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Today’s guest post is from Lloyd Burrell. Having worked as an auditor in the City of London, UK in the early part of his career, Lloyd now puts all this experience gained in different offices to good use by blogging about office desk furniture. He is the publisher of OfficeDeskReviews.com. His reviews cover all the main desk styles and brands including; Sauder office desks, Bush executive desks and Dmi computer desks.
Here, Lloyd gives his honest personal opinion about the types of home office flooring he has seen, and in some cases installed in home office settings. Take a look.
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Photo: Jeff Wilcox
I think that our floors are one of the most misunderstood renovation item in homes generally and in the home office particularly. We walk on them and put our furniture on them, and of course they are vital to a home’s function, but what more do they need to be, in order to function well for your home office? Having been through a few renovations myself, I will offer up a few tips for your perusal, and perhaps some insight into what has worked for me, or not.
Bamboo flooring
We put this into my small home office and it looked great. We even had to use the click together and glue it down type at the time, as the subfloors in our house are cement. It was a lot of work and hard on the knees but it did look great and still does — in most parts of the floor.
The trouble with a home office is you do need to use a wheeled office chair and this has created a wear circle on the bamboo, right by the desk. If you put down a clear chair mat then I could recommend bamboo flooring as being attractive, wearing well when it’s walked on (only), and being quite green and eco-friendly.
Laminate floors
Not great, but some of the better ones could work. The trouble with laminate floors is that it sounds hollow and if your home office is on the second story of your home, your family underneath may think you’re practicing for Dancing With The Stars every time you walk on it, or move your chair. It’s very easy to install and a thick underlayment would cushion it fine.
Cement flooring
If you have a loft type office space and home then cement may be what you have and it’s certainly durable. As in other areas of your cement-floored home, you can always put an area rug down, in front of your desk or another area of the office. One thing about concrete is — if you get a crack, it can be repaired in minutes.
Solid wood floors
This is my second top pick, and if you have an antique house or new hardwood floors, then these will last a very long time. Solid hardwood flooring will look beautiful in your home office. Depending on how long the floors have been in existence may tell you how many times you can sand it. If the wood is thin, then they’ll need to be replaced soon. If they get scratched you can buff a little patch and then refinish them, so they do always look warm, and often have a lovely sheen to them.
Ceramic or Other Tile
These are actually excellent as a floor in your home office. They wear extremely well and are durable. If they’ve been down for a while or were laid improperly, then they can become uneven as your floor settles, and will get cracked. Tiles may be made from real stone (slate or travertine), ceramic, porcelain or a combo recycled material. Sautillo tiles from Mexico are difficult to keep clean as they are porous. If sealed properly, they can be used indoors to great effect. Square, natural stone tiles are often slightly different in measurements so they must be laid in a “brick wall” style pattern to camouflage any differences.
Linoleum or Vinyl
Except for linoleum, I wouldn’t recommend vinyl for your office or anywhere else for that matter. I know that modern vinyl flooring is better made than in the past but it can still look cheap, in my opinion. On the other hand, linoleum is now quite “green”, comes in attractive patterns or colors, and lasts a long time. It is mostly made from recycled materials, hence the “green” designation.
Engineered Hardwood Floors
This is my favorite and top pick for any room in your home, and especially the home office. It’s composed of entirely real wood but is layered, and the top layer can be done in virtually any color or style. I love the hand scraped style which looks antique, but isn’t. Depending on your subfloor, these planks of engineered hardwood can be click and place, with the help of nails or glue. Always save pieces or parts of any floor you lay down so that a portion can be replaced in the future if necessary. We have paint and tiles and a couple of other things left from when our house was built 22 years ago. Engineered hardwood is easy to take care of because as it’s sealed, a wipe over with a slightly dampened mop will usually work.
Shop Engineered Hardwood Flooring
So, my top pick is engineered hardwood and my bottom would be bamboo (only because of wear by office chair wheels) [ED: although, transparent office chair mats can solve this problem easily and inexpensively]. Fortunately, because of the availability of millions of online flooring stores, you will never be far away from any type you want to put down in your home office.
It would be a mistake to look at your flooring in isolation if you already have your office furniture; the South Shore computer desk though a totally great little desk would not sit well with an engineered hardwood floor. Don’t forget to look at the big picture!
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Thanks, Lloyd!
Cheers,
Cate.
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