. Additionally, anything wet or sticky can be incredibly difficult to remove and may require professional cleaning.
Pressed wood. Like vinyl floors, you can get wood pieces that interlock and lay by clicking them in place. While these are easy to install and durable, they are not recommended because they are not water resistant. If any liquids are spilled between the seams of the wood, the wood will expand, pucker, and eventually flake away.