Despite staying a popular kind of flooring, 2015 saw the start of the carpet industry’s decline with solid wood flooring and engineered wood flooring rising in comparison according to statistics from Marketing Insights.
This transition has been driven by a combination of factors such as lifestyle changes, aesthetic preferences and the vast benefits that come with wood flooring.
Aesthetics
With a variety of styles to better suit your preferences, both carpet and wood flooring offer their own aesthetical advantages.
Wood is a timeless classic that creates a feeling of luxury and elegance. Wood flooring is a versatile choice, allowing it to complement a variety of different interior designs. Whether your home is modern or vintage, you’ll easily find the right flooring to match the décor. For example, you can choose between a variety of designs with parquet flooring.
Carpet comes in all kinds of colours and designs, which makes it ideal if you’re looking for comfort and vibrancy in your home. However, flooring trends have moved to a more natural and neutral look, putting a lot of bright and colourful carpets out of business. But it’s soft underfoot!
Cost
When it comes to the cost of the two, carpet is far cheaper than wood flooring. However, wood is a lifelong investment and with the proper maintenance, it won’t need replacing or repairing. It can also increase the value of your home.
Carpet, whilst significantly cheaper, is the opposite. It has a short life expectancy and it’s recommended that you completely replace it every 10 or so years. Carpet can also decrease the value of your home. Cleaning your carpet is another expense to consider.
In the initial payment, carpet might seem like the cheaper option, but caring for it and replacing it will make wood flooring cheaper in the long run.
Durability
One of the main advantages of wood flooring against carpet is its durability and longevity. Wood is naturally a resilient material, which means it won’t be as easily damaged and can last decades. It can stand up against an active household without needing to be replaced; resisting scratches and scuffs. Stains shouldn’t be a problem either as long as they’re immediately cleaned up.
Carpet, on the other hand, is easy to ruin. A slight slip-up with some red wine and your cream carpets are ruined and will need replacing. It’s also prone to wear and tear in busy homes, becoming matted down in the areas where people tend to walk the most. Carpet also only has a life expectancy of 10 years if cared for properly.
Maintenance
Caring for wood floors is quite easy and simple. They just need a regular sweep and the occasional mopping to keep them in excellent condition. Then when the wood begins to dull, you can polish it to bring it back to life. If you spill something on it, the clean-up is easy and shouldn’t leave any mark.
With Carpet, you need to regularly vacuum it and deep clean it occasionally. This is where carpets can start to be costly as people often need to rent out equipment or pay to get it professionally cleaned.
Allergens
Carpet is a magnet for dust, dander, pet hair and other allergens, which often sways people away. The fibres trap these allergens and are difficult to get rid of completely. They also absorb a lot of liquids, which can leave a lingering odour. Over time, carpets are prone to producing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) due to the pollutants that get trapped in the fibres.
Wood flooring doesn’t have this problem and is typically regarded as a healthier choice. It doesn’t keep moisture either, which reduces the risk of mould growth.
Eco-Friendly
As environmental consciousness grows and with climate change being worse than ever, it’s important to mention the impact of carpet and wood flooring on the environment.
Wood flooring, when sourced responsibly, is a renewable resource that contributes to a more environmentally friendly home. Not only that, but the longevity of wood flooring adds to it being a sustainable choice as the less it has to be replaced, the less manufacturers have to make, and the less waste will be created. Eventually, when the time comes to replace the floor, most if not all of it can be recycled.
Carpet, however, is widely known as a less eco-friendly option due to the synthetic materials and chemical treatments used to make it. Research by Eunomia Consulting in 2019 showed that there are 400,000 tonnes of carpet waste per year and given its short lifespan, this isn’t too surprising. 56% is sent to landfill and 44% is diverted with most of it being incinerated; generating even more pollution. Around 2% of carpet is recycled or reused.
Although, it should be noted that manufacturers have been developing eco-friendly carpets to combat the decline of its popularity and its lack of sustainability.
Conclusion
When you consider all the factors, it isn’t difficult to understand why people have shifted towards wood flooring instead of carpet. Especially when you take in how detrimental carpet is on the planet. Wood flooring is more expensive, but it requires less care and lasts longer. You don’t have to mess around with replacing it every 10 or so years.