# Wood Floors vs. Carpet?



## brownay2 (Nov 14, 2004)

I really have to figure something out here about our indoor living. We have 2 rooms on the first floor that are carpet,and we have 3 bedrooms also that are carpet. I have been trying to talk about the pros about wood floors but I think his concern is the cost. We have plywood under all the carpet, and honestly at this point the carpets are so bad that I am ready to rip those up to put area rugs....He said no way








Is there a way to do this economically ona budget or is this just my luck to stick with this retched dust smogged carpet the rest of my life?

I love the look of wide plank pine floors Hint....Hint to my hubby









4 kids + 2 great danes + emplyees with treesap, oil, grease tracked in plus kids spilling (ok that might be my own fault letting them have drinks if the spill it on the carpet) but you get my point not easy to keep clean. I was even thinking of dying the light beige carpets but that would keep me off the real reason why I don't want carpet----- allergies

We have our kitchen/dining area tile, and our addition is all slate floor.

Ideas?


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## Steady101 (Jun 24, 2004)

If cost is his major concern, you should really go out and price both. I don't think the price difference is that big, and in some cases wood might be cheaper.


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## L&IsMama (Jan 24, 2006)

We have wood laminate floors. I cannot imagine having carpet thru the whole house.







: The only rooms that have carpet are 2 of the bedrooms,the 2 kids rooms,and the carpeting is just a wreck in those rooms. I know its cause I let them have drinks in there but still...hard floors are SO much easier to clean,imo.


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## mightymoo (Dec 6, 2003)

If your DH is concerned about the cost of wood floors, and you have dogs you are going to end up in the doghouse if you spend the money putting in wood floors to have them ruined by the dogs. I was just talking with my cousin about how she put hardwood floors in her condo and the dog has ruined them, they only moved in about a year ago.

We like our laminate floor in our kitchen.


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## AutumnMelody (Feb 10, 2006)

Carpet is extremely toxic and horrible for people with allergies. I would do everything you possibly can to avoid it. Just my two cents.


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## amnda527 (Aug 6, 2006)

Well we just happened to price this out. If we wanted to get "good" carpet, meaning, not the bottom of the barrel, it would have been a few hundred dollars more than the wood we decided on. Right now everything in the house is wood except for the living room, which was a wedding gift from dh's grandparents. I love our wood floors! They are such a breeze to clean, I just bust out the swiffer every couple days to keep up with the cat hair and whatever. And let me tell you, it is NASTY what sticks to those swiffer things! Every time I do it I'm just amazed. All that "gunk" would have been smashed into the carpet! It is also nice to spills. The other day a spoonful of salsa went flying off the desk. No worries! And when it comes to carpet, you really can't buy the cheap stuff. It just doesn't last! Unless you plan on moving out in a year or 2, go with the wood. Plus- wood increases your home's value if you are thinking about re-sale!


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

we got prefinished hardwood from Lowe's about 5 years ago and have two dogs. they have scratched it a little, but it's not a big deal to us and really it's barely noticeable. we're very happy with the hardwood.


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## GoddessKristie (Oct 31, 2006)

If you're the do it yourself type you could install the flooring yourself! I'd check out lumber liquidators and see if there's one near you. They frequently have prefinished hardwood for $.99/sqft. I've seen unfinished utility hardwood (if you don't mind imperfections) for $.89/sqft and you could also consider cork flooring which seems like it would be easier to install. You can find that at www.lumberliquidators.com.
As far as dogs on the hardwood it depends on what kind of wood you have. Some woods are softer than others an so will scratch and dent more easily.

Good luck!


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## CrunchyBean (Aug 3, 2006)

My DH used to install hardwood and it's appalling what you find when you tear out old carpet - disgusting! Also, very bad for the environment.

Prefinished hardwood is much tougher than sand on site. Also, check the Janka rating for the hardest woods:
http://www.gatewoodfloors.com/index....le/30#hardness

I second the Lumber Liquidators idea - we got prefinished Brazilian bloodwood for $5.50 for a client there - typically more like $15-20!


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## amnda527 (Aug 6, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GoddessKristie* 
If you're the do it yourself type you could install the flooring yourself! I'd check out lumber liquidators and see if there's one near you. They frequently have prefinished hardwood for $.99/sqft. I've seen unfinished utility hardwood (if you don't mind imperfections) for $.89/sqft and you could also consider cork flooring which seems like it would be easier to install. You can find that at www.lumberliquidators.com.
As far as dogs on the hardwood it depends on what kind of wood you have. Some woods are softer than others an so will scratch and dent more easily.

Good luck!









Yep. We didn't go to lumberliquidators, but it was some other wood flooring store by our house. We happened to find some pergo that was $.99 sqft. It was the last of it, they discontinued it and just wanted to get rid of it. What a deal!


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## Pinoikoi (Oct 30, 2003)

My old boss installed his own hardwood floors with scrap.. a little of this type, a little of that.. in the end it looked really cool (and I was so skeptical at first!) Reminded me of a quilt. He just had to check that each row of wood were the same measurements.

My new house doesn't give me hardwood options, but I have chosen a vinyl floor for the first floor. No carpet at all. Plus the layer they put underneath will be perfect for when I can afford bamboo later.


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## sunflwrmoonbeam (Oct 9, 2006)

We're putting wood laminate flooring throughout our entire house from www.builddirect.com. The color we chose is conveniently only $.83/sq ft.


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## orangefoot (Oct 8, 2004)

We don't regret getting rid of our carpet; in fact almost every day I am thankful that a cloth will fix most stuff that happens on our floor









We don't like laminate and found Marmoleum samples at our Sustainabilty Centre so decided to price it up. It isn't cheap because it needs a latex screed but is a natural product and will last for about 25 years.


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

You can put pine boards down and put linseed oil on them for sealant.

The more distressed and battered they get the better they look.

With linseed oil if the floor get to scrapped up slap some more oil on.

Great to have as flooring IMO.


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## mashenka (Oct 8, 2006)

We put down hardwoods when we moved in--DH uses a wheelchair and destroys carpets. We LOVE them. We didn't do it ourselves and it was a little $$$, but they will never get yucky stuff in them, don't need to be replaced. Especially with dogs they are soooo great!


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## zeldabee (Aug 23, 2004)

I'd put down some sort of laminate, or really _anything_ but carpet. I have allergies, and I think my carpet's killing me. All the cheap rentals here have carpeting, and I hate it. I'd take lime green linoleum over carpeting any day.


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## lisalulu (Jun 15, 2005)

We have hardwood floors and I loooove them. But when pricing carpet vs. floor be sure to count in the cost of refinishing. We got ours done a year ago and they told us to plan on doing them again in 3 years or so. We have a large lab and he has done quite a bit of damage to them already-probably not as obvious to visitors but I know its there and it bugs me. Our living room especially is showing wear after a year. I wouldn't trade for carpet but I'd keep it in mind when thinking about costs.

My friends put bamboo in themselves in their son's room. He got it off ebay and I guess got a great deal on it.


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

Think laminate....it can be a DIY project. Laminate is harder to scratch than wood flooring but it cannot be refinished like real wood.

You will need to remember you need a transition strip for any opening less than 4 ft. Don't forget about quarter round and/or shoe moulding.

Cheap laminate isn't always a good idea but you if you watch for deals.

Another idea is enginereed wood...like bamboo or cork. These things are easily do it yourself.


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## Pinoikoi (Oct 30, 2003)

Anyone used the laminate that "looks" like wood? I saw some in a hotel bathroom once that I thought looked great.


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## Steady101 (Jun 24, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alaskanteach* 
Anyone used the laminate that "looks" like wood? I saw some in a hotel bathroom once that I thought looked great.

I think that is what most people at talking about.


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## languid_kitty (Mar 15, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GoddessKristie* 
If you're the do it yourself type you could install the flooring yourself! I'd check out lumber liquidators and see if there's one near you. They frequently have prefinished hardwood for $.99/sqft. I've seen unfinished utility hardwood (if you don't mind imperfections) for $.89/sqft and you could also consider cork flooring which seems like it would be easier to install. You can find that at www.lumberliquidators.com.
As far as dogs on the hardwood it depends on what kind of wood you have. Some woods are softer than others an so will scratch and dent more easily.

Good luck!


This is a really good idea for keeping the cost down. Another option is to see if there are any salvage places near you. In the SF Bay Area we have a few different housing salvage companies that sell fixtures, wood flooring, bricks, etc.


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## languid_kitty (Mar 15, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alaskanteach* 
My old boss installed his own hardwood floors with scrap.. a little of this type, a little of that.. in the end it looked really cool (and I was so skeptical at first!) Reminded me of a quilt. He just had to check that each row of wood were the same measurements.

My new house doesn't give me hardwood options, but I have chosen a vinyl floor for the first floor. No carpet at all. Plus the layer they put underneath will be perfect for when I can afford bamboo later.

Make sure you do a very realistic scratch test with a sample of the exact kind and color of bamboo you want to get. I'll be honest that we're pretty disappointed with our bamboo floors. We thought it would be much harder, but it dents and scratches pretty easily. Turns out that the production process required for making the darker bamboo softens it to an extent.


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