Wood Flooring - The Advantages of Incorporating It Into a Home

Wood flooring offers a number of benefits and advantages to the homeowner looking to increase the value of their home, improve the aesthetic appeal of a room, or simply wanting to make a change. While carpets offer their own appeal and benefits, it also comes with plenty of downsides. If you want to move above and beyond carpeting and open your home up to some major changes, hardwood floors may be the option you want to pursue. If you are not convinced, here are some of the benefits this alternative offers.

Flexibility

No, the wood flooring itself is not particularly flexible, but its ability to assimilate itself into a wide variety of decorative schemes makes it very flexible in terms of design. There is only so much you can do with carpeting. If you have a blue-themed living room, green carpets are going to simply look terrible. If you have a rustic, hunting-and-bookshelves-type-of-room, carpets of any kind are going to look out of place. On the other hand, smooth, shiny hardwood floors go with just about everything. In terms of flexibility, they are the blue jeans of the flooring world (although far classier).

Durability

When it comes to durability, wood flooring has few equals. Certainly, it is an enormous step up from carpeting. With carpeting, a single year will put enough wear on the carpets that they will scarcely seem like the same fibers you put in originally. Even with care, carpets will start to look ragged and worn after a few years. The same cannot be said for hardwood floors. If you get good, quality materials and spend just a little time with care and maintenance, they can be enjoyed in their original state for many years without showing the slightest sign of wear.

Cost

One thing holding many people back from wood flooring is the perceived cost. Yes, putting them in to begin with can be a sizable investment. On the other hand, an investment is exactly what it is. If you have any designs on selling your home at any point in the future, you will have just made a very good decision. Any real estate agent will tell you how much easier it is to sell a home with hardwood installed than it is to sell a home with carpets. The price tag goes up and the potential buyer pool increases dramatically. Even if you do not plan to sell soon, you may be surprised at how comparable the costs can be with putting in new carpeting.