whats better for my floor?

Hey ya sweet cheeks,

There are benefits and drawbacks of all flooring surfaces. The choice will usually be made by the style and feel of the room, traffic level of the home (how many people, pets?), what grade of flooring is expected in your market of real estate(starter home, condo, middle, or high end), wet or dry area, cost, and the length of time the floor will be expected to last prior to replacement.

The basics:

Carpet: Range $2.00 - $12.00 installed with pad.

Advantages: Comfortable, warm and soft underfoot, relatively inexpensive, keeps dirt and dust at floor level, endless color, style choices, muffles sound, just run a vacuum twice a week(depending on use), and easy to maintain and repair.

Drawbacks: Can mat down at lower densities, prone to growing mold in wet areas, larger spills tend to seep into the pad, and requires professional cleaning at least every 2 years to rejuvinate the fibers and remove dust, dirt and soil.

Areas good for use: Bedroom, living room, stairs, lighter traffic areas.

Wood: $9.00 - $17.00 installed with trim.

Advantages: Preferred flooring surface in homes for centuries, Permanent flooring surface (the wear layer surface can sanded and re-applied), beautiful, softer than tile, neutral back drop for your existing furnishings, durable, scratch resistant, and easy to clean and install.

Drawbacks: All hardwood will ding, dent, and scratch, area rugs and walk off mats will be needed for hallways and entrances to prevent wear through, scratching and to prevent the floor from getting wet, wood and water do not mix, and surface must be kept free from debris to prevent premature wear (use a hard surface vacuum without a beater bar and a spray hardwood cleaner with a terry cloth mop head to clean once per week)

Areas to be used: Anywhere, except bathrooms, laundry rooms and kitchens that are abused.

Tile: $12.00 - $20.00 completely installed

Advantages: 30-50 year lifespan, great for wet areas it doesn't absorb water, doesn't scratch or stain, beautiful, cool, and easy to clean and maintain.

Drawbacks: expensive and difficult installation professional installation highly recommended (subfloor prep), cold underfoot, area rugs will be needed, grout must be cleaned and sealed every 1-5 years, (it is porous and will stain) can be slippery depending upon the surface texture, tile and grout can crack if not properly installed, dropping heavy items can crack tile, and anything dropped will break upon impact with tile.

Areas to use: Kitchen with a high traffic level, foyer, halls and bathrooms.

Tell me more about the areas in the home to be covered to receive more specific recommendations.

Good luck with your flooring project,

Jen

My husband is in the flooring industry, subcontractor to large builders. As they value it, hardwood is the premium upgrade, even above tile. BUT, it depends on your use and tastes.

Wood = great, especially if sand-in-place is installed and there is a solid coat of polyurethane on top of it. There are many different types of wood, maple, oak, pine, etc. Pine is a very soft wood and marks / dents very easily, but that's one of the things many like about it. It gets a distressed, natural and somewhat rustic look. Oak is hard, as is maple. Maple is a lighter wood w/ less grain and character. One of the things about wood floors that many don't consider, however, is the care. You can't just grab a bucket of whatever cleaner is on hand and use it on the floor. Don't listen to anyone who tells you to use vinegar to clean them. Vinegar is caustic and will strip the finish (eventually, not immediately). As a Realtor I can tell you that there is nothing like walking into a house w/ hardwood floors. Gives a rich, warm feeling.

Tile = Good. Main drawbacks are very hard and cold on the feet. Easy to care for as long as porcelain or creamic. Marble and granite tiles need more caution. The uneven surface due to the grout lines can be annoying when trying to do a quick sweep to clean up. Unless you want constant clean up, don't go w/ a shiny tile. Tile is good in that if there is something on the floor you can grab whatever is closest to clean it up. Glass cleaner, Mr. Clean, vinegar, whatever, it doesn't matter.

Carpet = YUCK!!! Carpet is a good floor covering for people who can't afford to do tile or hardwood w/ area rugs. I am a Realtor, and I call carpet the petri dish of the house. Think of your bathroom and kitchen floors. Think of all the stuff that gets on those floors. All the nastiness that comes in your house off of your shoes, etc. Now, why don't you notice this on carpet? Because it is trapped, festering into disease. YUCK!! Can you tell that I don't have a high opinion of wall-to-wall carpeting?

Sheet vinyl = Good. But make sure if you go this route to get a higher grade vinyl. These you can't tell aren't tile usually, if properly installed. They are comletely waterproof and very easy to clean. As w/ tile, stay away from anything w/ a shiny finish. Also do not suggest one that has cushioning to it. These scratch, dent and tear too easily.

Hope this helps.

Wood can scratch, but it usually pretty durable, and superficial scratcthes add to the character.

Tile has grout. Get grout that is dirt-colored, NEVER white!!!! Tiles can be made form marble or ceramic to fit your budget. Nice designs can be done in them, too.

Carpet softens noise, is nice to walkon, but collects dust and dirt underneath. Usually durable. Probably the cheapest way to cover a floor, but good quality carpet looks nice for a long while.

Just decide what the room will be used for, what your budget is, if it's rental property, or how long you plan to say in that house.

Will great big dogs and high heels be walkingon it daily? If so, consider tile.

No kids? Carpet or wood.

Want it to hide dirt? Allergic to dust? go for wood.

Want a warm feeling? Carpet it good.

My favorite product for the kitchen is cork. They look more like wood. I would check with a floor installer as to how to clean it though, since I don't know and haven't done the research yet. It is something that I want though.

Why? It is "soft" on the feet unlike tile. If you drop glass on it, chances are it won't shatter into tiny pieces, if at all.

I would stay away from carpet.

Bamboo. It is an environmentally sound alternative to wood and is actually harder than regular wood and cheaper to boot. I have oak in my house and my daughter has bamboo throughout hers, I wish I had gone with the bamboo! It has a beautiful finish and is very easy to take care of as well. i don't care for carpet due to the allergens and difficulty of cleaning.. I have tile in my kitchen. It is a great material but rather cold to use throughout the house

to me actually i think that linoleum is good, why? is because you can easily clean the mess and disinfect the area real good. because you dont have to worry about anything soaking in a hard wood floor. but you might be able to put a training pad over a bigger peace of plastic just say 6 inches each side wider then the pad. so that if the pet misses the pad hopefully he or she hit the plastic. when i went away from home i put my puppy in a doggy kennal with enough space for his comfort with pads laying in it thats the way incase of an accident its was in one small area instead of all around in one room of the floor.

A carpet gets dirty & is unhygienic, a wood floor can get creaky over time, but good tiles will last and look good.

make a list of what you like best/least about each type of floor ( a pro vs. cons list)

see if this narrows it down.

Carpet is warmer and cozy, but thinking of your lifesyle, how well do you think it will hold up? (Do you have kids, pets...etc)

Tile is very versatile, lots of colors, patterns, layout designs....it is also easy to clean and practically indestructable.

Wood is gorgeous and rich, but there again think of how well they will hold up.

I have wood and tile, I love them both, but they tend to be cold and the house felt hollow. We ended up buying area rugs for our most lived in rooms.

depends on what kind of sub floor you got kiddo. tile needs a strong floor, carpet is bad for people with allergys, wood is cold

I love my hard wood floor in my kitchen BUT am continually shocked by all the dents it gets anytime I drop something on it :(