I hate wood floors

[PrincessMommy]

There. I've gotten that off my chest.

 

The previous owners put wood floors on the entire first floor. It's cold, echoey, and uninviting (we also have a cathedral ceiling). My feet and back hurt. I need to sweep or vaccum 2x per week to keep the dust bunnies and dirt at bay.

 

I like to go barefoot in the house and I like to sit on the floor when I'm working on a project. I can't do either of these ANYWHERE downstairs.

 

I know, I know, I'm probably in the minority. Everyone is supposed to love wood floors. Its the "in" thing. But, I don't care. I hate THIS much wood flooring.

 

Thanks for letting me vent.

[TammyinTN]

You are not alone. When we came back to the US...I refused a home with hardwood floors.

[PrincessMommy]

You are not alone. When we came back to the US...I refused a home with hardwood floors.

 

The only plus is that since the previous owner put it in I don't have to feel like I'm wasting our money to rip it out and put in carpeting. I was thinking I'd do it in a few years, but now my back hurts all the time and I don't know how much longer I can hold out.

[Cosmos]

Can't you get area rugs? Put them in the spots you'd like to be more cozy. The nice thing about area rugs is that you can send them out to be cleaned rather than have the ordeal of carpet cleaning every year.

[nd293]

I love wooden floors (lol - all that dirt you have to sweep away with wooden floors is still there with carpets, you just can't see it).

 

That said, I feel the same way about tiled floors. Loose rugs can really help to soften the look, but you need to go for something heavy weight (e.g. carpet weight rather than throw weight) or you will spend your life lifting them to shake them (light rugs suck up into a vacuum cleaner). Another idea, if it fits with your decor, is to have piles of large cushions in corners. They provide an easily accessible seat if you like to sit on the floor while you work (I do, so I sympathise!). The latter really helped me live with hard floors a little more comfortably.

[PrincessMommy]

Can't you get area rugs? Put them in the spots you'd like to be more cozy. The nice thing about area rugs is that you can send them out to be cleaned rather than have the ordeal of carpet cleaning every year.

 

The plan is to get a big area rug for the family room. It's going to be around 16x12, so I'm thinking a remnant. I hope it will be enough. Right now we're trying to get the old house on the market so all my energy (and $$) is going in that direction.

[AdventureMoms]

It sounds like you need some area rugs.

 

My whole house is hardwoods and I love it. I sit on the floor constantly, my kids play on the floor, etc. We have maybe 3 or 4 strategically placed area rugs and it makes a huge difference in making the rooms warmer and more cozy. Plus they are easier to get clean and when they get really dirty we can just replace them (much more cheaply than wall-to-wall).

[Scuff]

Don't rip them up! Cover them that way when you sell, the new owners can rip up the carpet and have wood again. :) and yes, get some area rugs. I love wood floors, but you have to have area rugs.

[PrincessMommy]

I actually have a few area rugs, but one isn't big enough - it's 9x11 or something. The other one is in the tv room. It does help. I need bigger carpet though.

 

Yes, I've thought about putting w2w over the wood floors. Do they still do that? Wouldn't that raise up the whole floor by a few inches though?

[Desert Rat]

:iagree: I have area rugs over my wood floor in the family room. I also have 2 square floor cushions that we use when we're playing on the floor (especially grown ups!).We had these before we had wood and still used them with carpet.

We breathe so much easier with wood floors. I'm the only one in the family without severe allergies. I like my hard floors, but I need a few extras like comfy slippers/socks in the winter and my area rugs!

[mommymilkies]

I used to love wood floors. I now hate them with a fiery passion. I have pine floors. Yes, pine. They scratch, scrape, gouge and break if you breathe on them. Even with floor protectors, rugs, and no shoes in the house. It's ridiculous. It's also loud, cold, and there is a continuous dust bunny issue. I could vacuum twice a day and I still look neglectful.:glare:

[Ellie]

I have 1500 sq. ft. of hardwood downstairs, too. I still love 'em. :)

 

I generally dustmop daily, but even when I don't, I have to vacuum around the birdcage where four parakeets live. I could sweep up seeds, but there's apparently always someone molting so there are little feathers all over which refuse to be swept up. :glare:

[delaney]

We have a mix of hardwood and carpet and I hate my carpet. It is a never ending task to keep it clean and I don't even have pets. The stairs look like heck and so does the family room. I would opt for area rugs with a nice pad underneath. I WISH I had done hardwood throughout the house.

[Scuff]

It does raise the floors slightly, but you wouldn't really notice, would you? We have wood that needs to be refinished. But our house is 70 years old. It's pine, but it's old pine. There's a bit of a gap now between the doors and he floor, since the previous owners put down carpet and trimmed the doors. Oh well. If I cared enough, we'd get new doors. But I like the character of the old doors, so we live with it. Probably more than you wanted to know, :D .

[Mommyof4ks]

Is it real wood? My real wood floors are nearly as warm as carpet and do not cause my back to hurt (they are bamboo), but we still have one room with laminate, and that stuff is as bad as tile (I hate tile lol). I cannot wait to rip that stuff up.

[DawnM]

And we ripped up all of our carpet and put in hardwoods! :lol: We have over 2,000 sq. ft. of hardwoods on the main floor now. We love it. I do have area rugs in some places, but not as much as you will want to get.

[Dustybug]

2x per week??!?! I have all hardwoods too and I have to sweep at least 2x per DAY and even then sometimes it looks like I haven't done it in a week. That being said, I still prefer the wood over carpet because like a pp said, with carpet the dirt is still there, it's just hidden away. That skeeves me out.

 

My floors are also not cold and we live in an OLD drafty house.

[SewingMom2many]

I always liked wood floors in other people's homes but not mine. I love the coziness of carpet. My daughter recently rented an apartment with all new wood floors and it seemed great to be able to sweep and wipe the floors and always know they were clean. At that point, I changed my mind and thought I wanted wood floors... until my little guys spent the night at her house. They were sliding all over and kept falling lol and that echo-y sound was going to drive me bananas! Plus no matter what she does to keep the floors clean they always seem to be dirty five seconds later. I don't know how because it's just my daughter, her husband, and their little dog. I'm sticking with my carpets even though they aren't in style. Seems easier to have someone come clean them a couple times a year then to deal with wood floors.

[Melissa in Australia]

My whole house is hardwood floors. We have Turkish rugs in each bedroom, and the living room has 3 Turkish rugs. The floor is warm. The kitchen gets swept several times a day, but the rest of the house gets vacuumed about twice a week, and looks great.

[dragons in the flower bed]

2x per week??!?! I have all hardwoods too and I have to sweep at least 2x per DAY and even then sometimes it looks like I haven't done it in a week.

 

:iagree:

 

If I don't sweep twice a day, it looks awful. It drives me nuts to see a lovely sunbeam hit the floor and look gross. I recently discovered that vacuuming the hardwood floors works better than sweeping them.

 

I still prefer that to carpet, though, because of gross liquidish spills. Every time I have to clean up dog vomit I'm grateful.

[gardenmom5]

The only plus is that since the previous owner put it in I don't have to feel like I'm wasting our money to rip it out and put in carpeting. I was thinking I'd do it in a few years, but now my back hurts all the time and I don't know how much longer I can hold out.

 

you don't have to rip out hardwood to install carpet - you go right over the wood. (and it will be a plus that they are there when you go to sell.)

[jenangelcat]

I always liked wood floors in other people's homes but not mine. I love the coziness of carpet. My daughter recently rented an apartment with all new wood floors and it seemed great to be able to sweep and wipe the floors and always know they were clean. At that point, I changed my mind and thought I wanted wood floors... until my little guys spent the night at her house. They were sliding all over and kept falling lol and that echo-y sound was going to drive me bananas! Plus no matter what she does to keep the floors clean they always seem to be dirty five seconds later. I don't know how because it's just my daughter, her husband, and their little dog. I'm sticking with my carpets even though they aren't in style. Seems easier to have someone come clean them a couple times a year then to deal with wood floors.

 

But your carpets aren't. Just because you don't see the dirt like you do with non-carpeted floors doesn't mean they are clean. You can shampoo them all you want they will still be dirty. Dirt and mould and bugs and more dirt.

 

Carpets are a fantasy for me. I see them in sales ads and I think about how nice and cozy they look but the reality is that they are disgusting..lol. I'm a carpet-hater.

[gingersmom]

I was one of the first people to walk on my homes hardwood floors in about 25 years. They had been covered with carpet all that time.

 

They are beautiful and I feel sorry for the previous homeowner who covered them with carpet. The realtor insisted they rip up the carpet and show off the floors to sell the house.

[edelweiss]

I love our hardwood floors. Our entire first floor except for the bathrooms, back hall, and laundry room are hardwood. I find them warm and comfortable, but we do have a few strategically placed area rugs too.

 

We do have carpet in our bedrooms upstairs. My girls want to keep the carpet in their bedrooms, but I am itching to rip up the carpet in our master bedroom and replace it with hardwoods. We will definitely do it at some point.

 

I would suggest area rugs. If you want carpet, put it on top of the hardwoods. Some future buyer will appreciate you not ripping them out. ;)

[Mama Geek]

Putting wall to wall carpet in will mean that someone has to refinish the hardwoods if they want to go back to hardwoods.

[zimom]

I hear you! People thought I was crazy when I carpeted 90% of my new house but I am just like you! I want nice comfy carpet under my feet, I like to get down on the floor occasionally, and with a daughter with mobility issues, she will likely be crawling Around the house for years to come to some degree and I want her to be comfortable too! Our builder cringed when I wanted to upgrade my carpet, evidently much nicer then he has in his own home, which is much nicer then mine :)

[GailV]

It sounds like you need some area rugs.

 

My whole house is hardwoods and I love it. I sit on the floor constantly, my kids play on the floor, etc. We have maybe 3 or 4 strategically placed area rugs and it makes a huge difference in making the rooms warmer and more cozy. Plus they are easier to get clean and when they get really dirty we can just replace them (much more cheaply than wall-to-wall).

 

:iagree: The biggest problem is that I can sometimes see the footprints from bare feet on the wood floor, which is sort of weird. But when I clean it up it's a heck of a lot more clean than carpet ever was.

 

When we pulled up the carpet to install the wood floors we were totally grossed out by what was under the carpet.:ack2: When someone vomits or pees or spills some other liquid on your new carpet, remember that it will seep in and be in the carpet, backing, pad and subfloor forever and ever hallelujah amen. Yes, Scotchguard has its limits.

 

And someone like me will move in, rip it all up, and say, "Wow, those people lived with THIS under the carpet all those years? EWWWWW!!!" and consider photographing it to post online so the rest of the world can be disgusted (because we're just like that).

[OrganicAnn]

A tip about using rugs to cover a big space. It is sometimes easier and cheaper to buy two identical rugs and put them together than to buy one big rug. I love the look of hardwood floors and Persian rugs. I don't think hardwood floor or carpeted floors are all good or all bad. Its what you do with them and how you used them in your space, with your lifestyle, with your kids/pets.

[PrincessMommy]

I know that carpets aren't more clean the hardwood floors - that goes without saying.. But they are more comfortable and it doesn't show the dirt as easily. I can't imagine what might be seeping through the cracks between the planks and what the subflooring must look like. And I won't scratch the carpet when I step on a piece of dirt, etc. ;) At least with carpets I can wait a week (or two :tongue_smilie:) between cleanings. And I don't have to go back and then mop them afterward too :D

 

My hardwood floors are real hardwood floors, not pergo.

[Parrothead]

I love wooden floors (lol - all that dirt you have to sweep away with wooden floors is still there with carpets, you just can't see it).

Not if one vacuums regularly.

 

We pulled up 25-30 year old W2W carpet in two different houses. There was very little dirt/sand underneath.

[curlylocks]

But when I clean it up it's a heck of a lot more clean than carpet ever was.

 

When we pulled up the carpet to install the wood floors we were totally grossed out by what was under the carpet.:ack2: When someone vomits or pees or spills some other liquid on your new carpet, remember that it will seep in and be in the carpet, backing, pad and subfloor forever and ever hallelujah amen. Yes, Scotchguard has its limits.

 

And someone like me will move in, rip it all up, and say, "Wow, those people lived with THIS under the carpet all those years? EWWWWW!!!" and consider photographing it to post online so the rest of the world can be disgusted (because we're just like that).

 

:iagree: -- carpets are NASTY harbors of who-knows-what.

 

Our new home is all hardwood and this is the first winter we haven't had so much as a sniffle.

 

It *is* cold -- we're looking at area rugs as we redecorate each room.

[Carol S]

Don't rip them up! Cover them that way when you sell, the new owners can rip up the carpet and have wood again. :) and yes, get some area rugs. I love wood floors, but you have to have area rugs.

:iagree: I love my hard wood floors (we only have carpet in the basement), we also have area rugs.

[BrookValley.]

Another carpet-hater here. We have hardwood floors in our house--and absolutely not one bit of carpet. The bathrooms and kitchen are tiled, everything else is wood. The wood floors need refinishing, as they are real wood and over 25 years old, but I don't care. I have one area rug in the whole house, in the living room, and it's very, very low-pile. I just can't stand carpet. I think the fact that we have cats and dogs contributes to this.

 

I vaccum and steam mop a lot, but I am compulsive like that about floors no matter what. :tongue_smilie:

 

Our one area rug is Flor brand modular carpet tiles. They are really awesome! Some of the styles are pretty pricey, but the basic ones are relatively inexpensive (we have the Fedora. It is $9 a tile now, I think it was a bit less when we bought it several years ago. It took us 20 tiles to put in a pretty large area rug in our living room. I couldn't find an area rug I liked for that much money, and an area rugs we looked at were smaller, too). You can put them in wall-to-wall, too.

[Miss Marple]

Gotta say that I love my hardwood. In fact, in 3 weeks the last remnant of carpeting (in the family room) is being removed and hardwood put in place. I have large area rugs in every room except the bedrooms. We have allergies and I have one with allergy induced asthma. The recommendation we received was to put in hard floors - no carpet - to keep the allergens under control. Yes, one sees the dirt and dust more easily, but the dirt and dust is there on carpeting as well; you just don't see it as easily. I tend to keep a cleaner home because I can see the dirt :)

 

On a side (funny) note - I just read that a couple is suing another couple over noisy wood floors http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9116567/Couple-sue-over-neighbours-noisy-wooden-floor.html

[Laura Corin]

We have wood floors in the entry hall and sitting room (nothing fancy - pine probably) but we have a couple of oriental rugs that break up the look.

 

Laura

[GailV]

Not if one vacuums regularly.

 

We pulled up 25-30 year old W2W carpet in two different houses. There was very little dirt/sand underneath.

 

Vacuums really can't get through all the layers, assuming you have decent layers. That's why people have such horrific problems with fleas. I know fleas can be a problem in other flooring (including concrete), but carpets are the worst for them.

 

The big stuff -- dirt, sand, that 1970s style pop top from a can of soda -- were left there by the builder or the person who installed the carpet.

 

How much dirt was actually in the pad? The backing of the carpet itself?

 

(And, yes, we discovered a pop top that had apparently been left under the dining room carpet since the 1970s, which is not worth thinking about too much because then you'll start to wonder what ELSE got left. Hardwood is less forgiving of random junk being left around by the installer.)

[nono]

To PrincessMommy, is this wood over a slab? Because I can't imagine it being so hard on you unless that's the case. If the wood is on a slab, and you go over it with a good quality pad + carpet, yes, it'll feel better.

 

My house is half hardwood and half carpeting (interspersed). The first floor is on joists, not on a slab. The comfort level of sitting on either is about equal. Now, maybe I have enough padding behind me to make it unnoticeable...but...heh...ok, I'm out of here. :auto:

[kwickimom]

I HATE carpet. I have 3 kids and a dog and I cannot get all the junk out of the carpet. I would have to buy a $1,000 vacuum to have it actually clean.

 

Carpets are gross and dirty. I would wear slippers on my hardwood floors. I have been saving for them for 5 years.

[Slartibartfast]

I hate carpet. I have severe dust allergies. I wouldn't buy a home with carpet.

 

We have ceramic tile in our home, I usually wear tennis shoes and we have rugs that we can sit on.

[PIE!]

The only reason I'm glad for our hardwood floors right now is that we are still potty training some kids. Mopping that up is SO much easier than getting it out of carpet. But once they're all potty trained, we're switching to carpet!

[Debbie in OR]

You are not the only one...we have them on our second floor and as soon as we can afford it, putting carpet in. They are loud enough (even with rugs) but something about on the second floor seems to make them even louder. Love the cozy, warm feeling of carpet :)

[BlsdMama]

I despise carpet... Kids. Cleaning my carpets is much more work than sweeping once or twice per day! If this is your forever house then do what you like!! But if you think you might sell it someday then I can tell you wall to wall carpet would stop me from buying. :)

[PrincessMommy]

To PrincessMommy, is this wood over a slab? Because I can't imagine it being so hard on you unless that's the case. If the wood is on a slab, and you go over it with a good quality pad + carpet, yes, it'll feel better.

 

My house is half hardwood and half carpeting (interspersed). The first floor is on joists, not on a slab. The comfort level of sitting on either is about equal. Now, maybe I have enough padding behind me to make it unnoticeable...but...heh...ok, I'm out of here. :auto:

 

no, it's on joists.

[KidsHappen]

I have hardwoods downstairs and carpet upstairs. I don't like either one. The downstairs is louder, and echo-y and definitely hurt my feet and back more. The carpets upstairs are impossible to keep clean. Vacuuming them is like brushing my Golden Retriever. I can do it for hours and never stop getting stuff out. I can't really think of a perfect flooring material but I guess my set up is the best you can do. We have large area rugs (oriental style) downstairs and then some additional ones upstairs as well. With lots of vacuuming and no shoes upstairs I figure we have less dirt upstairs where the carpet is. I still don't sit on the floors but I don't feel awful about my children doing it.

[PeacefulChaos]

There. I've gotten that off my chest.

 

The previous owners put wood floors on the entire first floor. It's cold, echoey, and uninviting (we also have a cathedral ceiling). My feet and back hurt. I need to sweep or vaccum 2x per week to keep the dust bunnies and dirt at bay.

 

I like to go barefoot in the house and I like to sit on the floor when I'm working on a project. I can't do either of these ANYWHERE downstairs.

 

I know, I know, I'm probably in the minority. Everyone is supposed to love wood floors. Its the "in" thing. But, I don't care. I hate THIS much wood flooring.

 

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

I don't love them, either. :) I think they might LOOK pretty. In pictures. :lol: But I haven't found them to be so much irl.

A close friend of mine adores hardwood floors and wants NOTHING ELSE in her entire house. :svengo: :lol: She says she'll just do area rugs in bedrooms or something - I despise area rugs. Then there is that strip of hardwood floor around the area rug, so you have to clean that AND vacuum the rug! :)

When we build, we'll probably have a little bit of hardwood. But no more than we have to. :tongue_smilie:

[JeneralMom]

Hate, despise, detest, abhor carpet.

 

I used to prefer hardwood, but could live with carpet, but 3 years after moving into this house and still not being able to get the carpets clean (previous tenants ran an animal shelter out of the house, and our landlord has refused to change carpet because we have pets). It is rental beige, cheap quality and dirty. I vacuum constantly and do a whole-house carpet steaming once a month. DS7 and I have asthma and the carpet is messing with us. I really think I am going to refuse another rental house with carpet and when we buy again will insist on wood floors. I have lived in places with all wood and have never been cold or sore; they actually feel homier and warmer to me.

[PeacefulChaos]

Hate, despise, detest, abhor carpet.

 

I used to prefer hardwood, but could live with carpet, but 3 years after moving into this house and still not being able to get the carpets clean (previous tenants ran an animal shelter out of the house, and our landlord has refused to change carpet because we have pets). It is rental beige, cheap quality and dirty. I vacuum constantly and do a whole-house carpet steaming once a month. DS7 and I have asthma and the carpet is messing with us. I really think I am going to refuse another rental house with carpet and when we buy again will insist on wood floors. I have lived in places with all wood and have never been cold or sore; they actually feel homier and warmer to me.

 

I will say, in the case of rentals, carpet is a very bad thing... :ack2:

[Wabi Sabi]

I always ASSume that people who prefer carpet clearly don't have children who tend to spill everything, big dogs who track in mud and dirt, toddlers who pee on the floor and kids who vomit on the floor after eating something bright red or purple. Last year our dog puked up the biggest, nastiest pile of deer intestines (don't ask) onto our cream-colored area rug. We rolled that sucker up and took it straight to a dumpster. I shudder to think of what it would've cost to replace had that happened to wall to wall carpeting.

 

Us? We thankfully have hardwoods. We have one room with a large area rug that I vacuum DAILY and nearly fill up the canister of my Dyson every single day with the amount of pet hair, dirt, pretzels, tiny pieces of paper snipped up by my preschooler, leaves, grass, small twigs.

 

Anyone who can vacuum once a month MUST be a much, much tidier person than I could ever be!

[sylvi76]

I used to hate wearing shoes in the house too, but now that we have hardwood floors everywhere in this house, and I felt like it was bothering my back, I bought a pair of Born shoes that are MORE comfy than going barefoot. Worth every penny. Might be something to consider?

[kokotg]

I'm convinced that the floors in hell are all carpeted.

 

I've always hated it, but even more so since DS6 was diagnosed with allergies to pretty much everything, with dust mites near the top of the list.

 

Kicker is I just had to spend $2600 putting in brand new dust mite-oleum...sorry, I mean carpet...so that we can sell this house. The old carpet was horrible, because I wasn't going to replace it until I could afford hardwoods. Now the house better sell fast!