Changing my flooring - please advise

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amother

Oak

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 1:30 pm

I have a large living room/dining room which is fully carpeted with an old stained carpet.

I would like to one day replace this.
I could put new carpet. I could use the existing (real) wood floor. I could put down fake wood (laminate).

I guess I could also do the part under the Shabbos table with flooring and the rest with carpet too.

Can anyone please advise. We have a large family. This area gets walked through daily and eating goes on mostly on Shabbos. But even during the week there is some eating going on. My children are getting older, the youngest is 8, b"eh I will have grandchildren one day. What is easiest to clean, most comfortable, lasts longest.

Carpet isn't so easy to clean, especially stains, but it looks nice. Easier to quickly vacuum than to sweep and mop??

Thanks in advance.

perquacky

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 1:52 pm

I'd go with wood floors. If your floor is in good condition, it will look so pretty once it's refinished.
And it's much easier to clean, like you said. And you can vacuum floors just as easily as carpets.
Buy a Swiffer or a steam mop. Big time savers over traditional mops and buckets.

amother

Oak

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 2:06 pm

Would a swiffer really clean well?
It's just like a wet paper towel at the end of the mop??

What is a steam mop?

Also, real wood needs to be scraped periodically - would the laminate be more long lasting, less work?

amother

Oak

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 2:11 pm

amother

Maroon

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 2:19 pm

Wood does need to be scraped. But, laminate (fake wood) does not last forever either and will need to be refinished and eventually replaced. It's a hard call which is more worthwhile. But either one is better than carpeting!

Spoken by one who has a carpeted DR/LR and hates it! Wood is much easier to clean-especially on Shabbos and Y"T, and ESPECIALLY after the Seder when there are matzah crumbs all over and you have to wait 2-3 days before you can vacuum!

Raisin

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 2:24 pm

I am very happy with our wood floor (in dining living area) and fake wood laminate floors (in bedrooms, playroom and office) Only the stairs have carpet. We have had these floors for ten years and had the wood refinished once. You need to make sure furniture such as chairs do not scratch the floor. you can put rubber protectors on the legs.

sky

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 2:36 pm

If you have wood floors under your carpet I would 100% go with that.

33055

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 6:13 pm

Laminate wears out. You can only refinish 2 or 3 times. Wood floors generally need to be refinished every 8 to 12 years.

Carpet is outdated and holds all the dust and dirt. I see how my floors get dusty.

I vote for wood.

sneakermom

Wed, Jun 24 2015, 7:22 pm

Wood is gorgeous! It opens up the room. Gives it a warm and either glossy or matte look. It's easy to clean and maintain.

I would go with the wood.

Iymnok

Thu, Jun 25 2015, 5:33 am

A nice rug on a wood floor looks really nice. I never understood carpeting under a dining table.

lfab

Thu, Jun 25 2015, 11:58 am

I grew up with carpet and used to really really want carpeting throughout my home (excpet dinig room, kitchen, and bathrooms of course). Now, after living in rentals with wood flooring throughout and seeing the messes that my kids make I have flipped and would definately want only wood flooring in the main living areas (especially if dining and living rooms are connected). While I do think that vacuuming carpet is easier than sweeping and mopping you have to take into account all the spills and stains that will inevitably occur and require lots of time/energy to remove. If you like carpeting maybe compromise by putting a large rug near the couch but leave majority of the floor wood.

Raisin

Thu, Jun 25 2015, 1:41 pm

in our old house we stained and varnished the original wood flooring, then we moved and we put in new wood flooring. Both are nice, but original wood has a charm of its own.

amother

Turquoise

Thu, Jun 25 2015, 1:47 pm

Our house came with wood flooring in liv/din rm. I can't remember if we re-finished when we moved in, but the thing, it has to be maintained.

If it gets a lot of traffic, or if you have a cleaning person who can't be persuaded not to inundate the floor with water (please squeeze the mop!), you may need to put down a new coat every year or so. This can be done if you're a person who goes away for at least a week in the summer. If not, it's quite a pain, so you just don't do it.

And then finally you have to scrape again and put down 2-3 coats so you have to move out or live in the basement for a few days - and still there are fumes.

Finally after many years and a lot of frustration I put down a good quality laminate made in strips. We even did a custom border and I think it looks great. I doubt anyone can tell it's not real wood unless they look very closely.

In fact, we extended the dining room about a year after we put down the floor, and I don't think you can tell where the floor was continued.

33055

Thu, Jun 25 2015, 1:59 pm

amother wrote:

I have a completely different experience with wood flooring. We extended and refinished an area 8 years ago and it still looks gorgeous and you can't see the seam because the planks were staggered. We did move out of the house. The floor is gorgeous like a bowling alley.

I never had the issues with the cleaning lady you have. They do their thing and the floors look great. I think we must have had a different finish than you did because it is pristine.

When we went to change the flooring in another part of the house we were told not to use laminate by the guy that sells it because he said it doesn't hold up.

sky

Thu, Jun 25 2015, 2:12 pm

My wood floors aren't perfect. I think if someone is looking for perfection then wood isn't the way to go. But it is gorgeous and as it wears it just becomes more natural looking.
Every so often I find a polish gives it some lief.e

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