In the world of flooring, there are two main directions people tend to look at first: carpeting or hardwood flooring. For most businesses, this means either the very thin (and cheap looking) commercial carpeting found in most office buildings, or a floor made from the finest of hardwood planks. There are pros and cons to each type of material and they certainly have their uses in a place like Nashville, but if those are the only two materials you look at, you’re severely limiting your options.
Where to Put Resilient Flooring
Resilient Flooring: Covering More than Just the Middle Ground
In its simplest form, resilient flooring is just a catch-all term for everything that isn’t carpeting or hardwood flooring. This is the category that includes options such as vinyl plank flooring, laminate plank flooring, linoleum, rubber tiling, and others. Known for being softer than hardwood flooring, resilient flooring has some give underfoot and it’s quite elastic, but it’s also not full on soft flooring (like residential carpeting) because there is a firmness to it as well. The relative softness of the material can be increased or decreased depending on what is used underneath the main floor. If you wanted it to be firmer, you could install a hardwood subfloor. On the other hand, combining it with a softer subfloor, such as one made from rubber, will provide more give.
Resilient flooring tends to be a bit cheaper than either carpeting or hardwood flooring as well.
Vinyl Plank Flooring is Perfect for the Kitchen
Vinyl plank flooring is ideally suited for the kitchen. Many restaurants would benefit from its primary features, such as the way it can be styled to match or mimic almost any other flooring options, and it’s relative cheapness. The main reason it would be a great fit in most kitchens is the way it deals with water and moisture. Hardwood flooring has a habit of absorbing water and moisture, so repeated exposure will lead to mold and scummy floors. Even if you keep an eye on it and are quick about cleaning up spills, you’re still spending much more time on daily maintenance than you would be with something that can handle water, like vinyl flooring. Vinyl flooring doesn’t need to be treated with a special soap either, so just a daily sweep and quick scrub is enough to keep it looking sharp. Employees on their feet all day will also appreciate how much softer it is than hardwood flooring.
Resilient Flooring is Great For Gyms
Another industry perfectly suited for resilient flooring is gyms. With gyms, you want something that will be strong enough to support the machinery and equipment, but that can also handle the shock from dropped weights or falling bodies. Rubber tiles are great for this environment since they hit the sweet spot between soft and firm. They’re also easy to clean.
Resilient flooring can be used pretty much everywhere, including the home, but it really stands out in places with heavy foot traffic. It is an ideal flooring option for restaurants and gyms, and since both seem to popping up all over Nashville, now might be the time to talk to the professionals at Ozburn-Hessey. Contact us today.
