Slipping or falling are the most common causes of injury for elderly people, and as you get older it becomes a lot harder to recover from an accident.
So, whether you’re choosing flooring for your home or for an elderly relative’s home, it is important to choose the right type of flooring to help prevent these accidents.
In this blog post, we’ll help you choose the best type of flooring for elderly homeowners.
Factors to consider when choosing flooring
When going through each type of flooring, there are a few questions that you should find out, in order to choose the best flooring type.
Elderly person's mobility
Is the material easy to walk on? Is it wheelchair accessible?
This is one of the most important factors because they need to feel confident in their flooring so that they can move around with ease.
Non-slip surfaces
How slippery is the material? Would it be dangerous to walk on in slippers or socks?
Easy maintenance
Will the material have to be regularly cleaned? How easy is it to maintain? Is it waterproof?
Shock absorption
Is the material cushioned? Is the material comfortable to walk on?
We have created a ‘cheat sheet’ so you can easily compare the different materials and find one that works for your needs.
As you can see, the most practical flooring type for elderly homeowners is LVT. However, it doesn’t create a feeling of comfort which, in areas such as a bedroom or a living room, is essential.
To get the best of both worlds, we would suggest installing LVT as a base flooring and then buying a comfortable rug with a non-slip backing. This would create the effect of carpet and comfort, without the added maintenance.
Hire professionals to install your flooring
Our biggest piece of advice is to hire professionals to install your chosen flooring for you. No matter how great you are at DIY, loosely or badly fitted flooring can and will cause accidents. It is especially dangerous in areas of high traffic, like your hallway or your staircase.
If you or your elderly relative are based in Peterborough or surrounding towns, World of Flooring can help you choose the right flooring and properly install it. The fitters will also move any furniture out of the way, if you or your elderly relative are unable to do so.
