Okay, I know it sounds dramatic, but… let’s call it passion. The deal is that my wife sits and watches Property Brothers and similar shows (House Hunters, Rehab Addict, etc.), and being the wonderful husband that I am, I will sit and watch them with her. HOWEVER, I began to notice a pattern that has been bothering me. They ALWAYS take out any carpet they find OUTSIDE the house and NEVER put new carpet INSIDE the house. Now, to be honest, I think they still sometimes use carpet in the rooms, but they don’t really talk about it much. However, just as a stranger watching an animal being mistreated will intervene to protect it, I will intervene to protect the CARPET from these ferocious attacks. But first, a quick “who am I” review to chime in on this, like, what gives me the right to comment on this? I’m glad you asked!
I started way back when I was about 7 years old and started vacuuming my own bedroom carpet. I’m not lying. Truth is, I grew up in Sacramento, CA in the 60’s and we didn’t even have a carpet. I can’t even remember a particular time when my wife claims that we rented a machine to clean the carpet at our apartment in Lewiston, ID and since she has never lied yet, I’m sure it’s true. But then in 1974 I started working for a cleaning company here in Moses Lake, WA that was all about cleaning all types of floors including carpets. About two years later, I had a brief 2-year stint as a corporate pilot and flight instructor and then started my own janitor/carpet cleaning business in Dayton. After two years I sold it and came back and took over the Moses Lake business I used to work for which was now exclusively carpet (and upholstery) cleaning. Since then I have personally been in over 10,000 carpet cleaning jobs. During that time I also became a Certified Floor Inspector for the Northwest US. This includes looking at issues with carpet, laminate, hardwood, tile, vinyl, etc. and have performed several thousand inspections in the last 20 years. I have also written a book and numerous articles on different types of floor coverings. So, all that to say, I know a “thing or two” on the subject, so there you go!
Now I’m not naive. I understand that when a culture has certain preferences etc. it’s almost impossible to go against it. And in our culture here in the United States at this point in history, the rug just isn’t, well… “cool”! That’s not to say it’s not better or worse, it’s all about perception. So here is my case for carpet over alternative flooring.
Just to throw you off, I’m going to start by saying that carpet is NOT as good as other floor coverings.
1) You can NOT install it by yourself. Don’t even try. Laminate? Sure! Wood, tile? You’ll have much better luck with that than with the rug.
2) Traffic areas. I said it there. You will rarely get traffic areas on hard surfaces, but you can often get that on carpet. And, traffic areas may or may not be dirt. Let me explain. When I’m inspecting carpet for a “wear” complaint in traffic areas, I’ll keep a bright light on the “wear” area. If I can still see the dark area in the traffic area, then that’s dirt. It just needs to be cleaned. That’s good news. However, if it no longer looks dark, it is due to abrasion of the fiber. Here’s the deal. When a rug is constructed, the yarns are made up of numerous “filaments” that are thinner than a human hair and have a smooth surface. If a carpet is not properly maintained with regular vacuuming and cleaning, particles in the fibers can start to scratch the smooth surface of the filaments and of course this happens mostly in TRAFFIC areas. Eventually you will have a dark area that may also have dirt on it but even after cleaning it will still look dark because it is WORN now. As I tell my clients, we can clean the dirt, but we can’t do anything about the wear.
3) This is not a physical/technical benefit, but a particular hardwood floor can increase the resale value of your home if that is in your plans for the future.
4) Carpet generally won’t last as long as a hard surface, although some people like to know they can change their flooring every 10-15 years as new designs/flavors come on the market instead of getting locked into a “year 50”. wooden floor
Ok, here are the advantages of carpet over a hard surface floor:
1) Can’t slip (especially good for stairs!).
2) Regular maintenance is easy. Plug in the vacuum, go vacuum, put the vacuum away. However, I am not a fan of the Roomba type of robotic vacuum as its suction/particle removal capabilities are VERY limited.
3) The total cost, including installation, is cheaper than hard surfaces.
4) Carpet is very forgiving of any moisture issues especially compared to hardwood and engineered wood. This is especially true over a concrete subfloor.
5) No disturbing clicking/thumping noises with normal foot traffic, and also adds a thermal barrier to the home’s flooring, especially over a concrete subfloor.
6) It is more aesthetically pleasing. Well, for me it is. This is what I have seen over the years. In the 70’s we had carpet in every room, even in the kitchen and bathrooms. We had curtains on the windows along with sheers. We even had bean bags! Wait, who cares about bean bags? Anyway, fast forward to today. When was the last time you saw curtains on someone’s windows? I still do it from time to time, but not very often. And now, the carpet in the kitchen/bathrooms is very weird and of course it makes sense. However, I am going to someone’s home in Seattle for a floor inspection, and they have vertical or horizontal vinyl blinds, and Pergo throughout the house. The problem for me with hard surfaces is that they are, well… hard. I feel like our homes have become less attractive as a place to escape from the harsh outside world, less of a soft cocoon of comfort and protection from the outside world like they used to be. For me, the ideal house would have tile in the bathrooms, kitchen and laundry room, hardwood/laminate in the living room and dining room, perhaps with a rug in the dining room and then carpet in the family room, foyer, bedrooms, etc. stairs and rooms. But, there is another problem that is increasingly arising with our aging population.
7) Many people are beginning to notice that their joints and bodies in general ache when they live in a house with hard surfaces. There are a lot of stories lately where a couple is talked about getting rid of their carpet (regarding allergies etc) and now they are almost completely immobilized by the jarring of walking on hard wood or tile floors.
And then 8) which I was saving for last. What many people think is a weakness of the carpet is actually a benefit, if the carpet is properly maintained. The carpet has been accused of generating dust. What the carpet DOES do is trap dust/allergens that enter through the air and through people’s shoes, that is one of its BENEFITS. Instead of those things floating around in the air, they get trapped in the carpet until they’re removed by a vacuum (with a HEPA filter, of course) and, finally, by professional cleaning. Some procedures that would also help would be to wear “home” shoes/slippers and leave normal shoes at the door. It’s amazing all the things that your shoes get on the soles when you wear them. It’s best to keep that out of your house as much as possible. Another is to have entrance mats (outside and inside) at entry points. I would even suggest having entrance mats that are made with olefin face fibers. Olefin “likes” oil-based residue, like the kind that gets on your shoes when you walk through a parking lot. Instead of all of that coming into your home, olefin entry rugs/rugs will remove much of that automatically when you enter your home.
So those are some of the basic carpet vs. carpet pros and cons. hard surface floor coverings. If you go for hardwood floors because that’s what you like, then that makes a lot of sense. You may like the new vinyl planks that are so popular (Allure, etc.) But what I have noticed as a floor inspector is that ANY type of flooring can and will have problems a certain percentage of the time. Any information you can get beforehand is vital and readily available, though I would avoid websites where every product they describe is “wonderful” and “amazing.” Rather, a third-party site where they’re not trying to make money selling what they’re describing makes more sense. Freeflooringhelp.com is one of those places where you could at least start your research. And by the way, don’t tell the Property Brothers about my challenge because I think they’re way taller than me!
