Hardwood flooring has several pros and cons. Is it a good option for your home?
Hardwood flooring is the dream for many homeowners looking to renovate, and for good reason. While wall-to-wall carpeting has its pros and cons, the benefits that hardwood flooring has to offer are also fantastic. However, it also has its disadvantages. To know if hardwood flooring is something in which you should invest, check out the following pros and cons.
Pros
Installing a hardwood floor is a long term investment. In historic homes, you can see that they can maintain their original hardwood well over a hundred years. When properly maintained, a wood floor can outlive its owner. Unlike other types of flooring, you will not have to worry about replacing it once a decade. All it needs for maintenance is a sweep, mop, clean with wood-cleaning products, and a resanding if need be.
Variety is another one of hardwood’s strong points. Different species of wood come in a vast enough array of colors that at least one will be able to suit your style.
Cleaner air is something you can enjoy with the aid of hardwood flooring as well. Carpet can trap dust, allergens, and mold spores, whereas wood will not. If you have family members who are more susceptible to allergens like pet dander, mold, or dust, hardwood flooring can help reduce the buildup of those irritants.
Wood flooring also gives your home a higher value. Because of how long it lasts, its organic nature, and its general durability and ease of care, it is a feature toward which homebuyers gravitate. It has been a classic flooring choice throughout the centuries.
Cons
On the other hand, wood brings with it a higher cost than any other type of flooring material. Because of its high upfront cost, many homeowners may want to choose an engineered wood flooring or carpet instead.
The latter two choices are also preferable when considering the tendency for wood to warp from moisture. Wood expands in humid conditions and contracts in colder, drier climates. Expansion is called cupping and contraction is called crowning. Spilling water on a wood floor can also be damaging and cause irreversible stains.
For this reason, hardwood flooring is not good for kitchens and bathrooms, where water spills can be rampant. Another disadvantage is that it is not a good option for every room of the house, which may potentially affect the unity of the home’s design.
Noise is another concern with hardwood. Without the muffling effects of carpet, walking across the floor can prove much noisier and more echoic than before. If you accidentally drop something, it will also be much louder and your object could break more easily. An area rug, however, can remediate this problem.
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