Should We Cover Hardwood Floors with Carpet?

As a design freak, I say NO! Get more rugs, and padding for under the rugs.

Also, carpet is stressful because it's not as easily cleaned as wood floors.

Get an area rug. Problem solved without a major commitment.

Personally, I hate carpet and wish we had hardwood floors. The wall to wall carpet we have has started to buckle. Plus I think you NEVER truly get carpet clean.

LisaD

DON'T DO IT! We have hardwoods everywhere and play with the kids on the living room rug. You'll regret covering hardwoods with carpet every time!

Have you ever seen the floor after a carpet is ripped out? Holy schmoly, you wouldn't believe the dirt! Carpets aren't easier to clean; they are harder to clean. They just LOOK cleaner because they hide the dirt and dust better. Actually, they trap it so it doesn't all get vacuumed out. We have carpet in half of our house because it already had carpet and it was cheaper to put in new carpet than new hardwood, but we did put hardwood in two rooms (and already is in the kitchen and dining). That was all we could afford. As the kids grow and we have more money, we'll add more hardwood.

So, if I had hardwood to begin with, I would not cover it with carpet.

Don't do it!!! Hardwood floors are beautiful, rugs get dirty and harbour dust and mites and other allergens that you cannot get clean once the rug is tacked down to the floor. Wall to wall will turn the floors underneath into a mess. People spend a lot of money ripping rugs out and refininshing wood floors.

Instead buy a thicker rug and put a thick padding under it. (Pottery Barn rugs have very thick rug pile). Plus, your son will have so much more fun driving his match box cars on the hardwood.

We have hardwood through out our house and a thick Pottery Barn rug in our family room and it is very soft and comfortable to sit on.

If I were you I would invest in a large area rug, with a pad (8x12) or (9x12); that way you could keep your hardwood floor and roll rug up when you wanted the hardwood floor look back or use rug in another room. Your little guy could stay on rug, thus practicing limits!!

I'd hate to see you completely cover the hardwood floor; especially if it's in good condition!
Hope this helps!

S. G.
Interior Redesigner & Certified Color Consultant
"Using What You Own We Redesign Your Home"
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Don't do it! Wood floors are easier to clean (think food spills when your son gets older and runs around with a sippy) and when he has his walker toys and ride on toys, it will be much easier for him to ride on wood

I agree withthe other post - get thicker padding. ANother alternative would be to buy rubber playmats - the pieces interlock and you can lift them up when company comes and you need the room.

I have covered disgusting floors with carpet but not hardwood floors.

A thicker pad under the rug will solve that particular problem besides baby won't be crawling long.

Here's the problem with carpet. It holds too much dust, dirt, and other assorted allergens even after you have vacumed. After time things just get embedded in there. With a rug you can take it out to be professionally cleaned on a regular basis. It can get dried thoroughly. Yes you can steam clean the carpet professionally but I don't really feel like it gets that deep dirt up from the padding and carpet. In time you get the traffic pattern. It just goes downhill from there.

A dust mop for your wood floors is great or even find a vacume that can work on floors as well. If you floors have become dull and lifeless, it may be time to have them sanded, stained and polyurethaned. Personally I find tile or wood flooring easier to keep clean over carpeted floors.

The preference is yours. I just went from tiled floors to wall to wall carpeting. I hate it. We have a dog and two boys. That carpet in our apartment needs to be replaced. It is very old, ugly and worn. Even if it were replaced with new carpet I still wouldn't like carpet. I just prefer area rugs over carpet.

When we sold our first house, the new owners actually told us they covered the wood floors, thinking we'd be happy about it. I cried. I still cry when I think about it after we worked so hard refinishing them. I would go with an area rug, which is what we have on our hardwood floors. It's also much better healthwise to not have as much carpeting.

I just got through ripping up my carpeting because of all the allergans and dirt in the carpet. I had hardwood first and then moved and thought I would want carpeting. I have had carpeting now 10 years and I will never go back to carpeting. My kids allergies got so bad. We also found there was a lot of damage covered up under the carpet. We are in the process of installing hardwood and plan on buying a lot of area rugs so the kids can hang out on the floor if they want to. If you go carpeting make sure you invest in some that won't make you all sick. AT least you have the hardwood underneath so if you do have allergy issues later you can remove. My kids have dust mites allergies and dust mites love carpeting and bedding.

You might think you can't keep the hardwood looking good but with three young children you will never keep the carpet looking good. Unless you get extremely dark carpet or you are overly vigilant, you will notice stains almost immediately. Plus, carpet harbors all sorts of nasty bacteria. I have a carpet cleaner which I use all the time and my carpets still look dirty far more often than they look clean (but we have pets in addition to 2 children). My daughter's knees were always red when she crawled on carpet so I think that just might be something that happens with some children. If I were you I would get a better area rug and keep my hardwood.

Your son will only be crawling for a short time. You can also get knee pads for him if you are worried..

Hardwoods are so much more healthy than carpet.. No matter how much you clean a carpet, it is still holding dust and dirt in it and on and under the the pad.Then you have your kids tracking in everything and pets.. Hardwoods only need to be dusted and lightly mopped. . You can do a light mop and the an easy polish with a different duster..

I agree to get a large rug that almost covers the entire floor and put a really good pad under it. Most major hardware stores have the rugs that can be cut to the size you want.

I have the same problem, my husband has been wanting to get carpet over our hardwood ever since our son started walking. I love the hardwood, it was one of the reasons I fell in love with this house! Since we started potty training our son, my husband has backed off the carpet issue, probably since we've had lots of accidents. It's so easy to clean up little puddles on the hardwood, I can't imagine ever getting the pee smell out of carpet! The only room we have carpet in is our playroom, and it's not really any more comfortable. Now our son is 2.5 and he doesn't seem to mind sitting on either floor.

eh...just get him a couple pairs of Babylegs. He'll be crawling for such a short time, don't cover your beautiful wood floors!!

We have hard wood in our living room and went to Home depot and bought a measured out piece of thick carpet and the under pad (which keeps it from scratching your floors... It is not an installed carpet... Every so often we roll it up and clean under it... (There is a little bit of strings off the cut sides, but they only come off if you pull them hard! The cost was about 1/4 what it would have been to go with a "rug"..)
The room is warmer having it down, the kids roll around on it more than before and not so many slippings when wearing socks.
Been here 5 years and still don't regret it... Matter of fact... I am feeling like redecorating.,... And all I have to do is get a different carpet. :-)

We've been in our house 11 yrs and I regret that we didn't refinish the hardwood floors from the start. We went the carpet route - we've replaced the living room/hallway carpet once so far. I have really been wanting to take up the carpet and redo the floors and we just did this in our son's room and we love it. I agree with the posters that commented about getting the nice padded rug. Much cheaper than carpeting the whole room and easier to clean. Good luck!

Just since no one mentioned it, covering your hardwood can drastically lower the value of your home since it won't any longer be cared for and people won't know it's there or what condition it is in should you ever want to sell. I have 3 kids and another on the way and there is only carpet in 3 rooms of my entire house, and I am planing on removing it from at least the nursery simply because carpet is gross. I have carpet padding that is cut to the size of my rugs so that they have more cushion and with two active boys and a daughter who likes to do gymnastics in the house (nomatter what I say) it's worked just fine.

We have carpet in our bedroom and I wish we didn't. It just holds the dust big time. It would be easier to get a dust mop into the tight spaces than to vaccuum.

For the living room I'd get a good pad for your area rug to make it more comfy. Then you can play on the rug or the floor.

Hope this helps.

K. Z.

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Mom,
I would only do a playroom or family room w/carpet. THe majority of our 2700 sq ft home is carpeted with a small amt of nice hardwood. I would much prefer that the entire house had hardwood except probably the bedrooms. With little children you will find carpet very hard to keep clean and looking nice and if you have dogs even more so, both track in lots of dirt that you can't even see on them. Cleaning the carpets 2-3 times a yr is not fun and can get expensive too. The baby will be up and walking within 6 months I imagine and you won't have the red knee worry, just keep him in long pants or longer shorts at home for protection. Carpet also tends to get dusty if not vacuumed often and if anyone in your family has allergies it is a collector than an allergist would warn against. If we had the chance and $ we would replace most of the lt beige carpet we have in this only 7 yr old home but can't afford to right now, maybe in the future. I wouldn't do it personally, another reason is the value of the home with hardwood flooring is greater too, consider this in your decision. Good luck in what ever you do.

I miss my gorgeous hardwood floors in my old house. I would never cover hardwood w/ carpet! You need a large, thick quality rug w/ a very thick rug pad underneath. We purchased one from Overstock.com (pad) and it's unbelievably thick. BTW, carpet "hides" so much dirt, grime, allergens, bugs. I'd rather see it and clean it than not see it and lay around on it. Just my opinion...

no rugs, then you have another disgusting mess later on...

I will have to go with the posters who say no carpet over the hardwood floors. I grew up with those floors in my aunt's house and they were the ones that were installed one plank at a time like the old high schools. Needless to say, I was the one who took care of them waxing and buffing. Later she redid them with a polyurethane and they stood up to much more wear and tear (had 2 dogs and winter sand from snow). All we had to do was damp mop and they looked great. She decided to carpet two bedrooms and that was a mistake, the one room and hallway never looked clean even with shampooing.

Get an area rug with extra padding for the living room for the kids to play on and such. Now I wish I had wood floors in my home instead of the worn and stretched carpet.

Yes the commercials always make carpeted rooms look good and cozy but someone has to clean them and small kids and pets don't mix too well no matter how hard you try. Kind of reminds me of the white carpet in the living room thing many years back and no one uses the room unless it is company or invited guests.

Good luck on whatever you decide. The other S.

I have hardwood through most of my house and we chose to carpet the two rooms that act as play rooms for all of the reasons you outlined above.

Maybe a compromise by putting a really padded area rug down? Personally, I would carpet it. Matchbox cars and other toys will scratch the hardwood anyways. By the time your crawler is really getting past playing on the carpet, it will be time for new flooring anyways. You pull the carpet up and there is your hardwood. You will probably need to refinish the hardwood, which isn't cheap, but you can do it.

I have given up having a house like I would like until my boys are a lot older. We have put the bathroom renovation on hold til people are no longer peeing over the toilet seat and splashing out of the tub.

I agree with your husband....and you will like it too, just for the ease of running a vacuum over it! Talk to your carpet installer about your concern. See if there are more quality pads and/or tackstrips that can be used that will maintain the integrity of your hardwood floor.

good luck!

I havent read the other posts but my parents covered ALL of their hardwood floors for the exact same reason. 30 years later they took off the capeting and the floors still look great. I dont see anything wrong with it as long as you dont plan to move. There is something about hardwood floors that make a house for attractive, clean and spacious. If you are still worried, I would consider buying a high end rug. (one that could cost 1k or more) that would have padding. OR if you wanted to go a cheap route, you can buy those foam tiles and glue or sew it onto the existing rug so its softer.

I myself think they are pretty but hard to keep clean as you stated. I would go with carpet and insist on a better quaility of padding. Your carpet will wear better and it's only pennies more to do it. Carpet will also protect the hardwood under it. They say houses with hardwood resell better but I would never make my choice based on this. Go for comfort. Woods are colder in the winter too.

You should definitely put carpet in the living room if you have little kids. It will make a world of difference and be much easier to care for. I HATE my hardwoods-yeah they look great but they are a humongous pain to keep up with-esp with kids.

In our case the hardwood was so bad we had to cover it with something. It was either that or spend thousands on the refinishing. The livingroom in our home was carpeted but once it started to wear and get stains too much I took it out again. The hardwood is easier that way, but harder on the body.
I saw a home that had the center cut out and hardwood only in traffic areas.
That might be an idea for you to do also.

Haha! I will be the one that will give the opposite opinion! We bought our house 2 years ago. It has gorgeous original hardwood floors from 1920! Bedrooms and living rooms are the only areas that have wall to wall carpet. When we first moved, my husband and I had long discussions about it since I really wanted to remove the carpet from the living room. At the end, we agreed that since we have 3 small children, it would make it a more comfortable area to play and it would also keep the floor warmer during the winter. I know everybody has complained about the house value and how clean you can keep it. When we bought our house, we had to offer more money than the asked price since so many people wanted this house knowing that under the carpet there were those hardwood floors (added to the great condition in general of the house). Unless you are planning to sell soon, do what's best for your family comfort! We have no problems to keep the carpet clean either. We have a nice padded stool at our entrance and everybody takes off their shoes when coming in (clean house, babies can crawl anywhere). We don't force our friends to do it but since everybody knows we do it, they just do it too. We also don't allow messy/staining foods or drinks in the living room (shouldn't they eat anyways in the kitchen or dining room? who lets their kids eat spaghetti in the living room???). We have a light beige carpet, no stains. We vacuum almost everyday. It takes 2 minutes. We carpet clean every 2 months. No one has allergies or has ever been sick from having it so I have no idea why so many people has so many cons about it (isn't a rug the same thing anyways? Same material, same use...). Once our kids are older we will remove the carpet and enjoy the floors :) So far - with all the weekly playgroups and all the fun the kids have had using the whole living room for playing, I've had no regrets!!

We've been in our small cape cod home for 33 years. The first 10-15 years we had wall-to-wall carpet. It was nice while it lasted. After that, we had the hardwood finished in the dining room, hallway and entrance way (the "traffic areas"), and carpeting installed in the two bedrooms and living room. We have loved this for years. Now, as I get older, I'm noticing all the squeaks when we babysit for our granddaughter, and think that the next time we'll return to carpeting (except in the dining room). The steps to the 2nd floor, and the upstairs floors, will remain hardwood.
Hope this helps.