Choosing the Right Flooring: A Simple Guide to Vinyl, Wood, Resin, Terrazzo and Carpet

This is a companion to our stone guide for homeowners. It covers the other floors you are likely to be offered: vinyl and LVT, linoleum and rubber, wood and laminate, epoxy and other resin floors, terrazzo and granolithic, carpet, and roof-terrace tiles. The same rule applies to all of them: most failures come from the base underneath and from rushing, not from the product.

1. Pick the floor for the room

• Bathrooms, kitchens, utility rooms: porcelain, sheet vinyl or LVT, or resin. Avoid solid wood, engineered wood, laminate and carpet where water stands.
• Bedrooms and living rooms: wood, laminate, LVT or carpet are warmer and quieter underfoot than stone or tile.
• Garages and workshops: an epoxy or polyurethane resin floor. A one-coat “paint” will not survive car tyres; ask for at least a high-build coating.
• Outdoors: only stone, porcelain, clay pavers and concrete pavers. Vinyl, wood flooring, laminate and carpet are interior products.
• Long life: terrazzo commonly lasts 50–75 years (NTMA/BNP), while LVP lasts about 10–25 years depending on its wear layer (Simplay).

2. Ask these questions before you hire
3. Has the slab been moisture tested? Vinyl, wood and carpet fail on damp concrete. Ask for the reading in writing. LVT makers typically allow 90% RH (Tarkett); carpet tiles 75% (Interface).
4. Is a smoothing compound included? Thin floors show every bump in the slab. A 3 mm smoothing layer is normal (Polyflor).
5. Will the material sit in the room first? Wood and vinyl should acclimatise for about 48 hours.
6. For wood and laminate, what expansion gap is allowed? Floating floors need a gap of 10–12 mm at the walls, hidden by the skirting (AST Timbers).
7. For resin, how will the concrete be prepared? The answer should be shot blasting or grinding, not just washing (com).
8. For terrazzo, what panel size and how many grinds? Indian practice limits panels to 2 m² with divider strips (IS 2114).
9. What to watch on site

• Vinyl sheet seams are welded the day after laying. Seams that are only taped will open up.
• Resin coats are applied a day apart. If the gap runs past about 24 hours, the surface must be sanded before the next coat.
• Wood floors that are sanded on site need several passes and filling, then coats of finish on following days. Keep everyone off the floor until the finish has cured.
• Terrazzo and granolithic need 7–10 days of wet curing before grinding. Watch for anyone skipping this step.
• Carpet: the gripper should sit back from the wall, and underlay seams should be taped, not overlapped (Footfall).

4. Looking after the floor

• Use felt pads under furniture on wood, LVT and linoleum.
• Clean resin and vinyl with neutral cleaners. Keep wood away from wet mopping.
• Re-coat wood every few years before it wears through to bare timber. Solid wood can be fully re-sanded several times.
• For carpet tiles, keep a box of spares so worn tiles can be swapped out.