The right flooring for a coastal getaway

By Jeanne Huber August 13 at 12:01 PM

Question: We bought a small ranch house three miles from Bethany Beach, Del., in 2007. The house, which we use on weekends and holidays, came with light beige wall-to-wall carpeting. After lots of guests and two dogs, its now in desperate need of replacement.

Ive gone to flooring stores, but get overwhelmed by the choices: laminate (good for our dogs but bad for resale?); wood (so many different kinds and price points, bad for dogs, not good for areas near a beach?); engineered wood (what is that?); tile?; bamboo? Different carpet (yuck)? What is the best flooring for this near-the-beach house?

Chevy Chase

Answer: A floor thats easy to sweep, mop or vacuum, depending on the level of grime, seems like the best fit. You and your guests want to enjoy your time at this house. You dont want to scold people for traipsing in after expeditions to the beach. Nor do you want to spend much time cleaning.

You might want to focus on the types of vinyl that manufacturers market as luxury vinyl. Available as planks, tiles and sometimes sheets, it comes in styles that mimic hardwood, stone or ceramic tile. The designs are high-definition photographs of actual wood, stone or ceramic tiles, so the resemblance is very close. The photo layer is topped with a thick, clear layer that resists scratches and stains. Most spills wipe up with just warm water. Installing vinyl that looks like pricey tropical hardwood flooring could seem a little odd in an informal, simple house. Many of the designs that look like stone or ceramic tile look less pretentious.

If you dont like the idea of vinyl or cant find a style you like, other good options include bamboo, which is harder than most hardwoods, and stone or ceramic tile, provided you choose a style thats slip-resistant and rated for use as flooring. Instead of spending several weekends looking through samples at home centers or flooring stores, you might want to browse through the design sections of manufacturers Web sites, such as http://www.armstrong.com and http://www.mohawkflooring.com.

Skip carpet, if for no other reason than that it makes you say yuck. Traditional hardwood flooring isnt a great choice, either; to keep it in good shape, youd need to be too protective of it. Laminate, which is very tough and therefore sometimes recommended for houses with dogs, can be so slick that dogs slide around on it. And if it does get scratched from beach sand and dogs, theres no way to repair it.

Question: I have a Ridgeway grandfather clock that loses about five minutes a day. I have adjusted the pendulum to the max but it is still slow. What can I do to fix it myself?

Chantilly

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The right flooring for a coastal getaway