When deciding on the right flooring, Calgary homeowners need to think beyond the appearance. Flooring also should be durable, affordable and easy to maintain. Here we look at the maintenance aspect of flooring and which is the easier to maintain, carpet or hardwood floors.
Allergen Worries
Your home is full of allergens that can lead to health issues such as itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, dry coughs and more. When it comes to floor maintenance, if your family suffers from allergies, you want a floor that will help reduce allergens. In this case, hardwood wins hands down as it has a smooth surface that reduces allergen buildup.
Carpet, on the other hand, requires constant vacuuming especially in high traffic areas or if you have pets. Carpet fibres can collect everything from pet dander and hair to dust and dirt and from mould spores to germs and bacteria. Hardwood just takes regular sweeping to eliminate allergens.
Cleaning Spills
Both carpet and hardwood require cleaning as soon as possible following a spill. In the case of hardwood, you can wipe the spill with an absorbent dry cloth and follow up with a clean damp cloth if the spill was something sticky. If you allow something such as wine or grape juice to sit on hardwood, it can seep beneath the floorboards and leave a stain. Today’s stain-resistant carpets make cleaning up stains easier. Stains are blotted away. So really, as long as your carpet is staining resistant, the two floors come up even when it comes to stain maintenance.
Traffic Wear and Tear
The amount of traffic on your home is the final consideration for flooring maintenance. In this case, there are ways to compensate for wear and tear with carpeting that you can’t with hardwood. You can choose a darker colour, opt for a stain-resistant finish or choose a synthetic fibre that will be more resistant to matting than something like wool. If you have a lighter coloured carpet, you need to not just vacuum often, but also invest in either professional carpet cleaning or renting a carpet cleaner to reduce discolouration. Hardwood is meant to last and will put up with daily wear and tear.
However, where you might see more obvious damage in high traffic areas is in the hardwood floor finish. High-traffic areas tend to have more dirt and grit that can remain on the floor. Over time as people walk over the dirt and grit, it causes tiny scratches that slowly diminish the sheen of the finish. This can result in different colouring in higher, worn traffic areas. You can reduce the risk for scratches and damage in high traffic areas by keeping your floors well swept, asking people to take off their shoes and keeping your pet’s claws clipped.
The main reason people choose carpets is affordability and comfort underfoot as they tend to be higher maintenance. For most people, nothing beats the appearance of hardwood flooring. Overall, they tend to be easier maintenance than carpeting, although they can be more vulnerable to scrapes and dents.
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