Which floors are suitable for single-family homes? What does the home-building elite recommend?

In my experience, most design floors are made of vinyl.
The term design floor does not yet indicate what material it is made of.
And even vinyl floors are not all the same.

Haro calls it Disano. Wineo Pureline. Parador Modular One, etc. Actually, every major flooring manufacturer has a design floor based on polyethylene PE or polyurethane PU. Meister as well. But yes, design floor is not a protected term and you have to look more closely.
There are clearly differences in vinyl, but every vinyl (=PVC) is hazardous waste!

The Disano is called Haro. At Wineo Pureline. At Parador Modular One, etc. Actually, every major flooring manufacturer has a design floor based on polyethylene PE or polyurethane PU. Meister too. But yes, design floor is not a protected term and you have to look more closely. There are clearly also differences in vinyl, but every vinyl(=PVC) is hazardous waste!

I come from the mechanical engineering industry, so I don't have the absolute greatest knowledge about polymers, but it would be new to me that polyvinyl chloride should now be classified as hazardous waste :rolleyes:

I come from the mechanical engineering sector, so I don't have the absolute greatest knowledge about polymers, but that polyvinyl chloride should now be classified as hazardous waste would be news to me :rolleyes:

Also started in mechanical engineering, but then dived into aerospace. OK, hazardous waste was a bit exaggerated, but vinyl must not go into household waste because it produces toxic gases when burned. Therefore, it must be taken to the recycling center.

But not every vinyl floor (especially not design flooring) is much softer than laminate. At least the click floors I have seen so far are also rather hard.

I have read through a lot (but not everything) and asked myself one thing:

Vinyl: plastic, controversial, not liked by everyone, prone to wear.
Parquet: natural, beautiful, requires maintenance, vulnerable to water.
Tiles: durable, pleasant with underfloor heating, appearance is "cool."

Have you ever thought about tiles with a wood look? For me, tiles with underfloor heating are the most durable and practical choice. I like the classic tile look only in the sanitary area at most. However, there are really great wood-look tiles that also have the wood texture. This combines the advantages of parquet (warm appearance) with those of tiles (durability). The price is also not higher than that of good parquet. Another advantage would be that you can lay all rooms (bathroom, living room, kitchen, hallway) without changing materials, so no steps or joints in between.

What do you think?

We will probably have tiles laid throughout the entire ground floor in mostly wood look. "Mostly," because we will probably go for a size of 120 x 30 and not as woody as your example picture. We don't find much approval for this in our generation here. It somehow seems out of fashion. However, we are not 100% decided yet. Partly also because of the "concerns" in this thread.