Carpet or wood flooring?

Piggywiggy

Personally, and I think it is only me, I don't really like wood flooring in the bedrooms, I like to get out of bed onto carpet, don't know why, but downstairs other than tiles in the kitchen I would go for engineered oak over carpet.

You do need quite flat floors for it to lay properly which Is fine in a new house but not if you're in an old cottage.

It might be a little noisy but so much cleaner, especially with children.

Bluemeanie_2

I had laminate flooring for a short while and I didn't find it easier to clean. With a carpet you can just Hoover but I used to sweep it thoroughly then mop and more bits just used to keep appearing and appearing!!!

I never see the point of getting laminate and then covering it with a rug. I like my cosy carpet but everyone will have their own preference.

lee111s

Another vote for engineered wood flooring. I have this throughout the downstairs passage and into the living room. It's certainly not cold and is far easier to clean/hoover dog hair than carpet is. We have a nice rug in the centre of the room too.


I do have carpets in all rooms upstairs except the bathroom where we have tiles with UFH for the winter, but the dogs don't go upstairs often so it's not too difficult to keep clean!

Fireflyaway

I think wood is more hygienic as you can clean it properly where as to me, a carpet never feels completely clean and can stain.

The main issue is noise if its upstairs and you have neighbours, scratching from toys or pets etc or it lifting if it gets very wet.

chelseablue

Yes getting scratched from toys and furniture is the one thing that puts me off


Going to borrow my mil's steam cleaner over the weekend and if that doesn't get the stains out I'm admitting defeat and going floor shopping!

BlondeHeadOn

There are some new carpet ranges available that are both gorgeous to look at and soft, but are also guaranteed not to stain - the one we have has a 10-year guarantee against staining. And we have tried to stain it, believe me we have tried - but anything we chuck on it just washes right back out again! It's cream carpet, and still looks as good as the day we had it put down. It's also not that expensive.


This is the brand we have:
http://www.cormarcarpets.co.uk/product_sensationtwist/product_sensationtwist.php

jackyann

One of the main issues is the feel of warmth. If you like in a well insulated home, wooden flooring is great, but can feel cold underfoot in older houses.
Here's my take:
Laminate floors can wear very quickly - and the slightest scratch means you can't steam clean them.
I love engineered wood flooring and that is what I have now, but it is very expensive.

When our kids were young, we had cork tiles on the floor (more commonly found in bathrooms). They are "warmer" in feel than wood / laminate - at the time they were cheaper - they do wear but as they were tiles, we replaced a worn area about 10 years in, and finally replaced the lot when we had more money after about 20 years! They were also "softer" from the noise point of view.

getmore4less

If you stick to wood you can resurface when they get too much character.

Not sure why many are talking about laminate when the OP was asking about wood.

Another option is the Luxury Vinyl flooring products, they look good are very hard wearing but a bit pricy to lay for the glue down stuff, some now available as floating floors if you have a good flat(ish) base.

onomatopoeia99

I've put engineered wood in the hallway and main bedroom and am very happy with it. Cost was about £30 per square metre including the underlay and I fitted it myself. I find it easier to keep clean and it is very hardwearing - mine is 21mm thick with a 6mm top layer of oak and is lacquered so doesn't need re-oiling. I also think it looks fabulous, but appreciate that's a matter of personal taste.

Buzzybee90

Carpets are warmer, I find wood flooring cold and I always had dirty feet when I had it (and I hooverd and washed it a lot)

Agree about carpet in bedroom, makes it more homely.