Flooring services
Plan a project
Our flooring collections are organized by how each material behaves, not by brand. Walk through the five families below, then put eight of them into the same room with the visualizer and compare them side by side.
Open the visualizerThe materials gallery
Scroll through each family. Every one links to the service page that explains it in depth.
01 / 05
Solid and engineered wood
Real timber underfoot. Wide planks show off the grain, and a well-made engineered board can be sanded and refinished more than once over its life.
02 / 05
Rigid core and glue-down plank
The wood or stone look in a layered, water-resistant build. A thick wear layer is what keeps it looking good in busy kitchens and family rooms.
03 / 05
Photographic layer over a dense core
Hard-wearing and scratch resistant, with crisp embossed texture. Laminate earns its place in dry living areas where dogs and chairs are hard on floors.
04 / 05
Porcelain, ceramic and natural stone
The most permanent surface in the house. Large-format porcelain and honed limestone reward a flat substrate and careful layout with decades of service.
05 / 05
Wool and performance fibers
Quiet, warm and soft where you want it. Density and twist predict how a carpet wears far better than a plush feel in the showroom does.
Flooring visualizer
The same room rendered with eight different floors. Pick a material, then a finish, and watch the floor change while everything else stays put.
Illustrative renders, not a physically accurate simulation. Colors vary by screen; always confirm with physical samples.
01 Material
02 Finish
Warm and neutral. Finish choice matters here: oil-based polyurethane ambers over time, while most waterborne finishes stay closer to the raw wood.
Hardwood flooring serviceMost flooring decisions get made at a sample board, under showroom lights, with one plank in hand. That's the worst place to judge a floor. The questions that decide whether a material works are duller and more specific: how much water reaches the floor, what scratches it, whether it can be renewed, and what it sounds like when someone crosses it in hard shoes.
The table compares the main options on those points. It's general guidance about how each material behaves, not a promise about any one product. Ratings vary a lot inside every category, so read the spec sheet for the line you're actually considering.
| Material | Water tolerance | Scratch resistance | Refinishable | Comfort underfoot | Sound | Typical rooms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solid hardwood | Low. Standing water cups boards | Moderate. Set by species hardness (Janka) and finish | Yes, several times | Warm, slight give | Solid when nailed down | Living, dining, bedrooms |
| Engineered hardwood | Low to moderate. More stable, not waterproof | Same as the species and finish on top | Depends on wear layer thickness | Warm | Quiet glued; can sound hollow floated | Same, plus slabs and radiant heat |
| Luxury vinyl (rigid core) | High. The core won't swell | Good. Set by the wear layer in mil | No. Planks are replaced | Warmer and softer than tile | Can click without a good pad | Kitchens, basements, family rooms |
| Laminate | Low to moderate. HDF core swells if water sits | High. Graded AC1 to AC5 | No | Firm | Can sound hollow without underlayment | Living areas, bedrooms, offices |
| Porcelain tile | Very high | Very high | No. Grout can be refreshed | Hard and cool unless heated | Echoes in open rooms | Baths, kitchens, entries |
| Natural stone | High once sealed | Varies. Marble and limestone scratch and etch | Yes, by honing or polishing | Hard and cool | Echoes like tile | Entries, baths, feature areas |
| Carpet | Low. Spills reach the pad | Doesn't scratch; it crushes and mats | No. Clean, stretch or replace | Softest and warmest | Quietest by far | Bedrooms, dens, stairs |
Relative ratings that assume a properly prepared subfloor. Compare real products on the hardwood, luxury vinyl, laminate, tile and stone and carpet pages.
Pick a floor for the worst day it will see, not the best. A kitchen floor has to survive a dishwasher leak and a dropped cast-iron pan. A mudroom takes grit, salt and wet boots. A bedroom floor mostly needs to be quiet and pleasant under bare feet at six in the morning.
Then look at what's underneath. A basement slab can push moisture up through the concrete, which rules out solid hardwood and makes a moisture test non-negotiable for everything else. An upstairs room over a living area brings sound into it: floating floors can carry footfall noise to the room below unless the underlayment is chosen for that job.
Every category has one or two specs that predict wear better than the marketing does.
Questions
There's rarely one material that suits every room. Many homes run one wood or wood-look floor through the living areas and switch to tile in full baths and laundry. If you want one continuous surface, rigid-core vinyl and some engineered hardwoods can cover more rooms than solid wood, as long as wet areas are detailed properly.
The rigid core doesn't swell, so spills won't ruin the planks. Water can still travel through seams and around the edges to the subfloor, where it causes the real damage. Treat waterproof as water-resistant on top, and keep perimeter details and transitions tight.
It's illustrative. The renders show relative tone and contrast in one furnished room, but they aren't a physically accurate simulation of any product. Colors vary by screen, so always confirm with physical samples in your own light.
Usually, if the wear layer is thick enough. A thin wear layer may only allow a light screen and recoat, while a thicker one can be fully sanded one or more times. Check the product's specification before you count on it.
In connected spaces, usually yes, so the floor reads as one surface. Run planks with the longest sightline or toward the main light, and plan any change of direction at a doorway with a clean threshold.
Tell us which rooms you're covering and which floors made the shortlist. We'll help you test them in your own light and come back with a clear estimate.
