Resilient Flooring for more Sustainable Home Design
This post has been sponsored by Beautifully Responsible® Resilient Flooring but all opinions are entirely my own.
In the three years we’ve lived in our home, I’ve completed about a dozen home improvement projects. I always look for ways to repurpose materials, reduce waste, or find other sustainable options when updating our home. One of our next big projects is replacing our vinyl floors, which has led me to learning more about resilient flooring options. Here I am sharing what resilient flooring is and why you should consider using it for your own home!
What is Resilient Flooring?
The resilient flooring category of flooring products just means that this type of flooring can withstand the heavy use of everyday life. From the foot traffic of your whole family, to your pets’ zoomies, to the unwanted dinner launched from your baby’s highchair… resilient flooring products are exactly what the name implies. Resilient.
The resilient category of flooring includes various types of floors, made of seven specific floor types.
What are the 7 Types of Resilient Flooring?
In residential homes as well as commercial spaces, you can find a variety of resilient and sustainable flooring solutions. Here are the seven types of resilient flooring options:
Flexible Luxury Vinyl Tile
Flexible luxury vinyl tile (LVT) has become very popular and is a great choice when looking for an alternative to hardwood, stone, and ceramic tile. This type of hard flooring is water resistant, pet-friendly, and is highly durable (always an excellent plus for our family).
If you ever need to replace one or two planks, you can easily do so without having to replace the entire floor!
Rigid Luxury Vinyl Tile
Rigid LVT (also called rigid core flooring or multilayer flooring) is similar to flexible LVT with a few more benefits. If you are looking for a flooring option that provides comfort to your bare feet, warmth, and sound absorption for heavy traffic, this type of flooring is for you.
It’s especially an ideal choice for laundry rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and entryways, as this type of flooring has humidity and water resistance, and is resistant to temperature variations.
Sheet Vinyl
Sheet vinyl is available in large sheets (with 6 feet, 12 feet, or greater widths) to provide a seamless look with excellent moisture protection.
There are many beautiful styles available, including options that look like real hardwood or stone flooring. Vinyl sheet flooring is low maintenance, an excellent option for DIYers (reducing installation costs!), and is a very affordable option for almost any family’s budget.
Linoleum
Linoleum flooring is one of the resilient floor coverings that is made from natural and rapidly renewable ingredients: linseed oil, limestone, pine resin, cork, wood flour, and dye. These are combined and rolled onto a jute fiber backing, producing a durable flooring surface that withstands wear and tear for years to come.
Many types of linoleum floors also use recycled materials, which is amazing when you’re looking for mindful manufacturing practices!
Cork
Yes, cork is another type of resilient flooring! Harvested every 9 years from the cork oak tree, cork is renewable, recyclable (in some recycling facilities), and renews significantly faster than the trees used for hardwood flooring.
Because cork is susceptible to moisture, it would not be the best choice for bathrooms or kitchens (or homes with pets). However, cork floors are a natural insulator and can muffle sound while also increasing energy efficiency in the home.
Rubber
You’ve probably seen rubber flooring in your local gym, or even in restaurant kitchens (especially in the dish washing area). Rubber floors are exceptionally durable and easy to clean, and are very resistant to water.
They also offer excellent slip resistance, which makes them a popular choice in commercial areas where drips and slips are a concern (such as kitchens and those sweaty gym floors).
I personally plan to add rubber flooring to our home gym in our basement! It would be way better for HIIT workouts than our hard floors, and can withstand dropping heavy weights better than non-resilient flooring.
Vinyl Composition Tile
Think about the tile floors you’ve seen in schools, hospitals and healthcare facilities, or in the grocery store. That is likely vinyl composition tile, or VCT. The reason it’s so popular in these locations is because it’s extremely durable, easy to install, and very budget friendly. Made from limestone in the USA, this type of flooring uses a highly abundant natural resource which makes it a very sustainable option for anyone wanting a hard surface floor.
Don’t let the thought of a school floor turn you off from this option though. Vinyl composition tile is available in many color and design combinations that are actually really pretty!
What are the Benefits of Resilient Flooring?
So now that you know the different types of resilient flooring, you may be wondering why you would want to choose resilient flooring for your home. Here are a few benefits to consider:
Where to Buy Resilient Flooring?
To learn more, visit BeautifullyResponsible.com. You can also find flooring made by Beautifully Responsible® manufacturers at your local flooring stores. Be sure to follow @ResponsibleFloors on YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest for beautiful design inspiration!
