The choices are many on remodeling, there are wood, tile, or linoleum flooring, and they come in many various styles, colors and designs. Each kind needs a different skill to place them but to get the floor ready is the same for any type of improvement. The type and tone you determine to use all depends on your inclination and wishes for your home.
Wood planks can come in thickness of 1/4?, 5/16?, 3/8?, 1/2?, 5/8″ and 3/4″ or (6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 13 mm, 16 mm and 19 mm). They can be solid hardwood, or engineered wood. They can be tongue and grove or interlocking planks. They can be pre-finished wood floors or unfinished which means they must be sanded and finished after they are installed. The engineered wood will normally have a wear layer of 2 mm to 4 mm thick. They can be attached to the sub floor by nails, glue or floating, 1/4″ thick planks cannot be floated.
You need to find out the method that is recommended or required for the flooring you want to use. What is the sub-floor cement or wood? Cement sub-floors are usually on the ground or sub ground level. You need to check the moisture content, and if it exceeds the recommended content then a moisture barrier such as a plastic sheet needs to be placed over the cement. Check the manufacturers recommendation.
You can install this flooring as a do it yourself project, learn all the recommendations, by talking with knowledgeable people. Decide which material you want to use and how are you going to fasten it.
If the manufacturer requires that you glue the floor down, check out the process, you may have to use their glue, and they may have put a tracer element in it to verify if you have used their glue. Does the manufacturer require that a professional install the flooring?
Tile flooring can be either ceramic or vinyl. If the application is for a high traffic area such as a hall way or entrance or if it is a high moisture area such as bathroom?
Ceramic tile can have a glazed top layer that is very pretty but can be scratched easily in high traffic areas. Other kinds or unglazed tile will have the color clear through the tile and are resistant to scratching. Ceramic tile can be installed over a sub flooring of cement or wood which must be structurally stable. A cement board recommended for wood sub floors can be installed and fastened to the sub floor per the manufacturers recommendation.
Vinyl tiles can be the least expensive tile and easiest to install. They may be installed over an existing resilient flooring, over plywood on wood floors or on dry concrete. Clean, dry and level the sub floor, remove all oil, wax or grease. Study all the pros and cons for the flooring you select and the job it must do.
Linoleum can be fabricated from natural materials such as linseed oil, wood or cork powder, resins and ground limestone which are environmentally prudent. Linoleum can come in many rich colors and patterns. It comes in a sheet that is usually 2 meters wide (6′ 7″) and 2.5 mm thick is suitable for household use.
It can be installed over most sub floors but if installing over concrete, the moisture emission rate must be with in limits set by the manufacturer. A high pH level of the concrete can ruin the adhesive and the adhesive may not bond to the concrete if it has a sealer on it. If two sections of linoleum are butted together, they must be sealed either with special seam sealer or a color coordinated linoleum rod that is melted with a specialized welding tool.
Linoleum may expand in width and shrink in length over time so this needs to be compensated for when it is installed.