There are already more than enough daunting aspects of picking out carpet fitters Manchester … People will often find themselves simply going for the cheapest option without giving thought to the environment around it. Often, people will glaze over one of the most important factors – what types of flooring should they be picking for the characteristics of their property? It’s a question which is easy to not think of, after all, flooring is flooring! If it looks good, surely that’s all that matters?
Well, the difference could actually be much grander than you would think; the choice of flooring you pick could completely change how big or small a room may feel, or how dark or light a room can be, it can drastically modify the way sound travels and bounces around the room, and much more… In this blog, we’re going to get into all the reasons you should be putting more thought and care into the type of flooring you pick to fit the characteristics of your property.
The material you choose matters!
First and foremost, is your property situated in a block of flats with other residents living below or above it? An important factor for consideration is your neighbours; it’s important to think of the material of the flooring you pick. Because of the way sound travels, wooden flooring should be at the bottom of your list – wooden flooring is typically a very hard, flat and usually shiny surface which causes sound waves to naturally bounce straight back off of the flooring, creating an echo effect and amplifying each sound made.
Therefore, the best solution is to prepare for the worst by going for a flooring type with the polar opposite effect, such as carpeting. A nice, plush carpet is the antithesis of hard, sound-amplifying wooden surfaces. While carpet does fall short in terms of durability and cleaning convenience, the other residents of the building will be thankful for it! The extra padding and softness of a carpet is a natural trap for sound waves which will cease the sound from travelling to the floors below, and even lessen the noise from room to room.
While laminate flooring can be a suitable option, too, it can only begin to compare with carpeting if you pair it with a good quality underlayment to absorb the sound. The job of an underlayment is to pad the flooring under the laminate, creating a more solidified surface to be stepping on, however, this is very much a case of ‘you get what you pay for’, and a truly good quality underlayment can start to quickly increase the costs of your new flooring.
Using flooring to open up a space with carpet fitters Manchester
Moving on, it’s no secret that the biggest appeal of a property relies on its spaciousness. Landlords seeking their property to appear its most desirable should take this into account when picking out flooring for the property, knowing that the correct choice in flooring can create the illusion of more space – especially helpful in properties with smaller rooms. There are two factors to consider here; colour, and material. Starting with colour; typically, you want lighter colours in order to open up the space of a room, think whites, creams, and pastels. This gives the room a considerably airier feel, while dark colours mostly have the opposite effect because of their common association to tight spaces with a lack of light.
Emphasis on ‘mostly’ – it’s true, dark coloured flooring can still work well to open up the space of a room, however in order to neutralise its claustrophobic feel, much thought has to be given to the other colours of the room; you’re going to need to fill your walls with light colours and try to lean towards light coloured furniture. Pairing dark coloured walls and floors together is the equivalent of trying to rent out the inside of a cardboard box – you will end up with a room which looks suffocating and claustrophobic.
Which brings us to our second point in regard to the illusion of more space; material! It’s common in residential properties to be putting different materials of flooring in adjacent rooms, perhaps you’ll have a carpet in the living room and wooden flooring or laminate in the kitchen right next to it. This isn’t an issue for larger properties, but when it comes to the smaller side of things this can be quite damaging to the perceived spaciousness of the property. Having one type of flooring throughout multiple connecting rooms gives the impression of a smoother flow when walking through doors and works in tricking your mind into thinking of it as just one large room separated by a wall, rather than two small rooms. It has a similar effect to open-plan houses and the way that they give the illusion of more space. In fact, a recent property in which Bradwell Maintenance worked on fitting new flooring for made sure to utilise this tip, and you can see below for yourself how much it opens up the space:
But what material should you be using for smaller rooms in the first place? Wooden flooring reflects light, consequently working better to provide more lighting for the rest of the room, which in turn creates an illusion of more space present.
Carpet Fitters Manchester
With all of this in mind, our main takeaway is that if you have smaller rooms in your property and you’re wanting to create the illusion of more space, you should aim for either very lightly coloured carpets or wooden floors. And if it all still seems a little too daunting and confusing? You’ll be glad to hear that one of our specialties at Bradwell Maintenance is floor fitting, with our tradesmen fully qualified to fit wooden, carpets, laminate and vinyl! Not only that, but we are happy to offer you a free quote upon contact. Get in touch with us today and talk to us about what it is you’re looking for – no job is too big or too small for us!