For people with Hardwood floors, yay or nay?
Question:My husband and I have a 100 year old bungalow style house. It has hardwood floors throughout. When I say throughout, I mean THROUGout! Bathroom, bedrooms, closets, living room, dining room, kitchen, - EVERYWHERE! They are oak, and are the original floors. What are some advantages and disadvantages that you have come accross with your hardwood floors? We're just debating on whether or not to re-finish the rest of them (the lvg rm and dining room are refinished). What do you think? What are pros, cons to hardwood floors? Do they actually increase home value? I should add that all of the floors are in immaculate condition, as they have had carpet (stretched not glued) over them since the 1950's. Thanks!
Answers:
Hardwood floors definitely increase the value of your home. This is especially true in older homes where original growth tress were probably used to create the floor planks. Many folks say the quality and beauty of the wood is better than what you'll get from a tree farm today. Refinishing them will really bring out the beauty.
You asked about the pros and cons of hardwood flooring. Here is an article that hits some of the bullet points:
http://www.luxuryhousingtrends.com/home_...
The only concern I would have for you is hardwood flooring in the bathrooms. Make sure you apply a very good (marine grade) finish, as wood can warp and rot when it gets wet.
Hardwood is beautiful especially in immaculate condition, find out from an expert before you do anything
I love hardwood floors. Yes, they increase the home value. When I was helping my parents look for their new home, we looked under carpeting in closets to see if there was hardwood underneath. Too often we would find just plain plywood, but always put the houses that had hardwood underneath on the "possibles" list.
The only drawback I see is in the winter months with the floor being cold, but you can always put area rugs down.
wow , sounds great to me, i love wooden floors , today
it add a lot to a house ,if you intend to sell it, most people , would buy a house just for the floors !
keep them ,re do them ,and place rugs over the way ways,and the heavy traffic areas, red oak is the latest color
don't forget ,to give them a coat or two of polyurethane,
satin looks good, just a thought
they are so pretty, but painful to keep clean, i am sweeping my house three times a day sometimes, but we also have a very busy home life.
I think that they would increase value, they are pretty, and not so easy to stain or mess up as carpet.
I have the same type of problem, and we decided to refinish. The two problems we have discovered are
1. The mess. You will have sanding dust all over and it will take weeks to get your house back to normal.
2. The noise. The older floors were put together differently and they are very noisy to walk on. If you have a day sleeper in the house, or if you are a light sleeper, you will have a problem with all the noise. The previous owner of this house said that is why she covered the floors in the 80's
I say YAY to hardwoods for living room, dining rooms, and even kitchens. Easy to clean, although dust does show up alot when the light hits the floors right. They are good for bedrooms too, however I prefer carpet just because it gives a bedroom a most cozy feel to me. I say NAY to hardwoods in the bathrooms. One leak or overflow toilet and your hardwoods can be ruined, especially if you are not at home at the time to find the water on the wood. Even if it is protected wood, the water can leave a big nasty black area.
hardwood is expensive. it increases the value of your house. but it is pretty hard to maintain especially the bathroom. and you need a pretty good termite control.
I have maple all over my home including the bathrooms and kitchen. It's lovely and I'd never replace it. The only problem we had was when our dishwasher failed and flooded the kitchen. But after about 6 weeks the floor finally, totally, dried and was just about normal. I'm the only person who notices. And, the wood is much better on your feet, legs and back than tile and warmer in the winter.
Hardwood floors have always been popular and beautiful to a trained eye. Whether you have carpet of hardwood or tile you still have to clean and maintain them. I personally would rather clean my hardwood floors (all upstairs in my house) then vacuum my downstairs everyday. As far as value goes, they certainly don't decrease the value if they are in good condition.
I think hardwood floors are healthier than carpet and easier to keep clean.
It's definitely good for home value. The problem we have with ours is that we have pets and if they decide to be bad little things it stains the wood.
I understand your concern about hardwood floors. We have them though out our house although several rooms have carpet over them. When we moved here there even was carpet in the kitchen. We took out the carpet to find beautiful hardwood floors. We finished them and they turned out great. Now days they have finishes that really make them easier to take care of. Yes they can be hard to refinish especially in the kitchen around cabinets. It still is worth it. Keep in mind when you get a price on the sander to rent they don't always tell you about the sanding pads you have to buy. It is quite a shock when you pick it up. So make sure you get a total price. One draw back on hardwood floors, there is a echo sound in your home. It doesn't absorb sound like carpet does. You get use to it. If you refinish them and then decided you don't like hardwood then you can get a carpet piece that can go from wall to wall but not attached to the floor. That way if you move you have hardwood floors and can either take the carpet or sell it with the house.
To clean I use a dust mop with endust on mine about every other day or so. When it is time to wash them I use a special cleaner called "Orange Glo". The wax and buffing is a thing of the past if you have the right finish. That will determine how you clean them. Ask your local home store, and they can tell you.
Yes the hardwood floors will increase the home value. That is the trend now. Twenty years from now it may be carpet again. A 100 year old house just seems to scream hardwood floors. I think you have a gem in the ruff, enjoy it!
Hardwood is great for main living areas. Area rugs can add some warmth. Consider natural linoleum for your kitchens and bathrooms. You can even do some bamboo or cork in some rooms.
I would definitely go for hardwood in the bedrooms and closets. I wouldn't do hardwood in the bathrooms and kitchen if you have children or plan on having them. Kids love to splash in the tub and lots of dripping getting out. Same goes for the kitchen. Things just seem to get spilled and dropped alot in kitchens. It will definitely increase the value of your home and since all you need to do is have them refinished it should be cheaper than carpet. Good luck
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