If you have the luxury of decorating your home office, you need to know about the best home office flooring options available. Choosing the wrong type of flooring could not only leave you out of pocket, but it could also cause the floor to become damaged faster, along with being subject to greater wear, tear and cracks.
In addition, it could make your home office a cold place, both physically and aesthetically.
This guide helps you with picking out flooring options for your home office. Plus, if you’re unsure which floor tiles can be used and the types of flooring that are best for your budget, reducing noise and cleaning frequency, than prepare to be educated.
If you’re in a hurry, check out the super easy to follow cheat table for the best flooring options based on maintenance, budget and lifespan.
Failure to vacuum your carpet properly can amount to several pounds of dust, dead skin cells and dirt in a year! Source
Let’s get started.
What is the best home office flooring?
There are a range of office flooring options that you can choose from. The most common flooring options include hardwood, laminate, vinyl, carpet and tiles. The type that suits you best will depend on factors including
- cost
- durability
- noise dampening properties
- hygiene preferences
- maintenance requirements
- water resistance
- overall finish
If budget is a concern, avoid hardwood floors along with certain types of carpet and luxury vinyl tiles.
In terms of maintenance, carpets are usually higher maintenance and require more cleaning.
Vinyl flooring or flooring which comes in tiles can be easily maintained or replaced if they become damaged.
The below table highlights the level of maintenance, price and average lifespan of popular flooring options for you work or home office.
Best home office flooring options cheat table
|
Type of floor |
Level of maintenance |
Average price per sq inch |
Lifespan (years) |
|
Hardwood |
Medium |
$10 – 18 |
30 – 100 |
|
Engineered hardwood |
Low |
$6 – 20 |
20 – 40 |
|
Vinyl |
Medium |
$3 – 10 |
2 – 25 |
|
Luxury vinyl tiles |
Low |
$2 – 5 |
25 – 30 |
|
Laminate |
Medium |
$6 – 9 |
10 – 25 |
|
Carpet tile |
Medium |
$1 – 12 |
5 – 15 |
|
Ceramic tiles |
Low |
$0.50 – 35 |
75 – 100 |
Wood flooring
Wood flooring is probably one of the most elegant types of covering that you can place on a floor. However, with such elegance comes an expensive price tag. Hardwood flooring is one of the most expensive flooring options available.
Fortunately, you will be rewarded with a durable, long-lasting and sturdy finish.
Hardwood flooring won’t need to be replaced often. It can last anywhere from 30 – 100 years, provided it is well maintained.
You also have a range of textures, colours and grains to choose from.
However, a wood floor can pose risks including being subject to scratching, scuff marks and stains.
Fortunately, stains can be cleaned relatively easily.
Furthermore, wood floors are not the best at dampening noise, especially if you are using heels or rolling swivel chairs along the floor without a carpet underneath it.
Therefore, to protect your precious hardwood floor, be sure to lay down a rug or floor mat, such as an anti-fatigue mat for ultimate comfort.
Tip: Attaching felt pads to furniture protects the hardwood floor from scratches. Plus, felt pads also reduce the noise of furniture being pushed along the floor.
Laminate flooring
Laminate flooring can be used in practically any room in the house, including your home office. It is a more affordable option than a hardwood floor; plus, it also has the benefit of coming in styles that mirror a genuine hardwood floor or tiles.
Laminate flooring is often credited for being long-lasting and durability.
There known to be stain resistant, fade resistant and can be relatively easy to clean too.
Plus, they are highly resistant to scuff marks. Also, they feel warmer to the touch than tiles, wood or vinyl floors.
Laminate floors also come in a wide variety of colours and designs to suit your environment and desires.
However, if they are exposed to excess water or spills, there is a risk that they can delaminate and start to lift.
Laminate floors can also sound hollower and doesn’t dampen noise as much as carpet flooring.
However, purchasing a quality underlayment can reduce the noise generation while walking or rolling swivel chairs along the floor.
If heavy equipment or objects with high force are placed on a laminate floor, it can cause denting to occur. For example, legs of a chair or table can create small dents in the flooring.
A laminate floor can typically last between 10 to 25 years depending on how well it is maintained and how much traffic issues exposed to. Therefore, you shouldn’t have to replace laminate flooring too often.
Vinyl flooring
Vinyl floors are not that different from laminate floors. Vinyl floors are available in the form of rolls or luxury vinyl tiles.
Vinyl flooring is one of the most affordable types of flooring available.
They’re also durable and low maintenance which makes them easy to clean and care for. Vinyl floors feature scuff-resistant and stain resistant protective top layers. This helps to make them last longer and look new for longer.
Choosing a vinyl floor for a home office or any office or room also helps to reduce noise.
Noise dampening is further advanced by opting for vinyl with cushioned backing. Floors also have thermal properties which help to retain heat and make them feel warm to the touch.
Similar to laminate floors, vinyl is available in a large range of colours, designs, patterns.
Also, up tours you for final roles are luxury vinyl tiles this makes them an optimal solution option for people who wants to be able to have a wide variety of styles to choose from to suit their office.
Vinyl flooring is also more water resistant than laminate flooring.
Plus, it is less liable to swell up and soften if it is exposed to water or spills. Vinyl flooring is not only water resistant, but it can also be waterproof.
Opting for low quality vinyl flooring can cause a number of issues over time.
Firstly, it may delaminate more so than a good quality vinyl floor. Additionally, if you opt for self-stick thing vinyl tiles, these may loosen over time.
You can expect a vinyl floor life span to last anywhere from 2 – 25 years, which is a bit less than laminate.
However, a luxury vinyl tile (LVT) lifespan can reach 25 – 30 years if it is well maintained.
Carpet
Carpet floors are often present in commercial offices. That said, people tend to shy away from using carpet in home offices since they can be difficult to clean.
Additionally, they can also be difficult to roll around on an office chair, especially if the carpet is thick.
If opting for carpet floors in at home office or any office for that matter, it should be a thin carpet to allow chairs and office equipment to easily roll across them.
The carpet should also be a colour that doesn’t show up all the dirt. Opting for darker colours is usually your best choice.
Plus, if spills occur, they can be difficult to clean up.
Carpet can also leave stain works from tea, coffee and food which can be difficult to remove.
Carpet does offer some benefits though:
- It’s highly effective at dampening noise which can be caused with moving equipment or walking in an area.
- It is also warmer than the likes of hardwood and laminate floors. This can be especially useful if you are walking around in your bare feet or socks.
You can expect to change out carpet every 5 – 15 years.
However, if it’s a high traffic area or broadloom carpet, don’t be surprised if you have to change it more often!
Related: Best Office Floor Color – Plus Most Popular & Ones To Avoid
Tiles
Ceramic tiles typically are synonymous with kitchens, bathrooms, and hallways. But that’s not to say that you can’t put them in your home office if you prefer to add some style, colour, and pattern into the room.
Ceramic tiles can be an ideal option for use in your home office.
They feature a hard surface which is easy to clean, and they can withstand higher volumes of traffic.
They also feature scratch-resistant properties, which means you don’t need to worry about your chair or office furniture damaging the tiles.
From that perspective, there’s no need to be spending money on a chair mat or rug. That said, they are prone to being chipped or cracked if something heavy is dragged or dropped on them.
One of the negatives properties of ceramic tiles is that they feel cold, especially in the winter.
Another consideration is that they will generate more noise from wheels of your office chair rolling over grooves.
They also have poorer noise dampening properties compared to the previously mentioned flooring types.
They come in a variety of styles as well which means you can opt for wood effects to stone effects or even patterns. Plus, quite a range of colours and patterns so you can add a pop of colour to your office room.
Tip: Tiles can also be added to the walls as a backdrop to create a stylish pattern depending on the design that you desire.
Conclusion
Flooring options will typically be narrowed down based on budget, maintenance and cleaning requirements. You just need to narrow down which are the priority for you.
While most floors in the above list don’t require much effort to clean or maintain, opt for vinyl or laminate if low maintenance flooring is a priority. Avoid carpet if you want to minimize cleaning.
For budget conscious people, vinyl and laminate are some of the best options, whereas hardwood and carpet are usually expensive.
Most floors, especially hardwood floors and ceramic tiles, should provide you with a decent lifespan of about 20 years.
However, the level of care and frequency of use will be a factor in dictating this.
For more in-depth information and to read up on the common pitfalls that people make when choosing flooring, check out: How To Choose Home Office Flooring – Plus Mistakes To Avoid
My aim with this website is to help you on all matters related to your home office and your work area. With that in mind, if you have any questions or comments on the above, please drop them in the box below. I’d love to hear them!