Choosing the best kind of floor for any room in your house isn’t just a matter of preference. You have to be mindful of certain things. For example, how much foot traffic should that room experience? How likely will spills occur in such a room? Knowing the kind of room you want to have hardwood flooring greatly influences your choice. For instance, bathrooms and kitchens are more likely to experience spills than your home office. You’ll be well-advised to have water-resistant hardwood in such areas. If you’re looking for high-quality hardwood, you can shop for waterproof engineered hardwood here. Making an ideal choice helps you learn about the most water-resistant hardwood flooring. These include:
1)Solid Hardwood Flooring
Despite its material density, solid hardwood is probably the least water-resistant choice compared to all the other types of hardwood. Given that it’s an entirely organic material, it is sensitive to moisture changes, whether from water or atmospheric vapor. For example, you can’t expect to leave a puddle of water on a solid hardwood floor and not expect structural changes. The water will seep into the wood and start weakening it gradually. Of course, you can always consult with hardwood installers, so they take measures to ensure that water is kept out of the floor. However, this is tedious, requiring constant vigilance. This makes solid hardwood flooring a less-than-ideal option as far as water-resistant flooring goes. If you have constant humidity in a room, it’s not unusual for the floorboards to experience a cupping effect due to the moisture, producing an unlevel, washboard-looking floor.
2) Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring
Luxury vinyl flooring (LVP) is made of a rigid internal structure. They’re usually long planks with completely water-resistant capabilities. Even when the floor gets wet regularly, expect the LVP floor to remain intact and in good physical condition.
LVP flooring typically has two cores; an SPC core or a WPC one. They contain hardened plasticizers that confer their water-repelling capabilities. Depending on your taste and the matching colors of the room, you can get LVP flooring that blends in to achieve a particular look. If you need water-resistant flooring for your bathroom or kids’ play area, this is the perfect type of flooring.
3) Engineered Wood Flooring
If you want more stability than solid wood flooring offers, engineered wood flooring is just the thing. They consist of several layers of wood composite and a solid wood top. This top layer is made of top-grade wood. While engineered wood flooring has more water resistance than solid wood flooring, it is still the best. The high-quality engineered types can confer amazing moisture resistance. These can maintain the floor’s structural integrity, meaning you won’t have to worry about having a cupping look on your floor.
Not all engineered wood flooring is water-resistant. Go for ones with a vinyl core within their layers to get a decent amount of water resistance.
Laminate Wood Flooring
If you’re looking for affordable wood flooring that is straightforward to install, then laminate wood flooring is for you. However, don’t expect durability. They are susceptible to developing dents and bubbling on the surface, thereby ruining your floor surface. Improved laminate wood flooring is available nowadays, even though it’s not as common as the basic type.
Which is the Most Water-Resistant Choice?
As mentioned earlier, the answer to this question is subjective. While some of these materials offer better water resistance than others, your personal preference and lifestyle also play a role. Each of the types of wood flooring mentioned above can have its perks. A simple list of a few questions will help you know which one is best for your situation. These include:
i)Do I have young children who’ll be using the room constantly?
ii)Do I want to maintain a moisture-free floor at all times?
iii) Will this room be used a lot, thereby increasing the dirt transfer from outdoors?
Given all the wood flooring options mentioned above, vinyl plank flooring would be the most water-resistant choice. Its double core layering can handle the kind of water mess characteristic of kitchens, bathrooms, and faucet leaks.
It helps to do your research about these kinds of wood flooring before you contact a contractor to do any floor renovation. Many such contractors may attempt to upsell you on a more expensive option that may not be to your preference.
