Susan in TN Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Would hardwood floors be awful in bedrooms? The reasons we are considering this are because of allergy issues and ease of cleaning - if the bedrooms were hardwood, then the entire main level (including living room and dining room) would be hardwoods, and we wouldn't have to lug a vacuum around to different floors in the house. I know it wouldn't be as cozy, but I would be willing to invest in fluffy slippers for everyone. What do you think? Any issues we should consider? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We have no carpet at all in our house and I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in Austin Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We moved into a house with hardwoods in our room. Thoughts: (1) you are right about ease of cleaning (2) you are right: it is not cozy (3) if it were to include kids' rooms, you would definitely need a rug--kids can't really play on wood floors (4) after a year of living here, my ankles hurt A LOT. I wear shoes in the house now. (5) I think it looks very nice if you like crisp, modern lines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We have hardwood throughout, even in bedrooms. Looks very nice and is easy to clean. The kids have big rugs in their rooms. At first I just had several little rugs, but then splurged for a nice big one for the boys, since they're down on hands & knees playing with action figures & such. My room has no rug except for right beside the bed. We all wear slippers inside because it does get a bit chilly on the toes in the cold mornings. We have a plethora of animals and I can't imagine what would be left behind in wall to wall carpeting. It also makes it much easier to rearrange the furniture, which I do frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I love hardwood floors in a bedroom. I would get an area rug or some throw rugs to put down, those are a lot easier to clean or replace. After ripping up 30 year old carpet in our house I decided I hated carpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We put wood flooring in my son's bedroom because he has allergies, and it has really helped reduce his allergy symptoms and the amount of meds he takes. (We also wash his sheets in hot water weekly, dust, and don't have area rugs or drapes in the room). The boys actually enjoy playing certain games on the wood floor that work better on a hard surface. (We have carpet in the playroom) Putting an area rug in the room kind of defeats the purpose if you're trying to cut down on dust mites. Fluffy slippers sound nice and cozy! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clwcain Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We love the hardwood in our bedroom. The previous owners put hardwood in all the rooms except the kitchen, which they tiled. My only caveat is that hardwoods and bathrooms never mix. Ever. Period. Use tile if the floor is likely to get wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We have had hardwood in bedrooms (actually bamboo in the last house) for years and have really liked it. It's warm underfoot, and you can always put down a soft, washable rug at the bedside. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We had all wood floors in our house in Maine and I loved it! We are too hard on carpet and I much prefer wood. We did get small area rugs for the bedrooms though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We have hardwood throughout the house except kitchen and baths and I love it. We have area rugs in some rooms and not in others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Another family that has hardwood in every room save the kitchen and bath (which are tiled) and love it! California is warm, so I can't talk about cold climates, but here we find wood very cozy and so much better than carpet. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OH Kim Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 It's loud without carpeting. I have wood in my living room and dining room, tile in the entry way, bathroom and kitchen/dinette. Noise echoes through my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherMayI Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Another family that has hardwood in every room save the kitchen and bath (which are tiled) and love it! California is warm, so I can't talk about cold climates, but here we find wood very cozy and so much better than carpet. Bill Same here except we live in WA state where it can get chilly and of course damp. I wear slippers or socks if I am not wearing shoes- and I probably would if I had carpet. I love the hard surfaces-and can't stand carpet, so I am biased. Adding an area rug can add the warmth you are looking for and you can easily change the look of your room with rugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Same here except we live in WA state where it can get chilly and of course damp. I wear slippers or socks if I am not wearing shoes- and I probably would if I had carpet. I love the hard surfaces-and can't stand carpet, so I am biased. Adding an area rug can add the warmth you are looking for and you can easily change the look of your room with rugs. Do people in cold climates ever use radiant heat under wood floors? I stayed on a ranch once in Big Sur that had a wing where the floors were concrete, but it had pipes that ran hot water embedded in the floor, and it was so cozy (and I believe this part of the house was built in the 30s). But I'm not sure if folks can do the same with wood floors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We have hardwood in the dining room, living room and study and just got laminate in bedrooms. We love it. It is the newer kind (I forget the name) and looks like oak. It makes our rooms look so much cleaner and bigger, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 (edited) ... (5) I think it looks very nice if you like crisp, modern lines HA! I wonder if that's what the builders of our house had in mind... in the 1860s. :D We have wide plank heart pine throughout (painted upstairs, as appears to be traditional, and cork in the kitchen) and it's delightful. The house where I grew up, in Maine, was only slightly younger, had the same wide-plank flooring and was not particularly cold in winter. It also had a full cellar and enormous furnace down there, so probably kept the main level floors relatively warm that way, though. I suspect that new wood flooring would be warmer than old, simply because it has an underlay, is applied over a sub-floor and is tighter, as opposed to ours being applied directly to the joists. The cork in our kitchen certainly is, but I'm not sure how much of that is the just nature of cork. Area rugs add visual warmth, just like any textile, in the "softer" areas of the house, and are somewhat easier to rid of dust and mites than installed carpet, since they don't have padding and can be removed for professional cleaning periodically. eta: Yes, Spy Car, radiant heat tubing can be installed under hardwood. I remember them doing in on This Old House in the 1980s. Edited October 29, 2008 by MyCrazyHouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 All our floors are wood, including the bedrooms. It's fine--I would have to say I even prefer it. I have a small throw rug next to my bed, and my kids each have a small cotton area rug that I can easily throw in the washer. My ds actually pushes his rug out of the way so that he can play on the wood floor. I say go for it! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We had them and loved them. If your house is up on a crawl space, you might want to insulate it from below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E_Edgerton Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We have hardwood in all rooms except bathroom and kitchen. I love them! Easy to keep clean, beautiful, and if you are worried about the "cold floor straight out of bed scenario" just get a rug. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 All of the "original" house has hardwoods (except kitchen/bathroom), including our bedroom. I love it. I really want to replace the berber carpet in the kids' rooms (finished attic) with hardwood too, but haven't managed it yet. My parents' house is hardwood in all the bedrooms, and it's not a problem at all. If you're worried about coziness, you can do an area rug or two in the bedrooms. From an allergy perspective, they're not as good as having hardwoods only, but they can be cleaned *much* more thoroughly than carpets and collect far less dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn of ns Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 Most important factor in considering flooring - Can Hot Wheels cars acheive a satisfying speed on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW in IL Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 And we've lived in a few places that haven't had carpeted bedrooms. Rugs are a must for anywhere that the kids (or adults) tend to sit on the floor. Also, rugs or something around the beds if you have anyone that tends to fall out of bed while asleep. It was much easier to clean the floors without carpets, and the reason we had hardwood floors where I grew up was because of allergy issues. But once we moved into a house which is pretty much carpeted throughout, I didn't notice any increase in my allergy problems. One of the things I really dislike about non-carpeted floors is the tendency for stuff that's dropped to break. Glasses are an obvious one, but my husband has broken more than one pager (back in the day when pagers were what cell phones are now) and at least one cell phone when he's dropped them on hardwood or ceramic floors. I'm also one of those people who gets cold easily (and my slippers just wore out from tons of use), so to me that's another vote for carpet. On the other hand, I think hardwood floors are so much more beautiful. I think if I had my choice, I'd have carpet in the bedrooms and maybe in the living room and/or family room and hardwood everywhere else. In the end, though, it's a personal choice. There are pros and cons on both sides... You have to decide for yourself which is better. Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 Most important factor in considering flooring - Can Hot Wheels cars acheive a satisfying speed on it? not only does hardwood enable maximum hot wheels speed, but if a series of books is stacked at the right angle, a hot wheel can jump over a 4yo girl, into a picture (breaking it) and still land upright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gandpsmommy Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 I would love to have wood floors in the bedrooms for the same reasons you mentioned. I think it would reduce allergens, make cleaning easier, and I just like the look better as well. But dh doesn't want wood in the bedrooms because he doesn't think they feel comfy or cozy in bedrooms. he lived in a house once while growing up that had wood floors in the bedrooms, and he didn't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 We even have hardwood in our bathrooms. We didn't put it there. It will be replaced with tile when it gets too bad. But it is well on its way. Especially the kids' bathroom. It is almost as bad as putting carpet in a bathroom. Yuck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 we have hardwood throughout the whole house.I have some rugs in the living room, and in one bedroom. easy to clean, but it shows up the dust a little! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 We have hardwood on the main level which includes the master bedroom. I hope to put hardwood upstairs in the future. I love the hardwood. Its easy up keep. I have tile in bathrooms and kitchen. It looks good and is practical but it is very cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherMayI Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 Do people in cold climates ever use radiant heat under wood floors? I stayed on a ranch once in Big Sur that had a wing where the floors were concrete, but it had pipes that ran hot water embedded in the floor, and it was so cozy (and I believe this part of the house was built in the 30s). But I'm not sure if folks can do the same with wood floors? We have it under our tile floors in the master bathroom, but not under the wood- although I do think that would be nice and cozy. I will have to ask my dh if that is common with wood floors. I'll get back to you:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 We have hardwood floors in two of our bedrooms. I am planning to install cork or Marmoleum Click over it as soon as we can afford it, because I like it better -- softer, warmer, more colorful. RC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted October 30, 2008 Author Share Posted October 30, 2008 Noise is one issue I'll really have to consider - esp. with lots of kids and musical instruments. We live in a pretty warm climate, and our kids go barefoot or "sockfoot" in the house most of the time, even in winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny from Tenny Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 We have 7 people in our house and one of them is in a wheelchair so I LOVE our wood floors throughout! On rainy days stuff tracks in BUT I can clean them! I wouldn't ever want carpet again - the wheelchair made me stress over the cleanliness of the carpet way too much. Door mats at each entrance really help to cut down on the stuff tracked in (a tip from Don Aslett). We do have an area rug in the den, school room and small ones in the bedroom but I clean them regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 We have no carpet at all in our house and I love it. :iagree: Much less dust as well - guess those carpet fibers have to go somewhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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