There’s no excuse for linoleum! That’s right I said it, linoleum sucks.
You might think that linoleum is a great alternative to more expensive ceramic or natural stone floors but you would be wrong. Linoleum is horrible, it’s ugly, it will never increase the value of your home and to make matters worse it really does stink.
OK, so what do I suggest? Good question, and the answer is simple… just about anything else! If you are really truly short on cash you can always opt for laminate flooring. You might think that laminate flooring is just as bad as linoleum and depending on where you place it and the usage that it will see, you’re probably right. The thing is, I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of linoleum floor installations and only a handful of decent installs. On the other hand, out of the hundreds of laminate floors that I’ve seen, most of them have actually turned out very nicely. This is a very important fact that you must take into consideration, most people will fare better when installing their own laminate floor over the linoleum alternative.
All right, I’ll cut you linoleum lovers a little bit of slack. The fact is I have seen a few really nice linoleum installations but they are so few and far between that I just can’t endorse linoleum anymore. Come to think of it the only proper installations of linoleum flooring has been done by qualified, trained, experienced professionals! This in itself should be enough of a warning for the average do-it-yourselfer to stay away from linoleum and choose a more friendly flooring material.
The bottom line is if you want something that looks nice and lasts a long time as well as being able to take the daily abuse that you’ll be dishing out, try a do-it-yourself ceramic floor installation. You can do a practice run on a scrap piece of plywood in your backyard before you try to tackle a kitchen or bathroom, but if you take care you’ll probably have no problems at all. Just do yourself a favor and stay away from the linoleum, seriously.