One important consideration to make when choosing flooring for a new home or for a remodeling project that often goes overlooked is just how noisy the floor is going to be. Certain types of flooring are inherently noisier when walked upon, so it may be worth taking into account the kind of traffic that the area is likely to see.
Hardwood and Laminates
Hardwood and laminate floors are by far the noisiest flooring option. When you step down on a hardwood floor in shoes or boots it can sound like a horse is tromping around in the foyer. Hardwood and laminates can make for a beautiful, classic look, but putting either down in an area that will see heavy foot traffic will lead to a lot of noise. Both of these also tend to creak heavily, so even when socked or bare footed it will be fairly obvious to everyone in the house that someone is wandering about.
This level of noise is considered a good thing in some parts of the house, such as in entryways where the loud footfalls will let you know if someone is coming into your home. However, hardwood floors in the children’s play room will mean quite a few headaches. Certain under-layments can be installed to reduce the noise level of wood or laminate floors, but they will never be as quiet as other flooring materials.
Tile or Stonework
These floors tend be a bit quieter than wood; you may hear the click-click-click of a lady in high heels tapping along, but it will not resonate quite so loudly as with wood. Tile and stonework are also much more rigid meaning they will not start creaking with age like wood floors. There are several options for reducing the level of noise produced by walking on tile floors, including sound reducing under-layments and surface coatings that absorb impact and thus translating less of each footfall into sound.
Carpeting
Carpet installation, as you can imagine, is the number one choice for sound abatement. Both the padding and carpet work together to minimize the noise produce by each footfall by absorbing impact rather translating the vibrations into sound. In general, the thicker the carpet and padding the less noise that will be produced, although the floor beneath the carpet may still be subject to creaking depending on the material.
Are you seeking a little peace and quiet from your flooring? Contact us here at Carpet Wagon to get all the installation information you’ll need.