hardwood floors or carpet

**craftypam** · 03-28-2011, 08:15 PM

I have had carpet in my bedrooms, family room and livingroom. I am seriously considering getting hardwood floors in all of my bedrooms. I would like to know your pros and cons of keeping each clean Thanks

**Judi Dial** · 03-28-2011, 09:02 PM

We have softwood floors downstairs and wall to wall carpet upstairs, and I have issues with both! The softwood, pine, floors were not finished when we moved in, and they are a pain in the neck to keep stained, looking good, etc.

The upstairs has wall to wall beige shag carpet, which I also have issues with. What I am slowly but surely moving towards is painted floors downstairs and dark painted/stained hardwood upstairs and reversible carpets/mats on all of it. The carpets (like dhurries) can be cleaned by a cleaner or by myself. As I have allergy issues with dust I wanted something that doesn't hold it, which lets out shag or pile rugs. I don't mind taking the small rugs I have out to shake about once a week or so, and the big ones (only downstairs now) get taken about about 2-3 times a year and shook with 2 people as well as being vacuumed.

IHTH!

Judi

**Brat** · 03-28-2011, 09:16 PM

I have soft pine in bedroom, den, and hall..I have hardwood in the livingroom..It was prefinished..I have tile in sunroom. I like the no carpet..I had carpet in livingroom when we moved in..When we took it out was so much easyer to clean and keep the dust down. I live in the country so have a lot of dust in the summer but can just use a dust mop every day and it stays so much nicer..I spot mop once a week as I have a dog in the house and the livingroom is the main used door...The bedroom I use a dust mop on too and any dust that is under the bed or where ever comes up so easy..I damp mop all the floors once a month except the kitchen is every week..

**Paws** · 03-28-2011, 09:19 PM

Personally, I prefer a lovely hard wood floor over any type of carpet.
They do require a bit of maintenance, but think of all the dust and dirt carpets harbor...yes, we all vacuum them regularly, but it still doesn't get all the dirt or dust up...not to mention spills of whatever liquids...or pets and the issue of their fur. From my view point, they're just easier to keep clean.

A few years ago, my sister was a pretty successful real estate agent.
She told me if your home has nicely finished hard wood floors, it actually increases the value of your home if you're putting it on the market, or if you're looking to buy, the ones with them are going to be priced a bit higher...Seriously thinking about getting rid of the rest of the carpet in our house and refinishing the floors...

**Ilovesewing** · 03-28-2011, 10:30 PM

I think hardwood floors are definitely easier to keep clean of dust and animal hair. And it looks nice. We have carpet in our master bedroom and our living room - hardwood everywhere else.

The things I have noticed with the hardwood: it is terribly hard on your feet when you aren't wearing shoes. As in I have developed plantar fasciatas (sp) since having put down about 4-5 years ago. My feet are just killing me. Also, hardwood is cold and makes for a cold room. Carpet does a nice job of keeping the house warmer.

Carpet is hard to keep clean and especially in hallways will wear out.

I will never have hardwood in the living room - it's just too 'hard'. I will also keep carpet in the master bedroom for warmth. And we have two indoor cats and a dog living with us. Even with the hair I'd pick carpet in those rooms.

To each his own I guess! You will need to figure out what you would rather live with. Cleaning either is about the same in my book.

**frugalwarrior2** · 03-28-2011, 10:45 PM

Hardwood floors all the way.
-nothing grosser to me that all the stuff that gets held under the pad. Vaccumns can't get it and smells can build up.
Allergens,mites,dirt.
What the vaccumn doesn't get up on hardwood a swiffer can.

**2ndGenGranola** · 03-29-2011, 04:42 AM

I'm another one carpet grosses out. I say to go with the wood.

We have tile mostly in the house and I can't wait for the day that we get rid of what little carpet we have. (Although I'm still trying to figure out what to do on the stairs. May keep a token amount there because I like to fall down them)

I'm don't believe the "wood/tile make the house colder" anymore. Everyone warned us before getting tile that it would be cold all the time. Not so. Get the hard surface warm and you have a little radiator action going. In our cold, no sun room, I'll start the day with a little space heater. Once the tile is heated, it stays nice in there!

**shoiji** · 03-29-2011, 07:53 AM

I love hardwood floors. Three apartments I had hardwood floors. Also had nice oriental rugs on top. Only problem is that I hate cleaning. Which for me meant dust mopping, wet mopping and vacuuming the rugs each week.

When I moved to another apartment that had wall to wall carpeting I realized that after vacumming I was done with the floors. Sure the kitchen and bathroom are different stories. For me it is easier to have carpeting.

**savvy_sniper** · 03-29-2011, 08:11 AM

I LOVE hardwood floors! We are saving to put hardwood in our master bedroom and office.

FYI - A friend has been trying to sell her house for the last couple of years. She and her kids put new hardwood floors in the entry and living area. The house sold the next weekend!

**monkeywrangler71** · 03-29-2011, 09:14 AM

You can pretend your carpet is clean for longer than hardwood, because you actually see all the dirt on the wood. Of course, the carpet isn't really clean, it never is, but I have to vacuum the wood floors daily to keep the dust bunnies in check because they are staring me in the face all the time (depends on the house though, they didn't grow as fast at the last place).

That being said, I would never have carpet, especially in the bedroom. I'd rather see the dust and clean it than have it lurking there looking clean. But I have a severe dust mite allergy, so none of the benefits of carpet can outweigh the fact that it makes me sick.

**Russ** · 03-29-2011, 09:23 AM

Originally Posted by monkeywrangler71

But I have a severe dust mite allergy, so none of the benefits of carpet can outweigh the fact that it makes me sick.

The wifey just found out she is allergic as well. Guess what my next home improvement project is?

**Sophia** · 03-29-2011, 09:28 AM

I personally love hardwood and tile. I didn't want any carpet when we built our house but dh wanted carpet in bedroom. We are now saving to pull the carpet out of bedrooms and put some type of wood flooring in them. you can sweep and mop hardwood it is just much cleaner than carpet. TC

**chowder** · 03-29-2011, 09:39 AM

We got rid of carpeting years ago except the living room,(hubbys idea).I still do not like it and am sick of hearing "there's a mark on this rug,get out the carpet cleaner".

**Debbie-cat** · 03-29-2011, 11:09 AM

In my last house all my floors were either hardwood or ceramic tile. I love them and they weren't cold at all. Very easy to keep clean since I had two cats.

Now we have wall to wall carpeting in our new home (except mitch and bathrooms) and I hate it. So uch dust no matter if your vaccum daily or not and the stains are continuous with animals.

I say go for the hardwood!

**Libby** · 03-29-2011, 12:33 PM

Apart from the cleaning aspect - carpet can be used to 'soften' a room to make it feel warm and cozy but you could probably do this with the right rug as well. Carpet can also be used to dampen sounds so it doesn't reverberate as loud nor as far. Trust me, sometimes you don't want to hear whats going on or being watched in the other room at times