7 Takeaways: Best Flooring Options to Increase Home Value

One way toincrease the value of your home is to upgrade to the bestflooringoptions, especially if you're preparing to sell your home.

Whether it's your kitchen floors, your basement floors, or your living room floors, there are many different types of flooring options for you to explore. Combine great flooring with great curb appeal and your listing photos will pop in photos and be the top house on everyone's home search!

You can be sure that when your home is being appraised the appraiser will be looking at the floors and the home inspector will be as well.

Let's dive in and figure outwhat the best flooring options are to increase your home's value with these seven takeaways:

Best Flooring Options:

Hardwood Flooring Can Give You the Best ROI When You Sell

If you are looking to increase your home value by upgrading your flooring, the classic choice is to go with hardwood. Buyers love hardwood floors, whether your home is inCharlotte, Raleigh,or anywhere in the world. You can't go wrong with hardwoods when it comesto flooring!

The popularity of today's polished hardwood floors started gaining traction in the late 1800s.

According to a survey done by the National Association of Realtors, over half of homebuyers are willing to spend more when buying a house for hardwood floors. The return on the investment can be even greater in the lower price points as well.Among people buying houses in the $100,000-$149,999 price range, 87% of these buyers desire to have hardwood flooring.

Hardwood floors are more durable than carpet and more visually appealing. If you re-coat your hardwood floors every 3 to 5 years or go the extra mile and refinish them every 8 to 10 years, it can make them last for quite a long time.

How Much Do Hardwood Floors Cost?

Installing hardwood floors is more expensive than installing carpeting. The price of this job will vary depending on the company that you're using and your location. To get a good sense of how much this will cost, you want to get a few estimates from different local contractors.

In general, though, the average cost of installing 300 ft.² of finished hardwood flooring will cost you between $2700 and $3800.

The cost of your hardwood flooring will also depend on which type of hardwood choose. The most common type of hardwood flooring across the country is stained red oak, which costs roughly $3.30 per square foot.

A slightly more expensive option is black cherry which costs roughly $4.90 per square foot. This wood darkens with age and has a natural cinnamon tint.

Another option that has been popular in southern homes since the dawning of America is rusty-hued heart pine. Costing roughly 4 dollars per square foot, this is a nice in-between option cost-wise.

A more expensive option that is thirty-year but lighter in color is white ash. This type of hardwood flooring typically costs roughly $5.60 per square foot.

All of these hardwood flooring options are a great way to add value to your home.

Upgrading Your Flooring Doesn't Have to Break the Bank

Hardwood floors are beautiful and loved by everyone but they can be quite pricey. There are other options available if you are upgrading your flooring on a budget.

Vinyl

There is no getting around the fact that vinyl flooring will not increase your home value, in the same way, that hardwood flooring well. This is because it is not as durable nor as desirable.

That being said, vinyl flooring can last between 10 and 20 years. Sheets of vinyl cost between $0.75 and four dollars per square foot, this can be a much more cost-effective way to upgrade your flooring. A homeowner can install vinyl planks and tiles on their own, but these cost roughly 5 dollars per square foot.

While vinyl can get a bad rap, there is a wide range of options when it comes to design styles. You can find contemporary designs like so porcelain, distressed reclaimed wood, and marble mosaic tile.

Linoleum

If you're thinking about your flooring options, you likely encountered the age-old laminate versus vinyl flooring question.

This is also a cost-effective way to upgrade your flooring. Costing between four dollars and six dollars per square foot for titles and sheets and between seven dollars and nine dollars for pieces that click together, you might just find what you're looking for in linoleum flooring.

Linoleum is not waterproof, however, it is made from antimicrobial, anti-static, renewable materials.

Every five years or so, linoleum floors will need to be resealed. On average, the cost of installing 300 ft.² of linoleum flooring costs between $1100 and $1400.

Different Grades of Hardwood

If you have your heart set on hardwood floors, you might consider finding some hardwood that had personality. There are different grades of wood that might have streaks, knots, or variations in color. You can also look for wood that is "utility" grade or rustic that has some imperfections or blemishes.

Depending on your space, these imperfections could actually add a lot of personality and character.

Another creative idea that could work in some places is to stain and seal 2 x 4' plywood and use them as floor planks. This can result in a rustic look that is remarkably cheaper than installing hardwood, coming in at roughly $0.70 per square foot.

Paint Your Flooring

If you are looking for a truly budget-friendly way to spruce up your flooring without breaking the bank then you might consider painting your floors. Floors that are made of linoleum, cement, tile, or would, can be painted to improve their look.

On average, it costs between $400 and $900 to paint 300 ft.² of flooring.

Be Considerate of the Traffic of Each Room

Your floors are a big part of how your home looks, but they are also functional aspects of the living space.

Certain parts of your home handle heavy foot traffic every day. Places like the entryways and kitchen need to be made of durable material to withstand this type of traffic. This is why tile is a common choice in the kitchen.

Harder woods like hickory and oak can also hold up well in heavy traffic areas.

It's also important to think about the humidity and water in each room. You would not want to install a solid wood floor in a basement or in a bathroom where humidity is high.

If you're living in an area that is likely to promote a lot of water or wet floors you'll want to be cautious of the flooring you choose. If you're living on Lake Normanor Huntersville and people are coming back into the house wet, you'll want durable flooring to handle the wet traffic.

Another thing that you want to take into account is what is underneath your flooring. Depending on what you find once you rip up your flooring, you might not be able to nail down your flooring. If there is tile or concrete underneath, you will need to find something that can be glued down or a click-together floating option.

Think About the Color

When you think about hardwood floors or flooring in general, the color might not be the first thing that comes to mind. Actually, though, there is a wide variety of options even when it comes to hardwood. Consider learning aboutcolor theorywhen making your interior design decisions.

Staying aware of current color and design trends is a good idea if you are upgrading your flooring with the idea that you will be selling your house soon. Some recent popular colors have been off-white, Bermuda stone gray, rich browns and walnut hardwood, and dark charcoal black with a velvety, matte appearance.

Color can also have a big impact on how your flooring appears with some wear and tear. Dark colors tend to show every little thing, the buyers tend to be interested in floors with brown and gray tones.

Be Aware of the Way Rooms Flow Together

It's important when renovating to not be looking through a microscope. You want to always have a sense of the big picture in mind. This means that you don't want to be installing different flooring in different rooms with no consideration of how they flow together.

The transitions between rooms are a place where the quality of your workmanship will either sign or flop. If you hire a professional flooring company, they will ensure that the transitions between rooms are on point. You'll find that new construction homesand sometimes even luxury homescan have this problem where the flooring doesn't transition correctly and the buyers will notice it and move on.

The flow of the house is important to a buyer and if something is off, they will likely notice. You want everything to match as much as possible for this reason.

Consistency Is Key

If you aren't able to upgrade to the perfect hardwood floors that you have dreamed of, don't fret. Truly the most important thing is maintaining consistency within the house.

It is said that one of the worst things the seller can do for their house's resale value is to duck the house out with a bunch of different types of flooring. It is more important to have consistent flooring throughout the house than to have one room that has perfect wood flooring.

You also really want to ensure that there is not a highly visible area where two different types of flooring meet.

Be Wary of Carpet

Carpet is not the most popular flooring choice these days. While there are a number of benefits to carpets, such as their comfort, warmth, cost, and the way they can dampen echoes in the room, you won't find many buyers that buy a house just for the carpets.

If you're going to go with carpet, it is best to be carpet in the bedrooms. This is a place where the carpet is seen as cozy and comforting.

No matter what, the most important thing is that the carpets are clean. Especially when you're preparing to sell your home as dirty carpets will be a huge turn off for potential buyers.

Other Ways to Increase Home Value

While learning how to refinish hardwood floors and updating the flooring in your home are great ways to increase your home value, they aren't the only ways. There's nothing too surprising about great floors adding value to home here are some other ways that may surprise you!

What is worth doing and what is it worth doing in terms of your return on investment depends on your house, its location, and a number of other factors.

Another thing you want to consider is whether or not you are going to be living in your home and for how many years. If you are making improvements to immediately sell your house, you want to make sure that you are not putting in more money than you will get out. On the other hand, if you are making home improvements and plan on living in your home and enjoying these improvements for several years before selling your house, it could be well worth it.

There are a number of ways that you can help your house sell faster and for more that won't break the bank. Many people say that there is no better way to freshen up the house than a fresh coat of paint on the walls.

Another thing that has an impact on your home's value is itscurb appeal. Consider taking a look at your front door, front porch, lawn, and other outdoor features. It's possible that updating your landscaping or adding some exterior lights could appeal to more buyers.

A common way that people update their homes to increase the value is to add energy efficiency. While it might not change the aesthetics of the house greatly, it is very appealing that the changes can help reduce energy bills in the future.

No matter what updates you make, whether you'reremodeling your kitchenor repainting, it always makes sense to do any small repairs that need to be done. Home inspectors can be nit-picky and if a repair is easy and inexpensive it is best to do it before putting your house on the market.

Is It Time For You to Sell Your Home?

The has been one of the craziest markets that many real estate veterans have ever seen. If you are considering selling your house, this could be a great time, especially here in Charlottewith low home inventory andan influx of people moving to the area. Choosing between the best flooring options can be difficult, but it's important to remember the bigger picture when selling your home, too.

It can be hard to know how much your home is going to sell for before meeting with a real estate agent. If you are curious to learn more about this coming real estate season and the prospects of selling your house, fill out our form for afree evaluation-Our Realtors would love to help you sell your home for top dollar!