Would you choose hard wood floors or wall-to-wall carpeting for your home?

Question

Which would you choose, and why?

Answer 1

Definitely hardwood... here's why:

Top 10 Reasons for Choosing a Wood Floor

Wood floors don’t depreciate.

Real wood floors are good for a home’s resale value and last the life of the home. People walk on wood floors as old as our nation every day; for example, the floors in Washington’s Mount Vernon. Carpet is replaced three to six times before most solid wood floors need repair. Wood floors cost less in the long term and add value to your home.


Wood is a natural product in a diverse range of colors and grain patterns.

Wood floors offer unmatched natural beauty, warmth and design appeal that allow your new or existing house truly to become your family’s home. Who hasn’t marveled at the beauty of a fine wood floor? There is more diversity in wood floors now than ever before… a wood floor for every taste.


Wood is the easiest floor to maintain and requires fewer chemicals to clean.

Whenever someone says, “I think tile or carpet might be easier to clean,” I point to my wood floor cleaning tools. With only a swivel mop and sometimes a non-aerosol spray, I can clean my wood floor in less than half the time it takes to vacuum, scrub or shampoo other floor coverings. They don’t trap dust and fumes in the fibers or grow mold in the grout. Unlike carpet or tile cleaning, cleaning a wood floor requires few chemicals.


It’s the best choice for the environment.

Wood manufacturing is much cleaner than the manufacture of other building materials. Steel results in up to 40 times more pollutants than the manufacture of wood; concrete, six times more; and brick, four times more. Steel releases three times more carbon dioxide, and concrete releases even more. Wood sends less solid waste to the landfill than manufacturing the same product in either steel or concrete. Finally, wood is more energy-efficient. The cellular structure of wood traps air, giving it superior insulating properties. It takes 15 inches of concrete to equal the insulation qualities of just 1 inch of wood.


You can redecorate your wood floor entirely with stains, faux finishes and inlays.

You can change the entire look of a wood floor with stains, paints and inlays—without replacing any materials.


Finishes can be repaired or reapplied easily (as long as maintenance procedures are followed).

Wood floors can be recoated or touched up instead of adding to the landfill, as happens with some other floor coverings. Our industry helps preserve what’s already there… the finest form of recycling. A properly maintained wood floor never should need to be completely resanded.


Wood floors give a little and are better for your joints.

Don’t be surprised if your doctor recommends a wood floor for your spine and joints. Wood gives slightly, making it easier on your legs and feet. Have you ever noticed that your feet get tired faster if you are standing on stone or tile than if you are standing on wood?


Wood is an ideal choice for people with allergies.

Wood does not trap dust or fumes, and will not harbor dust mites or mold. We spend 90 percent of our time indoors. Some researchers believe the dust mite could be responsible for increasing asthma occurrence. Wood floors in your bedroom and other main living areas can improve air quality, according to the American Lung Association.


Wood floor sales support good forest management.

Wood floors are a high-end use for forest products and can involve better margins, thereby ensuring the perpetuation of the forest. Many developing countries today rely on timber for export earnings, yet the greatest threat to primary forests in these countries is conversion to other forms of land use. Using exotic species for wood floors is a good way to give a high value to the wood and encourage reforestation for continued income production.


Wood is our greatest renewable resource.

North America has more than 70 percent of the forest cover that was here in the 1600s, and many exotic foods come from certified sustainable forests. North America produces more wood than any other place on the planet! According to a World Resources Institute report, North America was unusual in that it increased tree cover in the 1990s. In other words, we grow more than we cut. North America also is becoming known as a “carbon sink.” Scientists have shown that young trees use more carbon dioxide than older trees, much like younger animals need more food.

It's a no-brainer..

Answer 2

As a contractor there is no reason to have wall to wall anything.
I personally like the hard wood floor option, easier to clean, if you have pets extremly easier to clean.
However i have carpet in my bedrooms, this is a great feel on the feet especially in the winter. I would also recomend NO hard wood in the kitchen as the wear and tear on it is not worth the trouble, here there are many optionds including tile, substitutes for wood plenty of products on the market that will stay proyected even with water damage

Answer 3

The old ranch house we remodeled had plank flooring and it was well worn. Our flooring guy checked it out, sealed it and put hardwood over the top. Then I found large rugs for each room. Once a year I have a service in that rolls up the rugs and cleans and reseals the floor. The kitchen and entries are all asphalt tile. On a ranch, you mop the floors daily. The bedrooms have a rug just large enough for the bed to sit on and have a 3 ft carpet walk-way on all sides. The office has commercial carpet which is anti-static and good around PC's, etc. The dining room table sits on a rug that is big enough to hold 6 chairs around the table.
Hardwood is as easy to care for as tile nowdays and the room size rugs can be replace when needed. You have to go with what is best for your life style. My guy comes in with cow dung on his boots and burrs in his socks. I want him to be comfortable in our home, so I designed it for our life. A little of this and a little of that. It works.

Answer 4

Having lived with both I would choose hardwoods because of the odor factor. The living level of our house is all hardwood and I have no drapes, only sheers. Everyone who walks in comments that my house smells good. I'm convinced that it's because I don't have alot of fabrics holding cooking odors and dust. Upstairs is carperted and it needs replacing. That is expensive and a colossal pain in the rump because we will have to move everything.

The comment about not putting hardwoods in a kitchen is so true. Whoever owned this house before us put hardwoods in the kitchen and they are the wax sealed variety, not polyurethaned. If you spill ANYTHING in the kitchen you have to wipe it up quick or it will spot the floors. I keep an old dish towel handy and just throw it on the floor when I'm cooking or doing dishes. Any splatters can be wiped up right away.

Answer 5

Carpeting.
Why?
Because I hate cold feet.
Hard wood floors are easier to clean, but also the sound is not muffled like carpets.
Just my opinion, :-)

Answer 6

Hardwood floors in most cases....they're prettier and last longer( a lot longer) than carpet...also people with dust allergies should only use Hardwood and Tile

Answer 7

i rather carpeton my floors . it does'n have to be wall to wall.to me carpet is better especialy in the winter time. hard floors is not good for babies and older people they can fall an get hurt real bad. plus hard floors you have to barnish it if not it will look kind of dull. and you can map hard floors it won't look right.

Answer 8

I don't like hardwood floors, I'm a carpet person. But if you ever sell your house, hardwood would help sell it.

How about hardwood and put down large throw rugs? You can get REALLY large rugs now days.

Answer 9

I have already chosen hardwood. But we are lucky, b/c most of the house has old hardwood under the icky carpet. Just one more room and 3 more closets to pull the old carpet out of!
The why is b/c of dust. You can see it on the hardwood floors, but not on the carpet. So we clean it more frequently.

Where socks if you don't like cold feet!

Answer 10

Granite countertops are used for home improvement, specially for kitchen & bathroom. These are more durable and overall pleasing beauty in more than 250 color patterns. United Granite stones are easy to clean, very smooth surface, low maintenance & go on longs life.