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You'd be difficult-pressed to discover a homeowner who doesn't want hardwood floors. Wall-to-wall carpeting is out, and hardwood floors are in. But are they worth the value? Let's face it: at $8-$ten per square foot (installed), wood flooring is much more expensive than carpeting or the increasingly frequent laminates that offer a related look.

If you are on the fence and can't determine whether to install hardwood floors (or possibly peel back your old carpeting and refinish the wood underneath), this list may be in a position to aid. We're going to take a look at some of the benefits of hardwoods:

1. Longevity

Thanks to tough finishes that are effortless to repair, solid-wood floors can final for a hundred years or more. There are extremely handful of flooring supplies that have been around as extended as wood. More than the centuries, it has shown itself to be a lovely and durable floor choice. Other newer supplies have but to prove themselves.

two. Coziness and Warmth

Not only is hardwood much more pleasant to walk on than laminate (which constantly really feel cold and a tiny "plastic" underfoot), but it is naturally warm. Wood is an outstanding insulator, thanks to its thousands of tiny air chambers per cubic inch, which hold in heat.

3. Hypoallergenic

Got allergies? In contrast to carpets (read: breeding grounds for mold, mildew, and dust mites, all of which can be challenging on anybody with allergies), wood floors do not give pollen, animal dander, mold, etc. any spot to hide and thrive. Even when you steam clean carpets, it really is not possible to get them completely clean. In truth, getting them wet just makes factors worse. Hardwood flooring is an superb selection for any individual with any type of environmental allergies. (And it makes excellent sense for absolutely everyone else as well--who wants to lie down on a floor that's hiding mold?)

4. Straightforward to Clean

A little sweeping and a little mopping, and your hardwood floors will preserve searching good for a lengthy time to come. Even families with dogs and kids are realizing that it is easier to mop a hardwood floor than try to spray/scrub/wash grape Kool-Aid out of a carpet. One more perk is that a scratch here or a gouge there actually just adds character to wood floors (of course, you can constantly have them refinished if you choose perfection).

5. Increase Home Worth

Unless you happen to be going to be residing in the very same house for the rest of your life, you ought to feel about how the flooring choices you make nowadays will influence the price you can get for your residence when you sell it. Carpet will look old and used in just a handful of years, whereas wood floors final a long time and add value to a home (if you've ever watched these house hunter shows on television, you have doubtlessly seen just about every single possible buyer looking about hopefully for hardwood floors). Even laminate flooring, which looks like wood flooring, is a distant second option for homebuyers. It just doesn't have the very same warmth and feel.

These are just a couple of of the advantages of hardwood floors. We didn't even mention the aesthetic worth: at the end of the day, they just appear greater than the alternatives. If you can afford to pay an further couple dollars per square foot, go with hardwood. If you have hardwoods hiding beneath your current carpets, tear these suckers up and get the wood refinished.

If you settle for laminate or just replacing the carpeting, you could regret it down the road.

For a lot more data, pay a visit to the Hardwood Flooring section of the author's Residence Improvement site. carpet installation powerpoint presentation