The Top Flooring Options for Seniors
As we, or our loved ones, continue to age, safety increasingly becomes a top priority. Whether changing diets, adopting a new exercise routine, or staying more diligent with doctor’s visits, we all recognize that the key to a long and healthy life is regularly exercising safety and precaution.
The ability to live independently provides older adults with a sense of freedom and autonomy. Indeed, we would all prefer to live life on our terms, without care & supervision, but aging gracefully and remaining healthy is, of course, a privilege. When making decisions on living arrangements for seniors, inevitably, the conversation will turn to safety. And when these conversations occur, the type of flooring in a home should be at the top of mind.
For seniors, the type of flooring within their homes is of considerable importance. Using the criteria of comfort, maintenance, affordability, water resistance, and movement, we will analyze the top flooring options for seniors.
Luxury Vinyl
Comfort
While not as soft and cushioned as carpet, luxury vinyl is a resilient flooring option that is generally comfortable to walk on for seniors.
Maintenance
Luxury vinyl flooring is one of the easiest-to-maintain flooring options on the market. Simply by sweeping the floors regularly, vinyl can stay looking great. It is also immune to stains, spills, and messes, adding to the overall lack of required maintenance.
Affordability
Prices vary, but vinyl can be an affordable flooring option depending on the desired style and look.
Water-resistance
Vinyl flooring is waterproof, promoting extreme safety for aging homeowners. Floors should never get slippery, and if water presents itself, it should pool, allowing for easy cleanup and mitigating the possibility of a fall.
Movement
Thanks to its smooth design and level construction, seniors’ wheelchairs, and walkers will effectively move across vinyl flooring.
Carpet
Comfort
Carpet flooring is notoriously soft, comfortable, cushioned, and warm. Its comfort level is one of its main selling points for senior and non-senior homeowners.
Maintenance
Fortunately, carpet flooring is a relatively low-maintenance flooring option. Simply by vacuuming semi-regularly, carpet floors can continue to look new. However, unlike with vinyl, spills can lead to stains if not addressed quickly, adding a level of upkeep for elderly homeowners.
Affordability
Carpet is one of the most affordable flooring options available.
Water-resistance
Carpets are not water-resistant, but seniors do not necessarily need to worry about slipping on wet carpet flooring due to its porous nature. While this lack of water resistance may result in staining and additional maintenance, it doesn’t reflect on the overall safety of the product.
Movement
Depending on the type of carpet flooring, wheelchairs and walkers may not perform well moving across carpet floors. Consider a low-pile kind of carpet where the thickness is minimal, and the fibers are short for ease of movement.
Laminate
Comfort
It’s reasonably comfortable underfoot and resilient for seniors looking to minimize wear and tear on joints, but laminate flooring does not feature the same level of comfort as carpet flooring.
Maintenance
Both scratch and water-resistant, laminate is incredibly low maintenance and needs only sweeping and the occasional wet mopping to look great for aging homeowners.
Affordability
Laminate is an affordable flooring option for seniors and can take on the look of more expensive flooring options, like most flooring options, the higher the cost of the laminate, the higher the quality.
Water-resistance
Yes, laminate is resistant to water, meaning that spills, stains, and slippery floors are not a concern. Wipe up water promptly to avoid any lingering damage on laminate floors.
Movement
Similar to vinyl, the hardness of laminate allows for ease of movement with walkers, wheelchairs, and other modes of transportation.
There are a variety of excellent flooring options for seniors. Whether you decide on vinyl, carpet, or laminate for you or your loved ones, know that you’re making an educated choice that can help prolong the life of someone you love. So long as you make the right decision for yourself and your family, you can’t go wrong.
Are you interested in learning more about the top flooring options for seniors available through Dolphin Carpet? Contact us today to learn more.
