Why do most homeowners or buyers like hardwood floors?

[joeynbgky]

Why??????? I just hope people continue to buy carpet. Most new homes do not even have carpet in them now. I was at a customers house today, They ripped up 2 month old carpet for hardwood. Hardwood sucks, its cold in the winter time. Who wants there babies crawling on hardwood? If they bump there head on carpet there fine. I dod notice shaw put out some new carpet commercials.

 

[Nate The Great]

You can diversify into rug cleaning too. Hardwood= area rugs

 

[dgargan]

I ask that question to lots of our customers and the same answer keeps comming up. "It's just to hard to maintain!" Most admit they miss the soft feel and warmth of carpet but when dirt gets tracted in, coffee gets spilled, or the dog pee's on the floor they just wipe it up and it's done. Sucks for us!

 

[Chris A]

I think it seems like most homeowners like hardwood, but it's probably not most, and more than a few I talk to say they'd do it if not for the dust, cold feel, and general pain-in-the-assery of hardwood.

 

[Walrus Gumboot]

We just built a house with 1500 sqft of hardwood on the main floor. Carpet in the bedrooms only.
Cost about 3 times as much as a GOOD quality carpet would have(installed), but last 10 times longer and is easier to maintain.

No crushing or wear patterns either. I even did the stairwell in hardwood.


ps. of the 1500 sqft we did in wood, only about 200 sqft is covered with rugs.

 

[truckmount girl]

I'd have wood if I could afford to put it in. But then again I have 6 dogs, 2 cats and 2 teens living in my house. My old olefin berber has taken a licking and kept on ticking...But I'm ready to just be able to wipe up the dog pee.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[rotovacguy]

Heck, most houses I get into don't even have REAL hardwood, they have the cheap ass laminate junk. When you catch it just right in the light, you can see the dimples and cracks from where some lard ass was sitting on a chair with small legs, or a dish was dropped. :roll:


And with that said, I had top of the line Shaw cut pile carpet installed in my living room 3 years ago, and it looks like crap! Of course, I don't live in the Taj Mahal like some of you guys, so I can only arrange the furniture so many ways, but even at that, when I move the furniture to clean, the shade difference is night and day, and it's nice and soft, where the main stuff is crushed, and discolored. Never again will I put carpet in a main area. Like Stevie B, I'll put it in the bedrooms and I'll do the stairs, too, but that's it.



At least with the real hardwood, you can refinish it and make repairs, unlike the laminate stuff that's just a throw away item. Next time I'm doing it right...going to put ceramic tile all the way through on the main level. With me having dogs, I couldn't imagine having hardwood, I can just imagine the finish getting messed up in no time. Plus you have warping issues due to humidity or water somehow making it's way to it. You have none of those issues with tile. Dog claws? Not a problem. Water? Big deal. Urine or crap? Just a wipe away. If you should happen to crack a tile, very easy to cut it out and replace. Replacing a plank of hardwood in the middle of the floor. PITA!! Tile is the way to go. Just keep it sealed and your problems should be next to nothing.

 

[truckmount girl]

Yeah....if I was trich I'd install tumbled granite.

take care,
Lisa

 

[rhyde]

the trend here is a mix upper floors almost always carpets, entry halls, family room often hard wood, tile

 

[CanYouHemiNow]

We built our new home about a year ago with hand-scraped hardwood in the entry hall and office. Tile in the kitchen and baths. And carpet in the bedrooms, living room and bedroom hallway.

We researched all of the builders in the North Dallas area before building and this seems to be a common combination in new mid to upscale homes. Why hardwood in the first place? People seem to like the look... classy and elegant.

As a new carpet cleaner my thought on hardwood is to offer hardwood cleaning & polishing as an add-on service. Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't that just mean: vacuuming, possibly damp mopping to get all of the dust, cleaning with a buffer, then polishing with a buffer? Seems like a relatively simple, high profit service that I haven't seen all that many carpet cleaners offer. Real hardwood costs so much that I would think it wouldn't be overly difficult to sell homeowners on the value of maintaining it with professional care.

Somebody please educate me if I'm am way off base here.