“Tile is the highest-rated flooring among the categories we test,” says Enrique de Paz, who leads flooring testing at Consumer Reports. “It doesn't wear out, scratch, or stain. Its color doesn't fade, it's waterproof, and it is surprisingly slip-resistant, even when wet.
Porcelain or Ceramic Tile
Ceramic tiles or porcelain tiles are a wise choice for kitchens and bathrooms. The average lifespan of tile flooring is about 20 to 25 years. They are resistant to scratches, dents, stains, flooding, and discoloration from sunlight.
Vinyl, laminate and engineered wood are extremely easy to care for. Materials that need to be sealed, like stone and linoleum, are much higher maintenance. ✔️ Health and sustainability: Some floors are better for you and for the planet. As a rule, the fewer synthetic materials they contain, the better.
CERAMIC AND PORCELAIN TILE
Tile made from ceramic or porcelain is the most scratch-resistant flooring. Ceramic tile is made of fired clay, and it's a hard and durable substance. Porcelain tile is a type of ceramic, but they make it from a more cultivated clay and bake it at higher temperatures.
Durability. Laminate and LVT/LVP flooring are both extremely durable, but they have their weaknesses. Laminate is prone to scratches and chipped corners over time, so vinyl is probably a better choice for your home if you have pets. LVT/LVP is scratch-resistant, but it's more vulnerable to denting and tearing.
Hardwood Flooring
what's better than hardwood flooring? It's beautiful, it's durable, and it never goes out of style. Not to mention all of your friends, family, and neighbors aspire to have it, so you'll have your entire network envying your home's flooring design.
Porcelain tile: Porcelain tile is a form of ceramic tile often used in showers, bathtubs, pools, and other pure-water areas. This material is highly resistant to intense water, thanks to the very fine clays and high firing temperatures used in its creation.
Good choices are linoleum, ceramic tile–both very common–and wood. Linoleum is inexpensive and provides an easy-to-clean surface and comes in countless designs. Ceramic tiles are even better. Also easy to maintain and available in a huge range, they offer superior durability, resisting most dents, dings and scratches.
Lifespan. Thick, quality vinyl flooring can last up to 25 years, with thinner vinyl flooring's lifespan limited to less than 10 years. Laminate flooring can last between 15 and 25 years, though poorly maintained laminate may last only five to 10 years.
Best for Water and Heat Resistance: Laminate
Laminate flooring is marginally better for humid locations, such as installation against concrete slabs. Laminate flooring also has some advantages over hardwood when it comes to heat resistance.
However, the title of most expensive flooring in the world goes to Lux Touch tile. The handcrafted black marble tiles are encrusted with diamonds, abalone shell, mother-of-pearl, and black onyx. The cost – $1,000,000 per square foot.
'Porcelain tiles make a good choice for sunroom flooring as they are hard wearing, easy to clean and won't fade in the sunlight, says Colin Lincoln-Evans, buyer at Tile Mountain.
While both ceramic and porcelain are good heavy-traffic flooring options, porcelain tiles are the more durable of the two. This is because porcelain tiles are denser, making them more resistant to wear and tear. Porcelain tile is also able to withstand drastic temperature changes without cracking.
After about 10-15 years, hardwood floors should be sanded down to bare wood, resealed, repainted and refinished. PVC floors, with a life expectancy of 15 years, are better off being replaced that resurfaced. Poured Urethane floors—which, like hardwood, last about 38 years—must be resurfaced every 10 years.
Well, the answer to that question varies by the type of flooring you have. For example, if you have carpet, you can generally expect it to last anywhere from 5-10 years (depending on how many dogs/babies get into it). On the other hand, if you have wood floors, you can generally expect them to last 7-10 years.
So, what flooring looks cleanest? Typically, lighter color woods show less dirt and dust. Dark floors can easily show dust, while lighter floors mask it. Similarly, matte floors show less smudges, foot and paw prints than high gloss flooring.
Generally, the best color flooring to hide dirt and dust is light grey or light brown. Dirt and dust are on full display on bright, white floors, while dust tends to show up relatively easily on dark colored floors.
Ceramic or Porcelain Tile
Tile flooring is resilient, waterproof, available in a variety of colors and designs, and generally less expensive than other hard surface options. Porcelain tiles specifically absorb less water than any other ceramic product.
Choose hard, smooth surface floors
Healthier flooring options include solid wood, natural linoleum, cork, bamboo, tile and stone. A key feature of all of these is that they are easily cleaned of dust and dirt.
Floors with a white finish go with almost everything. A light burlap-like color is a great choice because you still get a light floor, without installing a truly “white” floor. You can use a variety of wood species to create a light floor.
Classic medium-toned browns such as cherrywood, mahogany, oak, maple, walnut, birch wood, and hickory are all timeless colors that never go out of style. Cherrywood is a deep, rich color that has a deep mahogany shade with warm tones of red or brown, often mixed with hints of pink and even purple.
Timeless floors are often made with natural materials, like wood and stone, which only get more beautiful as they age, say our experts.
Con: LVP May Dent
Luxury vinyl flooring can dent and even scratch or scuff, especially from heavy appliances, furniture, or other weighty objects. Just because it's resistant to something doesn't mean it's impervious to it. However, do know that LVP resists scratches better than real hardwood.