Germ Resistant Floors Like Vinyl Flooring Are The New Normal

 Alison Koch of Outfit Home shared her thoughts on creating a mostly germ-free space in all homes; “I think cleanable surfaces will be at the forefront of designers’ and clients’ minds for the foreseeable future for both commercial and residential applications.” She explained that any surface that has some level of germ resistance will be more in-demand going forward. 

Could germ resistant flooring be realistic and affordable?

According to Forbes, Luxury Vinyl flooring is well on its way to replacing laminate flooring. This prediction solidified itself in 2018 when Floor Covering News released statistics that showed the sales of LVT had jumped from $750 million in 2012 to $3.687 billion in 2018 and sales for laminate flooring  plummeted in comparison.

They also mention their Industry Stats that, “Unlike other alternatives to wood flooring, LVT has the aesthetic of wood at a better price point and is far superior to laminate and wood veneer flooring in terms of containing the spread of germs.” Interior designer and industry expert Lisa Gilmore has actually recommended LVT flooring for years now for that very reason. “I have been a fan of LVT flooring for about ten years for this exact reason—cleanliness, durability and removing more opportunities for illness to spread.”

Despite all of the strides towards ridding major germ hotspots in our homes, a lot of people still haven’t upgraded their carpets to hard surface floors. Research by Philip Tierno, Jr., Ph.D., New York University Langone Medical Center microbiologist, immunologist and author of The Secret Life of Germs, shows that carpets are a lot dirtier than we’d imagine. They estimate it has about 200,000 bacteria per square inch. That’s about 4,000 times dirtier than the average toilet, according to She Knows.

Because of those germ hotspots hidden in carpets, seeking alternative flooring can actually be incredibly beneficial both health-wise and financially. Installing luxury vinyl flooring is a great first step to make your home germ resistant and that is just one of the benefits. NerdWallet shares the main reasons for installing hardwood floors are to upgrade a worn-out floor and to modernize the interiors. Modernizing a home is directly correlated to that property’s ROI [Return on Investment]. According to the Remodeling Impact Report jointly issued by the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry [2017], homeowners who upgrade their floors to hard surface alternatives recover 91% of the floor renovation’s cost.