There is no single "best" flooring. Every material trades durability against comfort against water resistance against price. This guide gives you our default recommendation for every room in a typical home, plus the alternatives worth considering.
Solid hardwood
- Best for: Living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, hallways, offices.
- Avoid in: Bathrooms, kitchens right around the sink, basements, anywhere over concrete slab.
- Notes: Must be acclimated to your home's humidity for 5–14 days before install — the wood absorbs or releases moisture until it matches the air, and installing "green" wood is why floors cup or gap seasonally.
Engineered hardwood
- Best for: Anywhere solid hardwood works, plus over concrete slabs and over radiant heat.
- Avoid in: Full bathrooms.
- Notes: Real wood veneer on a plywood core — dimensionally stable, glues down or floats. Not a downgrade from solid; often the smarter choice.
Luxury vinyl plank (LVP) / rigid core (SPC)
- Best for: Kitchens, entryways, mudrooms, basements, ADUs, rentals, any full-home flip.
- Avoid in: Bedrooms if you want the feel of real wood underfoot.
- Notes: 100% waterproof top, warm underfoot, tolerates dogs and kids. Cheap LVP dents under chair legs — spend for 20+ mil wear layer.
Tile (porcelain / ceramic)
- Best for: Bathrooms, laundry, mudrooms, sunrooms, entryways in wet climates.
- Avoid in: Bedrooms (cold, hard), unless you're running radiant heat.
- Notes: Correct troweling is everything for tile — full mortar coverage under the tile, no voids, or you'll get hollow tiles that crack. We back-butter every tile on our installs.
Natural stone (marble, travertine, slate)
- Best for: Statement entryways, powder rooms, showers.
- Avoid in: High-traffic kitchens (marble etches), anywhere without sealing maintenance.
Carpet
- Best for: Bedrooms, kid rooms, media/theater rooms, stairs (safety).
- Avoid in: Kitchens, baths, entryways.
- Notes: Pad quality matters more than carpet quality. Cheap pad = carpet feels worn out in 2 years.
Polished / stained concrete
- Best for: Basements, modern lofts, ADUs, garage conversions.
- Avoid in: Bedrooms without rugs (cold, hard).
Room-by-room defaults
| Room | Our default | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Engineered hardwood or premium LVP | Porcelain tile |
| Full bathroom | Porcelain tile with heated floor | Waterproof LVP |
| Powder room | Porcelain tile | LVP |
| Master bedroom | Engineered hardwood | Carpet |
| Kid bedrooms | Carpet | LVP |
| Living / dining | Engineered or solid hardwood | LVP |
| Basement | Waterproof LVP | Polished concrete |
| ADU / garage conversion | LVP | Engineered hardwood if humidity is controlled |
| Whole-home remodel | Engineered hardwood main level, tile in wet areas, carpet in bedrooms | LVP throughout for simplicity |
| Laundry | Tile | LVP |
| Entryway | Tile | Stone |
What we always do regardless of material
- Level the subfloor (see: Subfloor: The Most Important Element)
- Apply a moisture barrier (see: Can Moisture Seep Underneath Your Flooring?)
- Acclimate wood products
- Trowel tile with full coverage, back-buttered
- Leave proper expansion gaps at walls
Ready to pick the right floor for your project? Get a quote and we'll walk every room.
