Can't decide on carpet or wood flooring.

[Greenshadow]

We need to replace the existing (70s!) carpet in our living room.

It's quite a large l-shaped living/dining room and is also a through-way to another room so gets a lot of wear one way or another.

The sensible solution, what with children, cats, food etc would be a wood (engineer probably, laminate possibly) with rugs but somehow I just can't bring myself to abandon lovely, comfortable, warm carpets.

Please talk to me about your experiences of wood floors - are they cold? Do you regret installing it?

[MikeUniformMike]

Sisal is ok but you can't clean it with water. It stinks if it gets damp.
I would go for wood if you have pets. If you get carpet get a good one in a neutral with a fleck. You might want to match it to the cats.

[Sammysquiz]

This thread is 9 years old - I think OP will have made her decision by now

[rugler1]

Place the large rug in your room. It is easy to clean. I have bought a rug it gives a warmth feeling. Rugs can be taken outside and cleaned when you need to.

[69redshoes]

Thinking of installing Kahrs Oak Weimar a one strip throughout the downstairs of the house - this is a very large area.Had Kahrs Merbau a 3 strip down for 20 years and it was great . Unsure of going for a brushed matt effect now . Suggestion pleases. Would you recommend other makes

[redhollyberry]

cybbo - which floor did you get? I'm hopefully going up to Wickes today. Was it easy to lay?

Thanks

[snorkie]

no you can lay wood over existing floorboards (chipboard or proper ones, but run the new planks at 90 degrees to the existing ones), or over concrete, but not for some reason over tiles. Whatever you lay it on must be level and if it's concrete it must dry (usually needs some sort of damp-proof membrane between the concrete and the wood).

[Greenshadow]

Thanks Folks.

That's something else I haven't even considered Snorkie - not even sure what we have under the current carpet - does wood have to go on concrete?

[CeliaFate]

We've got parquet flooring which looks fab but is a bugger to clean. You have to hoover it then mop it and the minute you've finished there's a big dust ball! I'd go for carpet, have it deep cleaned professionally twice a year.

[snorkie]

We've just finished laying engineered wood floor in our living/dining room having always had carpet previously and we all (including the teenagers) really like it in spite of all of us having similar reservations to your own at the start. We decided we didn't want carpets again as we have a moth problem. The new wood doesn't seem cold (although the fact we had bare concrete for 3 months in the interim might have influenced our opinions there), and I've not noticed a problem with dust or noise. It has a slightly textured (brushed?) finish, so not too slippery and the planks lock together very tightly so no gaps. We have just one fairly big turkish rug in front of the hearth. The only drawback is that there is a slight 'bounce' in one part of the room where evidently the concrete wasn't quite as level as we thought!

[cybbo]

Greeny we got some cracking solid oak flooring from Wickes recently and it was 33% orf

[cybbo]

I have sisal up my stirs. Its great until the cleaner drops her bucket of water on it

[tethersend]

Sisal is hardwearing and looks great. And hides the dirt.

Not as comfy as normal carpet, but easy to clean and cosier than wood.

Brought to you by the sisal marketing board

[SoStressedAndConfused]

Get wood floors and rugs - best of both worlds. Rugs can be taken outside and cleaned when you need to.

[Rockbird]

Would never get carpet, particularly with small children. My parents have wood, we have top end laminate and there is no difference in the level of dust, or the look of it. My mother is killed trying to keep on top of the dust. But I'd still rather chase dust bunnies than clean carpet.

[Greenshadow]

Having rugs on our floor wouldn't defeat the object in our case Nikki and Bamboo, as we wouldn't have them at the end where the dining table is and probably not where people use it as a corridor - just where we sit.

Love the IDEA of wood, but still being drawn back to carpets...

[Dolittlest]

We have natural oak flooring downstairs and up.

Love it downstairs - it is so easy to clean and great for heavy traffic, mess of young children etc.

Hate it upstairs. It looks lovely, granted, but it's chilly, noisy and we are going to carpet it in the new year.

[tethersend]

Have you thought of sisal?

We have this, and it's great.

[Greenshadow]

Thanks for all the advise.

OK, convinced not to get laminate.

Think we need to find a showroom with a decent sized example of some engineered wood floor - always so hard to get an impression of what it will be like from a tiny sample.

Cat64 - Had forgotten about the slippery side of wood floors though. Something else to think about.

[dikkertjedap]

I have Kahrs wooden floor, very expensive and has proved to be a nightmare, scratches a lot, have to mop any spilled water straight away or I am left with a mark and when I mop the floor with a well wrung mop I still have to dry straight away with a cloth to prevent marks. Maybe I am just unlucky with this floor, it does look beautiful but it is definitely not easy maintenance.

[PrematureEjoculation]

how old are your kids?

if under about 4 - a solid floor every time.

my carpet is carpet tile - which is great as it comes up to wash - with a normal carpet there would be stains all over it. even with tile sometimes they don't wash back to a fresh-smelling condition.

Fitting a solid floor can be trickier, as it involves cuttig the bits etc - though with a mitre saw it can be easier. even easier if you pay someone else to do it :)

carpet is fairly straightforwards to self-fit.

if you have a dog carpet is better for them, as dogs tend to 'skate' on a slippy surface. dogs are usually less stain generating too...
though if you have a hairy breed its easier to get hair off a solid floor.....

points to consider?

[susitwoshoes]

ditto curtains and blinds, while we're at it! Blinds NEVER keep out the draughts.

[susitwoshoes]

depends how much you feel the cold. DP and I both feel it a lot and we have wooden floors (can't afford to carpet them) and it's freezing. In fact, the houses of everyone I know who has wooden floors are cold. But they all love it. I have to say I think there's a lot of snobbery about wooden floors, but in a country that's hardly subtropical it does seem to be a case of form over function.

So, in short, if you feel the cold carpet, if you don't don't.