Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Decisions, Decisions...what to choose....

Recently bought a 20-year old home with no upgrades. The walls have been painted, the window coverings replaced and the kitchen remodeled......now comes the flooring decision. Would appreciate ideas / thoughts for the downstairs.........I like the warmth of carpet, the look of wood and the clean-up of title. Occupants of the home are 2 adults and an 8-year old. Help me please !

Wood floors will add value to your home. Beautiful area rugs will provide the softness under foot and the drama of color. With prefinished hardwood you can have an instant floor without all the sanding and dust and finishing fumes.

Well, not an instant floor, but less work, without having to sand and finish.

I am in the same situation.

Personally I like a good hardwood in high traffic areas (kitchens, dinettes, foyers, hallways) because it is easier to clean than carpet, is warm adn never goes out of style (like tile) On the other hand, I have never been a fan of wood in family rooms and bedrooms (even with area rugs) just because it is not as cozy as carpet and makes the house seem to formal. Just my thoughts.

i just moved into a house with beautiful wood floors in the entry, family room & kitchen. i'd just put berber everywhere in the house we just came from, and i'm here to tell ya, i HATE wood floors! actually i like them in the entry and kitchen, but i loathe sweeping (if you can call chasing dust bunnies all around everywhere "sweeping" :rolleyes: ) the family room. i mean, i'm sweeping every week, but there's always what seems like an inch of dust under the sofa & chair & the corners! carpet is much easier to clean (regular maintenance level cleaning, ie: vacuuming) than hard surface floors and appears clean more so than wood floors, which (in the right light) always seem to look dusty. granted, spills & "gross stuff" (let's just leave it as that) can almost ruin, or at least stain, carpet, but if you're careful, those accidents are few & far between. i vote for carpet, especially berber, which doesn't matt down or show traffic patterns or hardly any dirt, for that matter, in all rooms except the entry, kitchen & bathrooms.

We've gone to wood/laminate floors everywhere but the bedrooms there we've stuck to carpet. Then we place area rugs in front of the couch, chairs, etc. I find the wood easier to clean the tile too - you don't have the grout lines to hold dirt.

I agree with the previous post about seeing more dirt/dust bunnies but at the same time they are there with carpet too you just don't see them and they end up ground into the carpet.

We have a small shop vac with a wide attachement that works great for cleaning the floors - picks up everything and reaches under the couch. A normal vac with the rotating brush just throws the dirt around.

I recently installed hardwood in the common areas of my house. I love it and like the flexibility of changing area rugs. The floor manufacturer recommends vacuuming instead of sweeping it for maintenance. I installed a central vacuum about the same time as the floor (in part because of the floor). I really like it also. You can go from carpet (with rotating brush) to hard surfaces (turn off the brush) with the flip of a switch. You can quickly switch to other attachments for drapes and furniture. I even use it to brush and suck the hair off my cat. It also has alot more power than a regular vacuum and very quiet, since its remotely located. Everyone is also fascinated and impressed by the automatic dust pan I added.

Another factor in the flooring decision is allergies. Hard surfaces are much better than carpet. That is the other reason I got the central vacuum, you can vent it to the basement or the outside and not just stir up the dust.

I would highly recommend upgrading to a central vacuum if you put in a lot of hardwood flooring. Costs can run between $500-1000 for a total DYI installation.