Winnipeg Home Renovations: What Is Floor Covering?

It is easy to take the floors of your home for granted, but there is a lot more to them than meets the eye. When people talk about hiring floor tile installation services to replace the flooring, they are usually only talking about the floor covering. There are many different types of floor covering, each with its own advantages to offer.

What Is Floor Covering?

In modern homes and buildings, the floors consist of multiple layers. The structural layers underneath provide support so that room furnishings and occupants do not fall through. The outer layers can be decorative but also help to protect the structural layers from damage from water and other forces.

The floor covering is the outermost layer, the one that you walk on. It alone of all the layers is visible, hiding the others underneath. Depending on the type of flooring, it may be merely decorative or it may have a structural element to it.

What Are the Benefits of Floor Coverings?

In the old days, the flooring was not layered. Floors were made of one material, such as bare dirt or hardwood planks. There was no decorative covering over the whole floor that you could replace when you got tired of the way it looked. If you pulled up the planks, you pulled up the entire floor, so you would probably only do so when there was some structural damage that needed repair.

Now that floors have layers, you can remove and replace the floor covering any time you want to for purely aesthetic reasons while leaving the structural layers intact. It is a much easier and less expensive job than it would be if you had to replace the entire floor, and it gives you the freedom to make up your mind about decorative choices as often as you like. When floors consisted of only one layer, you had to be sure that you liked the appearance of the material or at least could learn to live with it.

What Were the First True Floor Coverings?

The first true wall-to-wall floor covering was linoleum. First invented in the mid-1800s, it was decades before its use became practical. Nevertheless, it quickly become popular because it was easy to install, relatively soft, colorfast, did not collect static, and could be replaced when it became worn out or went out of fashion. There were no structural aspects to it; linoleum just covered up the existing floor, meaning that it could be removed as needed.

Area rugs have been used as partial floor coverings for centuries, but wall-to-wall carpet is relatively new; it only dates back to the 1930s. Like linoleum, carpeting was a true covering that could be installed right over the existing floor and then removed as desired. It was even softer under the feet than linoleum and insulated the floor to keep feet from getting cold. It helps to prevent slips and absorbs sound.

What Other Kinds of Floor Coverings Are Available?

Wall-to-wall carpeting is still available and remains a popular floor covering to this day. Linoleum in its original form has evolved into many other types of floor covering. For example, some people may refer to vinyl flooring, whether in sheets, tiles, or luxury planks, as linoleum. However, this is technically inaccurate as linoleum was originally not made of plastic.

Of course, hardwood is still a popular flooring material, but because it is vulnerable to water and different weather conditions, there are other types of floor coverings that can mimic its appearance without those vulnerabilities. Examples include engineered wood and laminate flooring, which can be considered part of the structure.

Another type of flooring that is part of the structure is ceramic tile. Because it is durable and waterproof if installed correctly, ceramic tile is popular in bathrooms and kitchens.

Call Handyman Connection for Floor Tile Installation Services

We perform all types of flooring services in Winnipeg. Contact us for an estimate.