Having kids undoubtedly changes the way you approach various life decisions, including home renovations. Now, when you think about fresh flooring, you’ll be thinking about more than just cost and appearance — you’ll also take into account things like safety, indoor air quality, cleanability, and durability. While these factors should be top of mind anyway, they become even more of a priority with young kids around. You might even wonder if it’s worth investing in new residential flooring at all.
What to Know About Floors and Children
Should You Invest in New Flooring When You Have Young Kids?
Everyone’s home situation is unique, but generally speaking, having children around shouldn’t prevent you from purchasing new flooring. On the contrary, replacing outdated flooring with modern options can benefit everyone inside your home. Of course, undergoing a renovation like this can be challenging with young kids around — this is why proper scheduling and communication are critical. Aim to schedule floor installation services during a time when your kids won’t be nearby (i.e., school, daycare, etc.) to ensure their safety and maintain smooth operations. Also, only work with flooring companies that prioritize transparency and safety — and the more experienced, the better.
Kid-Friendly Floor Options to Consider
Perhaps the more pressing question, then, is: “what type of flooring is best suited for those with young kids?” Before we can answer that question, we must revisit which parameters matter most when choosing kid-friendly flooring. First, you want your floors to be slip-resistant to prevent injury. Next, you want floors that are easy to clean and maintain — after all, young children can be messy. You also want highly durable floors to withstand regular, energetic activity. And, last but not least, you want floors to promote clean air for the sake of everyone’s well-being. With these criteria in mind, consider these floor types:
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Hardwood Flooring: Hardwood floors seem to never go out of style, and for good reason. Not only are these floors beautiful and sleek — they’re also relatively durable and easy to clean. Some types of hardwood flooring can be slippery, so it’s a good idea to lay down area rugs and look into other solutions to increase friction levels.
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Laminate Wood Flooring: Laminate floors provide a cheaper and easier-to-install alternative to hardwood floors. These floors look and feel very similar to hardwood floors, but they’re even easier to clean and more resistant to staining than their wooden counterparts.
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Cork Flooring: When properly sealed, cork floors offer much of the appeal of wood flooring without the hardness. Cork floors have some give to them, minimizing the potential for injury upon slips, trips, and falls. These natural floors are also resistant to flames, mold, termites, and bacteria, making them among the safest options for homes with young kids.
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Linoleum Flooring: Eco-friendly and anti-bacterial linoleum floors certainly fit the bill for health and safety. Better yet, these floors are sound-absorptive (important when you have kids around), easy to clean, easy to fix, and can withstand wear and tear for as long as 40 years.
As for floors to avoid, you might want to steer clear from carpeting, as even the best carpets naturally attract and store dust, dirt, and other contaminants. Also, vinyl floors may contain certain harmful materials due to how they’re manufactured, so you might want to keep this floor type away from young kids, too.
Keep Your Kids Safe With Fresh Flooring
Not sure how to approach your flooring project with young kids around? The experts at Ozburn-Hessey Company can help. We’re flooring and installation experts serving homes and businesses in the greater Nashville, TN, area. Contact us today!
