It's so cold and antiseptic. I'd rather have a warm carpet. I don't know...maybe it's just me.
Also it's quieter if you live in a two floor house if the upstairs has hardwood flooring the noise in the downstairs will be horrible.
Hardwood looks better, is easier to keep clean, didn't holds allergens, looks richer and warm etc etc.....I could go on and on but one big thing is trends right are tile or hardwoods. Carpet is so 1980's-90's
shareHardwood looks better, is easier to keep clean, didn't holds allergens, looks richer and warm etc etc.....I could go on and on but one big thing is trends right are tile or hardwoods. Carpet is so 1980's-90's
Or, you vacuum the rugs once a week, and once a year have them sent out to be cleaned... That's what I do.
EMOTICONS ARE BACK! YAY!
Hardwoods are easier to keep clean, don't hold allergens, look richer and warm, etc etc I could go on and on but the biggest thing is its on trend right now. Carpet is so 1980's-90's
shareI hate hardwood floors. Give me carpet instead! Unfortunately, I have a house full of hardwood that I can't afford to carpet. They are not necessarily easier to keep clean. Maybe they are if you don't have shedding pets who create puffs of fur blowing through the rooms like sagebrush. Or cats who are not polite enough to brush the litter off their feet before walking all over the floors.
Having to vacuum hardwood is very precise since each and every bit of dirt shows up easily. Carpet is much more forgiving. You get a decent vacuum and you're all set with a quick swipe of the room. Even using a carpet cleaner isn't as much work as it used to be. Or as much work as vacuuming and mopping constantly.
Can you "Mop" a carpet and get in clean in about 20 minutes? Do you just vacuum yourself to get clean? No you don't because if you did you would be covered in dirt and smell within a weeks time. Your perception that hardwood/tile is harder to keep clean is true to the extent that all the stuff you clean off the hardwood every few days gets trapped in in a carpet. Anyone can just run a vacuum over carpet, that doesn't mean it is clean, it just "look's" that way. You can do the same with hardwood. Takes the same amount of time to do it. And after mopping, it IS clean. You would have to rent a carpet cleaner and spend hours cleaning carpet when just 20 minutes can get your hardwood/tile clean. I vote Hardwood or tile ANYDAY over nasty germ catching dirt filled carpet.
shareI have never heard of anyone who has actually gotten sick from a germy carpet, though. I suppose someone who is allergic to dust or something like that might have a problem, but I'm pretty old and don't know of anyone whose illness was caused by carpets. My sister slipped on our hardwood floors when she wore her leather-soled shoes, though. They both have advantages and disadvantages.
shareThe simple answer is Hardwood Lasts longer.
Carpet require a lot more upkeep and will slowly fade/dirty over the years regardless or cleaning. In addition to lifespan, carpet just cost more than then many flooring options to start with. Hence carpets are a thing of the past.
Today it would be more appropriate to have a hardwood/laminate floor with a large area rug in place of the carpet feel.... as others have said, carpets are 80s/90s.
The simple answer is Hardwood Lasts longer.
My husband has allergies and he always gets sick in carpeted homes. It's not just that it holds onto allergens, but that the carpet itself is made of allergens.
One flew east, one flew west. One flew over the cuckoo's nest.
As someone with severe allergies to dust and pollen's, who has grown up and live in a house with carpets, I can say most of this post is BS. All it takes it regular vacuuming. Same as it would with hardwood.
"If anyone boos you off stage, that is simply applause from ghosts." ~Sharon Needles
I have heard of carpets causing illness by trapping allergens, dust, dirt, and mold. If the carpet gets permeated with water, it --and especially the backing underneath--can develop mold. Not a pleasant experience. I have also slipped and tripped on carpeted floors. Carpets when new are prone to off-gassing. Also not pleasant.
Hardwoods are much easier to keep clean. I'm happy I'll never have to shampoo carpets again. Carpets are supposed to be replaced every 6-10 years. Hardwood floors can last 100 years, if properly maintained. You can dust mop them if you don't wish to vacuum.
I'll get back to you after I've consulted with Satan.
The thing is that now a day ppl are using the laminate and you CAN'T mop them. Get a tiny splash of water on them and they are ruined. So ya kind of pointless if you ask me...
shareThe problem with carpet is you can't actually see if it's really clean or not. That quick swipe may not be enough but it may seem clean. I am willing to bet you have pet hair all in the fibers of your carpets even after a quick swipe. Also, if you spill, it seeps through. Even if you have it professionally cleaned, nothing will be able to get up what has soaked through. That is just nasty to me. Even the though makes me shudder. All that stuff going on that you can't even see.
One flew east, one flew west. One flew over the cuckoo's nest.
I personally prefer hardwood with nice area rugs. However, if the only options are carpeting and a laminate wood floor, I prefer carpeting.
http://www.christianhumanist.org/chb/
While what you're saying is absolutely true, carpet is prettier and warmer, it's also incredibly hard to keep "looking new" and tends to reduce the re-sale of the house when the time comes.
We have three dogs and after six years in our "new" house, we had to take out roughly half our carpeting because it was in such bad shape. Also, two of the three dogs are major shedders, so keeping the carpet looking good was getting to be too much of a challenge.
We changed to wood laminate so cleaning took an hour, rather than a weekend.
Drew and Jonathon do a good job of helping people do what's best for not just the buyers but eventual buyers, in the future. Hardwood sells, no doubt about it.
"Posters entering a discussion for the purpose of attacking the others are quickly ignored."
Hardwood floors are the new trend these days, just like granite counter tops and stainless appliances. Within 10 years, I'm sure something else will be the "it" item to must have. Who knows, maybe in the future people will be wondering why a previous owner scraped off a perfectly good popcorn ceiling.
shareI know what you mean. There was a time mirrors on an entire wall was considered a big deal. The hatred for popcorn ceilings eludes me, though. I seem to recall these were done as a soundproofing device, and to receive SO much angst...
I get mightily confused when people shudder and say, "I HATE that popcorn ceiling!" Why? What's wrong with it? It's a ceiling! How much time do you really spend looking at it? (We've been in our house since 2006 and I had to look at my ceiling just now to know what kind it was.)
I'm so tired of seeing granite countertops on these shows, it's not even funny. If everyone's doing it, how original can it be? We're putting a new island in our kitchen and we're doing a butcher block top on it.
"Posters entering a discussion for the purpose of attacking the others are quickly ignored."
I think the preference for hardwood floors may be age-related. My husband and I are both in our late 60's and grew up with hardwood floors. They were cold (uninsulated houses and inefficient furnaces in the 50's and even 60's), noisy to walk on, and not scratch resistant. When both of our parents could afford carpeting, they bought it to cover the wood. When we built our home, we didn't even discuss the flooring: it was vinyl in the kitchen and baths (easy to care for) and carpet everywhere else.
I agree about the distaste for popcorn ceiling and the strange fascination with granite and stainless steel appliances. "Gut this kitchen!" "Scrape those ceilings!" are quick reactions.
I have granite in the flat I rent in San Francisco. I have Corian in the house I still own in Austin. Granite is shiny and pretty. But it is next to impossible to get water of them, the stuff just moves around. So, I prefer a composite material or a quartz that does not have a super shiny surface. As to stainless steel appliances, I have had both. The stainless does not cook better. And, I am in awe that those on tight budgets, put their money towards massive, 10,000-15,000 Viking/Thermadore ranges. You can get really nice stainless steel ranges, fridges, and other appliances without spending as much as new car.
You know the sound that Goofy makes when he falls? That's my quote.
If you have pets, hardwood makes more sense. My dog totally destroyed my carpet when she became incontinent, so much easier to clean up a hardwood floor than a carpet.
shareCarpets are gross smelly and look cheap. Who would want carpets all over their house? Only people who don't know about style!
You are right. However for some reason in the 90's all the rich people had carpet and tile everywhere. I lived on Long Island (which could be why) and all my nouveau rich friends had no hardwood. Yet my parent's middle class house did. It was weird.
The old rich (like those in the Hamptons) did have hardwood but they were the real rich, for generations, and had more class.
We live by the Sun, we feel by the Moon
I have granite countertops and I love them. But I didn't have them sealed and shiny. Mine are burnished, so they have a leathery feel to them and are very easy to clean. You don't HAVE to have them sealed and polished to shine.
I don't like stainless steel appliances either, which is why I had my fridge and freezer paneled to match my cabinets (and somehow my designer found door handles that perfectly matched the handles for my drawers. I'm still not sure where she found them, but I'm grateful she did!), and I did the same thing with my dishwasher. I also had my dishwasher elevated to bar height so I wouldn't have to bend over so far, as I have a bad back, and I was able to have a drawer installed underneath the dishwasher, and I store placemats and things in it.
EMOTICONS ARE BACK! YAY!
I really hate granite. I'm sure in some ways it's very practical, but it's so ugly to me. I'm also totally over the mini tile backsplashes everyone wants these days.
One flew east, one flew west. One flew over the cuckoo's nest.
I grew up with popcorn ceilings, and I've always disliked them. (I love popcorn, and I love ceilings, but the 2 just don't go together :o)
They get kind of nasty - the nooks & crannies collect dust and spiderwebs and stuff, and they are hard to clean. When you do try to dust or vacuum up there, little debris falls on the floor and furniture, and the whole thing turns into a fiasco. If you get a water stain on them, forget it - it's there forever unless you scrape and re-pop it, and nobody ever does that.
Plus, they contained asbestos at one time, which pretty much ruined their reputation as a decor feature.
When I was a little tyke, I did kind of enjoy looking at the ceiling once in a while as I was falling asleep - I liked looking for all the patterns. That's about the only good thing I have to say about them.
Popcorn ceilings are cheap and dirty looking. That is why a lot of people do not like them.
And ceilings add a lot to a room when done properly.
I guess I'm just weird. I mean, I know what you're saying, but I had to laugh at your question about "How much time do you really spend looking at it?" not because I thought your question was funny, but because I do periodically just look up and stare at my ceilings from time to time, especially if I'm in the living room in my reclining chair, lol. And I do know that if I was staring up at a popcorn ceiling, I wouldn't like it much.
I chose granite countertops for my kitchen counters because I like granite, not because it's fashionable. I chose a very unique looking granite, too. I've never seen anything like the pattern I have before or since. It's not necessarily about the granite, but about the pattern. I think what people are getting sick of about granite on these shows is that people are choosing "common" patterns, but if you go to granite companies, you can find some really amazing patterns that are not run of the mill. And I've said this in another thread, but people should consider looking in the boneyard at granite places, not just in the shops. Again, you can find some amazing stuff at reasonable prices by just taking some time and searching.
EMOTICONS ARE BACK! YAY!
New trend? My parents built their house almost 30 years ago, and the downstairs is almost all hardwood.
shareI grew up in the 1970s and my parents insisted on hardwood floors wherever we lived. They kind of drilled it into me not to like wall to wall carpet. I've realized since then that their style was full-on Mid Century Modern, and apart from the floors I am not that fond of this aesthetic. The hardwood floor preference did stick, though. We also always had "open concept" style in each of the four houses where I lived as a child. They loved everything open, even having the downstairs open to the second floor with a sort of free floating staircase in the middle. They also liked sliding glass doors and walls of windows, as well as the natural, weathered look for the shingles on the house.
shareI prefer carpet but then again I'm a bit of a neat freak and I don't own dogs. its very easy to keep carpet clean without pet hair, urine and poo dirtying it up all the time. Carpet also makes a home much quieter.
Hardwood floors are fine but you still need accent rugs and I hate tripping over them.
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I much prefer hardwood. It looks better and more polished, they are easier to clean, and my husband is a walking allergy and carpets tend to exacerbate that. Love hardwoods.
One flew east, one flew west. One flew over the cuckoo's nest.
I agree, hardwood is best. I can't imagine anyone who has dogs or cats wanting a carpeted house.
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