Carpet vs. Hardwood in Bedrooms

Where does current thinking come down on the subject of flooring for bedrooms?

We are closing on our new house next week, officially moving in the week after, and I am trying to figure out what to do with the flooring on the bedroom level. Currently it's beyond awful, with 30-year-old W2W carpeting in three colors: raspberry pink in the master, blue in one bedroom and the hall, and tan in the third bedroom. Gotta go. But what do I do to replace it?

Do people still like W2W carpet in the bedrooms? I could see doing this, if only to save money, but I worry about my allergies and rugs that catch dust and cat dander and hold onto it like grim death.

Hardwood is my first choice, but it's so darned expensive compared to anything else.

Laminate? Any chance at all, or would it come off as incredibly cheap and pull down the later resale value?

Decisions, decisions...

We just purchased a house in SO, and are in the process of getting the floors done. The first floor is all hardwood, but the second and third floors are a mixture of really old carpet, and some laminate that is fairly new. (Two of the bedrooms had the old carpet, while the master has laminate). We left the laminate for now, and had the floors refinished in the two bedrooms. We were originally going to put laminate down in the third floor. However, the cost of refinishing the hardwood floors up there wound up being the same as putting laminate down--higher labor costs, but cheaper on the materials. Refinishing floors is not necessarily more expensive than doing laminate, or even carpeting. And yes, I do think a house has more value if the floors are hardwood.

Do you know what is under the carpeting? I would think it is wood flooring. Before deciding, I think you need to see the condition of the floors. They may or may not need to be refinished,because they have been covered, probably for the last 30-40 years.

I have carpeting in the master bedroom because I know when it was installed, and that room is exposed on 3 sides and the floor gets icy cold, I also have a large antique rug over the very neutral carpet. But that is the only bedroom that has carpeting.

Personally, I think having carpeting in the bedroom can be very cozy, but it is all a matter of taste.

Definitely find out what is underneath the current carpeting before you begin to make decisions about this.  If there is wood and it needs refinishing, that would be my recommendation.  If you like carpeting in your master bedroom, put it in.  From what I can tell many people prefer carpeting in the bedrooms for both its warming effect and sound deadening effect.  Just as many would prefer wood.  

Sad to say, I already know there's no hardwood under those carpets. The house was built in the mid-80s, and I guess carpeting in bedrooms was all the rage? In any case, we checked while we were doing the inspections, and it's plywood.

I do like the warming, cozy effect of carpeting, but Mr. PeggyC brought up my allergies. Allergists do tell you to minimize carpeting in bedrooms if you are allergic to dust and pet dander, and I definitely am in that category. 

Of course, another argument against carpeting is Ms. Tigger, who seems to think any W2W is just one more reason to pee in the corner. Thank goodness I seem to have found a magic combination in our current house that has her consistently going in her litter box, but I'm a little concerned what she would do if faced with carpeting again!

H'mm. I might have just talked myself out of carpeting altogether.

ICTulips, I agree about the cheapening effect. Even though laminates look SO much better now, you can still tell, and a lot of people really hate that. So I think I will make at least that much concession to possible resale.

Funny: I have a strange feeling that all this discussion might just be me trying to find a way to rationalize a material that costs half of the price of hardwood, but I don't think I'm going to pull it off.

We put two runners on the sides, and an area rug at the end of the bed in natural sisal.  All from IKEA and cheap. 

Oh but never mind now I see see you have no hardwood.

PeggyC, I went to ask.com for an alternative to hardwood flooring and saw....  

Check out bamboo flooring. Better than hardwood in wear at laminate pricing, and earth friendly.

and

If you want the look of wood, I'd go for engineered wood flooring. It comes in prefinished planks, like a laminate floor, but the top surface is real wood (or real bamboo), not plastic laminate. So like solid wood flooring, each engineered wood plank has a unique grain and figure. Here's how the material is installed: 

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/i... 

The cost depends largely on the quality of the flooring. I installed maple engineered flooring in my basement rec room a few years ago and it's holding up great. Wasn't terribly difficult to install, either. 

Here's a general guide to wood flooring in case you want to consider other options: 

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/...

mlj  no offense to you or ask.com, but I have a number of friends say that the bamboo scratches very easily.  1 friend pulled it up after a year, put down a dark prefinished hardwood that the finish chipped off and now has tile again (it is a kitchen)

FWIW Peggy the carpet manufacturers have come up with some and continue to work on anti allergenic carpets.  

Did you at one time think about moving into an old farm house?  I thought I read that someplace

If I could redo my BR floor, I'd strongly look into having radiant heat and a high-quality engineered wood floor.

This article might be helpful -

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/574877/list/when-to-use-engineered-wood-floors

The heated floor will be almost as deliciously comfortable in the cool months as a fluffy soft carpet, and your allergies will thank you!  (And the cat won't pee on something that will be soaked with urine!)

On the pet urine front, I can strongly recommend this product which totally removed a pee accident from our puppy  - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ATFGUY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

They also make a formula especially meant for cats, which based on my dog pee success, I would think would work very well.

Hardwood or high grade laminate gets my vote. If there is no basement  under the first floor bedroom, pdg's suggestion is a wonderful solution.

We got rid of all our wall to wall carpeting when a doctor suggested it . Once we heard that, we gleefully got the stuff ripped out. So much cleaner and, with cats, so much easier to pick up hair balls, etc.

For adding some color, there are so many choices in area rugs.

The problem with carpeting and allergies is the fibers pick up and hold dust and dander, so I don't see how manufacturers can get around that. I'm not allergic to the carpeting itself, per se. Anything that catches the allergens from the air and hangs onto them is a no-no.

I will have to look into the engineered wood option. I hadn't thought of that and didn't realize the top surface was real wood. How well does it last, though, compared to real wood? I think about all the threads that refer to refinishing hardwood floors that have seen a fair amount of wear and tear, and I wonder if it would even be possible with an engineered products. But I'm intrigued!

I love area rugs and would be very happy to get some, probably runners on either side of the bed.

Smoochie, I really, really wanted to buy an antique house that dates to 1740. Maybe that's what you're thinking about. But I think my husband was sweating bullets while I tried to talk him into it, losing sleep and not eating, so I gave up. (JK, but he was very nervous about the idea!)

I think having an area rug at the side of the bed to step on with bare feet is nice, but other than I much prefer hardwood for bedroom floor, as for any other room except maybe a playroom. Both my adult children have opted for hardwood as well, so I think it is a multigenerational preference.

Good engineered flooring is a fine solution if you are (1) not too hard on your floors and (2) not staying in the house for more than 10 - 15 years.  The reason is not that it does not hold up well -- the good stuff does.  The issue is the thin layer of wood on top.  When it comes time to refinish, hardwood can be sanded down, stained, and finished several times.  The layer of wood on the engineered product is thin, so there is often not enough to sand down, and the floor cannot then be refinished.

That's exactly what I was concerned about, Max. That's almost exactly how long I think we will be in the house, but it might be the first thing that crosses a buyer's mind when the time comes.

Well, we will do some serious thinking and pricing, but I think we have narrowed it down to hardwood or engineered wood; the carpet seems to be losing the battle.

For the first time we have wooden floors in the bedroom.  You'd think it shouldn't matter, because we're in the sub-tropics so it never gets cold, right??  Wrong!  Getting out of bed when the sun isn't up, and the floor makes my toes cramp - I have a tendency to chilblains (Raynauds, and also arthritis).  Nighttime temps are currently around 59 degreesF and I need to wear thick socks if walking around the house; imagine me first thing in the morning.

So my side of the bed has mats, which of course are great slip hazards.

And trying to get to the dust bunnies under the king-size bed is just as difficult regardless of whether the floor is wood or carpet except that I can't shift the bed as easily without scratching the floor.

The thing is, when I get out of bed, my feet go straight to either shearling-lined clogs (in winter) or (in summer) rubber flipflops. I never go with bare feet in the house, because with four cats, you never know what you will walk into (think hairballs or a dinner that didn't agree with them -- they're good about using the litter boxes, but vomit can end up anywhere). No, it doesn't happen every day, but when it does, it's always a surprise.

I find dust bunnies easier to get out from under the bed if I can just use a Swiffer. Vacuuming under the bed is a total PITA when you have carpeting.

We seem to have settled on hardwood, don't we?

We went shopping for flooring today, and I found a stunning bamboo that is stained and distressed to look like antique oak. Four-inch, tongue-and groove, solid hardwood. Gorgeous. We are setting an appointment to have the space measured and get an estimate for installation.

We have hardwood (needs to be refinished, but that's not going to happen for a while) in the bedroom, but I've always had a large area rug in there so that most of the room is carpeted. I don't like the feel of wood under my feet when it is cold - not cozy at all. Just my 2 cents.

Have you considered cork flooring?

My husband is dead set against cork. I have no idea why. Although I don't really think I would like it in a bedroom. Not sure why.

I don't have time to read everyone's posts (sorry!), but I like hardwood floors EVERYWHERE except the bathroom (as I've said on other threads, in this house, I put down vinyl plank flooring in the kitchen that looks just like hardwood, but is so much easier to maintain).

While I was househunting, every single house I looked at had old, awful looking colored carpeting in the bedrooms, while they put either wood or laminate flooring in the "common areas" of the houses.  The house I'm ultimately buying was gutted top to bottom, and there are wood floors everywhere BUT in the bedrooms (there is new neutral carpeting, which I'll live with for as long as I feel like it).  So I have the opinion that most folks like carpeting in their bedrooms.

Peggy, what you've found sounds lovely. I'm glad you've found what will work for you, and you've had a chance to throw ideas around. You do realise we'll need pix when you settle in??

PeggyC said:

My husband is dead set against cork. I have no idea why. Although I don't really think I would like it in a bedroom. Not sure why.

 The main downside is that the furniture would likely dent it. But there is cork that looks a lot like hardwood. Just easier on the feet

ParticleMan said:

PeggyC said:

My husband is dead set against cork. I have no idea why. Although I don't really think I would like it in a bedroom. Not sure why.

 The main downside is that the furniture would likely dent it. But there is cork that looks a lot like hardwood. Just easier on the feet

 Cork used to be hard to clean, too, but the modern material is sealed very well.  You can put carpet coasters under the feet of the furniture to prevent dents: http://www.amazon.com/Adams-Manufacturing-4250-99-3340-Caster-Protectors/dp/B00DWX5AVG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1429925782&sr=8-6&keywords=carpet+protector

joanne said:

Peggy, what you've found sounds lovely. I'm glad you've found what will work for you, and you've had a chance to throw ideas around. You do realise we'll need pix when you settle in??

 I assumed as much, but there's going to be a LOT of work done first! But maybe I'll post some shots of the empty rooms when we take possession, just for a record of the "before.'

I did take a photo of the material in quesiton, which I'm posting on Facebook. Perhaps I'll copy that photo here. It LOOKS like antique dark oak but is really bamboo. I really like this idea.

We are having Lowe's give us an estimate for materials and installation, but we are also contacting a handyman/carpenter my husband knows who does floor installations and might be able to do it for noticeably less.

Let's see if this will upload...