Floors in the apartment: what to make and how to choose

Floor kitchen-living room decorated with laminate

Floor covering selection criteria

Not so long ago, the question of what to make the floors in the apartment was concerned only with the choice of wood from which the boards are made. Today, everything is much more complicated, since a huge amount of materials that differ in their performance characteristics are presented on the construction market. Even with experience in the construction industry, it will be difficult to make the best choice.

Floor coverings made from natural materials are best suited for a children's room.

Therefore, it is worth considering the following parameters:

• the location of the apartment is an important parameter if your apartment is on the ground floor. In this case, the floor may be affected by high humidity and fumes from the basement, so some wood floors often it just doesn't make sense to mount;
• the financial well-being of the family is a detail that directly affects the cost of the purchased material. For example, artistic parquet or laminate not everyone can afford it from natural wood;

Painted wood planks - a classic flooring solution

• family composition is one thing when one or a couple of people live in an apartment, and quite another when there are children or pets. Which floor is better for the apartment in the last two cases? Of course - with increased strength, ease of cleaning and other useful characteristics;
• coating strength - some types of houses do not provide for additional load on the structure, therefore, for example, a concrete floor screed cannot be made. Violation of this parameter can cause emergency situations up to the collapse of the house.

Bright carpet with a pattern in the children's room

Helpful advice! First of all, when choosing a material for the floor, proceed from considerations of practicality and safety. External aesthetics is already a secondary characteristic.

Different types of floor in the apartment

What is better for covering the floor in an apartment? As already mentioned, different types of flooring have different performance characteristics. The parameters for choosing a material are described above, and below we will separately consider the properties of popular floor coverings.

Light floors visually expand the space of the room

Parquet floor

Parquet is a type of flooring that never goes out of style. It can be made of various types of wood, have a different pattern, color and texture. The advantages of parquet are the excellent appearance of the material. But laying it on your own without the appropriate skills is rather difficult and long. Another disadvantage of parquet is the high cost of natural wood species.

But, if you make a type-setting floor from wooden parquet in your apartment, it will immediately show all guests that everything is in order with you, not only with a sense of beauty, but also with your financial situation. Parquet is one of the elite flooring materials in an apartment.

Wooden parquet is laid in the classic "herringbone" way

Parquet boards

In fact, this is the same parquet, only cheaper and easier to install. Parquet boards are wider and larger than tiles of ordinary parquet, you cannot lay out a complex pattern from them, but such a floor still looks very attractive. Parquet boards are also good because they can be looped and renewed several times without much loss of appearance and properties.

What kind of floors to make in the apartment so that they look original? You can pick up boards in various shades and make a simple drawing out of them. Usually a designer does this, but you can try to do it yourself.

Parquet floors are always in fashion

Mats

This is a trendy type of flooring that is often used to create minimalist interiors. A mat is a carpet woven from natural materials such as cane, jute, flax and others. Such a floor not only looks original, but also has a massage effect on the feet. Mats are the answer to the question: what kind of floors can be made in an apartment if you are a supporter of natural materials.

Jute mat floor in bedroom

Laminate

Laminate is one of the best flooring options in terms of value for money. In appearance, it is very similar to natural wood, and if desired, it can be easily stylized for any other material - stone, ceramics, cork, leather and others. And if you want a completely original looking floor, you can paint patterns and complex paintings on the laminate. Laminate floors in an apartment from scratch is one of the best floor options.

Helpful advice! Lay laminate it is possible in different ways, but it is correct to do it with the help of special locking systems. So it will hold securely, will not slip or deform from mechanical stress.

Laminate is a popular flooring solution

Tile

If you need the strongest and most durable floors in your apartment, there are not so many options to make them from. Tile - ideal for a corridor, hallway, bathroom, kitchen, that is, rooms where the floor needs to be cleaned often and a heavy load is planned on it.

In addition to excellent performance, ceramic tiles are also the widest scope for imagination in terms of floor pattern. You can buy tiles in different shades, colors and textures and lay out whole paintings from it on the floor. A good option for making the floor in an apartment from analogs of traditional ceramic tiles is porcelain stoneware.

Ceramic tiles in the kitchen laid in a checkerboard pattern

Bung

Natural, environmentally friendly, warm, strong and durable material. The cork floor is made where it is planned to walk barefoot, it reduces the load on the spine, bouncing under the feet. The cork floor can be additionally treated with special varnishes or oils, which will prolong its service life, protect it from moisture and dirt.The cork flooring is easy to install yourself. To understand this issue, you can look on the Internet for materials on the topic: how to make floors in an apartment with your own hands from cork.

It's nice to walk barefoot on a cork floor

Tree

Wood is a fairly cheap and easy-to-install floor option. The disadvantage of wooden boards is their low durability compared to many other materials, so they need to be additionally processed using special compounds. But the floor made of natural wood will immediately create a feeling of coziness and comfort in any room. If you are thinking about the question of how to make a wooden floor in an apartment, then you should start by choosing a wood species.

Wooden floors are appropriate for any interior

Linoleum

If you need to know how to make a floor in an apartment cheaply, then linoleum - your choice. The cheapest material, very easy to install, is not afraid of moisture and dirt and has many other useful properties. Floors made of linoleum are by far the most popular and affordable option.

Wood flooring

Which floors are better in the apartment: floor features in different rooms

If you plan to equip or change the floors in the apartment, what to make them from is largely determined by the purpose of the room in which the new covering will be laid. Different materials are suitable for the kitchen, bedroom, hallway or nursery.

Bedroom - coziness and comfort

The choice of material for the floor in the bedroom is a very important point. A person spends a lot of time in this room, so it is characterized by a high degree of passability. In addition, many people prefer to walk barefoot in the bedroom. In general, a bedroom is a place for personal relaxation, in which strangers are not so often, so choosing a floor covering here is based on the convenience of the material and the personal taste of the residents, and not the appearance of the coating. For example, a plywood floor in a bedroom will look strange and out of place.

Patterned cork in the bedroom

Wood or carpet are good options for the bedroom. They are warm, pleasant to the touch, and comfortable. And this is what you need for any bedroom. Option with laminate more interesting in terms of the appearance of the coating, since you can choose one of the many patterns, but this synthetic material is rather cold, it is not very pleasant to step on it with bare feet. For comfortable operation under the laminate, you can additionally equip warm floor.

Parquet flooring - warm and comfortable flooring

Hallway and corridor floor

High-traffic areas such as the corridor and hallway should have increased performance in terms of flooring. In this case, the decision on which floor is better to make in the apartment in the corridor according to the required qualities should be unambiguous - easy to clean, durable, durable, moisture resistant.

The other side of the issue is the appearance of the floor, since the entrance hall and the corridor are the first things that a guest entering the apartment sees. Therefore, when laying the floor in these areas, ceramic tiles and other materials with similar properties are most often used. For example, porcelain stoneware or natural stone are easy to clean, they are not afraid of dirt and water, as well as shock and heavy loads. If you are thinking about how to make new floors in an apartment in the hallway, then tiles are a good option.

Ceramic tiles are suitable for arranging the floor in the corridor.

Helpful advice! If you want to visually expand the corridor, then it is better to use light shades of the coating. Then the room will look brighter, cleaner and larger.

Floor covering in the children's room

When it is necessary to change the floors in an apartment: what to make them from is a very urgent question when it comes to a child's room. It should be safe, beautiful, practical, and also comfortable for the baby, so choosing the best floor covering option can be quite difficult.

In a children's room, it is better to equip floors with sustainable materials.

Most parents now prefer cork for their children's flooring. It has a number of useful characteristics:

• high level of noise insulation. A child is a lot of noise, and a cork floor will save not only your nerves, but also those of your neighbors;
• environmental friendliness - cork is an absolutely safe material for health that does not cause allergies;
• elasticity - such a floor reduces the load on the fragile children's spine;
• moisture resistance.

Soft carpet will make your child comfortable on the floor

Of course, the price of cork flooring is quite high, but it is not worth saving on the health and safety of the child.

Related article:

Soft floor for children's rooms: beautiful, comfortable and safe. Manufacturing features, characteristic qualities, advantages and disadvantages of a soft floor. Puzzle carpets for all ages.

Floors in the apartment: what to make a floor in the kitchen

What to make the floors in the apartment in the kitchen? In fact, kitchen floor must have the same characteristics as in the hallway, plus look attractive. Tiles or porcelain stoneware, as well as other moisture and dirt-resistant coatings, will also perfectly fit here. Food, food debris, and various debris often fall on the kitchen floor, so it should be cleaned as easily and quickly as possible.

Natural stone is a durable material and works well for kitchen floors

If in different rooms you make the floor from different materials, then it is worth taking care that they do not differ too much in color, then the interior of the whole apartment will look whole and harmonious. For example, if you are thinking about how to make plywood floors in an apartment, then it can be easily styled to match other materials.

Additional floor modifications

The finishing material for the floor in the apartment is very important, but just one correctly selected coating is not enough for the floor to be really good. There are a number of additional conditions that should be met to create a truly high-quality floor covering.

A well-equipped floor will delight you for many years

The first of these is leveling the floor. If there are many irregularities, cracks and potholes on the floor, then any material will not settle as it should. Leveling can be done with concrete or screed.

The second important point is floor insulation... It is almost always relevant, especially in regions with cold winters. Insulation can be done using a variety of special materials, as well as installing a "warm floor" system.

There is no unequivocal answer to the question of what is the best way to make the floors in the apartment. It all depends on many of the factors listed above and personal preference.