Flooring is one of the most important additions you can make when it comes to beautifying your home and increasing your home's comfort level. Since the right choice of floors can make a world of difference in creating the ideal home for your personality and habits, it's important to thoughtfully consider the multitude of materials available to you when making this important decision.

The choice of material for floor covering is affected by factors such as cost, endurance, noise insulation, comfort and cleaning effort. Some types of flooring must not be installed below grade (lower than ground level), and laminate or hardwood should be avoided where there may be moisture or condensation.

FLOORING MATERIALS

SOFTCOVERINGS

WOOD FLOORING

RESILIENTFLOORING

HARDFLOORING

SEAMLESS CHEMICAL FLOORING

CARPET

FITTED

RUGS

TILES STONE

CERAMIC

VITRIFIEDGLASS MOSAIC

PVC

RUBBER FLOOR

PORCELAIN

TERRACOTTA

MARBLELAMINATE

BAMBOOFLOORING

HARDWOOD

SOFTWOOD

SHEET VINYL

CORK(SHEET,TILES)

LATEX

POLYSTER

CARPETCarpet is a floor covering woven or felted from natural or man-made fibers.

Fitted carpet is attached to the floor structure, extends wall-to-wall, and cannot be moved from place to place. An underlay will extend carpet life and improve comfort.

Rugs are also woven or felted from fibers, but are smaller than the room in which they are located, have a finished edge, and usually lie over another finished floor such as wood flooring. Rugs may either be temporarily attached to the flooring below by adhesive tape or other methods to prevent creep, or may be loose-laid.

SOFT COVERINGS

HARD FLOORING

TILES

Ceramic Tiles• The word ‘ceramic’ comes from the

greek word ‘keramos’ meaning pottery, it is related to an old sanskrit root meaning ‘to burn’ but was primarily used to mean ‘burnt stuff’.

• Ceramic tiles are hard and brittle in nature. They are also known to be heat and corrosion resistant in the long run.

• These tiles come in various finishes like the anti skid and mat finish, which are used on steps and in bathrooms. Floor tiles come in squares and wall tiles are mostly rectangular.

Vitrified Tiles• It is created by the vitrification process.• It is processed in ways that it has very

low porosity (and water absorption) making it stain-resistant and strong.

• Vitrified tile is an alternative to marble and granite flooring. They have far superior properties compared to marble or natural granite because being a manufactured product their quality is controlled whereas in naturally occurring marble and granite good quality is just a coincidence.

• .• Vitrified tiles possess much better mechanical

strength, scratch resistance, resistance to acids, alkalis and chemicals, resistance to staining etc compared to marble or natural granite.

• Vitrified tiles may be laid in a matter of hours and put to use after 48 hours.

• The tile is known for glazed look and a classic shine and is mostly being used in offices and commercial buildings

Glass Mosaic Tiles• This type of flooring involves

embedding small pieces of colored glass, stone, or ceramic tile called tessera in a background material such as plaster or mortar. The resulting finish is unique and a variety of designs can be created.

• Most conventional apartments use grey or white mosaic.  These are relatively inexpensive. More affluent variety of mosaic is also available in the market for the deserving people.

• These tiles have multicoloured block in them with a glass finish that makes them shine and are mostly used in kitchens, swimming pools, wash rooms and pooja rooms.

Porcelain tiles are ceramic tiles with a water absorption rate of less than 0.5 percent that are used to cover floors and walls. They can either be unglazed or glazed

PORCELAIN

Many different natural stones are cut into a variety of sizes, shapes, and thicknesses for use as flooring. Stone flooring is usually set in mortar and grouted similar to ceramic tile. Slate and marble are popular types of stone flooring.

STONE

Marble FloorsMarble can provide you with a rich and clean finish. Marbles come in different sizes and are also easy to install. Marble tiles come in many colours.

PVC tiles• Polyvinyl chloride (P.V.C.) tiles are a

commonly used floor finish.• The tiles are made of a composite of

PVC and fibre, producing a thin and fairly hard tile.

• The surface wears, in time causing difficulty in cleaning, then loss of the colored pattern layer.

• Finally a very smooth floor is required to lay them on, otherwise they gradually become cut by the foot pressure above and the shallow edges below.

• The main advantages of PVC tiles are low cost, ease of replacing individual tiles, and the fact that the tiles can be laid with only brief periods available.

Rubber Floor Tiles:• Rubber floor tiles are most

commonly used in high-traffic areas where easy cleanup is a priority.

• For this reason, they are considered the ideal choice for a basement, workshop, garges or even a home gym.

• Some rubber floor tiles have raised surfaces to prevent slipping, and these are ideal for areas where water is a factor, such as a mud room or patio.

• Like other rubber products, rubber floor tiles come with a distinct odor that diminishes with time, which may make them a concern for those who are sensitive to the scent.

WOOD FLOORING

LAMINATE

Laminate is a floor covering that appears similar to hardwood but is made with a plywood or medium density fiberboard ("MDF") core with a plastic laminate top layer. HDF laminate consists of high density fiberboard topped by one or more layers of decorative paper and a transparent protective layer. Laminate may be more durable than hardwood, but cannot be refinished like hardwood. Laminate flooring is available in many different patterns which can resemble different woods or even ceramic tile. It usually locks or taps together

BAMBOO FLOORING

Bamboo flooring is a floor manufactured from the bamboo plant and is a type of hardwood flooring, though technically not a wood. Bamboo is known to be durable and environmentally friendly. It is available in many different patterns, colors, and textures

HARDWOOD

Harwood flooring has two subtypes viz. unfinished and prefinished flooring. Unfinished flooring will help you choose your own colours and will also provide you with an opportunity to showcase your creativity. Prefinished flooring on the other hand is easier to install than unfinished flooring. There is no scope for any changes in prefinished flooring since the entire finishing is already done

Softwood flooring is tongue and grooved much like unfinished and pre-finished flooring and generally milled to 3/4". Softwood flooring denotes a pine-needle bearing tree and is typically softer than hardwood, a leaf-growing tree. Common types of softwood flooring are Southern Yellow Pine and Douglas Fir.Although some manufactures have begun to make pre-finished softwood flooring, usually Southern Yellow Pine, it is almost always unfinished. Typical board lengths will range from 6 to 16 feet and widths can range from 3-1/8" to 8-7/8"

SOFTWOOD

Resilient flooring is made of material that has some elasticity. It includes many different manufactured products including linoleum, sheet vinyl, vinyl composition tile (VCT), cork (sheet or tile), rubber, and others. Performance surfaces used for dance or athletics are made of either wood or resilient flooring.

RESILIENT FLOORING

Vinyl Composition Thin (1/8”), rolls or tiles (VCT)

– Will show substrate irregularities Multiple colors & patterns Low cost, moderate durability Installation - glued

Cork Flooring is a flooring material manufactured from the by-product of the cork oak tree. Cork floors are considered to be eco-friendly since the cork oak tree bark is stripped every nine to ten years and doesn't damage the tree. Cork flooring comes in both tiles and planks, and can have glue or glues-less installation.