Carpet Or Hardwood Floors?

ClassicRockr

ClassicRockr

Well-known Member
Noticing that more and more people are choosing to have, or keep, the hardwood flooring in houses they buy on Home & Gardens Network. In fact, all of the vacated apartments in our complex are having the carpet taken out and are having hardwood flooring put in. It's part of Renovations for the apartments here. Until we move out, our apartment stays the same as it was when we moved in........living room, dining room, hallway and bedrooms are carpet.

My question is, if a Senior looses their balance on hardwood flooring, they could really be physically hurt. I lost my balance on our living room carpeted floor, fell on the carpet and was fine. My wife fell in our spare bedroom and, due to carpeting, she was fine.

Of course, homes being sold and/or Renovated on that tv Network are not being bought or Renovated by Seniors and are apartment complex is not designated as a Senior complex.​
 

We have 3/4 inch solid maple hardwood throughout our entire upstairs floor that we installed ourselves. It looks beautiful and we are really glad we did it but I doubt it would be good for older seniors. Falling would definitely do some serious damage.
 
I have wondered the same thing: why on earth would seniors want hard floors, given the frequency of falls? Most of my home is carpeted, and I feel much safer and more comfortable in it. (Haven't fallen, but it's probably just a matter of time.)
 

Along this subject...has anyone ever used / hired one of those commercial carpet cleaning services ? I have a residential version that I use , but I think maybe the commercial services clean deeper? My pet cat of 14 years died, I don't see me getting another so...I'm thinking a deep clean of the carpet, and maybe some new furniture ?
 
We have two little yappers, and live in the desert, so the entire house is tile. Not a good place to fall, but I suspect that carpet might also cause falls.
 
I love the Allure vinyl flooring, last home I had most mistook them for real cherry hardwood planks. Priced between the original laminates and hardwood they are affordable, look good and are a breeze to take care of.
 
We have terrazzo throughout the house.

Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical binding), polymeric (for physical binding), or a combination of both.

It's a neutral color, so all of the area rugs blend in well.

Trying not to think about falling...being careful...OldMack was using a walker for awhile and I had to take up the rug in the living room...he's okay now.

Would be nice to have a padded bath and shower!!!
 
rgp: I had Stanley Steemer come out and give me an estimate. I asked about the $99 carpet cleaning special. No such thing. When they left, they handed me an estimate of $549.
 
ancient mariner said:
rgp: I had Stanley Steemer come out and give me an estimate. I asked about the $99 carpet cleaning special. No such thing. When they left, they handed me an estimate of $549.
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WoW ! That is allot more than the advertised special . My entire house is 1200 sq/ft...now subtract the kit/bath ,...it's not worth anywhere that.
 
Robusta said:
I wonder whether it makes any difference at all. I doubt there is enough padding in a carpet and underlayment to prevent a fall injury.
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I agree...I mean, take a hip or elbow...crashing down from a standing position , it would take allot of padding to offset that impact. Not sure that it exist in carpet pad? Of course landing angle,etc. makes a difference ...but, jus sayin'

Plus, I believe that carpet itself can cause us to 'catch' ? and be the very reason for the fall.
 
HW is the flooring of choice for most of the Gen X/Y'ers, who would be the ones buying our home when we leave. I prefer HW or other smooth flooring as we collect Oriental rugs.

We did have W2W carpet in the master bdrm for 20 yrs and in 2015 replaced it with Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) in a golden oak wood-look. Much easier to clean and I noticed our allergies are much less now.

FYI for senior facilities carpet is restricted to low-pile, usually commercial Berber-types. In homes with wheelchair-bound elders, smooth flooring is recommended for easier rolling.
 
rgp said:
Along this subject...has anyone ever used / hired one of those commercial carpet cleaning services ? I have a residential version that I use , but I think maybe the commercial services clean deeper? My pet cat of 14 years died, I don't see me getting another so...I'm thinking a deep clean of the carpet, and maybe some new furniture ?
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I recently had 3 rooms of carpet cleaned by Zerorez. I don't use professional cleaners very often, but my carpets were really dirty from us and the dogs coming in with muddy feet from wet times at the park, etc. Plus just my yard gets muddy in snow and rain.

My old dog that passed on had a couple of spots he liked to lay on, and the oils and dirt from his wiry coat left blackish spots on the carpet, if I put a throw rug down for him, he'd go somewhere else. We have a new dog and cat now. It was time, and they did a great job. The other times we had our carpets cleaned, those dark areas always seemed to appear again pretty quickly. Zerorez doesn't use soap or cleaners, just some kind of special water. I'd use them again if I needed to.
 
I always like carpet because it was comfortable to walk on barefoot and warm in winter. My in-laws bought our first house from us and that house had one hardwood floor. My mother in law had a couple of throw rugs on it, but one day she fell on the wooden floor and broke her hip. She had a couple of TIA type mini strokes where out of nowhere she just fell straight back onto the floor, but those times thank goodness it was carpeted.

Now, even if I had a wood floor, I'd have to have a large area rug over it, more cleaning, lifting, vacuuming....to me anyway, seems like too much hassle. I would like it though if the carpets didn't have that offgassing, and were more naturally made without chemicals.
 
My father in law uses a walker. We put the slides on the front of the walker to try and get the walker to slide a bit when he is trying to maneuver from the bedroom to the living room and on to the kitchen. They have a Berber commercial type carpet in every room, except the bathroom. He has fallen twice as a result of pushing high on the walker and there being so much resistance from the carpet it tumbles and he falls. About 6 months ago, I went down to see what the condition of the floor was under the carpet. I found that it was all OAK hardwood flooring. I took up 4 rooms of carpet and it has helped his situation dramatically. There is just enough slide on the Oak flooring to allow him to safely use and maneuver the walker. Not the solution for everyone, but presently it works for him.
 
There seems to be a trend in the UK for cheap nasty laminate flooring - a wood substrate with a synthetic "wood" veneer. I hate it with a passion. I did have a real oak floor in my last house, but it seemed to get very dusty - very quickly.

My present house had been fitted very badly with this cheap laminate, and the first thing I did was to rip it all up. When it comes to carpet cleaning, we hire a carpet cleaner from "Rug Doctor". A bit time consuming, but does a great job.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I always like carpet because it was comfortable to walk on barefoot and warm in winter. My in-laws bought our first house from us and that house had one hardwood floor. My mother in law had a couple of throw rugs on it, but one day she fell on the wooden floor and broke her hip. She had a couple of TIA type mini strokes where out of nowhere she just fell straight back onto the floor, but those times thank goodness it was carpeted.

Now, even if I had a wood floor, I'd have to have a large area rug over it, more cleaning, lifting, vacuuming....to me anyway, seems like too much hassle. I would like it though if the carpets didn't have that offgassing, and were more naturally made without chemicals.
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All true! We really like carpeting. Must easier and warmer to walk on during winter months, even here in Florida. Wife and I are both glad that when we fell, it was on carpet and now HW. Falling on HW even sounds "hurt full" at our age.
 
Our carpet is the "low pile" type and I had absolutely no trouble rolling a wheelchair on it, when I hurt my left foot a couple of years ago.

Guess the younger generations will find out, years from now, how HW flooring can be dangerous if fallen on.
 
Carpet is a great breeding area for all kinds of bad things. It is terrible for allergy sufferers. It can trip you up if not properly stretched, and can catch your shoes, even if it is. I strongly doubt it has much cushioning effect, for safety issues. Pets like it, for all of the wrong reasons! I haven't had carpet for thirty years, and would never consider living anywhere that has it. It's nasty stuff!
 
I think the best of both worlds is hardwood floors with an almost wall-to-wall area rug, like a braided rug. Carpets wear out and fade along certain common walking paths. Much easier to replace an area rug than carpet, or get it cleaned, or just turn it around (like rotating your tires :)). You can even flip a braided rug.
 
NancyNGA said:
I think the best of both worlds is hardwood floors with an almost wall-to-wall area rug, like a braided rug. Carpets wear out and fade along certain common walking paths. Much easier to replace an area rug than carpet, or get it cleaned, or just turn it around (like rotating your tires :)). You can even flip a braided rug.
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Me too!

My first house had an inlaid linoleum rug in the dining room and a wood-grained linoleum border about two feet wide in the living room with a large carpet in the center. Underneath was the original subfloor with pieces of old tobacco tins carefully tacked over the knotholes.

84aaa09285c0f31deafb830e61041923--s-kitchen-vintage-kitchen.jpg
 

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