Floor covering preference....carpet or hardwood? (See Details)

I am female, sans spouse, and I will not live in a home that has wall to wall carpet. It’s a terrific place for dust, mold, and all kinds of uncleanupable things to hide. Hardwood floors, always.

I like a small, washable rug by the bed and one by the tub. Not otherwise a rug fan.

Female. Hardwood floors with rugs (or without). Have rooms with rugs and some rooms without. I would never have wall-to-wall carpet again.

I’d only go with hardwood if it was already there. Refinishing is rewarding.

If installing new, a laminate is much more durable than hardwood… especially if you have pets with claws. Either way, a planked floor is a great excuse to lay down some fabulous rugs… really great rugs out there these days… so cool.

oh… I’m a guy, as in man, male, dude… currently

Female. Wall to wall carpet in livingroom and hardwoods in the bedroom. I like plush carpet in the livingroom to wallow in the floor and watch TV.

Female here. My husband and I have just remodeled and flipped two houses. We put oak hardwood floors throughout both houses except in the bedrooms, bathrooms and Florida rooms. We had wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedrooms and ceramic tile in the baths and Florida rooms. My husband and I agreed on these choices.

In my own house, I have carpet throughout except in the kitchen and Florida room. I have laminate in my Florida room and tile in the kitchen. One day, when we can afford it, we’ve agreed to replace the carpet with hardwood except in the bedrooms. I will keep my carpet in the bedrooms. It feels good physically and for some reason emotionally.

I love, love, love area rugs and throw rugs. My husband? Not so much. He doesn’t understand my love of having soft things under my feet. I love the look of nice rugs on wooden floors. But I want carpet in my bedroom for some reason.

Hardwood Floors hands down. Male
I grew up with wall to wall and in my homes, they have all been Hardwood.
Granted I am a person that likes to sit on the floor, but area rugs server that purpose.
I love the rich look of the hardwood. I can also change the look of the room by changing the area rug. I do that depending on season or reason. Each room has its own decore and rugs from persian to art nouveau, art deco, etc.
Cleaning Hardwood is also very very simple and especially helpful when you own animals.

Female, hardwood floors throughout. Oriental rug in family room. Two large dogs! Need I say more!

My summer project was to restore a vintage motor home. Ripped out the entire interior which included some nasty blue carpet… Installing laminate planks tomorrow… No screws, no nails, no glue required. They just snap together and hold their form nicely with only a compression fit.

I love good grade laminates too, @RealEyesRealizeRealLies. Just be careful with moisture.

Female, I just bought my home and loved the fact that it has hardwood floors throughout the house except the kitchen which has tile and solarium which has brick. I put nice oriental area rugs down to for the effect and softness on the feet. I love the look and ease of cleaning the floors very simple with pets around and they are also great for a child who has asthma.

Carpet. Hardwood floors are so last season.

Yeah @bkcunningham moisture is a concern no doubt, especially in a motorhome application. I plan on painting the backs of each plank before install. No so bad with such a small area.

Hardwood, all the way. Female, husband agrees. We do use rugs sometimes, as we like the look, but they can be troublesome. They tend to slip or bunch up, even with rug pads underneath. I would also like concrete floors, and I like nice tile, too. Hard surfaces are just much easier to clean, and we prefer the look.

@Lightlyseared Thank God. One person who likes carpet. I have never understood the sometimes adamant demand for hardwood floors from the gals. From what I am seeing here so far, same preference from women, but it seems to have a lot to do with cleaning it. And it makes total sense in Florida….or most of the SE, for that matter.

Still….it seems like a huge one sided tradeoff that comes out sounding like this to me. Easy to clean means hardwood. Don’t even ask for carpet, dummie.

Ohhhh….you like soft surfaces for your tender feet? Hardwood, buddy. It’s easy to clean.

Let me be sure and say I only know my preferences and I know very little about the choices.

I do know a couple of men who are in the flooring industry who are total hardwood floor enthusiasts….who, in fact, seem to have forgotten or ever learned that carpeted floors once existed.

Am I overstating the issues here?

@plethora I don’t see where the “issue” is. It is preference. Of course there is an obvious cleaning benefit, but that is not all that was stated here.
I actually like the feel of the hardwood floor on my bare feet too.
There is also more resale value and preference in a home that has hardwood versus carpet.

@plethora Both my ex-husband and current husband prefer hard surface floors, too. I don’t think it’s a man/woman thing… just an individual preference thing.

@plethora You asked us for our personal preferences, but now you seem to be taking those preferences rather personally. It sounds like you really want to be having this conversation with someone else.

@dappled_leaves No, actually, Im having it right where I want to be having it. I do have my own preferences which lean heavily toward comfort cause I walk around most all the time at home in bare feet. I have no bone to pick and appreciate the reasoning I’ve gotten regarding the fact that male and female prefer the look and feel of hardwood. I appear to be the odd-ball on this subject. Thanks very much.

Anything but carpet. I prefer tile or granite or some kind of stone flooring (and even vinyl) over hardwood, because hardwood is so easy to damage and so hard to replace. But lord, do I hate carpet. Between the pet hair, the way liquid and dust and grime and general ickiness gets trapped in carpet, how easy it is to damage and stain carpet, and how scratchy it feels on bare skin (seriously, I don’t at all get how carpet feels nicer…), I can’t stand the stuff. Rugs, I can do, but I really don’t want to spend the money on them when they’ll get ruined so quickly and don’t really bring me enough joy to justify the cost.

We just put bambooin the whole house except the bathrooms where there’s tile. It is so much cleaner. We do have area rugs.
We own apartments and have started putting hard floors everywhere but the bedrooms. Residents like it because they don’t have to pay so much for carpet cleaning when they move. Some apartments have wood and some have tile.

I would prefer wood, but I have a dog and I think doggy paws would ruin hardwood pretty quickly. Dog’s claws aren’t retractable.

I live in a sub-tropical carpet and floor coverings other than carpet just make sense. I actually prefer the look of timber though and I like the feel of it under my feet. It isn’t so cold as tiles or concrete and it has a traditional look to it but it can also look very modern. It fits a range of different decorating styles.

@plethora Okey dokey, just wanted to make it clear that I’m not forcing my choice on anyone, and am not calling anyone a dummy. I am also surprised that you attribute the desire for hardwood to a feminine “cleaning” issue. When I think of the things lurking in a carpet, I’m not thinking about how I’ll clean the carpet regularly not being a 1950s housewife, I’m thinking that it’s unhealthy.

The other thing is… I grew up in a town where hardwood floors are the rule, not the exception except for, like, old people. I don’t actually know anyone here who prefers carpet. I recently spent some time in a town where it’s exactly the opposite – and folks there have no issue with carpeted floors. I don’t see this as a male/female issue at all.

@Bellatrix Your statement “I live in a sub-tropical carpet” just made me smile.

@plethora my husband agrees with you. He wants wall to wall carpet everywhere except the bathroom and kitchen. We go round and round about it. So far he is getting his way and I’m not too happy about it.
I would much prefer hardwood, for many of the reasons listed above; easier to clean, doesn’t harbor dust and mold etc. I also like the look of wood.
I do want some sort of cushioning in areas where I stand in the kitchen, and a rug by the bed so I don’t get my tootsies too cold until I have a chance to get my slippers on.

@downtide If you keep their toenails trimmed, it is not an issue.

Another hardwood floor loving female here. And yes, it is for the reasons others have mentioned: much easier to keep clean (especially stairs) and a classic appearance. I’m also another Oriental rug fan. A sister has hardwood floors and Oriental rugs throughout, even in the kitchen, the the look is stunning.

Male.
I’ve got wood in the kitchen.
All other rooms (except room 101 and the shower) have wall-to-wall carpet.
Mrs. rebbel agrees.

LOL@ sub-tropical carpet… hehehehe…

@dappled_leaves OK with me to eliminate the male/female comment. That was just a guess based on my own personal experience because I have never met a woman who preferred carpet over hardwood. You might guess that some issues developed around this when I was married because the thought and feel of living in a hardwood home just depresses me.

I understand the cleanliness issues raised, mainly by women, and totally agree. Doesn’t make me like hardward any better though. (I have seen hardwood that I liked, and it was usually darker, rustic and very expensive and not something that one (especially female) would want in a home. It’s very masculine.

Fair enough. Personally, I like the feel of hardwood under my feet – there’s just something about it that is genuine and real to me – and I think dark, rustic boards are beautiful.

Most of the houses and apartments here are very old; I imagine installing hardwood in a new home would be insanely expensive.

I’m not sure where you’re getting these ideas of what females like. I love dark, rustic hardwoods. Sadly, for now, I’m stuck with medium pine (or maybe oak?). Pretty rustic, though, still. These floors are almost 100 years old!

@plethora Maybe you stated this already, but why does hardwood depress you?

Hardwood! you can always buy a rug. but cleaning carpet over cleaning hardwood is so much more difficult. I have had both and I will never go back to carpet.

@augustlan Probably from females I have known….( So thanks for the reorientation.

@Aethelflaed I haven’t said, but hardwood floors leave me with a bare empty feeling, unless they are covered with thick luxurious orientals.

Oh and I REALLY like rustic woods and deep dark leather furniture. And I have a golden retriever which does in fact contribute to my dislike of carpets… wet muddy paws all the time. but I will admit that I miss the mushiness of carpet that I flop on in front of the tv.

Even bamboo?

@plethora Does that change if it’s a hard flooring other than wood?

@Aethelflaed Perhaps. As indicated earlier, dark woods, with knotholes have a character all their own (IMO). I like brick, some stone.

@Kato Especially bamboo.

These floors are made out of vintage wine barrels, marks and all. I love them.

These wood stairs are awesome, too.

In the right house, that would look great @augustlan.

Not sure I buy the stairs, but I love the barrel floors. Those are spectacular.

@augustlan THOSE wood floors are fabulous.

Hey! We agree about something, @plethora! This calls for champagne. :)

OOOOOOO. I really like those floors!

@augustlan It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling….:)
Just like your floors….or kinda like them.

@plethora That was really funny!

@Kato You’re invited to a party when @augustlan tells me where I can get floors like this and get them installed. And @augustlan too.

Party on, dudes.

@augustlan Very, very nice…..thanks so much…:)

Holy crap! $85 a square foot????
Oh, that’s the countertop, bit still $35 a foot? Really? It’s nice, but is it THAT nice?

Yo, I do not have that kind of money! Wow. And even if I did, I’d get my own wood, chop it, at some sticky labels and then polish over it. $85 per foot is extreme!

Party on is Right, I will need a lot of wine to cure my shoppers remorse.

Yeah, that floor is but a dream for me. :(

@augustlan Yeah, but you got the dream and it is the best looking hard wood flooring I’ve ever seen. Thanks.