Please don't use that cheap, fake wood for your floor replacement if you're selling.

[Colleen27]

I just wonder when carpet went out of style. I like a nice, high quality carpet in the living room and bedrooms but I guess that I'm just old-fashioned.

Our whole house is out of style though. I'm told that we need hardwoods throughout (except Italian tile in the bathrooms), stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and so on. Now if only someone would send me a huge pile of money I'd be glad to make all of these updates!

My house is deliberately out of style (it was built in 1880, so I'm more interested in quaint/antique than up-to-date), but I draw the line at carpet. I love my 100+yo wood floors, but more than that, I love not having all the dust and dog fur that accumulates in even the most diligently vacuumed carpeting.

I loved carpet when it was just me & DH, but with kids I feel like it just doesn't come/stay clean enough, especially right now with a toddler in the house. And I think that's why it went out of style - heightened awareness of allergies and indoor air quality issues along with the "green" trend makes carpet less desirable as a flooring option.

 

[AKL_Megs]

I wash the floor with a 1/2 & 1/2 mixture of water and window cleaner...shines up, looks great...

I use this also! I just spray the Windex on the floor and damp mop it! SO easy! It takes no time at all!!!

 

[Angelhalo]

When we were buying, we would have MUCH rather had NEW cheap fake wood floors than something we'd have to replace ourselves because most likely we'd be replacing the carpet etc with cheap fake laminate wood floors! At least if the current owners do it, then we won't have too. We DID manage to find a home in our price point with real wood floors, but we would have been quite happy with a new laminate that didn't need to be replaced immediately out of our own pocket.

 

[Angelhalo]

But if you want to see your house 'move on' in today's market - skip the cheap upgrades.

I work in the real estate business and I can say this is absolutely untrue. The median pricepoint for houses that are selling fast in this market (here in Charlotte) is $150-175k and under. If your home is in this price point you had better laminate wood floors. To a median price homebuyer in this area, a laminate wood floor = move-in ready!

Even the people here who make GREAT money and are looking at really nice homes are looking for a steal. I'd wager (having spoken with many of them) that 99% of the homebuyers that my team leader has spoken to in the last year would prefer a home with nice laminates over a home with grungy carpet or no flooring at all. Right now, when many family's budgets are tight, they feel that they can move in and "deal with" laminate until a time when they are more able to upgrade to something nicer, rather than make an expensive purchase in their life ie: the home itself, and then have to immediately put down an entire house full of flooring before they can really live in it.

 

[angwill]

People tend to put when they like and can afford in their homes.. If you don't like it, move along to another house.. Someone else will come along and buy that home who isn't quite as particular..

Ditto. Don't judge other peoples choices because it is not what you prefer. I am sure there are many who feel your choice of flooring is ugly and not what they would choose.

Not buying a house because the flooring is not what you would choose and knowing you are going to put in it what you want doesn't make sense to me. It's like not buying a house because you don't like the color of paint they used when all you have to do is paint it the color you like.

I am sure you will find something you love but don't let the little things upset you so much that you feel the need to vent on a message board about it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I work in the real estate business and I can say this is absolutely untrue. The median pricepoint for houses that are selling fast in this market (here in Charlotte) is $150-175k and under. If your home is in this price point you had better laminate wood floors. To a median price homebuyer in this area, a laminate wood floor = move-in ready!

Even the people here who make GREAT money and are looking at really nice homes are looking for a steal. I'd wager (having spoken with many of them) that 99% of the homebuyers that my team leader has spoken to in the last year would prefer a home with nice laminates over a home with grungy carpet or no flooring at all. Right now, when many family's budgets are tight, they feel that they can move in and "deal with" laminate until a time when they are more able to upgrade to something nicer, rather than make an expensive purchase in their life ie: the home itself, and then have to immediately put down an entire house full of flooring before they can really live in it.

Agree with this.

The one caveat to this is here in St. Louis area you are going to get a minimal increase in your home price, basically you will be lucky to break even. So the price of the house needs to reflect the condition.

If your furnace, roof, and a/c unit are old AND you slapped a cheap laminate on your floor you are going to take a bath on the house.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

While I agree with you in spirit (homeowners passing off cheap upgrades as fancy goods and inflating the price inapproprately). However, if a home has been stuck on the market, a it behooves a seller to understand why their home is not selling.

While you may be willing to buy a home with crappy, dilapidated flooring and update it yourself, many folks will not.

Some people when replacing anything in the home--are just trying to get it to sell and not recoup the costs.


Our house needs updating and at this point if we were to sell it...the updates would be to just help sell it. Profiting would be the least of our concerns at this point as it is for the bulk of the market where I am at.

When I look at houses--I can't get past the asthetics. Fixing astetics is not a "need"--so if a house simply has ugly dated fixtures--not all buyers have the luxury of investing the money in upgrades.

 

[Jennasis]

We put in what we could afford. Cheap laminate. Looks terrific, particularly compared to the 30 year old stained carpet we tore up.

 

[TxRabbit]

I just wonder when carpet went out of style. I like a nice, high quality carpet in the living room and bedrooms but I guess that I'm just old-fashioned.

I would say that carpet went out of style when moving became stylish.

Once upon a time ago, kids shared bedrooms and bathrooms, families lived all together in family rooms, and in general, people would be busting at the seams for a period of time before they would actually move. People liked staying in their same house, in their same neighborhood, going to the schools, etc. So there were all kinds of jokes that people could relate to that were seriously funny, like waiting for the bathroom. Think about the Brady bunch.

Nowadays, people think that they have outgrown a house much faster. They want playrooms, gamerooms, teen suites, more bathrooms, bigger kitchens, bigger masters, etc etc. They expect a lot more luxury out of their living surroundings for every different phase of life with family and kids.

And with the knowledge of what lurks deep in your carpet piles comes a dislike for carpet, because it is an allergen nightmare. And you will never realize how much dust, hair, grime, etc etc are hiding in your carpet until you live in a house with hard floors (of ANY type).

I think people are being forced to stay in their houses now, if possible, due to current economic conditions, however, for those that are buying, the deal with carpet has become knowledge and even if the carpet is newer, a buyer still knows that there is a world of potential "ickiness" hiding in that carpet. Hard floors can be really clean, no matter how un/attractive they may be.

 

[si-am]

We have laminate flooring in our kitchen. It was new when we bought the house. I don't care one way or another about it. It looks good and it sure beats the cheap linoleum in our old apartment!

But if we sell the house and someone asks for an allowance to replace it (assuming it is still in good condition and doesn't *need* replacing) I would totally laugh.

If you want a custom house, build it yourself.

 

[quentina]

Did I say that? Nope! I said, don't buy the cheap stuff so you can show your house with 'new' floors. I'd rather see the old and replace it myself than pay you back in the price of your house for some awful flooring that is new. In other words-if you can't afford a decent upgrade then don't bother. Wood floors hold up much better 50 years from now than laminate every does-dogs, children and all. The oak floors in my current home are 98 years old and they are warm and gorgeous. Real wood is the best investment and looks the best. And to those who say 'if you don't like it, move on', I certainly DO move on. But if you want to see your house 'move on' in today's market - skip the cheap upgrades.

Please know that I have no knowledge of good floor versus bad floor, the only difference I see is in the price.

Now, I am looking to replace my carpet. I have gone to the flooring stores and they told me with 3 kids and 2 dogs, you MUST go with laminate otherwise, the wood will look like crap in a very short time.

I went to multiple stores looking for the best price and they all told me the same thing

 

[mom2rb]

My dogs and kids tore up the laminate in my last house. I was in a starter home, so I put in laminate. Once it is damaged there is no way to fix it.

My new house is bigger and nicer so I put in real wood. It is 3/8 inch, solid, Brazilian Cherry. My dogs and kids have scratched it, but you can only see it if you tilt your head and look at an angle. I wanted solid wood because I know it will get scratched. I can refinish it many times.

 

[BelleWDW]

We replaced the floors of our first two houses.
Location and school districts were more important

First house had red fake brick laminate and MINT green sculptured carpet (80's)

Second house the carpet was very worn -and just didnt like the laminate


It is VERY expensive to put real wood in large areas of a house

 

[MrsPete]

I think all those darn HGTV shows have really altered expectations in the RE market. . . I say blame HGTV and be very wary of the lipstick on a pig phenomenon if you're house hunting.

I think you're absolutely right, but there's more to the story: Our society has been told that we "deserve" the newest, most up-to-date styles in everything -- including our housing. And if you can't afford it, don't worry! That's what your credit card is for!

If you believe HGTV, we all live in homes with some type of wood flooring, granite or quartz countertops, and stainless steel appliances.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who prefers carpeting. When we were looking at homes, most of them had pergo or hardwood throughout. These were old starter homes. It seemed like they were so cold. I definitely like carpet better, but I don't think I could cover up the floor if it was already good looking.

Actually, my preference is wood (either hardwood or laminate) in the living areas, but carpet in the bedrooms.

We have a mix of floorings in our house, and what I dislike about the carpet is that it shows wear so quickly. My carpet here in my den is 18 months old, and it already has a couple stains. No, nothing awful has happened -- just a few spills. I need to have it cleaned. Wood of any description holds up better than that. But bedrooms feel "warmer" with carpet, and they don't get the heavy foot traffic that living areas do; thus, given my druthers, I'd choose carpet in my bedrooms.

Once upon a time ago, kids shared bedrooms and bathrooms, families lived all together in family rooms, and in general, people would be busting at the seams for a period of time before they would actually move. People liked staying in their same house, in their same neighborhood, going to the schools, etc. So there were all kinds of jokes that people could relate to that were seriously funny, like waiting for the bathroom. Think about the Brady bunch.

I'm not sure people "liked" busting at the seams. I can remember those days personally, and I think most of those people would've chosen a little more space -- it was lack of money, or -- more accurately -- refusal to borrow.

You are right, though, that we today have taken the trend towards more space to an extreme. Don't we all know a couple one-child couples who live in five-bedroom houses? Don't we all know people who have an in-home office (even if they don't work at home), plus a media room and a playroom and a sunroom and a craft room . . . we do need to get back to moderate in our tastes.

 

[Becky2005]

Also, someone mentioned this already, but what price range of houses are you looking at? I understand if these are high class houses, but if these are middle class houses they could very well not hold the value of hardwood.

That's a good point. We had what was basically a starter house in a basic middle-class subdivision here. When one house went on the market, one of the points on the sales flyer was that it had marble entranceway -- I'm thinking since that was *so* not typical of any house in the neighborhood. All I kept thinking is they would never get the price they want for that marble hallway. It did sit on the market for a long time because they tried to price it higher than every other house in the neighborhood & the only thing different was the marble flooring. I know other houses went on the market & sold way before this one did. I guess I remember the marble entrance even though that was gee over 10 years ago since it just stood out at me as being completely out of place for the neighborhood.

Of course, we have wood floors & frankly I have no clue if they are real or not. I'm not really sure how to tell. I do know I attempted to use a wet-jet type swiffer that said it was safe for sealed hardwood floors so I tested it and it left a weird film on our floor.

I don't know -- I always figured if I liked the basics of the house, anything that could be changed I didn't worry about. If I didn't like say where the walls were placed, although I could change that, it's not something I would really think I would do, so paid attention to that. I still hate the wallpaper that is in our kitchen but we haven't bothered to change it. Some year probably before we move.

 

[Pigeon]

And yes Pergo is a laminate, however it is considered a "high end" laminate.

Not so much. Pergo is probably the best known brand of laiminate, but it's not necessarily "high end." There are various lines of Pergo, which are actually manufactured by different companies. Some are better than others. But there are much better brands than Pergo.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I love my laminates! easy to clean, easy to maintain and affordable. While hardwood is nice, did not fit in the budget and with 5 pets at the time rugs were NOT an option

 

[Liberty Belle]

I love my laminate. It has held up well with pets and is easier to clean than carpet. Just because someone couldn't afford hardwood doesn't mean they don't take care of their home.

Marsha

Ditto. We've put down Konnecto in our bathrooms and will in our kitchen when we've saved up enough money (it's not that expensive, but our kitchen is large and at $3.00 per square foot, it would add up). It looks great; we get lots of compliments and a couple of people said it looked like real wood.



When we bought the house, the flooring was crappy linoleum, but we wouldn't have dreamed of asking for an allowance to change it. We paid what we thought was fair for the house.

 

[Planogirl]

I can understand that carpet can be a problem when it comes to allergies and dust but I still remember rolling around on the carpet with my cousins or getting a big floor pillow and laying down in front of the TV to watch something. Carpet just seems cozy while hardwood floors just seem hard!

I do like the look of hardwood floors though and we do have them in the kitchen/dining area and the entry hall. I also like the look of tile in some houses.

I wonder if carpet will come back? Things tend to change.

 

[disneybound31]

I just wonder when carpet went out of style. I like a nice, high quality carpet in the living room and bedrooms but I guess that I'm just old-fashioned.

Our whole house is out of style though. I'm told that we need hardwoods throughout (except Italian tile in the bathrooms), stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and so on. Now if only someone would send me a huge pile of money I'd be glad to make all of these updates!

ITA! When DH and I were ready financially to replace to horrible, dirty builders grade in our starter home (which we are happily still in!) we disagreed on what to put in. I wanted a higher end medium pile carpeting that would wear well and be stain resistant (no pets at time and well trained kidsonly). He wanted Pergo type. I guess I'm old fashioned and out of style too, Planogirl, because I can't imagine laying on the living room floor playing board games on family fun night on Pergo. And I love the quiet and soft feel of carpet on my feet in the bedroom and down the hall.

No stainless steel here either! Or upgraded cabinets or counter tops! DH mentions those specific things throughout the year- EVERY year! He must be the cool one! I couldn't care less. It would take doubling our take home pay as a family to get those things even started. We live fairly simply and I like it that way.

BTW, I won. Creamy, soft, clean carpeting throughout the living areas and bedrooms. So now I am trying to fulfill his desire of having something nicer in the kitch/dining. Boy, it's pricy!