The most durable commercial flooring options for high-traffic areas
All of the flooring in your facility will see its share of wear and tear — but high traffic areas are on another level.
You may be looking to install a lobby flooring system to impress potential tenants and stand up to moisture, dirt and near-constant use. Or perhaps you’re searching for a material that can meet cleanliness and safety standards in patient rooms and stand up to frequent rolling in of heavy medical equipment.
Regardless of your facility goals, there’s one necessary common denominator for these busy spaces:
Durability. While durability is always a consideration when selecting a flooring material, it’s an absolute must for high-traffic applications such as airport terminals, schools, hospitals and restaurants.
Elite Flooring Co we’ll give you a complete rundown of six of the most durable commercial flooring materials based on cost, application and other major considerations. Using this as a guide for your materials search, you can achieve a flooring system that meets your aesthetic, cost and performance goals and stand up to heavy use.
Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT): Achieve any look for busy common areas
In the past decade or so, Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) has taken the flooring industry by storm. This resilient material is made up of three layers: A base layer composed of vinyl to provide dimensional stability, a digital graphic film (able to imitate practically any other material) and an outer wear layer.
LVT has proven to be durable enough for high-traffic hospital common areas and attractive enough for upscale restaurants. With a variety of products in every price point and design, LVT is one of the most versatile commercial flooring products on the market today.
While LVT probably isn’t suited for high-impact industrial or commercial kitchen environments, it’s plenty durable to withstand the foot traffic, abrasions and spills of any office, hospital or school application. Especially in comparison with other resilient flooring products, LVT is more flexible and aesthetically appealing for commercial applications.
Further, the design possibilities are endless. It’s available in a wide range of sizes, colors and patterns to mimic almost any material from ceramic tiles to hardwood to terrazzo, and everything in between. With LVT, you can achieve durability without sacrificing your aesthetic.
LVT has proven over time to be able to withstand heavy traffic loads common to commercial applications. In our experience, restaurants, offices and daycares only replace their LVT because they want to change the design — not because it wore out. And because LVT is much quicker to install and cheaper than many of the materials it imitates, it’s a good way to cut flooring costs in a commercial construction project.