Is carpeting passe?

[petek]

I'm in a conundrum. Our living room wall to wall needs replacing badly and I was all set to have laminate installed until the estimator arrived today. A few expensive hitches if I do want to go with laminate. One is the foyer is hardwood with the wood going the opposite direction of what you would want transitioning into the livingroom so that would have to come out. Secondly the 4 stairs up to that foyer landing are the same hardwood so those would have to go. I was thinking maybe they could find a matching laminate so at least the stairs could stay and not be redone. It's still possible as it's early yet in my determining process but expensive NOW.. the carpet guy said "why don't you just replace the carpet with a new carpeting" and that got me thinking.. One helluva lot cheaper and there is definitely a lot of nice carpeting out there. He said wall to wall still sells just over 50% of the total flooring market which includes laminates, vinyl and hardwood/tile.
So now I'm dithering on just replacing the actual carpet in the livingroom. Plus I'd still get to vacuum with all my vacuums a lot more.

 

[swestoyz]

Pete: go cork!

 

[mattl]

Tough call.

P3ersoanlly, I think wall-wall makes a space look bigger, how big is your room? I take it you are not doing it yourself.

Laminate is very easy to install. Hardwood floors are pretty easy too. I did about 1000 sq.ft foyer, kitchen and dining area in a house I redid a few years back. I picked the material up on Ebay for about $1.89sq.ft.. It's solid maple, pre-finished 5/8". If you have a decent chop/miter saw and you can get a floor nailer cheap at Harbor Freight. Just depends on how handy you are. I enjoy doing stuff like that so it's almost fun...

Don't know how costs are in Canada, but here Home Depot runs $99 installs from time to time. In the same house I had 220sq. yds of carpet installed for $99, great deal.

 

[hydralique]

Nothing wrong with good carpet . . .

There has definately been a trend away from carpet for some time, especially among pet owners, but as pointed out there is still a lot of carpet out there. Choose what you like and what suits your budget.

If you go for new hardwood be very careful about the installation. It isn't hard to install but poor installations may eventually ruin the wood and have to be redone at great expense, often years after the initial installation when the warranty has expired. I'd recommend both gluing and nailing; nailing alone can cause squeeky flooring after a few years. Is your house on a slab or raised foundation? If it's on a slab and has always had carpet you'll need to install good plywood over a vapor barrier to provide a quality surface for the wood. And always, always get the installer to perform a moisture test - if they don't and the floor warps or buckles the manufacturer will generally not honor the warranty.

Laminate is pretty similar to wood, but cheaper and more forgiving in some respects. Some people (like my mother) have both but prefer the laminate as it's easier to clean.

 

[spankomatic]

I like a combination of both. Non carpet flooring for high traffic areas such as entry and hallways. Those places in the house where you start getting the "trail" in the carpeting.

CARPET: Is soft and quiet. Makes a home "feel" more comfortable and cozy. Is insulating and helps with energy bills. Cleaning is primarly the use of a vacuum cleaner (no dust mop or wet mop). Down side of carpet is it retains odors.I agree with Matt that carpet makes a room look bigger.

NON-CARPET: Is hard and noisy. Makes the house feel cold and rigid. Makes the everything in the house "echo". You "hear" everyone walking around the house. Cleaning is dust mop and wet mop. (I would rather vacuum). No odors,easier spill clean up. Probably a little better for people with allergies.

Pick what YOU like for your home and life style. Who cares if it is "Passe"

 

[spankomatic]

Duplex I lived in with Cork floors.

 

[spankomatic]

Stained - ruined Cork floor after dishwasher flooded...

 

[spankomatic]

Bad dishwasher!

 

[rayjay]

I had all my carpeting in the living room , dining room and stairs removed and the wood floors re-done. When remodeling the kitchen, they installed a new wood floor, stained it to match the adjoing floors. It was the best decision I ever made. With wood floors, you can re-surface every 10 or more years. Once laminate wood gets ruined, it cannot be repaired. This level stays so much cleaner and dust free and the wood is so nice to look at. We will eventually get a nice area rud for the living room and a runner up the middle of the stairs. But the dining room, kitchen and hall will just show the beauty of the wood. Carpeting is nice, but a chore to keep clean, meaning shampooing spot cleaning etc. The wood floors are vacumned and are wiped down with a damp towel. Much cleaner than carpeting.

 

[spankomatic]

Tile floors I had in one house. Very cold and noisy. Might be kinda neat to have if I lived in Palm Springs....

 

[foraloysius]

Overhere in the Netherlands carpet is definitely passé. In newer houses you rarely see carpet in the livingroom. Only now and then in bedrooms, but because of my allergies carpet is a big no in the bedroom.

Laminated floors are in vogue, hardwood floors are even more fashionable. Especially oak floors that are oiled without the shiny look of a traditional hardwood floor like in this picture.

 

[foraloysius]

Another fashionable thing overhere in the Netherlands seems to be dark grey tiles. Here's an example.

 

[foraloysius]

If you want to combine your already existing hardwood floors with laminated in the other areas it might be an idea to get a contrasting color with perhaps an ornamental line in the same color as the hardwood floor you already have. That is easier than to find an exact matching color, that will probably never be the same.

 

[brisnat81]

Carpet is still big here, although more so in Bedrooms than major traffic areas.

We replaced our 15yo carpet about 5 years ago. We went with a dark brown, short pile commercial carpet and it still looks as good as the day it was installed, even on the stairs. Ours has a definite North south pile, with clusters of small squares sunk into the pile. We went 100% wool, with a 10 year warranty and other than some initial pilling, we havent have an issue.

With Carpet Underlay is very important, the cheapest underlay here was about $10 per linear meter, we spent almost $30 per linear meter and 5 years on, the carpet still is soft and springy to walk on, even in the high traffic areas.

 

[toggleswitch2]

I'd say avoid cheap-looking laminates altogether (there ARE some good ones! ) in favor of real (be they ever so thin) hardwood floors.

Why can't an edging strip simply be put in where the direction of the wood changes? I didn't catch if there is a change in the depth of the height of the two floor where they meet.

With aninmals in the house, a rug or wall-to-wall carpeting is definitely dirtier and "stores" dirt. But tile or hard surfaces nned to be vacuumed and mopped at least once or twice a week with animals so you don't get "dust-bunnies"

I would think in a cold climate carpeting is a definitly a plus and the sound insulating qualites can't hurt either. I'm not one for slippers, so I do like a plush floor.

Done tastefully, all is gorgeous. Trendy is silly as we mature. Classics that can be updated with accessories makes sense!

 

[tlee618]

Pete, I would stick with the carpet. Like all things, they come and go but carpet has seemed to stand the test of time. Something about the warmer look too as far as I am concerned.

 

[norgeway]

carpet!!

To me, a vacuum is always easier than a mop,also I HATE to put my feet on a old cold floor,I want carpet everywhere,even the kitchen!

 

[toggleswitch2]

LOL support vacumland.... buy carpeting!

 

[countryguy]

I would stick with carpet also. It is a lot warmer on the feet during the winter time as well as being quieter. I have laminate in my kitchen and sitting room and it is a pain in the you know what. It shows every speck of dust, dirt, hair, etc. I am constantly mopping and washing it. I would prefer to vacuum rather than mop. My laminate is dark so I think it wouldn't be quite so bad with a light laminate but the same problems are there none the less. A friend just built a new home and installed an oak coloured laminate everywhere upstairs and downstairs. She is constantly washing the floors because it shows dust, foot prints, etc.

Gary

 

[ronhic]

I agree with Nathan...

....carpet here is still big business....and the colder the location, the more of a house people tend to have carpeted.

It is much warmer underfoot when cold outside than anything else unless you have underfloor heating or retro fit it....

Carpet also acts as a sound absorber....so your home will suddenly go from 'quiet' to 'echoy and noisy'....least that is my experience.

In my experience it also pays to buy the best quality carpet AND good underlay. In fact, if you have to skimp somewhere, skimp on the carpet and buy the absolute BEST underlay you can.

The carpet in our house is showing signs of wear (shadows rather than threadbare) infront of doors and some passage areas, but nothing like you would expect 30yr old carpet to do...we recently had it restretched and the chap who did it has been a carpet layer for over 30yrs. He commented that 'this was very expensive carpet when new and they have used the best underlay you could get which is why it has lasted so well'...when I asked how expensive exactly....he felt that it would cost upwards of AUD$500 per lineal metre today...

....it is wool and we still get fluff off it when we vacuum...and it isn't going anywhere when you think we would need nearly 80L/metres to redo the whole house.....

 

[vacbear58]

And my twopence worth

Pete

Here in the UK laminate is also popular in living areas at least. It can be cheap to buy, is fairly simple to install and is hardwearing.

There are several considerations, some of which are mentioned above, such as allergies & pets, although we seemed to manage with both here for many years. But there are some other points:

Do you own your home? If not then the lowest cost option may be appropriate given that you may be obliged to move on and leave it behind at some point.

Is it a light room or dark? If light then the options are many but if quite dark (like my living room) then, in order to mazimise natural light, you may go for a light coloured flooring of whatever kind.

Is there a "traffic" pathway through your living room from one part of the house to the other. If so then laminate or hardwood may be the best option as it will be much easier to keep clean, even with the variety of efficient carpet shampooers there are these days.

Is it more of a day or evening room. If evening then you may choose carpet for a cosier feeling, where it may not be so important.

Or be like me and have both, laminate with an area rug in the seating area. I have the problem that I have a fairly small and dark living room that has the main traffic flow through it, so mine is laminated. Athough the laminate is light to mid brown I still think it makes the room a bit dark. The area rug is plain, in a mid yellow colour. I have no pets or breathing allergies so if I could, after 15 yrs or so of laminate, I would have carpet as I use the room mostly at night (I am at work during the day) as it is cosier. When the carpet gets grubby or spotted my shampooer brings it up like new with little effort. And if you collect upright vacuums, is is an oppertunity to use them more, one which I rather miss.

Al

 

[vacbear58]

By the way ...

The layout with the four stairs sounds lovely, I wish I could have a set up like that
Al

 

[petek]

Decisions decisions

Thanks for all those comments...I hit a couple of flooring stores this afternoon and the selection is mind-boggling in carpet. I asked the salelady which one they had would be the absolute most stain resistant (having two severely shedding black dogs) and she pointed me to a line by Krause (never heard of b4) which is guaranteed to be stain REPELLENT for 10 years, not resistant, repellant. It's 20% nylon and 80 something new. Installed with a really top underlay for $4.29 sq ft (about $4 US) give or take.
So off I go to store #2, not a disco carpet store either. I mention about getting one 100% stain repellant and he says there no such thing. I said nothing about the brand at the other store since #2 didn't sell Kraus.
Anyways he showed me another stain resistant (not repellant) one which unlike the Krause comes in 15 foot widths meaning I'd have no seams at all.

I'm sort of leaning towards the carpet because now for about the same price as just having laminate installed I could do the stairway up to the bedrooms and that hallway up there as well because it's starting to look dowdy now as well and shows all the dog hair ..

Our kitchen and diningroom are 12" white porcelain I think tiles, very cold I find and the family room, laundry room is 12 inch ceramic. Two bedrooms upstairs are the original 1958 hardwood and the 3rd bedroom is carpet. The basement rek room is a beige berber and Pip did a number or two on their when he was a pup and I've tried everything imagineable and while most probably woulnd't notice I see it.. Same with the beige wall to wall in the living room..

 

[petek]

Btw here is why I really really need to replace the carpet.. Pip damage. He did this when he was younger so I hope he's over that stage.. LOL
I've been covering it with a chair until such time as he's over it.
The other problem with this carpet is that it shows every black hair that falls off them and it falls off them in clumps. Even I can't keep up with the vacuuming and how many vacuums are in this house

 

[petek]

Sorry Ben,, cork would just get damaged with these dogs and their claws.

Here's looking from the living room over to the "hallway" at the top of the 4 stairs from the front door.. You can see the ceramic tile down there. All this would have to come up if I want to go laminate in the livingroom, or have two completely different types of "wood" floor look which I don't want.

 

[petek]

Looking in from that hallway into the livingroom.. too much beige. If I do go with the carpet I think I'm going to go somewhat darker to hide that hair. You can see too where Pip did a little chewing along the transition of the hardwood to carpet.

The other thing is that all that furniture and antique stuff, other than my organ is outta here as well as the wedding cake fireplace mantle. I really want to get it more contemporary modern

 

[whirlcool]

If you have a room with "noisy" hard surface flooring, just pick out a 36x46" piece of fabric and mount it on a frame and hang it on a wall in the noisy room. It greatly reduces the echo. You can find fabric with a pleasing design at any fabric store.
We did this in our last house that had flagstone flooring in the den. It greatly quieted the room down. Made it much less echoy.

 

[circlew]

Pete, have you thought about Linoleum? The real stuff, not vinyl. I'm planning on putting it in my bedroom, as well as the kitchen. It comes in a multitude of colors (Armstrong alone has about 100), mostly marbelized, so wouldn't show dirt easily. Not sure how it would do with the dog claws, but it's durable as it's often used in school and hospitals.

I'm not going to have much carpet in my house when it's done. The living room, hall and stairs to basement will be it. Don't want anything but area rug in bedroom because of allergies. Dining room and other bedroom have hardwood, that will get refinished. Baths probably ceramic tile. Carpet sure does come in a lot of choices; what they show at Home Depot and such is just the tip of the iceberg. The carpet store I went to the other day has shelves of sample binders, 6' high and a total of about 40' long. I probably looked through 50 or 60 of them, so there's something for everyone. I even saw solid black carpet; imagine trying to keep lint off that!

 

[58limited]

Personally, I couldn't get rid of my carpet fast enough. All rooms have refinished red oak hardwood, but the living room has a 12' X 10' shag area rug. Although I vacuum periodically, every two years I take it outside and have a professional company steam clean it.

I have numerous pets so I bought a Roomba robot vacuum. It really helps to keep the hair cleaned up without much effort from me.

I would choose whichever flooring, or combination of floorings, appeals to you - regardless of whether it is passe' After all, you have to live there. My house looks great with wood, the floors can be a little cold in the winter, but I live in a warm area unlike many members here. Also, I use slippers.

As far as the direction of the foyer wood, I've seen plenty of homes that change direction from the foyer/entry to the main room and it looks fine. You can find a transition to go between them if necessary.

If you decide to go with real wood, do they have Lumber Liquidators in Canada? This is a flooring store chain that sells hardwood flooring at discount prices. You might be surprised at how cheaply you can have nice hardwood floors if you are willing to do it yourself (although I will ALWAYS hire a professional to sand and poly the floors. I tried once and gouged them. The cost in my area is $2.50-$3.50/sq. ft.).

 

[dblrinz]

Am I the only person that vacuums my hardwoods?

I see a lot of posts regarding how it is simply easier to vacuum carpeting rather than mopping, sweeping and what-not. Well, I have a house full of hardwood flooring that get vacuumed regularly(probably not regularly enough) with the bare floor attachment on my Meile(I have the horse hair wood floor attachment) or Electrolux(aerus)...I find that this keeps them pretty darn clean - When I do wash them which is not nearly enough most areas are not that dirty. Also, our floors are 112 years old, haven't been resurfaced in nearly 20 years and though they don't look like they are newly finished they don't look bad except for a few spots that I could touch up if I were just a little more bothered by it. All-in-all, I find hardwoods easy to care for. The use of rugs can soften and warm any room. We have gotten all, but one of our rugs very reasonably at estate sales, Pottery Barn (not the best of the group, but looks nice),Lowes (a remarkably sturdy rug), or even Marshalls(Though I will admit this was a fluke to find a wool runner rug for my hall in the mix of some very cheaply made rugs)

So I vote for real hardwoods with a really cool canister vac.