When it comes to setting up your interiors, flooring plays a key role in defining the tone of your house. With the two most viable options being carpet vs hardwood flooring, picking between the two can be quite the dilemma.
However, in terms of qualities and characteristics, you can easily make a decision based on what suits your taste and requirements.
Graana.com — Pakistan’s smartest property portal, offers you a complete account of the pros and cons of carpet vs hardwood flooring so you can choose the right flooring for your living space.
Among the available flooring types, carpet and hardwood are the two that stand out the most, yet significantly differ from each other. Their contrasting nature is what makes it highly difficult to choose between the two.
While carpets are entirely synthetic, soft, and made of an inexpensive material, hardwood is a natural, hard, and expensive flooring material that is likely to last a long time. Get to know types of carpets.
Each has a range of traits that make them more favourable in particular settings to meet particular demands. Let’s take a look below.
| Features | Hardwood | Carpet |
| Cleaning | Easy broom cleaning, damp mopping | Easy vacuum, difficult stain removal |
| Real Estate Value | Enhances real estate value | No added advantage |
| Durability | Possibly 50 years or more | Up to 10 years |
| Comfort | Hard for underfoot, can be loud, cold in winters | Soft and comfortable underfoot, reduce sound, warm in winters |
| Placement in Home | All rooms, excluding bathrooms and basements | Bedrooms |
| Health | Best for people with asthma or allergies | Traps pollen and dust |
| Visual Appeal | Clean, rich feel, textured wood, warm tones | Clean, stuffed look |
Although carpet has a wider range of colours and textures as compared to hardwood, both materials come in a huge number of styles to suit virtually every interior design requirement.
Since carpeted surfaces typically have a gentle, warm appearance with comforting designs, carpet is not only soft to the touch but also pleasing to the eye.
Anyone can recognise hardwood flooring by its distinctive appearance, primarily due to the wood’s attractive grain pattern and natural tones, which vary depending on the species of wood.
As solid to the sight as it is to the feet, hardwood flooring makes a strong statement. Many individuals choose hardwood flooring for their houses because of its streamlined appearance and cleaner feel.
Cost is an inevitable factor that plays a key role in deciding on carpet or hardwood flooring. Since carpets are considerably less expensive, people choose to opt for them.
However, setting up the flooring of your home is far more complicated than simply going for the cheaper option. Let’s take a look at the carpet vs hardwood flooring cost.
Pakistan has a culture of carpeting homes. People living in old homes that need remodelling on a budget tend to employ carpets to give a cleaner look overall.
The carpeting in Pakistan starts from around PKR 300 per square ft. and can go up to PKR 10,000 per square ft, all dependent on the material, quality, and threading of the carpet.
Given the cost of investing in carpets, their life is usually around 10 years, after which it deteriorates quickly.
Getting carpeted floors can be a cheaper alternative than hardwood flooring, but the value is short-lived since carpets wear out and need to be changed again.
Quality hardwood flooring will almost always be more expensive to install when compared to the cost of laying down a carpet.
Since the materials involved in making hardwood floors are expensive and require more labour, it can leave a dent in your savings. The average rate of solid wood planks typically ranges from PKR 585 to PKR 680 per square foot.
If you compare the costs of carpet vs hardwood flooring, longevity is the main feature that defines the disparity in their costs.
Hardwood flooring can endure a lot more deterioration and spills before needing to be replaced. When properly cared for, high-quality hardwood flooring can last a lifetime.
Additionally, it might reduce the headache of subsequently paying installation costs for new carpets and pulling up old carpets.
Whilst deciding to opt for carpets or hardwood flooring, you need to consider the area where it is going to lay, as well as other factors. For instance, carpets have a very soft feel and are very comfortable for your feet to relax on, making them ideal for your kids’ bedrooms.
Carpets also tend to be much warmer than hardwood floors, making them ideal for cold areas. However, for areas with a hotter climate, it might not be the best decision to opt for carpets.
But, with this comfort comes the heaps of dust and pollen that incorporate into your carpet with time. This can be a very problematic situation for people suffering from asthma or allergies.
Contrary to carpets, hardwood flooring can be very easily swept and cleaned and even mopped with chemicals, making it a very hygienic flooring option.
However, hardwood floors are not comfortable and also produce unnecessary noise when trod over.
Although both options are design-focused and work well in any type of interior, there is a significant variation in how long each option will last.
If not cleaned daily, carpets will require extra upkeep and may even trigger people’s allergies to dust. Additionally, if there is a resident with a respiratory condition, it is not the ideal option.
A carpet typically has a lifespan of just up to ten years before needing to be replaced.
On the other hand, hardwood floors have excellent durability. A hardwood floor can often endure up to 100 years. In such cases, the quality of the hardwood flooring is crucial since it will affect how easily it may be damaged and repaired.
Another aspect that impacts the lifespan of hardwood is the thickness of the plank. Whether it is laminated or engineered hardwood, it lasts decades before it wears out and needs replacement.
By most standards of comparison, hardwood flooring is a superior option compared to carpets due to its long lifespan, more opulent appearance, and higher real estate value.
But if comfort is your top priority or you have a limited budget, carpets might be a better option to go for. However, keep in mind that the carpets need to be replaced every 8 to 10 years.
For more information on related topics such as types of flooring or interior designs for your home, visit Graana Blog.
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