Although durability is sometimes an option when choosing the floor, it’s mandatory for high-traffic areas like restaurants, hospitals, and schools.
But this doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice style in search of durability. It’s vital to consider other factors for high-traffic floorings, such as functionality, resistance, and ease of maintenance.
If you choose the right flooring for high-traffic areas, your floors won’t experience frequent wear and tear. However, getting a good balance between durability, comfort, high resistance, ease of maintenance, and costs isn’t a walk in the park.
That’s why this article explains several durable and cost-effective commercial flooring materials for high-traffic areas.
- Concrete Flooring
Concrete is one of the best flooring options for high-traffic areas. It’s durable, easy to clean and maintain, and highly resistant, especially when an entrance matting carpet is used. This flooring option can be used elegantly in both residential and commercial spaces. With proper care, concrete flooring can last a lifetime.
Additionally, the material is highly resistant to stains and heavy impact. The downside of this flooring option is that it doesn’t retain heat, making it cold to walk on.
Also, when constantly exposed to water, it can crack, thus requiring complex and expensive repairs. Commercial spaces use floor coatings such as polymer or epoxy for protection.
- Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Luxury vinyl has recently become popular because of its endless benefits. This flooring option is made of three protective layers. These comprise the bottom vinyl layer for stability, the middle layer, which imitates other materials, and the outer layer for protection.
Laminate vinyl flooring is durable, attractive, and resistant to stains, scratches, and high foot traffic, making it ideal for high-traffic commercial settings. The flooring option is known for its comfort and warmth and is also available in many styles and colours, meaning you can customise your choice to meet your needs.
The designs can mimic other flooring types, such as ceramic tile, stone, and hardwood flooring. Luxury vinyl flooring allows you to achieve durability at a lower price without sacrificing elegance.
Although luxury vinyl flooring isn’t suitable for areas prone to moisture, like commercial kitchens, it’s suitable for high-impact areas like offices, schools, and hospitals.
- Epoxy Flooring
Epoxy flooring is another ideal commercial flooring due to its durability, slip resistance, comfortability, and aesthetic appeal. This material also withstands extreme wear and tear and is resistant to stains, scratches, and scrapes.
Epoxy flooring withstands high foot traffic, heavy equipment, and vehicles, making it a perfect solution for heavy loading spaces, such as warehouses and industrial centres. What’s more, this type of flooring comes in a wide variety of colours to complement any decor.
Epoxy flooring can come in bright colours, such as white, yellow, and beige. You can also choose from red, blue, and grey epoxy flooring if you prefer darker colours.
To make epoxy flooring even better, you can add an anti-slip feature to the topcoat to increase friction, which prevents people from slipping when the floor is wet.
- Quarry Tile Flooring
Quarry tile is a great flooring option that resists grease buildup, spills, and foot traffic, making it a suitable flooring option for commercial kitchens. Although porcelain tiles are more functional for heavy-duty applications, quarry tiles are cheaper and offer the same durability and functionality.
Quarry tile flooring can last a lifetime when installed and maintained correctly. However, it’s advisable to use adhesives such as epoxy grout during installation to boost its properties. While there are other cheaper options than epoxy grout, they aren’t made for high traffic or hot water spills.
It’s also essential to perform regular maintenance to make quarry tile flooring more long-lasting. Clean the floors daily and replace faulty parts. The downside of quarry tile flooring is that it has limited designs and a range of colours.
- Laminate Flooring
It’s a fact that laminate flooring is among the most durable, stylish, comfortable, and budget-friendly flooring options available today. Laminate flooring mimics the look of hardwood flooring, which means they offer a hardwood flooring appearance at a lower price.
They’re a versatile option that complements many commercial settings. Laminate flooring is scratch resistant and withstands heavy wear and tear, making it ideal for high-traffic areas.
Take note that laminate flooring is available in different quality levels. Choose high-quality laminate flooring that will resist frequent wear and tear in high-traffic areas.
Laminate flooring is available in a wide range of colours and styles. Some options resemble natural hardwood, while other options can be designed to mimic stone or tile flooring.
Lastly, laminate flooring is easy to install and maintain. The only drawback is that it’s not water-resistant, making it unsuitable for areas prone to moisture.
Conclusion
Some of the best commercial flooring options for high-traffic areas can offer both durability and good style. Just remember that choosing the best flooring solution for your commercial setting will depend on various factors. These include durability, budget, ease of maintenance, and design flexibility.
