Hardwood or Carpet?

[stampsx2]

Would you pick hardwood or carpet in your home/condo? Why do so many people pick hardwood?

It chips and dents everytime someone drops a can or knife on it. It's harder on the knees and ankles (more impact). The only advantages are it's easier to clean especially if you have a pet. I guess it sort of looks better, but that's debatable.

Carpet is much more comfortable and durable.

Sure, you could put a rug on your hardwood floor but doesn't that defeat the purpose of having a hardwood floor?

If you could change back to carpet, would you?

I'm torn.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Uncut.

[MJK]

After ready the circumcision thread I thought this was going to be about pubes...

[pylon]

I prefer a just a narrow strip of carpet, leading me to the front door. I refuse to enter any residence that has carpet anywhere around the back entrance though, total deal breaker.

[stampsx2]

nm.

[Sylvanfan]

Well hate to post off topic, but if you have pets don't go with hardwood,choose a laminate. Carpet is tougher to clean and pets or kids ruin it in 3 years.

[sureLoss]

Hardwood might be a selling point to people with allergies when it comes time to sell the property.

[stampsx2]

I never thought of hardwood getting scratched up from pets.

[Table 5]

Hardwood is classic and timeless. Carpet's great if you want to re-live the 70's.

[stampsx2]

Not if you pick 2011 colors. Hardwood from the 70's will have started to creek by now. Plus you can hear people walking on it and stuff getting dropped on it. You can also hear a bit of an echo if you have a big room.

[Regulator75]

Carpet is disgusting.

[bc-chris]

we have hardwood and tile throughout our place.... wouldn't want it any other way

carpet might be 'soft on the feet', but you just can't get it clean

at least with area rugs you can take them out side and shake out all the crap that are still in them after you vacuum them


not that we're building again anytime soon, but i'd consider cork for a games room. one of my nieghbours has a cork floor in his games room.... looks great and is really durable (i've got a few dents in my games room hardwood from when trick shots on the pool table haven't gone quite as planned)

[ken0042]

Put me in the "carpet" group as well. It's warmer, more comfortable, and I don't see any health issues as long as you keep it clean.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Not if you pick 2011 colors. Hardwood from the 70's will have started to creek by now. Plus you can hear people walking on it and stuff getting dropped on it. You can also hear a bit of an echo if you have a big room.

One thing to look into is if you can refinish it. In terms of creaking...that's usually floor joists or lack of humidity control causing that.

Hardwoods great to sell...great if you're a typical CP poster making 300 grand a year, who has no kids or pets and drives a used Subaru and never actually live in the place. If you have kids or pets it's awful...go with vinyl or laminate while you live in the space. Easy to remove later when you want to sell later for that fancy hardwood.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Not if you pick 2011 colors. Hardwood from the 70's will have started to creek by now. Plus you can hear people walking on it and stuff getting dropped on it. You can also hear a bit of an echo if you have a big room.

My hardwood is from 1969 and it creaks in spots but it looks wicked. We refinished it a couple of years ago to get rid of the orange colour in favour of a darker stain. It doesn't seem to get scratched or marked at all and that's with two young kids. I think newer hardwoods are softer, though.



I used to find hardwood annoying to walk on but now that we have lived here a while I much prefer it to carpet which honestly seems nasty in comparison. You could always get slippers if it hurts your feet to walk on.

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by pylon

I prefer a just a narrow strip of carpet, leading me to the front door. I refuse to enter any residence that has carpet anywhere around the back entrance though, total deal breaker.

[Kybosh]

Hardwood and tile all the way. I just put tile throughout my entire mainfloor and hardwood in the low traffic rooms. I don't think I'll ever go back to carpet now.

[goaliegirl]

If you have kids or pets, hardwood(laminate) is your best friend. We had almost all laminate/concrete in our old place, when we built our new house I decided I missed my carpet.. stupidest mistake I ever made. Now we are looking at almost 10k to replace all of it due to kids spilling stuff, and my dog who is old and has bladder issues...should have went with hard flooring throughout. You can always buy area rugs for warmth.

[The Yen Man]

I have tile throughout my main floor and carpet on my second level. I think it's a good compromise. I like the feel of carpet when I'm in my bedroom or in my bonus room, and tiling the main floor makes it easy to clean.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Hardwood by a mile, just looks way better. Carpet in the bedrooms is ok though.
If you're concerned about denting/durability look into a good laminate of engineered hardwood.
Laminates have come a long way and some look great now; while provided the most durability of the choices.