Renovation materials and budget are closely related to each other, you can’t attend to them only upon commencement of your renovation. We encourage you to get familiar with them while you are at the designing stage of your renovation. Do your research, you can roughly estimate your budget by observing the materials you use.
If you have close to zero concept regarding renovation materials, this article will be a great tutorial regarding the most common flooring materials you can find in Malaysia, functionality, and their advantages as well as disadvantages. Let’s start from the cheapest one.
01 Cement
Traditional houses use cement for their flooring. And due to the hype of industrial style and loft style, cement flooring has garnered quite some cult followings.
Advantages:
Cement flooring is simple, masculine, and has a natural texture. The grey colour scheme of cement is calming and soothing.
Disadvantages:
Cement floor might chip off and crack due to poor craftsmanship and left with a coarse surface, this brings discomfort to the feet. Regarding this matter, one can coat a layer of epoxy as the final touch to achieve a seamless flooring.
Source：Online
Source：Online
Source：Online
02 Spc flooring
SPC flooring, which stands for Stone Plastic Composite, is the latest innovative material in the flooring world. The core of SPC multi-layered floor planks is created from a stone powder and pvc plastic combination that produces an incredibly durable dent-resistant material that doesn’t expand and contract with environmental changes. There are endless options of patterns, colours and grains to get the precise look and shade you want.
Advantages:
Easy installation, it is commonly installed with a click style system that is significantly faster to install than traditional tiles – making it a DIY homeowner favourite. No glue or nails are required to install, simply cut to size and click in place.
Disadvantages:
Not super scratch resistant. While the core is highly durable, the wear layer on top can show noticeable scratches with excessive use. It’s very suitable for regular use in a residential home and light commercial use but is not recommended for high traffic commercial spaces.
Not fade resistant – if you’re putting SPC in a spot that has a lot of natural light, it can fade over time. We don’t recommend it for sunrooms.
Source：Online
03 Vinyl flooring
Vinyl flooring is low in cost, hence it is widely adapted among shop houses, offices and supermarkets. Even though it is made of polymer due to sophisticated printing technology, you can get vinyl flooring in wood pattern, stone pattern. The pattern looks realistic and there are a variety of choices to choose from. There are two ways for installation snap-in and adhesive. You can even do-it-yourself. Many will opt for vinyl for their home flooring. It is a popular replacement for wooden flooring in recent years. A vinyl plate is at thick as 3mm. If one is defective you can easily replace that particular plate.
Advantage:
Low price, compared to wooden floor in similar texture, vinyl flooring only costs half its price.
Disadvantage:
Non moisture and heat resistant, It can’t be used in spaces like the kitchen and bathroom. Or spots with a lot of sunshine, the vinyl flooring will expand and deform. Due to its thickness, vinyl can only be applied on flat, smooth surfaces or else unevenness is inevitable.
Source：Online
Source：Online
04 Laminate flooring
If you do not have a huge budget, and you like warm wooden flooring, and looking for a wooden flooring with high CP value, laminate flooring will be your best choice. Laminate flooring comes in attractive and authentic designs and styles. Laminate flooring is made of layers of sawdust treated under high temperature and pressure, made into artificial wood pieces. It is an eco-friendly and sustainable material. There are various choices to choose from. Be it wood pattern or coloured panel, it can fulfil the requirement of all kinds of interior styles.
Advantage:
Its surface is scratch-proof. And it is also mothproof. Moreover, the easy maintenance for laminate floors gives it a competitive edge. It’s durability and easy-to-clean properties make it perfect for families with kids and pets. If it is taken care properly and not exposed to extreme humidity, or any peculiar using habit, it will retain its shape and will not go deform.
Source：Online
05 Tiles
Tiles is made of ceramic clay, feldspar, terracotta, quartz and etc that are fired under high temperature. It’s durable and doesn’t absorb moisture. Hard, abradable and compressive. It is the most common material used for home flooring.
Advantage:
Tiles are usually easy to clean and maintain. And the price is very affordable. By using the latest digital spray-painting technology, to create natural patterns to simulate natural stones and woods, to fit into all kinds of styles.
Disadvantage:
After adhesion, there will still be an apparent seam between the tiles. For a seamless finish, some will go for seamless paving method. However, will laying down the tiles, the groundwork and the adhesive layer, together with the expanding and shrinking of the tiles, protrusion might happen, then it eventually leads to compression and rupture. It is encouraged to maintain the seams while laying the tiles to avoid breakage due to expansion and shrinking of tiles.
06 Engineered wood flooring
It is made of layers of real wood adhered to a base of ply wood. It is naturally thicker compared to laminate flooring. It is a compound material that is durable and has high stability. By using a specialised adhesion technology, it gives a variety of choices for pattern on the surface.
Advantage:
Among the artificial flooring materials, engineered wood flooring has the most natural finish. The floor will look impeccable after layered with engineered wood, due to the fact that the surface of the wood is lined with real wood sheet. It is natural and realistic to touch. Moreover, it is moist-resistant. Ply wood will not expand much due to heat, it is more moist-resistant compared to laminate wood and solid wood. Engineered wood is more durable compared to vinyl and laminate wood. It lasts for at least 30 years or more.
Disadvantage:
Solid wood surface is not as scratch resistant as you think. If you knock into it, or drag a chair across it, or your pet scratches on it, it will leave marks on the surface. It requires maintenance. One can file it down and coat it with shellac to maintain the tip top condition of the surface.
Source：Online
Source：Online
07 Microcement
Microcement is a natural and eco-friendly decorative coating material. It is very popular in recent years. It can be used to decorate any surface, both vertical and horizontal, applied on the floor, wall and ceiling. The most special feature of it is that it’s seamless. And it can create an integration effect between the wall and the floor. It is firmly fixed on the base of any material, even smooth tile or glass. To fulfil the demand of contemporary, simplistic and classic styles, microcement has both matte and glazed finishes. This is customisable. So that each creation will be one of a kind.
Advantage:
Seamless finish, scratch-resistant, knock-proof, water-resistant, slip-proof. The covering is resistant to moisture and steam and has water-repellent properties, which allows it to be used for finishing rooms with high humidity. There are many colours and surfaces to choose from. One can customised a unique and personalised space. Microcement finishing will last for a long time without losing an attractive appearance. Most impressively, it can cover almost all kinds of surfaces, be it tiles, gypsum board, concrete, cement or wood. This can help save the money on demolish and disassemble. It’s easy to maintain and clean.
The greatest disadvantage of micro cement is the high cost of installation. Overall, it’s an excellent choice for remodeling. So if you’re considering putting it in your home, don’t hesitate to use this high-performance material.
08 Solid wood flooring
Solid wood has all the properties of the wooden flooring stated above and it give the most warmth. Solid wood flooring is derived from a full solid wood. It is a breathable material and it has a faint fragrance from the natural wood.
Advantage:
Solid wood flooring has the best texture to touch. It feels comfortable to touch. If you have a high budget and you love wood, you will always go for solid wood flooring. You can file the floor repeatedly, beautify and repair. If there is are scratches on the surface you can ask the expert to beautify the surface and coat it with shellac, it will then look like new.
Disadvantage:
Solid wood flooring requires maintenance. It’s not moth-proof, not moist-resistant, and requires extra TLC. From an environment conservation’s point of view, solid wood flooring is not eco-friendly since it requires logging to obtain its material. Moreover, solid wood flooring requires huge amount of wood and this elevates the cost. It costs the highest among all the flooring materials.
Source：Online
Source：Online
09 Natural stone
Marbles which have beautiful patterns have always been the dream material of all. It is the most popular among all the natural stones. Especially white marbles.
Advantage:
Just like our fingerprint, each pattern on marbles is one of a kind. It is a natural work of art. You can’t find two identical marbles in the world. This is what makes it luxurious and expensive. It can help elevate the classiness of a space.
Disadvantage:
Due to the high cost of harvesting, the price of marble is high too. As a flooring material, marble requires a lot of maintenance. Compared to tiles and other natural stones, marbles are relatively softer. It is very prone to damage. Stones have natural pores, hence it’s easy for colour to transfer onto it. The surface will turn matte with time and lost its original shine and smoothness.
Source：Online
Source：Online
Source：Online
Source：Online
10 Porcelain slabs (Marmo Grande)
Marmo Grande is a material treated under 1200 degree Centigrade of fire, and it can create a symmetrical, marble-like pattern. Marmo Grande comes in a huge size. Each piece of it is huge and smooth, anywhere you want a seamless look of continuous material, porcelain slabs are an excellent choice. By layering an entire piece of Marmo Grande, it gives a smooth, uniform finish.
Advantage:
It is a hard and durable material, slip-proof, stain-resistant, chemical and scratch-resistant. It is also heat and freezing-resistant, it can withstand high temperatures, making it resistant to burning. It is resistant to UV light. This means that the surface will not degrade or begin to fade over time which makes it suitable for indoor and outdoor application. Porcelain slabs are designed for fast installs over existing surfaces, produce less waste and it is also a 100% recyclable and environmentally sustainable.
But is not as affordable as other materials such as marble.
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