Flooring Options

If you’ve shopped for flooring recently you already know there are many more options now than there were a few years ago. Demand is up and the number and size of houses in the United States are growing. In 1971, a typical American home was 1,500 square feet, but last year the average was a whopping 2,400 square feet. More square footage equals more floor surface to cover.

The new flooring options are the result of an increased competition to go the extra mile to satisfy the individual tastes of consumers, the advent and refinement of new materials and imports, and the residential application of flooring once reserved for the commercial side of real estate. Natural wood is beautiful. Laminates are convenient. Wood and stone are durable. It may be difficult to choose, but perhaps the following guide can help narrow your search.

Hardwood and Laminates

Hardwood is pretty tough to beat, and all Raleigh retail outlets report it’s their biggest seller. While hardwoods are trendy, the way shag carpet was in the ‘70s, they also have staying power thanks in large part to real estate agents who tell prospective sellers that hardwood floors increase a home’s value by 10 to 20

percent, says Mike Boykin, field manager for Sedaris Hardwood Floors, Inc. in Raleigh.

Sedaris Hardwood Floors, Inc., which has been in business for 15 years, has seen tremendous growth over the past few years, Boykin said. The company now fields six crews on a mix of residential and commercial projects, working seven days a week to accommodate clients’ busy work weeks.

About 25 percent of the company’s business is new construction. Additions and renovations account for the rest. Prices, which include delivering, “dustless” sanding, staining and installing along with shoe rail, range from $7.85 to $20.00 a square foot. While a developer might opt for neutrals, such as oak or maple for a planned community, the market is wide open and downright exotic for the individual looking for something out of the ordinary. Red and white oak once accounted for 80 percent of hardwood flooring sales nationwide, but that figure is closer to 60 percent now as customers opt for species such as Australian Spotted Gum, Brazilian Cherry and Purple Heart.

Builders and homeowners are also opting to put hardwoods throughout the home, not just in the family room as in years past, according to Greg Johnson, vice president of Thad’s Carpet One Floor & Home. In Thad’s 10,000-square-foot Raleigh showroom, Johnson said about 2,000 square feet are devoted to hard woods. “It’s the area of biggest growth and represents most of our sales.”

WOOD TRENDS

• Distressed” or “hand scraped” wooden flooring

• Wider planks

• Wood with more character, such as streaks and knots.

While 60 percent of his business is still in traditional oak flooring, Johnson says the remainder is in exotics, bamboo and cork, and laminates. Engineered wood, which is a veneer over plywood or particle board, is less expensive, easy to install, and can be refinished several times. Laminates, a dense fiberboard printed with a photo of a natural material protected by a layer of plastic laminate, offer the same cost savings and ease of installation, Johnson says, plus they wear better than engineered and even hardwoods. Most hardwoods are $4.99 to $12.99 per square foot installed, whereas laminates will cost $3.00 to $7.49.

Another hot trend in flooring is the “distressed” or “hand scraped” wooden flooring, according to Daniel Lee, president of Lee’s Hardwood Floors in Raleigh. Wider planks and wood with more character, such as streaks and knots, are also popular. Lee’s Hardwood Floors also carries a full line of other flooring options, which

provides Lee with all the raw materials he needs for the custom jobs he loves. Designers use CAD and laser equipment to design and cut elements for floors that may contain four different types of wood, stone inlays and even brass, aluminum or stainless steel.

Stone and Tile

Stone, slate, and ceramic and porcelain tiles are more durable and fade-resistant than wood and continue to be popular. But a stone floor can be cold and uninviting in winter, and some tiles can be quite brittle. DuraCeramic, a Congoleum product that was featured at the Southern Ideal Home Show this past spring, is the “hottest item” going, says Jerry Looker, director of sales for Triangle Floors.

DuraCeramic’s material is a limestone and vinyl composite. It has the rigidity, appearance and texture of stone, but it has a slight give to it and is warmer to the touch, Looker says. The cost is around $4.99 to $5.99 per square foot with the biggest savings in the cost of labor. The tiles can be butted together and the floor sealed or they can be glued to a smooth, flat surface, and grouted with pre-sealed grout.  

Another great trend in stone is the shape that tiles are taking, according to April Letchworth, design consultant for Traditions in Tile & Stone. While many customers prefer marble for a more traditional look, travertine and limestone continue to be favorites. Porcelain tiles that look like natural stone are gaining in popularity.

The planks come in 6 x 24-inch lengths and cost about $5.00 to $6.00 a square foot, Letchworth said, relative to stone for $6.00 to $15.00 a square foot. The planks can look like stone or be grained and textured like wood. Most often customers want them for bathrooms, kitchens and foyers.

For something with a grand flair, Victor Torres of Absolute Stone in Raleigh offers a selection of marble and granite medallions from a catalog of shapes (round, oval, and square) and sizes (24 to 72 inches) at an average price of $3,800.00. Custom designs are also available. The frame and its pieces are cut with a high pressure water and abrasives cutter and then fitted together like a puzzle.

Carpets and Rugs

No flooring option has changed more over time than carpet, but this year everything old is new again. Solid neutral colors are losing ground to warm hues and botanical or oriental patterns which were once the domain of handmade rugs, and synthetics are losing ground to wool, says Betty Eatman, vice president of Eatmans Carpets, which has been in business for 50 years in Raleigh.

“Wool has staying power,” says Eatman, not only in terms of style but in durability. “People who have had them for 20 years don’t need new carpets; they just want a new color or a pattern.” In a wool carpet such as a Wilton, a pattern can look like needlepoint. If you go to nylon or polypropylene you do not get the same look.”

Wool also lasts longer, but is more expensive with prices running from $55.00 to $350.00 a yard depending on the quality, colors and style, as compared to nylon at $20.00 to $40.00 a yard, Eatman says. Area rugs are a great buy and allow some of the hardwood floors underneath to border the piece. Eatmans can bind any

carpet they have into an area rug or a custom shape that fits an architectural feature such as an eye-catching foyer, a fireplace, or an oddly shaped room.

A few years ago, customers would come in to pick out a neutral wall-to-wall carpet, typically a single color with a design for a living room to match paint colors, Eatman says. “It’s easier to change your paint. Now, you come in and look for a carpet first because it can be the focal point of a room.”

Jane Shealy is a Freelance Writer