Hardwood Floors

Hardwood Floors

Have you ever watched “Sell This House” on cable TV? I just watched two episodes of it. One thing I have noticed almost every time I see one of these shows, and today was no exception, is the home buyer’s interest in having hardwood floors in their home. Many older homes have hardwood floors under the carpet, and it is almost always suggested that if you are going to sell your house, you should rip your carpet out and go with the hardwood floors.
(A lot like when you see makeovers on women, the first thing they do is cut the long hair short!).

When we did refurbishing in our home 3 years ago, that I just wrote about in my posts this week, our daughter was just insistent that we should go with the hardwood floors that were under our carpet, rather than buy new carpet. I wasn’t sold on the idea. So, I considered taking out the carpet ahead of time, just to see what the floor looked like. I knew there was hardwood under. One very early morning in early August, it was 3 am in the morning. I couldn’t sleep. I got up, and decided to take some of the carpet off in the dining room to take a look see… one little piece ripped away, led to another piece, until I had ripped out all of the carpet from the dining room. What a messy job that was, but it was kind of fun. When Bob and Rob woke up they were quite surprised! Bob thought I was crazy and he wasn’t very happy with me! (Maybe that’s exactly why I did it at 3 am in the morning!). Later that week we ripped the rest of it out of the living room also. The floors were maple. They weren’t in too bad of shape, but they would definitely have to be refinished. I checked into what the cost would be. I looked at the floor and tried to decide if I would like the hardwood.

Our carpet I ripped out was shades of darkish brown, and I think it made the rooms look smaller, so I had decided I wanted a very light (not white…which is also in style now) carpet, so the two rooms would look larger. I couldn’t get a look I wanted with area rugs. Then I considered doing only the dining room with the hardwood, but decided I didn’t like the flow with one room wood and one room carpet. We let the rooms sit with no carpet, for three months, while we waited for the kitchen remodel job to get done.

I had trouble thinking of the two rooms without carpet. I wasn’t in love with the hardwood floors, and with the age of our home, the floors were creaky and noisy. In the fall when the weather changed, the floors were cold. Now I know, I know, you put an area rug down…but I couldn’t even find any area rugs that I liked! To me, nice wall to wall carpet would be so much nicer. After three months, my husband and son felt the same. Maybe it was because I grew up in a cold drafty farm house, we did not have carpet. We always thought carpet would be so warm, cozy and lovely, back then, people craved to have carpet like people crave the hardwood today!

Just a few days before Thanksgiving in 2003, after our kitchen and bathroom work were completed, our new carpet was installed. We also put it in our hallway and up the stairs, and it looked beautiful! I had no doubts after, that we made the right decision.

If we ever sell our house, maybe then I will consider ripping the carpet out and redoing the floors. But not until then! We are happy with our warm, lovely carpet. Especially now that winter is upon us!!!

Note: I'm sure glad I stayed with my first instinct and didn't cave in to the peer pressure I had from many people to do the hardwood floors. This experience reminds me that we need to do what's right for us, not what others want us to do!

PS...what are your thoughts...carpet vs. hardwood floors?