When it comes time to replace the floors in your home, there is no doubt that you will have a lot that you need to think about. Choosing new floors isn’t as simple as choosing a new recipe to make for your Sunday family dinner. There are factors that you need to consider, such as whether or not you have children and pets, the function of the room, the climate that you live in, and the necessary maintenance for upkeep.
While all of our flooring can fit the needs of your lifestyle, at the end of the day, the burning question that will be on your mind is whether hardwood or carpet is easier to maintain. While we aren’t afraid of hard work and a little bit of elbow grease, most homeowners want quality flooring that won’t require cleaning day in and day out.
While both carpet and hardwood have pros and cons when it comes to cleaning and overall maintenance, any type of flooring is going to require you to either vacuum, sweep, or mop by weeks end.
Carpet
Carpet has a softer underfoot and is ultimately warmer than hardwood, but it does require frequent vacuuming in order to pick up the trapped dirt, dust, and pet hairs that get trapped in the carpet fibers. You will also need to have your carpet shampooed or steamed several times throughout the year to pick up the allergens and other debris that a vacuum cleaner simply cannot pick up.
Lastly, beware of the fact that carpet is more susceptible to showing wear and tear in the heavy traffic areas of your room, so if you have pets and little kids running around, more cleaning might be required of you.
Hardwood
There’s no doubt that hardwood floors are easier to clean than carpet, however, you are still going to want to mop or sweep your floors every few days. While carpet requires a deep cleaning several times a year, with hardwood, using a cleaning solution at least once a month is highly recommended.
A liquid spill is easier to clean up when it’s spilled on hardwood as opposed to carpet, but dropping a hard object can dent hardwood, whereas it has little impact on carpet.
No matter which flooring you choose, you will still be required to clean and maintain the quality of your floors if you want them to last as long as possible, so really, the choice is yours.
Carol's Carpet Flooring America 