Flooring is a complex topic.  In this Design Custom Homes blog, we look how to choose the right flooring for each season and for all seasons. We also, pay a visit to one of our suppliers, Sherwin Williams Flooring.

Flooring Takes a Beating

Good flooring must stand up to all kinds of abuse. In general terms, we are talking about:

·         Traffic — wear and tear created by walking. This also includes thoughts about dirt and grime buildup

·         Seasonal changes including — weather, light, temperature, and moisture.

When we choose flooring at our design center we look at how traffic impacts flooring on a seasonal basis. Some seasons, such as winter are more prone for tracked in dirt.  Other seasons, such as summer and winter bring temperature extremes. Good flooring must be able to take all of the abuse you throw at it.

We Asked Sherwin Williams how to keep flooring beautiful all year long. Here is what they had to say.

Beautiful flooring is only going to stay beautiful if you care for it. That means learning how to clean different flooring surfaces properly and building a scheduled cleaning into your daily routine.

Carpet — Regularly vacuuming and extra vacuuming in heavy traffic corridors. Also, be prepared to handle spill with a spill kit that is easy to deploy and that is effective at removing stains before they set. Read more about Sherwin-Williams care.

The same philosophy applies to all flooring types. Each type of flooring — wood, carpet, tile, etc. — has its own specific best-practice for cleaning. At Design Custom Homes, we walk you through that process during the flooring selection phase and again when we do the walk-through and final signoff.

Choosing Flooring for Every Season and All Seasons

So, how do you choose the perfect flooring that both looks brilliantly beautiful and handles what each season throws at you? Let’s explore.

Spring in Wisconsin

Typically, spring is March through May and is characterized by cold, wet, and scattered sunny days that hint of summer and cooler nights that remind us that winter is not far behind us. It also means wet shoes, mud, and dirt. We asked Sherwin-Williams how to keep wood floors looking nice in high traffic areas. Their response was “spot” on. Here’s what they had to say.

Wood Floor Care — Wood and even laminate flooring are prized for their smooth surface. That surface requires sweeping on a regular basis and more often than carpet requires vacuuming. Dirt and sand can damage the surface so be prepared to sweep smooth surfaces often. Daily care might be required in places where there is high traffic. A good tip to handle the extra sweeping is to use a dry dust mop that is approved for your flooring type. The wider mop makes keeping smooth surfaces clean a snap. Read more from Sherwin-Williams wood and laminate floor care.

Spring Flooring Choices

At Design Custom Homes, we understand that flooring needs to be able to stand up to a mixture of weather types in spring. The days are getting longer but the weather can still be cold and snowy. A quality wood floor is perfect for this type of weather. It can handle the cold because wood is a sink for heat. It does not get cold like tile or stone. So, when you walk on it in your bare feet, you feel the coolness of the wood, but not the sharp cold of winter. At the same time, wood warms up slowly. On a sunny day, you can stand on a wood floor and enjoy the sunny warmth without the wood getting hot. 

Summer in Wisconsin

Summer gets hot and the dog days of summer are no myth. Flooring that heats up quickly can be radiate heat throughout your home causing an increase in energy consumption to cool your home. Stone and tile flooring choices tend to heat up quickly and once they are hot they stay hot for a while.

These flooring choices work best in rooms that do not have a ton of direct sun. Darker living rooms, bathrooms, kitchens and family rooms make good choices for stone or tile floors. Northern facing rooms also work well for stone and tile. Both types of floors are cool to bare feet in summer if they are not in direct sun. That can help to keep your home cooler.

We asked Sherwin-Williams what the best way to care for tile or stone floor was.

The takeaway here is that mixing flooring based on room exposure and seasonal differences is a smarter way to make a home comfortable. Their insightfulness offers a few tips on keeping tile and stone beautiful for years.

Tile and Stone care — Both flooring types are often attacked with a mop for cleaning, but they require a little more thought than just a wet mop. They are often porous so plan on sweeping these floors on the same routine that you would a wood floor. A quick daily sweep and sometimes two, can keep your tile and stone looking amazing for decades if not generations. Because both flooring materials are often finished, you need to choose special cleaning products that will not harm the finish. For decorative tile, that means nonabrasive cleaners that rinse away easily. A cleaner that leaves a residue will cause the tiles to look foggy or faded.  Read more from Sherwin-Williams on tile and stone care.

Fall in Wisconsin

Fall is a beautiful time of year. The weather is warm and cooling, the skies are active, and the temperatures and be summer-like in the day and cool in the evening. Flooring that helps enjoy the best of fall weather includes wood floors and carpeting. You can even consider a beautiful stone floor with a warm carpet area rug for bedrooms and living rooms. 

Wood floors are wonderful insulators and they help to keep the heat in your home and the cold outside. In summer, they help to keep the heat outside and the coolness inside. 

Winter in Wisconsin

It’s cold. you want a floor that is nice to walk on, helps conserve energy and keeps the cold at bay. For the most part, this is a season for wood flooring, though carpeting is also plush. 

Due to the rain, sleet, and snow in winter, stone floors work the best, especially for entry ways. Stone and tile stand up to water but both can be slippery. Unfinished stone typically has more grip, but water from shoes should be cleaned up quickly with all flooring types. 

Flooring for the whole year

The applicable home flooring is usually mixed. This means stone, tile, and wood flooring in entry ways due to seasonal water. Wood flooring works well in rooms with southern exposure as it warms up but does not get hot and is still pleasant to walk on in winter with bare feet. For bedrooms, hardwood, stone, and tile are also good choices and can be softened with a carpet overlay. For living rooms, wood, stone, or tile help to keep room temperature cooler, but sectional carpeting helps to reduce the echoing effect from TVs and home entertainment systems. 

A last tip from Sherwin-Williams — A good tip is to have a cleaning kit for each type of floor in your home. Such a kit makes it easy to care for your floor and that means they stay beautiful and stain-free.

At Design Custom Homes, we put a lot of thought into flooring and all the products that go into one of our custom designed homes. That attention to detail is what makes a house into a home. Reach out to us and let’s talk design. We have answers and solutions if you have questions or concerns.