How to Choose Between Marble and Wood Flooring

Wood and marble floors are the most common choices in any Singaporean home. The floor is an integral part of any house, and choosing the right type of material will help you achieve the overall aesthetics you desire.

Here are some basic comparisons between wooden and marble flooring to help you decide which type suits your home best:

Design aesthetics

Marble

Marble floors often convey a sense of luxury and sophistication. The soft white to gray colours make them very flexible and easy to match with any theme you decide to go with for your home. The patterns and line on marbles are very distinctive and unrepetitive, meaning that each slab of marble is unique and has patterns found nowhere else.They come in only a few colours, like grey, reddish-brown and white – but when polished to perfection, marble floors contain a nice shine like no other.

Wood

Wood flooring is ideal if you want to create a homely and comforting space. Wood also has lines and grooves that are one of a kind. The long, vertical lines help make rooms look larger, especially if they’re lighter colored. Unlike marble, there is a wider range of shades and colours for wooden floorboards, and you can always pick a darker shade of wood if you want to make your room smaller and cosier.

Floor temperature

Marble

Marble has always been favoured as a ‘cool’ flooring material as it doesn’t store any heat, and actually helps reflect any heat away from the floor, which is why your feet feel cooler when walking on it. In Singapore where the weather is warm and humid all year round, marble is one material that can help you achieve lower temperatures in the home without the aid of electronic cooling equipment.

Wood

Wooden floors tend to retain more heat, but that doesn’t necessarily make it unsuitable for tropical weather. Wood isn’t exactly a very warm material per se, but is, of course, a little more heat-absorbant than marble. This makes it an ideal flooring for children to play comfortably if you have youngsters at home.

Cost and Maintenance

Marble 

It’s not surprising that marble costs more as compared to wood, due to the fact that’s it’s  more labor intensive to produce. However, marble is also very easy to maintain. Since it is actually a hard stone, marble is bacteria and fungal resistant, and needs virtually no active effort to maintain. Scratches on its surface will disappear over time and it is extremely easy to clean. Marble usually isn’t prone to stains and can withstand feet traffic for centuries without damage.

Wood

Wood flooring is a lot more affordable than marble. However, due to the fact that it’s softer than wood, the wear and tear will be more visible, especially after several decades. Some people don’t mind scratches and such as they believe it gives the floor more character. You’d have to be careful of liquid and moisture seeping into wood as this may cause microbial growth on the wood.

In short, is it better to install marble or wood flooring?

That really depends on your budget, where you’re installing the floor, the mood you want to create in your home, and what theme you prefer. Both types of floorings have their pros and cons. It’s actually a good idea to incorporate multiple types of flooring in your home. Rooms that have high moisture, like the bathroom and kitchen, are normally fitted with marble as they react better to liquids, whereas the bedroom will benefit from wood flooring as it creates a cozy and restful atmosphere.