Hard floors versus carpets

quickstep flooring for me, throughout. Well I am starting from scratch with a new build. It is lovely to walk on and I can use rugs. Easy care, easy clean and warm underfoot. Whats not to like

ps just realised this is an old thread andharrymiles might be promoting something.

It depends where you live, and if you have animals. I thought I'd written on this thread before but can't find it.
When we were living in France we had only tiles, downstairs, and pinewood upstairs.like Christine.
We had a few large mats at one time but had to burn them because of a flea infestation from our pets.
Our grandchildren used to feel sorry for us when they visited, no carpets no curtains, but otoh they could run in and out without worrying about mud etc.
Now in the uk where it's colder and no pets we have mostly fitted carpets downstais, laminate and mats in the bedrooms

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Bare floorboards in those days were a sign of poverty. There were gaps between the floor and the skirting boards and wind whistled through. We tried to fill the gaps with newspaper, and told each other that one day, oh luxury, we would have fitted carpets.
How times change, now everyone wants floorboards. If you told me that in 1965 I wouldn't believe you!!

mrsmopp you have reminded me of a flat we lived in during the early 60s. All the rooms had painted wooden floorboards and a large carpet which covered most of it. Bring on fitted carpets.
We have just come home from a break in a holiday house. In the large living room there was wooden flooring, very good quality and no creaks. Although it looked lovely we all thought it would look better with a few rugs. I could never live with hard floors in the living room and bedrooms.

We still have carpets because they are warmer and more comfortable. Also quieter, as we got rid of old carpet before the new one was fitted and there was a .lot of echoing.
I'm afraid hard floors remind me of when we first married
and rented a flat with wooden floorboards right through and they were draughty and noisy. But I realize that modern floors are a big improvement.
Just a thought, a friends husband has Parkinson's and is forever falling over, she was sorry she had got rid of her carpets as he'd have a softer landing and less likely to hurt himself.

I've recently replaced old scruffy flooring in most of my house. I wanted laminate/wood flooring downstairs but tradesmen charge a fortune to lay it and I don't have anyone to do it so I had carpet and love it. It's transformed the house and would now like to get rid of the old laminate in my bedroom though it's still in good condition.

I have a through lounge and when I was doing it up just a couple of years after I moved in, most of the g.children were pretty young. One end is the dining area and the front end the lounge/sitting part. Did think long and hard as to best way of doing this. Eventually decided on Amtico flooring - top end, looks like parquet - event to the edging. At the time i was working, but was still horrified at what I was spending on this one floor area. from the moment it was finished I have never regretted one penny of the cost. 12 years on it still looks like new - anyone coming into my house for the first time makes comments as to how wonderful it looks. So easy to keep clean -a quick sweep and a mop. I do have rug in the sitting area. When the man was laying it he found out that in my hallway there was the original parquet flooring - fortunately, undamaged. In due course I had that carpet dispenses with and found a company who could match this parquet in the (now) open area which had been under the stairs. They cleaned it all up and it came up so wonderfully, that when i returned home on the evening of the day they finished all I could say was 'Wow'. My galley kitchen joins this and there is a cheaper laminate in there. I would NEVER have proper tiles in the kitchen as they are so cold and also anything that falls breaks!
So, my entire downstairs is so very easy to keep clean and is warm to walk on.
I am seriously considering of taking up the rather old carpet in my bedroom upstairs and replacing that with laminate which could extend into my en-suite. At present that has expensive tiles on the floor in their and is so cold to walk on in the winter.
Would never return to carpets in any main living area.

What a cute French bulldog. My son has three.

This is the latest in long line of reasons why we've got wooden floors.
Another reason , I walk around bare foot and that feels so much better than carpets.
Picture was taken in bedroom where we do have carpet, softer landings if you know what I mean.

We have oiled wood floor downstairs and the only upkeep is regular vacuuming, occasional damp wipe, and (very) occasional re oil. Ours has only been re oiled once in 8 years! There is insulation under the floor, so not cold or noisy.

Wood does look lovely but needs more care than carpet.
Very difficult to lay wooden floors if you have concrete base downstairs.

I'm thinking of having wood instead of carpet - ours is showing its age and the moths have been at it quite badly. We have the same carpet all through downstairs except kitchen and loo. I used to prefer carpet as cosier and not noisy, but am beginning to change my mind - especially with very little gdcs visiting!

Dd recently had a kitchen extension and has had honey coloured wood laid right through, from the front door right through to the end of the extension. It looks lovely and is so much easier to keep clean - and a lot less dust for baby grandson who's had respiratory problems. Mind you the carpets she had before were from the previous owner - house was extremely dated so they'd have gone eventually anyway.

we've just decided to put hard floors in the bedrooms,we have it it the kichen/diner/family space and in bathrooms and its great but I wont put it in the sitting room as I listen to a lot of music and a hard floor ruins the accoustics so its carpet until I either stop listening to my massive collection of music or go deaf

There is flooring which is a cross between laminate and cushion floor, which looks fabulous. I assume it must be easier to fit, too
I have laminate in my lounge and hall, and with hindsight wish I had gone for cushion floor as its quieter and warmer.
It'd be lovely not to sound like Michael Flatley riverdancing every time I walk around my flat.

violet489 how did you come across this post? the last reply was in October 2016!

They can go together. At my home I have a carpet in the living room (ArtRelief, beautiful, with Swarovski crystals), and wood. They really go very well with each other, and it is easy to clean up.

I have a wooden floor over a basement - well a cellar, actually, some of it unfinished and all very cold, and damp in places. The underneath of the floorboards was visible from down below.

The ground floor is carpeted, apart from kitchen and bathroom. A few years before DH took ill, we insulated all the ceilings in the cellar (DIY, of course, DH never "got a man in") with those rolls of fibreglass (the kind in a plastic tube, not the ones that shed fibreglass fibres on you whenever you touch them) It fitted between the beams that supported the floorboards above. We noticed an improvement in fuel bills and cosyness after that. It is expensive to let the heat spread down into the basement and the ground below it!

There was going to be plasterboard over the insulated ceiling, but we never got round to that.

Does anyone have floorboards in rooms above a basement? Is it cold? We are moving soon to a Victorian terrace and are contemplating the carpet/floorboards/laminate dilemma

Saw a post I wrote 2 years ago on this - and nothing's changed in our house except we now have MORE grandchildren and the carpets are getting worse by the day. I'd love for a magic wand and have wooden floors laid as it's all the junk that's on the floors that would have to be moved plus the furniture that's off putting. I think I'm basically idle and DH is all for a quiet life. Perhaps next year....

We have carpet in all the bedrooms, landing and stairs, lounge and study. Ceramic tiles throughout the kitchen, hall and front porch. A lovely smoky wood effect laminate in bathroom and toilet. The downstairs loo and passage has Amtico, slate effect, which has worn extremely well. I like the look of hard wood floors, but like the cosiness of carpet. As I am not that good a housewife, ? the carpet 'hides' the need to de-fluff the floors, for longer than a hard floor, where you can see 'dust bunnies' collect. Sorry Christinefrance, I must be unhygienic, but I like my carpets.

Hard floors all the way for me. We have three dogs and a cat and they all manage well. We have a mixture of laminate and tiles. There is some slight marking on the laminate but then carpets get stained too. After cleaning my hard floors I am so glad all that all that dirt is not going into a carpet, so unhygienic. I would never revert back to carpets now.

Rubysong I am told that the correct thing to use to fill in the spaces is sawdust mixed with some kind of glue but not sure which . Perhaps google it ?

Our son had bad asthma growing up so all the carpets had to go. I have a mixture of tiles in Kitchen, bathroom, utility and oak flooring in other rooms. The oak is lovely and warm to walk on and dogs have no problems with our floors. The flooring suits our old cottage and I would not go back to carpets with pets in the house.

So easy to maintain, even when grandchildren forget to take their wellies off, and the oak looks great as it ages. Babies accidents, food dropped all easily coped with.