Consumer Reports: What flooring works best?

Americans spend billions on new flooring every year and consumer reports tested wood, vinyl, and tile floors to see what works best.

According to a commercial spot, Cliks is where style meets innovation and it’s sold at Home Depot. It’s among the first ceramic floor tiles you click together and install yourself. No adhesive or grout needed.

Consumer Reports put it through the same tough tests all flooring goes through in its labs, including wood and plastic laminates.

To assess how well flooring resists stains, testers apply 18 hard-to-remove substances, from nail polish, to mustard, to crayon, and leave them overnight.

"Cliks was impressive in most of Consumer Reports' tests, but when it came to what we call the drop test, that was a different story, “says John Galeotafiore with Consumer Reports. "And since the tiles lock together, you'd have to remove a whole row just to replace one."

In the drop test other flooring like wood can dent, but the damage is less severe.

When all the tests were done, good, inexpensive flooring is Surface Source plastic laminate. It's sold at Lowe's for just $1a square foot.

If you prefer a wood floor, Mullican St. Andrews prefinished solid-wood flooring rated very good. It costs around $6 a square foot.

If you have a busy kitchen and dropped pots are a concern, Consumer Reports says consider vinyl flooring.

Consumer reports found a good vinyl product that cost $5 a square foot.