Why Do People Prefer Hardwood Floors Despite Their Drawbacks?

[Ivan Seeking]

My first house is going to have asphalt floors in every room.

When I was a kid, there was a guy who lived a few blocks away who hated mowing the yard so badly that he filled it in with concrete. The back yard was like a patio, but the front yard was nothing but concrete and an iron fence - no gardens, no grass, no trees.

I actually checked Google Earth to see if I could post a picture of it, but it looks like someone finally tore it out and planted grass.

 

[Integral]

I have spent the last two years (not full time) removing all my carpets and sanding the floorboards. They look amazing now, the wood is about 70 years old and has developed its own almost tobacco stain, they're a lovely orangey colour. There's no way I'd cover them with carpet, and I live with the draughts by putting slippers on.

Here in the US houses built prior to about 1975 will have a oak hardwood floor under the carpet. Houses built after '75 may or may NOT have a finished floor under the carpet. Early on a carpet was a floor covering, now, all to frequently, it IS the floor.

Last year we pulled up our carpet and had a hardwood floor installed. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats, I am amazed about the quantity of hair which accumulates in a few days, on the carpet most of that hair became embedded, on the hardwood we just sweep it up and out the door. It is not a matter of being harder or easier to clean, it more that it is POSSIBLE to clean the hardwood floor. Much that is spilled on to a carpet can never be removed.

We have had some damage, a light fixture fell from the ceiling (fortunately no one was under it!) and left a divot about 3mm in diameter.

 

[Loren Booda]

A real estate agent convinced me to carpet-over the living room hardwood floor. One has to be careful not to drag in grime, even with stain-resistant carpet. Otherwise, it's warmer, softer, cheaper to install and more resilient than most other options.

In another room, I replaced the buckled hardwood with bamboo - but it's not guaranteed panda-proof.

 

[OmCheeto]

The old style linoleum is available again. It is made of natural materials if one wants to go green. It does smell like linseed oil for several months. The odor can either be nostalgic or nauseating depending on your age and your sniffer.

http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/home/en/us/flooring-buyers-guide-linoleum.html

Can I cover my unvarnished oak floors with linseed oil?

I replaced the oil in the lower unit of my outboard with cod liver oil about a year ago, in the name of eco of course, but now cats from miles around seem to like my boat a bit too much.

Does linseed oil attract any strange creatures?

ps. Hardwood Rules!

time to vacuum a carpeted house: 20 minutes
time to sweep a hardwood floor house with a leafblower: 2 minutes

it's a no brainer.

 

[turbo]

With hardwood floors you can do bunny curling ;-)
Grab bunny rabbit by ears
Slid across hardwood floor
Wash rabbit when it gets too dirty

Exactly! When we had carpet in our old place, sometimes the ferrets' toenails would get caught in the pile, so I had to keep them trimmed and smoothed to avoid that. Once we ripped that stuff up and put down Pergo laminateI got to do a lot of ferret-bowling. Best of all, you don't need a "ball" return - they come running back all by themselves for another go.

 

[mgb_phys]

Can you get the ferrets to lay the floors?
After all the can qualify as electricians http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799464,00.html

 

[turbo]

Can you get the ferrets to lay the floors?
After all the can qualify as electricians http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799464,00.html

They earned their keep in other ways. One of our ferrets was a whiz at zippers, and when my wife's friends would leave a gym bag within reach while they were working out in our gym, the ferrets would be stealing and hiding underwear, socks, etc. Got a purse with zippers or magnetic latches? No problem! My cousin stopped in on her way to go grocery shopping one day, and when she got to the checkout at the supermarket, she had no checkbook, no wallet, no cash... Oops! We found everything hidden in the ferrets' favorite caches.

 

[Moonbear]

In another room, I replaced the buckled hardwood with bamboo - but it's not guaranteed panda-proof.

time to vacuum a carpeted house: 20 minutes
time to sweep a hardwood floor house with a leafblower: 2 minutes

it's a no brainer.

For Evo, no, no hard floors of any kind, and certainly not slate or tile...those are even harder than wood to land on! I think Evo gets floors entirely made of recycled rubber...like they use for running tracks and playgrounds.

 

[turbo]

For Evo, no, no hard floors of any kind, and certainly not slate or tile...those are even harder than wood to land on! I think Evo gets floors entirely made of recycled rubber...like they use for running tracks and playgrounds.

We could rent her a bounce-house full of plastic balls to live in, but she'd turn that place into an inferno in no time with a bit of cooking or a candle or two.

 

[DaveC426913]

time to vacuum a carpeted house: 20 minutes
time to sweep a hardwood floor house with a leafblower: 2 minutes

I can beat that.

Time for me to http://pics.livejournal.com/davesbrain/pic/00041s3w" : 1.5 seconds.

That is, unless I get http://pics.livejournal.com/davesbrain/pic/00043k80" ...

 

[OmCheeto]

Can you get the ferrets to lay the floors?
After all the can qualify as electricians http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799464,00.html

Freddie the Ferret
By hand, the job would have taken a human electrician a month, cost $300.

I thought that was a typo this morning until I noticed the date just now: Monday, Dec. 13, 1948

You've a really good memory mgb!

 

[lisab]

I can beat that.

Time for me to http://pics.livejournal.com/davesbrain/pic/00041s3w" : 1.5 seconds.

That is, unless I get http://pics.livejournal.com/davesbrain/pic/00043k80" ...

omg......

 

[Evo]

For Evo, no, no hard floors of any kind, and certainly not slate or tile...those are even harder than wood to land on! I think Evo gets floors entirely made of recycled rubber...like they use for running tracks and playgrounds.

We could rent her a bounce-house full of plastic balls to live in, but she'd turn that place into an inferno in no time with a bit of cooking or a candle or two.

I love carpeting. In Chicago, my house had two inch thick padding under a super plush carpet, it was like walking on a cloud, it was so sensual.

The last time I had wood floors, I needed to have the floors refinished a year after they were installed because my two dogs had scratched it up from walking on it. I had a referal from a good friend and had to wait 6 weeks before they would even come out to take a look. In the mean time, I had a top tile company come out and give me a quote for a gorgeous slate floor.

When the wood guy came out, he quoted me $3,500 to refinish the two small rooms with a top finish. He told me that with the dogs, there was no way to prevent the scratching, so I would probably need to refinish annually. I told him I had a quote for slate floors for $3,800, and he gave me an obnoxious laugh and told me that if I thought I could get a slate floor for that price that I should "go for it". I did and it was the best decision I've ever made. Not only were the floors completely maintenance free (my two small children tended to spill drinks and not tell me until I discovered the bright red kool aid had permanently stained the wood), but I wouldn't have to have anything done to them before I died. A drop of bleach in a bucket of water, and quick sweep with a mop and the floors always looked brand new. When an appraiser came out when I was renegotiating my loan, he told me that my floors significantly raised the value of my home over wood flooring, he loved them. That REALLY valididated my decision as I had not even mentioned the floors to him.

Basically get what you like and what makes sense for you. Children, pets and wood floors = trouble, IMO.

 

[Moonbear]

I don't know why your floors were wearing out so quickly just from dogs. We always had dogs, and my sister and I were certainly not gentle. We had hardwood floors throughout the house growing up, and only had to refinish them once (so maybe every 10 or 15 years?). The only thing that was bad for the hardwood floors were the roller skates...we had to banished to the basement with those when it was too cold or rainy to go outside with them (I guess roller rinks required a lot of maintenance).

 

[turbo]

When I was growing up, we never refinished the hardwood floors in our old house. My mother and I would lug all the furniture out of a room, and she'd lay down a thin layer of Butcher's paste wax and let that dry to a film. Then she'd get out a bunch of old winter socks and have us kids put them on our feet and run and slide on that floor until it was all buffed out. We'd change socks every once in a while, though an hour or so of 4 energetic kids sliding around on the wax seemed to do the job. We had a dog then, but she was invited to spend her time outside while we buffed the floor. She would have had too much fun chasing us and tackling us.

 

[Evo]

Depends on how perfect you want your floors. Scratches and stains aren't acceptable for me. I didn't grow up with wood floors, no one had them. We did have a cork floor in the dining room, very bizarre trendy 50's, my mom was into Dutch Modern. She had most of our furniture custom made. I always had made to order beds where I got to choose my own fabric. I just assumed this was how everyone lived. I was in for a rude awakening. My mother had her underwear custom made for her by the family's tailor when she grew up, so buying pre-made underwear at a store was a rude awakening for her. So my "finickyness" comes honestly.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I always had made to order beds

Same here! I made the bed when mom ordered me to do so.

 

[Evo]

Same here! I made the bed when mom ordered me to do so.

Buwahaha!

But I know what you mean about children of the 50's growing up with carpet. You had to have carpet. I still don't get the cork floor though. Of course that room was only used 2-3 times a year. I remember when it was replaced with some odd pebble stuff, but imbedded in a clear acrylic like substance. It was like a river bed. Although it was cool and I spent a lot of time looking at it. My mom traveled to the beat of a different drum. Not suprising I'm so weird, eh?