Hardwood Flooring vs. Carpet: Pros and Cons
Hardwood flooring and carpet are both great options for floors. Each however does have it's pros and cons.
Carpet used to be the most popular floor covering around, although it's always had it’s problems. Dirt and dust get trapped in carpet, which makes it difficult to clean, and can aggravate people’s allergies over time.
It can also be difficult to get the carpet colors you want, as light colors get dirty, and can get stained very easily. This in turn causes people to use expensive cleaning products that may not even work. There is also an environment impact to these cleaning products.
Hardwood flooring solves all these problems. It can be light-colored while remaining easy to clean, as there is no way for stains or dirt to get attached to it. Wood floors also tend to have interesting natural patterns, which are usually much better than the flowery or swirly-patterned carpets they replace. Also hardwood, as opposed to softwood, will not dent or scratch if heavy objects are dropped or placed on it.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that hardwood flooring doesn’t have problems of its own. To begin with, it is often expensive, as natural materials must be used instead of synthetic ones. It also tends to take longer to install, as it must be installed in strips instead of being cut to size and laid all at once as carpet can be.
Wood floor can lose also its shine over time, making it dull in appearance, yet at the same time stays slippery, making it dangerous to walk on in socks.
For most people, though, the advantages of wood floor over other kinds of flooring outweigh the disadvantages. If you’re thinking of getting hardwood flooring, it is usually best to get the highest quality floor you can afford. If you’re not convinced of the value you’ll be getting for your money, have a walk around in a house that has cheap wood flooring compared to one that has gone to some extra expensive: the worst wood floors are little better than laminate, while the best ones can be truly excellent.
