You want to make a good impression on the people who visit your business. Your flooring draws people&#;s attention and matching your flooring type to your business&#;s needs is essential.

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Manufacturers create commercial flooring to be a long-lasting, economical solution. Check out this guide to learn more about the available commercial floor types and the factors to consider to help you decide which one best suits your needs.

Factors to Consider

The main factors to consider when purchasing commercial flooring are its application, durability and installation time:

• Application: When considering the flooring&#;s application, ask yourself where you will install it and what the area&#;s primary function is. For example, you may opt for the warmth and sound-dampening effect of carpet in a restaurant, movie theater or hotel lobby. If the flooring is in an area with high traffic, durability will be your primary consideration. You&#;ll want an impressive and durable floor.
• Duration: Another important consideration is how long you want your flooring to last. Various commercial flooring materials have different durabilities. If you&#;re buying commercial office flooring, you probably want it to last many years to keep installation disruptions to a minimum. However, if you plan to move to another building in a few years, you might prefer more affordable office flooring.
• Downtime: How much time you have to install the flooring can help you narrow down your commercial flooring options. Finding time for your business to close so professionals can install your flooring can be challenging. If this is the case, you&#;ll want to look for flooring within your budget that doesn&#;t take long to install.

Taking the time to consider these factors will help you find the best flooring for you. However, if you&#;re still unsure which flooring to choose, a professional installer can recommend one.

Types of Commercial Flooring

Choosing the best commercial flooring can seem overwhelming, as you have to consider your personal preferences, needs and budget. To help make your decision easier, here are several different commercial flooring types and their features.

Carpet

Carpet is a popular choice for commercial buildings. This soft and affordable flooring option lets you create a sleek look with various design options. The advantages of commercial carpets include its:

• Durability: Commercial carpet can last 10 to 15 years, depending on its pile height, fiber, color and type. Broadloom carpet typically lasts longer than carpet tile.
• Style: Most commercial carpets use dark colors to create a professional appearance and hide stains.
• Cost: Since manufacturers create commercial carpeting to cover large areas, it&#;s often more affordable.

The two primary types of commercial carpets are broadloom and tile. Broadloom carpet comes in rolls that professionals install over a carpet pad, while carpet tiles are pre-cut sections of carpet with an attached backing that adheres to the floor. Here are the significant differences between the two: 

• Installation: It takes longer to install broadloom carpet and you&#;ll need to close your business for the duration.
• Customization: Carpet tiles have fewer color, style and customization options than broadloom.
• Seams and fraying: While carpet tiles have visible seams and their edges might fray, broadloom is seamless.
• Density: Broadloom carpets come in thicker, more luxurious varieties.
• Cost: Broadloom typically costs more than carpet tiles due to additional sub-flooring charges, like carpet padding.
• Ease of replacement: Carpet tiles are easier to replace than broadloom.

Vinyl

Vinyl is an excellent choice for commercial applications. It can mimic the look of stone, wood or ceramic tile, is affordable and doesn&#;t require a lengthy installation. The benefits of vinyl include its:

• Appearance: With its ability to realistically replicate ceramic tile, wood or stone, vinyl is beautiful and classic.
• Resistance: Vinyl has high wear-and-tear resistance. It&#;s also resistant to water.
• Durability: Vinyl is a durable flooring option that lasts many years.
• Options: You can choose vinyl flooring in numerous styles and designs.
• Noise absorbency: Unlike hardwood, ceramic or stone, vinyl absorbs sounds, helping you maintain a quieter environment.
• Installation: Vinyl is one of the easiest flooring materials to install.
• Ease of replacement: Since vinyl flooring comes in planks, tiles or other sections, you can easily replace damaged areas without replacing your entire floor.
• Cost: This flooring is more affordable than hardwood and tile.

Tile

While tile has the benefit of being waterproof, its installation process can be long and tedious. In addition, the adhesive wears out over time, causing the tiles to become loose. It can lose the vibrancy of its color or pattern over time, and it requires regular waxing and polishing to maintain its protective coat. Those inconveniences and its high material cost lead most companies to choose vinyl over tile. 

The benefits of tile are:

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• Resistance: Like vinyl, tile is water-resistant and can withstand heavy foot traffic. 
• Appearance: Tile offers a smooth look for businesses. However, the limitations of ceramic mean that tile offers fewer style options than vinyl. 
• Cost: Tile is more affordable than hardwood but more expensive than vinyl.

Hardwood

While many people love the timeless look of hardwood floors, they&#;re expensive and harder to install in large areas. Between its cost and installation effort, hardwood isn&#;t a popular choice for commercial spaces. 

Hardwood&#;s advantages are its:

• Appearance: Everyone recognizes the polished appearance of hardwood. However, affordable hardwood alternatives can provide the same look.
• Durability: Hardwood flooring lasts many years, though it may not be able to withstand heavy traffic.

What Type of Commercial Flooring Do You Need?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to decide which floor is best: 

• What is the most critical factor to you? Decide whether you consider cost, durability, installation time or aesthetics most important. Ranking these factors from most to least important will help you make your choice. For example, if your primary concern is cost, followed by installation time, durability and aesthetics, carpet tile would be an excellent choice.
• Do you want hard or soft flooring? If you want your flooring to be soft and comfortable, you should consider broadloom carpet. Hard flooring options like vinyl are not as cushioned.
• How long do you want the flooring to last? While no flooring lasts forever, some choices have a longer life than others. Vinyl lasts longer than carpet but not as long as hardwood.
• Do you need a low-maintenance option? Low-maintenance flooring options include carpet tiles, vinyl and rubber. Vinyl is the easiest to maintain due to its durability and resistance.

Have Questions About Commercial Flooring?

Metro Flooring Contractors has decades of experience in the flooring industry. We offer professional installation services and brand-name flooring for less in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, northern Virginia and parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. You can find the perfect flooring for your business in our selection of flooring materials.

Our professional installers are ready to provide you with affordable rates, fast turnaround times and commercial flooring ideas. Contact us today to schedule your free on-site same- or next-day estimate and begin your flooring project installation as soon as the following day. We look forward to helping you achieve a new look for your office, store or other business.

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Commercial Flooring Buyers Guide

Commercial flooring is an excellent choice for a variety of potential use cases. Whether you have space in a warehouse, a factory, an office, a school, a church, or a professional kitchen, you need the right kind of flooring to fulfill the plan you have for the space, while also being easy to clean and maintain.

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Concrete flooring is commonly found in these types of settings, but it is not always the safest type of floor surface for commercial spaces. Concrete is unforgiving for employees who must stand on it for hours at a time, creating sore joints. It also becomes slippery if there&#;s any dampness in the area.

Instead, by installing multiple types of materials over the cement, you can deliver the safety you need with a pleasing design, depending on the budget you have and your needs for the commercial flooring space.

Rubber. Rubber provides a versatile type of industrial flooring, as it is available in multiple thickness options in a tile, mat, runner, or roll format, all at a reasonable price. Some types of this flooring have a yellow border for extra safety.

Rubber works nicely as commercial flooring in areas where solvents and other chemicals are in use. This is an extremely rugged flooring material, and it will stand up well when used in high traffic areas, including where forklifts are being driven.

Additionally, rubber gives you anti-fatigue properties, so those who are standing on the floor and working for an entire day will have fresher hip, knee, and ankle joints. Rubber is heavy, so you or your contractors may need some large power equipment and extra hands to move rolls into place.

Plastic. With durable PVC or polypropylene plastic materials in your commercial flooring, you&#;ll receive long lasting performance at a great price.

Plastic tiles are easy to install, as many of them have interlocking edges that snap together, allowing for a DIY project. Various designs of these plastic tiles will have hidden interlocking seams, which creates a cleaner, finished look, without requiring the addition of grout.

In areas where dampness on a concrete subfloor is a concern, many forms of plastic made for commercial settings have small legs or pedestals that raise the bottom part of the tile away from the concrete. This allows air to flow underneath the tiles, removing dampness from being trapped and causting the potential for odor.

Many PVC flooring options have a slight texture in the surface, which creates a safer footing, especially if the floor may sometimes have slippery liquids spilled on it. This is especially helpful in an industrial garage, where snow and rain from vehicles can drip on the floor. Some polypropylene flooring can withstand 20,000 pound loads.

Vinyl and laminate. Plenty of commercial grade vinyl flooring options are available. Vinyl delivers a great look that&#;s perfect in high traffic areas, such as hotels or banquet halls.

Vinyl is available in multiple colors and designs, so you can pick the exact look that&#;s required for the use case. Some types of vinyl will even look like wood flooring, which is great for areas where the commercial flooring also will be customer facing.

Luxury vinyl tile (LVT) is a smart choice in areas where you need maximum durability to stand up to regular foot traffic and heavy equipment. LVT has a thick wear layer that protects the design layer for the tile, maintaining a like-new look in the flooring.

Carpet. Depending on your needs, carpet may be the best choice as a commercial flooring. Often times industrial settings need a warmer style of flooring that&#;s made to greet visitors to the area. Carpet just looks nicer than some other options.

Multiple types of carpeting for an industrial setting are constructed with a foam or rubber backing, which yields cushioning properties when employees must stand on the floor for long periods of time to do their work.

Other types of carpeting have a waterproof design, which means they will stand up to spills and the introduction of moisture into the area.

Industrial level carpet is often available in interlocking tile formats, giving you an installation option that&#;s easy to use.

Carpet can require some extra time to clean versus other types of flooring that you may find in a commercial setting, but if you care for it properly, carpeting will provide a long lasting design that stands up to regular foot traffic.

Commercial flooring buying guide. The best commercial flooring needs to have a high level of durability, standing up to whatever types of activities you have in mind. It also needs to look great, giving you the build quality and design features that fit the space. And it needs to match your budget.

Our buyer&#;s guide has plenty of information to help with your choices. Click any of the links to learn more about all of the ways you can use this type of flooring. You&#;ll find product reviews, use case options, installation ideas, videos, and blog articles.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of automotive shop flooring. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.