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reno ideas THE PROS AND CONS OF VINYL FLOORING When selecting flooring for your home, there are many options to consider including porcelain, tile, hardwood, engineered hardwood, carpet and vinyl. The right flooring choice often comes down to the style, budget and function you wish to achieve. Vinyl flooring has a number of benefits that make it an option worth considering. Today's vinyl options come in a wide variety of styles suitable for any design style and offer a water resistant finish that makes it a great choice for bathrooms and kitchens. Vinyl flooring is extremely durable and can stand up to heavy foot traffic. It is very easy to install and maintain and less expensive than many other flooring options as well. Using vinyl flooring helps to reduce noise between floors and provides a comfortable feel under foot which is especially important in households with small children or pets. Vinyl is a low-cost flooring which also means that it is unlikely to increase the resale value of your home. Vinyl flooring is not considered to be eco-friendly as it is usually glued down during installation making it difficult to remove and recycle. That being said, there are options available that are made from recycled materials which helps to negate that factor. - Ajay Jain, www. takeusforgranite.ca GRANITE is an all natural, indestructible stone. It is very durable! You can cut food directly on the countertop without scratching it and hot pans can be placed directly on it with no melting! Because it is a natural stone, granite comes in a wide variety of colors and styles with no two pieces being exactly the same! While granite is porous, when properly sealed it is stain resistant as well. Granite is more costly but it also increases the resale value of your home compared to most other options. It can be prone to cracking, especially if heavy items are dropped on it, but it can also be repaired rather than replacing the entire countertop! MARBLE is a natural material, much like granite, and no two pieces are alike. Marble offers an undeniable beauty that comes with a high price tag. Marble is also a very high-maintenance material as it stains, chips and scratches easily and will degrade over time without proper care. Marble can increase the resale value of a home but only if properly maintained. QUARTZ is a man-made stone that offers many of the same benefits of granite marble, but often at a higher price. Quartz is strong and flexible, resistant to heat, staining and scratching, making it a low-maintenance option as well. As a manmade stone, quartz offers a more consistent color palette with less variation. The main drawback with quartz is that it can be discolored by direct sunlight and this can be noticeable if part of your countertop receives more direct sunlight than other areas. Quartz is made with a mixture that is 90% Quartz and 10% resin so it can contain low levels of VOCs as well. PORCELAIN countertops are made from a non-porous ceramic clay baked at extreme temperatures which make it very durable and resistant to scratching, cracking, UV light and heat. They are very low maintenance and make a great choice for outdoor kitchens. The patterns on porcelain countertops are only surface deep and if they do chip, that can become visible. They also tend to be very thin, limiting your design options. - Take Us For Granite, www.takeusforgranite.ca 60 CANADIANHOMETRENDS.COM