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How to Choose Flooring for Your Home in Portland / Portsmouth

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How to Choose Flooring

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Every aspect of a home plays an important role in your comfort. You want your home to reflect your personal style, as well as meet the needs of your daily routine. Choosing the right flooring is a huge part of that.

So, how does one choose the right flooring? Should floors be lighter or darker than the walls? Should every room have the same flooring? How often do you want to clean it? Read about the different types of flooring and find the answers to these questions below.

Once you know how to choose flooring for your home, Footprints Floors is here to provide professional installation. Contact Footprints Floors today for a free estimate!

Types of Home Flooring

There are many different kinds of flooring to reflect every kind of style. Choosing flooring for your home - or even a particular room - depends on a number of lifestyle and environmental factors. Here is a brief overview of five different kinds of flooring:

Solid Hardwood


Hardwood is a classic for a reason. Adding hardwood flooring to your home can add to your home value, potentially increasing the resale price. It’s hypoallergenic and easy to clean. If you want to change the color at any point, hardwood can be sanded and refinished - something Footprints Floors can take care of for you.

Hardwood floors come in a variety of colors and finishes for every style, and offer different levels of durability depending on where they’re located in the home (and whether or not you have, say, toddlers or pets running around). Hardwood floors can be glued directly to concrete and have some insulation properties that may help lower energy bills over time.

Laminate


This material is budget-friendly, easy to clean, stain and scratch-resistant, and super durable. It can be installed over most existing floors if you want to change up the look of your home without having to rip out old flooring. This material is a great option for sunny rooms because it resists fading from UV light.

Engineered Hardwood


If you live in a place with high humidity or greatly varying temperatures throughout the year but love the look of solid hardwood, consider engineered hardwood instead. Engineered hardwood expands and contracts less than solid hardwood, meaning it can even be used in a basement and with radiant heat. It’s available in a variety of colors and finishes, and it costs less than traditional solid hardwood.

Ceramic, Porcelain and Stone Tile


Tile is waterproof so it's the favorite for use in kitchens, bathrooms and basements. Tile is low maintenance and can increase your home’s value. From the material to the look, tile provides tons of options for style, color and textures - even tile that looks like wood if you like the look of hardwood but want something different. It can even be installed outdoors on a patio, or in direct sunlight, and it’s easy to repair.

Luxury Vinyl Plank or Tile


Vinyl is making a comeback. It comes in a variety of colors, patterns and textures; it’s durable, attractive and affordable. Vinyl is a great option for homes with lots of pets or kids because of its durability, and it’s also a quieter option than ceramic or hardwood floors (no click-click-click of heels or dog toenails). Vinyl can be installed over most floors, so if you want a change you don’t need to remove existing flooring. All vinyl is water-resistant and some of it is even waterproof, making it a great option for bathrooms and kitchens. It’s easy to clean and stain resistant.

If you’re someone who loves to cook big meals, vinyl is more shock-absorbent than other flooring, making it good for standing for long periods (or accidentally dropping dishes. It happens).

The Right Flooring For You


When you’re wondering what flooring to choose, there’s always the big question: Should you use the same flooring throughout your home? The answer? You can if you want to. However, some rooms require different flooring based on moisture content. For example, even if you love the look of hardwood, it’s probably not the best choice for your bathroom.

You should keep the look of your flooring consistent in one continuous space, but feel free to change it up at naturally existing barriers like walls or doors. If you feel strongly about having the same look throughout your home with your floors, picking something like laminate or vinyl that works in every room is a great option.

As for colors, darker floors next to lighter walls can help make a room feel more spacious. However, if you have low ceilings, a floor that is lighter than the walls can create an illusion of height. In the end, it’s up to your personal preference, and what you think will look best with already existing decor.

Now that you know more about different kinds of flooring, it's also time to consider your lifestyle. How often do you need to (or want to) clean? Do you have young children or pets that make messes?

Footprints Floors is the Top Flooring Company in Portland / Portsmouth

If you are searching for floor installers in Portland / Portsmouth, you have come to the right place. Footprints Floors Maine has some of the highest ratings, thanks to our quality craftsmanship and incredible customer service.

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Footprints Floors has experts that can help you choose flooring for your home in Portland / Portsmouth.

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Your Professional Floor Installer in Portland / Portsmouth


Whichever kind of flooring you choose, Footprints Floors is here to provide you with professional-grade installation. Footprints Floors only hires qualified, licensed contractors so you can feel safe about having us in your home. Footprints Floors is also able to offer incredibly competitive prices.

Contact Footprints Floors today for your free estimate on floor installation!

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What Our Customers Say

Footprints Floors sanded and refinished three rooms for me and the floors look beautiful! I am so thrilled with the outcome. The price was reasonable and they got it done very quickly, too.
Althea Mathews 04/28/24 — google
Excellent service from start to finish. Began with in person consult followed by in person follow up. Easy communication and I knew what to expect. Look at these stairs and the landing. The detail on how the wood was laid with a staggered design is gorgeous. Our dog approves too-she love a photo opp.
Carrie Bibens 04/25/24 — google
We had three bedroom floors which are at least 58 years old ,refinished by Footprints. Amazing results,they look brand new. Ralph and his team were so easy to work with. Ralph kept us updated to the progress and also told us how to take care of them. There was no nicks or scrapes to any of the woodwork.Amazing! Will be happy to recommend Footprints Flooring to all family and friends. Thanks Ralph
Ann Bay 04/5/24 — google
Great job on my condo floor! On time, great clean up, great attention to detail!
Todd Keiller 03/19/24 — google
I am co-owner of a salon in downtown Portland and we needed our floors repaired. Ralph at Footprints Flooring was SO HELPFUL every step of the way. His response time was so quick and he always had very clear answers to our questions. He was knowledgeable and the floors look AMAZING. All of our clients comment on how nice our floors look. We cannot recommend this company highly enough!
Claire Noonan 03/13/24 — google
Would definitely recommend Footprints Floors for anyone needing a tile or flooring project done. They were prompt with coming out to do the estimate and gave good advice on the best ways to approach our tiling project. Once we had the tile purchased and on site, they came within a few days. The team that came in was very pleasant and ready to work. From start to finish was less than 1.5 days. They definitely knew their craft and were also good at cleaning up afterwards. Well worth the price. We love our new bathroom.
Wanda Goodwin 03/7/24 — google
Replaced my carpet with wood floors and have never been happier!! I wouldn’t recommend anyone else besides Footprints!!
Madi Parks 03/6/24 — google
Awesome experience, would recommend for pine floor refinishing. Details are perfect, clean job site, and speedy work process. Couldn’t be more please with the outcome. Thank you Ralph and craftsman team!!!
Chelsea Hutchings 03/5/24 — google
In and out in one day and they went above and beyond to work with my schedule and make sure everything looked great🙂
Candace Gagnon 03/5/24 — google
Absolutely the best. Friendly, professional service I would recommend to anyone with flooring needs.
Janet Bisceglia 08/24/23 — google
Highly recommend Footprints Floors of Maine. They were so easy to work with, always responsive, on time, and did a great job. Our floors look amazing and I’m so happy we used Footprints!
Lauren Vlahos 08/23/23 — google
Accommodating, Good job! Corrected any mistakes… Helpful
CloudHockey 08/23/23 — google
We can not sing Footprints praises enough! On top of our beautiful floors and experience with them, every contractor who has come to our home has had positive comments, about what a great job! Thank you for bringing our home back to some of it’s original glory. Nancy and Steve
Nancy Hearne 08/23/23 — google
Ralph and Corey were extremely pleasant, and informative. They communicated well so that I knew what was happening each day. My floors were worn and old and they have been revived. They are absolutely beautiful. I would highly recommend Footprints Flooring Maine!
Dawn Nadeau 12/12/22 — google
We had hardwood floors installed. The installation crew, hard working and conscientious, did an excellent job. Ralph Clark knows how to deliver great customer service . If you are searching for a company to install hardwood floors, I unequivocally recommend Footprints Floors.
Claire Talbot 11/17/22 — google
Ralph and crew were amazing! We needed our floors leveled and flattened before installing LVP. Ralph and crew did not hesitate to come by and do a full estimate of our floors. When other contractors failed to give us estimates due to the amount of leveling required, Ralph came in to get the job done. Finished in just a couple days (and less than the original estimate)! Would highly recommend for difficult to handle jobs.
Brenden Shields 08/1/22 — google
Ralph and his team installed porcelain tile throughout the downstairs of my home on two separate jobs. They were clean, efficient, on time, friendly, professional and did our floors came out beautifully. The first job came out so well that we immediately hired them to do the rest of the downstairs. I would highly recommend them for your flooring needs!
Denise Calkins 11/17/21 — google
Ralph is wonderful. My job was huge and difficult with a major demolition before he could begin installing beautiful 4+inch red oak. He oversaw and managed everything efficiently and kept me informed everyday of progress along with sending pictures. The floors are gorgeous. Beyond anything I imagined. He is wonderful to work with and was substantially less cost than my local flooring person. I recommend Ralph highly.
Johanna Crawford 10/12/21 — google
Ralph and team were terrific. Great communication throughout the entire process, and they truly do what’s best for the client. Would highly recommend
Landon L. 08/17/21 — HomeAdvisor
I would definitely recommend Footprints Floors Maine to anyone looking to have work done on their hardwood. Ralph and his team were priced competitively, super responsive, knowledgeable and thoroughly explained the whole process to us. They did high quality work and I'm confident that our floors look as great as they possibly could.
Christian Carrasquillo 07/13/21 — google

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