For those who are looking to renovate or remodel their home, one of the biggest choices that you’ll need to make is the material of your flooring. Those with small children or pets may lean towards installing carpet. However, that might not be the best idea. This article will explain the benefits of hardwood flooring over carpet.
No More Stains
People that have kids or pets are always worried about stains on their flooring. Sometimes it’s due to a spilled drink and other times it may be due to a leaky diaper. Carpet can soak up those messes right into its fibers. You can clean and clean until you’re blue in the face. Is it really clean though? If it’s not, your children are still walking all over it. Worse, they’re dropping their toys on it and then placing those toys in their mouth. Essentially, stained carpets are a biohazard.
Hardwood flooring can easily be treated to prevent stains from occurring in the first place. There are plenty of coats that can be applied to the wood that will literally repel the liquid that might otherwise leave a mark. This makes cleaning the mess a lot easier. You also won’t have to worry about ripping up the wooden floors and replacing them when it comes time to move due to patches of stains. For families who have children, having a hardwood floor just makes sense. No one wants their flooring to be covered in stains.
Even those with pets or without any children can benefit from having stain-resistant floors. Accidents can happen to anyone. Your flooring should be able to handle whatever life throws your way. Not only is stained carpets embarrassing for when you have guests over but it also can make a potential–and eventual–buyer of your home less enthused about purchasing it.
Get rid of the potential for stains in the first place by installing stain-resistant hardwood floors.
Generally Easier To Clean
For parents, you know that your time is limited. You have work and then you have to take care of your child. The latter can often feel like a full-time job in itself. So, when messes do occur you may not feel immediately compelled to clean it up. You’re tired. The last thing you want is to pull out a heavy vacuum cleaner and haul it around. Carpets also need to be regularly soaked and deep-washed in order to be considered fully clean.
Who has time for that? A hardwood floor allows you to free up your time. With a hardwood floor, all you need to do to keep it clean is to regularly sweep and mop it. This can easily be done on a weekend. Sometimes you may need to re-treat the wood in order to keep it stain-resistant, but otherwise? A quick sweep and you’re able to enjoy the rest of your day. Imagine what else you could be doing with that time.
For exhausted parents, having low-maintenance flooring like hardwood floors cannot be beaten. You need to do everything you can to give yourself some “you” time. Hardwood floors can help give you that time.
Those without children are just as busy. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your free-time to a long cleaning process that carpets require. The amount of weekly maintenance that a carpet requires compared to hardwood floors is outstanding. Ditch the carpet and stop torturing yourself with long-winded chores.
Abrasion-Resistant
Besides being stain-resistant, hardwood floors can also be treated which will allow them to be scratch-resistant. With the heavy traffic that floors regularly see, you need a type of material that can stand up to the challenge. For those with children, you especially need something that can hold its own against their rough play. Children drop things onto the floor all of the time. In some cases, these objects may shatter or dent the flooring. For those with carpet, it can be easy for children to pull the fibers out of it. Your carpet may look like it’s balding.
Adults can cause damage of their own, too. Even something as simple as moving a piece of furniture can cause a scratch on non-abrasion-resistant flooring. For carpet, the fibers can also be ripped out of place. Hardwood floors provide a durable material that can last a homeowner for years.
You need flooring that can handle its own. That’s what hardwood flooring offers. Both children and adults can drop heavy objects on the wood without it damaging the floor.
Healthier
One aspect of flooring that people typically don’t consider is its impact on the health of the home. Your carpet may actually be exacerbating your allergies. The fibers in the carpet can trap dust, pollen, and other allergens. You can typically cut down on the amount of them with a thorough cleaning, but who really has time to do that?
Hardwood floors can cut down on the number of allergens and bacteria in your home. Without those fibers, dust and allergens have a difficult time holding on to the material. It’s far easier to sweep and mop them away on a hardwood floor.
Besides allergens, carpet can also be a breeding ground for bacteria. When someone tracks a pollutant into the home, that pollutant has a much easier time being soaked into carpet than it does a harder material like wood. Vacuuming the carpet won’t solve the problem either. Only a deep clean will remove bacteria. That’s something you can easily do with hardwood floors.
Overall, hardwood floors take the mystery of what else might be living in your carpets out of the equation. It can improve the air quality of your home and everyone’s overall health.
Always On-Trend
Carpet typically changes with the decades. Back in the 1970s, shag carpet was all the rage. These days, the first sign of shag carpet is enough to turn a homeowner’s stomach. It doesn’t stand the test of time. Hardwood floors do. It’s why floors dating back to the 18th century invoke an excited feeling whenever people discover original hardwood floors in their home. There’s something timeless about hardwood that transcends all trends. There will always be a place for hardwood floors in interior design.
The best thing about wood is that it never goes out of style. It can also be sanded down and restained to your liking, or even painted.
Choose The Right Flooring For Your Family
Whether you have children, pets, or you just live with yourself or a partner, hardwood floors are a great option to consider. They are far easier to clean than carpets. They are both stain-resistant and abrasion-resistant. Their durable material allows them to be used for decades if not centuries. For those who suffer from allergies, hardwood floors can remove allergen-collecting carpet and limit a person’s suffering. Clearly, hardwood floors have a number of benefits over carpets.
If you want to know more about hardwood flooring or you want to get a quote on your flooring project, contact Cascade Flooring Pros or call (971) 563-3204.