New House: Carpet or hardwoods?

[mlbrooks]

Kind of a random question but we will be moving into a house a 6 weeks before EDD and the house currently has carpet - and I'm not particularly fond of it. So we are deciding to keep carpet or do laminate hardwoods. We would keep carpet in bedrooms just do hardwoods in common living areas.

We currently have laminate hardwoods in the place we rent and while I love them aesthetically - we have to clean them all the time because we have dogs who shed and one has allergy issues so he snots all the time.

With bringing a baby into the picture- STMs do you find carpet or hardwoods easier to maintain and/or better for baby?

[miraclebbye]

With animals in the equation I would remove carpet from common areas.

[radtechgirl]

I personally dislike carpeting. I would love to rip all of ours out and do hardwood with rugs, because rugs can easily be replaced.

[orangepickle]

Have you thought about real hardwood? I'm remodeling a house right now and went to a discount floor trader and they have a ton of real hardwood that runs about the same price as laminate hardwood. I got suckered into bamboo for about $1 more per sq ft. but it will last forever and is pretty much indestructible

[JustinBobby]

My 2 cents, I think cleaning laminate is easier than carpets. Carpets gather a lot of allergens, stains and other gross stuff that doesn't always come up with a vacuum. And who wants to steam clean weekly? With laminate you can use a good cleaner to get up all the gross dirt and grime. Especially with pets, all the hair they shed can get annoying with a carpet.

[jenari]

I'm on the hardwood or laminate team as well. We have 2 dogs and DD. It's so much easier to maintain and spot clean as needed. Carpets gross me out.

[robotpcr]

I hate carpet in common areas. I do like it in bedrooms though. We have hardwoods throughout though and just put down rugs.

[Poppy]

I always vote on the side of hardwoods. If the laminate is nice I say go with that.

[viola]

Hardwood all the way. Cleaning carpet is a PITA and is just as much maintenance as hardwood IMO

[amelandre]

I hate carpet. If your dog's allergies are bad with wood, just think how bad it would be when you can't get 100% of the allergens out of the way every time you clean. We have a large rug in our living room, and just that gets so gross after a day and a half from dog and cat hair. I am constantly vacuuming it.

[Starbuck128]

Dogs make carpet so gross. We have always had some carpet, and we wash it twice a year. Wood floors ftw. You can always have a nice plush area rug for the baby. It still needs to be washed, but at least it's smaller.

[soyboy]

We put down laminates in our living areas and our bedroom. The nursery, other bedrooms, and playroom have carpets. I love it that way. We have down one of those foam playmat things in our family room where my son always played as a baby. Now that he is a toddler, the flooring doesn't really matter much at all in regards to him. The only thing that sucks is that we have dark 'wood' and a white dog, so we have to sweep a couple times a week in the more heavily trafficked area.

[soyboy]

And by looking at my siggy, you can see the wood floors didn't matter to my son when he was a crawler

[ballet80]

We just recently moved into our house and it is mostly carpet. We have two labs that she's A LOT. We are putting in hardwoods everywhere at the end of this month. I cannot take the hair in te carpet anymore, it makes our house look always dirty. Plus I want the floors clean once the baby starts crawling.

[scattered]

We have hardwoods throughout and carpet in the bedrooms.

We have large area rugs in the dining room and the living room, so I feel like I'm vacuum in about as often as I did when we had carpets throughout. I prefer the look and for DDs asthma I prefer the hygienic benefits of hardwood!

[scattered]

And ditto the wood doesn't bother crawlers. Babies don't have kneecaps to bother- they develop later.

[beebe918]

I'm not a STM but I have carpets currently and would love to switch to laminate. We live at the beach and have dogs so I think hardwood would get scratched, so it would have to be laminate for us.

[CTri17]

I would do hardwood, everywhere and just have a large throw rug in the bedrooms if I had my druthers. It is so much cleaner overall.

[samiamagirl]

Agreeing with everyone who said hardwood (or laminate). All around easier to deal with, especially with kids and animals. Invest in some nice area rugs and you'll be fine.

[awful]

Yep hardwood/laminate over carpet with area rugs. It does suck to have to vacuum and mop but I know they are getting really clean each time. I have a canister vacuum which works much better on hard floors IMO and a steam mop so it dries quick and I don't have to corral DS to a certain area.

[jerseyakl]

I would go for hardwood if your budget allows. Also, I don't know what kind of dogs you have, but if you are worried about the footprints, scratches and all on shiny floors, I recommend Rubio Monocoat for the stain. We put down white oak through all but one room on our first floor and then had it sanded and stained with the dark Rubio. It's amazing; it is matte and because it is not sealed, it does not get scratched (when hardwoods get scratched, it is the seal on the top that gets scratched). It's kind of like how your dog can run on a stained deck without scratching it. Anyway, I am super pleased with it and wanted to pass along my two cents. We put carpet in our living room for warmth and I regret it.

[jayjay]

+1 for laminate or hardwood.

Side note - we are doing renovations right now and my bedroom is torn down to the studs. Lifted up a corner of the 70's vinyl flooring today to discover beautiful original hardwood underneath. I am very pleased/confused as shit as to why they covered them up.

[seventythree]

I feel as though the point has been made, but just saw this thread and am placing another vote for hardwood! As others have said, carpet can get so gross with a pet... and even with just people, high-traffic areas will look worn and dirty sooner. I'm a FTM, but when we bought this house we ripped out all the wall-to-wall carpet with the logic that kids and dogs are dirty and area rugs are easier to clean or replace. Pet hair gets everywhere no matter what, but I find it's easier to keep the wood floor clean (especially if you stay on top of it, then it's a quick daily task) than to constantly be pulling out the vacuum.

[rivers714]

Oh the colors of explosive poop you'll see when you start transitioning to solids alone would make me vote laminate and hardwood... also if your kid ends up having allergies hardwood is better too.

[mlbrooks]

Thank you ladies!!!! We were leaning towards laminate hardwoods but after getting your opinions and others we feel this is definitely the way to go!

[tabH]

Definitely hardwood. And real wood if your budget allows. Carpets harbor all kind of gross shit that even consistent vacuuming will leave behind. We have stranded hand scraped bamboo and it's very sturdy and super hard, our DD has no issues crawling and running around. Granted since we have hardwoods she runs around barefoot more often than not. Our dog also sheds a ton and since the floors are dark you can see it all the time but it isn't anything the swifter can't handle. Area rugs are great additions if you like the accent of carpets in bedrooms and gathering areas.

[rivers714]

jayjay vinyl was totes awesome in the 70's!!!

[jayjay]

rivers714 Well, to be fair, it is the sexiest shade of mustard yellow with red and green blotches I've ever seen. So there's that.

[rivers714]

My mom bought a house from the 70's it was like a time warp. Pea green appliances, burnt orange countertops

[snapdragon]

Hardwood under the dining room table is MUCH easier to keep clean with kids spilling everywhere.