Your room (and indeed you whole home) will be defined by the choice you make when laying a floor, whether that is a solid floor, laminate floor, engineered hardwood floor, oak floor, or a softwood timber floor like floorboards or parquet flooring. If you have a solid floor you might just want to soften it with a rug, or you may choose to go down the lines of laying a laminate floor, fitting carpet or laying tiles.
Timber floors often feel much warmer than tiled floors
Floor tiles are a great choice for rooms where you are likely to get spills such as kitchens or bathrooms, or in areas where you may get high traffic like hallways or corridors. Ceramic, quarry tles or stone floor tiles can be a bit cold in the UK. They are also unforgiving if you drop crockery or glassware on them, so you could opt for vinyl flooring, cork tiles or lino. There are even specialist floor coverings such as Amtico, which can be fitted with a very ornate design if you have a room that will suit it.
If you have a solid floor you could consider fitting underfloor heating to combat that cold feeling underfoot. Whether you have a heated floor or not, you need to make sure your floor is flat and level before laying flooring to ensure that the floor covering doesn’t crack or wear unevenly. See our advice on leveling a concrete floor with floor screed.
Timber floors, parquet floors and exposed floorboards can all impart charm and character to a room, and they are naturally warmer surfaces. Although you will need to protect them against moisture and water leaks, especially if they are used as kitchens and bathroom floors, of course we have a project on floor finishes in this section. Wooden floors can get marked if they are not cared for, for example heat and water can discolour wood and stiletto heels can cause damage.
We have advice on painting and sanding a wooden floor as well as fixing a creaking floorboard. If you are sanding floorboards you must make sure to sand along the gain to avoid unsightly scratches and scuffs.
If you are ordering flooring you will need to work out the floor area and you can use our guide: How to measure flooring to help you.
