5 Best Types of Scratch-Resistant Flooring

Choosing the right flooring for homes with pets and kids involves considering durability and scratch resistance as top priorities. As playful pets and active children move about, floors often bear the brunt of their energy. 

Fortunately, several flooring options stand out for their ability to withstand scratches and maintain aesthetic appeal. From resilient luxury vinyl to robust laminate and bamboo, each type offers unique advantages suited to different household needs. 

This guide explores seven types of scratch-resistant flooring, highlighting their features, benefits, and considerations. 

Whether you’re renovating a family room, kitchen, or entire home, finding the right balance of style and durability ensures your floors remain beautiful and functional for years to come.

#1: Vinyl 

There’s a reason vinyl has become so popular. It’s durable, it’s affordable, and it doesn’t require much maintenance. Additionally, this synthetic material can be made to look like almost any other flooring option, giving you tons of creative liberty. 

Vinyl can mimic stone, tile, and even intricate wood floor designs. However, there are two main styles of vinyl that you’ll need to understand in order to pick a durable and lasting floor: vinyl sheet and vinyl plank (aka LVT). 

Vinyl Sheet

Vinyl sheet flooring is cut and rolled into large sheets. It’s a great scratch-resistant flooring option, but you’ll need to be careful when moving heavy furniture around on it to avoid gouging the top coat. 

Vinyl sheet flooring is most common in kitchens and bathrooms because it’s easy to clean and maintain. It’s also extremely affordable and comes in a wide variety of patterns and textures. 

Best of all, because it’s laid down in a single layer, vinyl sheet is waterproof! Just remember to hire an expert for installation; if installed improperly, moisture can leak underneath and cause it to bubble.

Vinyl Plank Flooring (LVT)

Vinyl plank is extremely popular thanks to its realistic look, easy installation, extreme durability, and affordable price. 

This PVC-based product comes in planks or tiles rather than in a roll. It’s thicker and more rigid than sheet vinyl, and it’s made up of three layers: a rigid or semi-flexible base layer, a design layer, and a protective wear layer, and some vinyl plank products also come with a fourth layer designed to cut down on squeaking, therefore improving underfoot feel.  

Which vinyl type should you get?

Because of its design, vinyl plank takes the cake when it comes to longevity, water-resistance, and durability/

Vinyl planks are pressed into shape using extreme pressure and heat. This process creates hard bonded layers that will stand the test of time—and kids. 

Additionally, if there are any accidents, replacing one vinyl plank is much easier than replacing a section of vinyl sheet flooring. Plus, when small sections of vinyl sheet are repaired (rather than replacing the entire sheet), water can seep in through the seams. This makes any “little” rips or gouges in the vinyl a much bigger and more costly issue. 

Pro tip: if you’re looking for the best vinyl plank flooring brands, skip the box store stuff. Go for a smaller brand like Proximity Mills instead.

#2: Laminate

Interested in buying hardwood floors but not ready to stomach the cost—or the possibility of scratching? Say hello to laminate. 

This classic flooring choice has really come a long way in the past 50 years. It’s a stylish and sturdy option for anyone looking for affordable, water-resistant, and scratch-proof hardwood floor alternatives.

#3: Tile

There are a few basic types of tile that you’ll need to consider: ceramic, porcelain, stone, and cement. Some are better than others when it comes to durability, but we’ll get into that below. Here’s a breakdown of each one:

Ceramic tile

When you think of rustic-looking tiles (terracotta, for instance), you’re thinking of basic ceramic. 

Ceramic is made of fired clay and it’s a hard and durable substance—probably not a big 

surprise, given that some ceramic pottery can last for thousands of years. 

And thanks to its high Coefficient of Friction Rating (which we use to measure slip resistance) ceramic makes a great indoor or outdoor flooring option.

Porcelain tile

What’s the difference between porcelain and ceramic? Technically speaking, porcelain is a type of ceramic—but it’s created from a more refined clay and baked at a higher temperature. This process makes it an extremely hard and scratch-resistant flooring choice. But it also makes it a bit more slippery. 

Thanks to its excellent water resistance, you can find porcelain tile in bathrooms around the world. 

Stone tile 

Stone flooring is made from different types of stone like sandstone, marble, and granite. There are dozens of types to choose from, but remember: some may be more scratch-resistant than others. 

Cement tile

Encaustic and painted tiles have been around for centuries, and are as popular as ever. 

Cement tiles have been around since the 19th century and have since made their comeback in modern design. The tiles can be extremely unique and can fill your home with breathtaking patterns and colors. 

However, they require quite a bit of upkeep (sealing and the like), so you may want to steer clear of these if you’re a cat or dog owner. 

#4: Bamboo

Bamboo is an awesome option because it’s incredibly strong. In fact, you’ll find that some options can be more than twice as hard as oak flooring. 

While bamboo floors can be made from vertical or horizontal bamboo planks, the most durable and scratch-resistant bamboo floors are made from shredded bamboo fibers mixed with a tough resin—aka strand-woven bamboo. 

Additionally, bamboo floors can come as carbonized or non-carbonized products. Carbonized bamboo is treated with high levels of heat and pressure in order to change its color, but it also weakens the bamboo. 

All of that to say: if you select an uncarbonized, strand-woven bamboo floor, you’re choosing something that’s multiple times more scratch-resistant than even the most durable wood flooring choices. 

#5: Cork

Aside from keeping your vino fresh, cork is also a great scratch-resistant flooring option. Cork is an extremely sustainable material, it’s great at muffling sounds, and it prevents scratches.

Cork flooring is made from the leftover bi-product of cork harvests. These leftovers are mixed with resins and other natural products to create a flooring surface. 

The cork harvest is super sustainable as well. Cork actually comes from the bark of cork trees rather than the wood of cork trees. This means that after harvest, the tree is left alive to continue growing. This process doesn’t harm the trees at all—in fact, the trees can remain healthy for another 250 years! 

Cork is resistant to mold and mildew because of its naturally anti-microbial properties. The material also holds in heat, so your pets and kids can stay warm all winter long… even when they choose to sleep on the floor rather than the three beds you’ve purchased for them.

The softness of the cork gives it an “elastic memory” to help keep its shape. This is great because it will actually repair minor scratches on its own. Lastly, compared to the typical wood flooring cost, cork is slightly cheaper.