Your home’s flooring impacts its resale value in several ways. First, like any part of your home’s decor, your flooring can add to, or detract from, its visual appeal. Outdated or impractical flooring will usually be immediately apparent to any potential buyer and will tend to reduce the amount they’re willing to pay for the property.
Second, your choice of flooring has a significant impact on the maintenance and upkeep costs of the property. For example, thick shag carpeting will usually take more time, effort, and money to keep reasonably clean than well-installed hardwood flooring. Savvy home buyers will take this into account when making an offer on the property.
Best Kitchen Flooring for Resale Value
If money is no object, the best kitchen flooring for resale value is hardwood, like this Acadia Hard Maple Hardwood we offer here at Avalon. Hardwood floors are durable, beautiful, functional, and relatively easy to keep clean and new-looking.
We suggest keeping in mind the advice we offered in our Contemporary Design Styles 101 article and remaining conscious of the color and pattern selection. Your flooring should reflect the design choices you’ve made in the rest of the kitchen.
Best Bathroom Flooring for Resale
When it comes to the best bathroom flooring for resale, we suggest going with a nice, neutrally colored tile (like this Alluvium Rectified Porcelain). Tile has the twin benefits of extended durability and excellent water resistance, both of which are musts for a room like the bathroom.
Alluvium 24x48 Rectified Porcelain Tile
Importantly, tile flooring doesn’t give off any harmful chemical vapors or volatile organic compounds (VOCs). So you can rest easy knowing that this relatively sealed off room will remain safe and non-toxic.
Best Bedroom Flooring for Resale
There isn’t a single best bedroom flooring for resale. Your choice should depend on your existing and desired design aesthetic, as well as your budget. There are a handful of popular routes that people tend to go with, though.
As in the kitchen, hardwood flooring is a common selection, as are vinyl and laminate. For the latter, you may wish to consider something like Legrand Pergo Waterproof flooring, which is highly durable and offers an antimicrobial coating.
Legrand Pergo 7.5" Waterproof Laminate
In this room, we really love the addition of an area rug to add character and style, without impeding flow.
Best Floor Color for Resale
Since most of you will be locked into some sort of contemporary design motif, we strongly suggest going with neutral colors and earth tones. That advice should be taken cautiously, however, since even contemporary designs often include accent features (which can include rugs, and even flooring in certain rooms).
The important thing to remember is that the color of your flooring should fit into your overall color scheme. Don’t try to shoehorn a solid black vinyl floor into an art deco room, or a green carpet in a contemporary home.
Best Types of Flooring for Resale Value
Typically, hard flooring options are your best options for resale value. Wall-to-wall carpeting is mostly inconsistent with contemporary design options. Instead, area rugs offer areas of softness in rooms that otherwise lack carpeting.
But, within the broad category of hard flooring, there are a ton of choices to consider, including:
- Classic hardwood flooring
- Engineered hardwood flooring
- Laminate flooring
- Vinyl plank flooring
- Tile flooring
As with those selecting a flooring color, people choosing a style of flooring should consider the room and home they’re installing it in. More important than the exact kind of flooring is how well it fits in with your overall decor.
Does Laminate Flooring Hurt Resale Value?
Laminate flooring does not have to hurt the resale value of your home if it’s intelligently placed. There’s a widespread misconception that the less expensive laminate flooring category hurts resale value because it costs less than traditional hardwood. But laminate’s stain resistance, durability, and low installation cost attracts many buyers, for good reason. It can offer an excellent return on investment.
Do Hardwood Flooring Increase Resale Value?
Usually the priciest choice of flooring styles, hardwood floors are sought by many home buyers who equate its high price tag with quality. Because so many people are so enamored with it, hardwood can definitely offer an immediate boost to the price commanded by your home.
At the same time, though, sophisticated buyers will understand that hardwood is especially susceptible to damage caused by moisture and temperature variation. In some climates - like highly humid areas and those in which the temperature moves up and down a lot - hardwood might actually reduce the value of your home.
Is Luxury Vinyl Flooring Good for Resale Value?
Luxury vinyl (LV) flooring is much like laminate flooring, insofar as it’s a low-cost option with surprising durability. Like with laminate, however, there exists a misconception amongst some homebuyers that hardwood is always superior to LV. Depending on the climate, interior design, and room, that might actually be accurate in some cases. But it’s far from a universal truth.
In the right settings (rooms with a lot of foot traffic that don’t face temperature extremes), LV flooring can be a great choice for resale value.
Thinking of Flooring as an Investment in Value
Your home’s flooring is an investment in your future, like a deck or a garage. Making the right choice can pay for itself several times over. Until next time!
