How do you choose the right flooring for your home? There are so many types of flooring to choose from, and they vary widely in terms of appearance, durability and ease of maintenance. Flooring choices can include carpet, wood flooring, hardwood flooring, tile, laminate flooring, cork and engineered hardwood products. With so many flooring options to choose from, home buyers are having difficulty choosing the best material for their flooring project.
Is There a Right and Wrong Choice?
When it comes to picking carpet vs hardwood floors for your home, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ choice. Each type of floor, whether that is hardwood floors, carpet, laminate flooring or something else, has its own strengths and weaknesses, some work better than others in certain applications. Choosing which type of floor covering may work best in your application depends largely on what you want the finished room to look like as well as how much money you have to spend.
Is the Installation Process Different?
The installation process can also play a role in deciding which type of flooring to install. Removing the carpet from a room and then laying down hardwood floors or tile can be difficult, time-consuming and messy.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the different types of floor coverings, what makes them unique and why they would work best under certain circumstances. The main focus shall be on hardwood flooring vs carpet.
Difference Between Engineered Flooring and Carpet
Engineered wooden flooring and carpet perform well in different applications. It usually depends on the high traffic areas. A carpet absorbs sounds and is relatively soft, ideal for bedrooms, where walking around on hardwood flooring might keep you awake or wake a light sleeper.
Carpet does not make for a good play area, you’ll find your children outgrowing their favourite toys in no time when they’re playing on the floor. If they drop an ice cream cone and then step into it, that’s going to be difficult to clean up (trust us), and if someone spills food or drink anywhere near their gaming equipment, forget about it.
For any place in the house where accidents are bound to happen, like kids’ rooms, kitchens and family rooms, engineered wooden floors can be a better choice.
Carpet vs Engineered Flooring
The carpet stands out from the rest of the flooring in that it is made up of a continuous surface with its own pile height. In order to accommodate different types of carpet, manufacturers have produced many grades and levels of quality with varying thicknesses, densities and fibre lengths.
Engineered solid hardwood flooring offers many advantages over carpet that has almost become synonymous with homes themselves. While carpets can be extremely comfortable to walk or lie down on, their looks vary depending on how thick they are, this makes them easy to snag, and it can be difficult to get rid of wrinkles without putting too much stress on the carpet. Carpet also doesn’t necessarily look like wood, even when it’s made from hardwood fibres.
Carpet vs Hardwood Major Difference
A major difference between carpet and engineered flooring is that flooring has greater flexibility when it comes to appearance. Carpet is cut to fit specific areas, while the vast majority of engineered floors are sold in planks that can be arranged in any design.
What Hardwood Flooring is Designed for?
A glued-together wood product, engineered flooring is designed for ease of installation. Because it’s made up of several layers, these floors are extremely quick and easy to install since there’s no need to wait for seams to dry before putting another seam next to it. This also makes engineered hardwood floors suitable for use under appliances like dishwashers or freezers where moisture can collect on the flooring underneath them.
How are Engineered Floors Manufactured?
Engineered floors are manufactured by gluing together several layers of wood veneer or plywood material at right angles to one another, creating a cross-grained product. This structure gives engineered wooden floors their strength and durability as well as the ability to be sanded multiple times. They also can withstand heavy traffic areas better than most carpets.
Cleaning Carpet vs Hardwood Flooring
If you have pets then carpets are not a good choice for your home because they may attract animal hair and odours more readily than any other flooring material. There are ways to combat these problems but for most people, having hair constantly clinging to the bottom of your socks is no fun.
If you have kids, carpets are also more difficult to clean than many other floor coverings. Liquid spills can be difficult to remove unless they occur on an inconspicuous area of the carpet where it won’t show too much after cleaning. If you try wiping up a spill or splatter on an area that’s highly visible, then you’re going to end up with a mess that may even require professional help in order for it not to stand out against the rest of the carpet.
The Advantage, Carpet or Hardwood?
Hardwood flooring offers an advantage over carpets because they are easier to clean and maintain. These floors may not show spots and marks like carpets do because they are not porous. If someone spills something, it can be cleaned right up with a damp mop or cloth and some cleaning solution (be sure to test any product on an inconspicuous area of the floor first).
Hardwood flooring decrease allergens in your home. Allergens such as dust mites and pet dander may be found in carpets but they can’t survive on hard surfaces such as wood or tile so their populations decrease when more of these areas are present in the household. This is great news for allergy sufferers who want to eliminate this problem from their homes once and for all.
What is the Best Engineered Flooring?
This question can be answered in a number of ways depending on what the individual is looking for.
A Traditional Wood Look
If you want to stick with a traditional wood look, then many customers prefer maple or ash because these two shades are the most popular. Maple appears lighter while ash has more red undertones. For customers who want a little more versatility from their flooring, there are several other shades available including cherry, walnut and butternut which all have warm brown tones that stand out against white walls and grey carpets. The natural beauty of real hardwood floors is never faked or altered, so if someone wants this classic look then engineered hardwood floors are the way to go.
Patterns of a Hardwood Floor
Engineered hardwood flooring takes things up a notch by offering homeowners modern looks such as parquet and herringbone. These patterns can be used in any room with ease because they’re available in a wide range of shades. Herringbone floors are becoming more popular recently, especially with the release of new styles that look like real hardwood flooring but are much easier to maintain.
Avoid Common Mistakes When Buying Engineered Flooring
When you want to go for engineered hardwood flooring instead of carpet, make sure you consider all the advantages it has over carpets before making your final decision about which type to buy. For most people, engineered hardwood floors are more expensive than carpet while offering greater durability due to its layered makeup (so even if you have kids who play on the floor constantly or pets who shed hair left and right, you still don’t have to worry about replacing it every year).
Do Your Homework
As with any other purchase, make sure you do your homework when designing your hardwood flooring. Look through home improvement magazines and websites for various styles of engineered hardwood flooring to get ideas before buying samples or keeping in mind which type of shades you want to buy (be sure to test the durability of your samples by applying different levels of pressure on each spot, if anything seems even slightly questionable then that’s not the right product for you regardless how pretty the style is).
Hire a Professional
Be sure to find a good installer before purchasing your new flooring material. Keep an eye out for past customers who are willing to recommend their installers so you can ask them questions about what they liked and didn’t like about the installer. If their opinions are positive then you can hire them just as easily as if they had negative things to say, so save yourself the time of searching for another professional who might not be any better than your current pick.
Difference Between Carpet and Engineered Flooring
Engineered floors tend to come in wide planks, like solid hardwood, that you can install over your existing hard surface, such as concrete or plywood, without having to remove it first. The most common type is laminate flooring planks. You’ll also find hand scraped solid hardwood flooring and bamboo flooring among other types.
The wide planks give the floor a more solid look than laminate floors, which create an image of real wood by printing images of individual boards on top of a plastic or fiberboard base. One significant distinguishing factor between engineered flooring and carpet is that while both can be comfortable underfoot, many people consider carpets to be more comfortable than either pine or oak, which are the most popular types of hardwood flooring. The result is that many people install both carpets and engineered wood flooring, to obtain the benefits of both comfort and beauty.
Before You Buy
Before you buy your next piece of wood flooring, be sure to read up on what separates carpet from laminate and engineered floors (if you haven’t yet decided between these three major forms). You might be surprised at what lengths people go to get certain looks in their homes, whether they’re hoping for warmth or style. Carpet can give you more comfort while hardwood floors have a sturdier finish but only engineered hardwood floors come in such an array of styles that they can transform any room into whatever look you want.
Hardwood flooring is actually made up of three layers. The top layer, which you can find in wide planks much like real wood flooring, is the only part that appears on your floor. Beneath it is a plywood or lumber core to give it strength, and beneath that is another wood-based material like maple to help it resist moisture. Many high-quality engineered wood floors are prefinished at the factory so they’re ready to use right out of the box with no sanding required.
Carpet vs Hardwood Floors, Resale Value
Some people choose to buy engineered hardwood floors because they’re a better investment and offer better resale value for their homes. They preserve the resale value of your home more than carpet does, and they can last for years with proper care. The only issues you might face are cost and installation. Engineered flooring tends to come at a higher price point than a standard carpet, and it can be more difficult to install, although there are companies that may do the job for you.
Engineered wood flooring is often considered to be one of the best options available due to its flexibility, resale value, strength, water-resistance and easy cleaning properties. Engineered hardwood flooring tends to be able to withstand most forms of wear and tear and is more resistant to water than laminate flooring. These benefits can also be seen in its strength, but it’s important to remember that just like any form of hardwood flooring it can be damaged by excess moisture and heat.
Carpet vs Hardwood Floors the Final Verdict
Carpet’s disadvantages are what make hardwood flooring so popular. Hardwood flooring can be less expensive than carpet, even when it is made from real wood. It has the natural beauty of any type of real wood, without being as vulnerable to moisture damage or stains because you can apply finishes like polyurethane that resist scratching and dents.
Stains also come out more easily with hardwood floors, which means your hardwood flooring won’t end up stained or ruined if something spills on it (or if your kids leave their juice cups sitting around. Whichever option you pick, you’ll soon find that no matter whether you choose carpet or hardwood flooring, it’s a good investment and one that may leave your home looking and feeling more beautiful and comfortable.
