Carpet vs. Laminate Flooring

Many on a budget or selling a home and also considering new floors often have trouble deciding whether they should install carpet or laminate flooring in their homes. And if budget is the main consideration, there are some things to think about before you take a leap in any direction.

First, let’s talk about if you’re selling your home and need to put floors in before you get your house on the market. You want to limit your expenditure, but flooring can make a dramatic difference and greatly affects how your home shows. It’s a good decision that can often mean the difference between a sale and no sale, because new flooring is both a benefit and design accessory that puts your home in the advantage column.

It’s likely that you don’t want to spend a lot of money, so you might be trying to decide between carpet and laminate flooring. You want it to look great and you want it to be easy, so you’re heading in the right direction.

The first thing you should know is inexpensive carpet is not durable. If selling your home that might not be your primary concern, but “cheap carpet” can often be a disadvantage to prospective buyers. Even if it’s a neutral color, potential home buyers will recognize that the carpet will need to be replaced soon, anyway. It’s usually quite easy to spot low quality carpet and if your home sits on the market for a while and has several walk-throughs, including you living on it, the signs of wear can appear in a matter of months. People will wonder why the “new carpet” you advertised isn’t looking so new.

If you do decide on carpet, your best bet is to upgrade on quality. You want the floor to be a selling point and usually inexpensive carpet isn’t going to do that for you.  It’s a little risky, because there’s always the possibility that the buyers will replace the floor, anyway.  And with the popularity of hard surface floors, any new carpet you install might be removed and replaced with hardwood or laminate.

For around $2.00 per square foot, you can have a medium-range carpet installed in your home. For the same amount, you can install a high quality laminate floor that looks exactly like hardwood flooring, but is easier to maintain and more likely suited to the lifestyle of your prospect.  Maintenance is always a concern when moving into a new home, and a low maintenance floor that’s highly resistant to scratches and wear is pretty appealing to most.

If this flooring is for your own home and you’re replacing carpet, you might still be considering carpet for its comfort. This is understandable and despite its disadvantages, carpet adds an element of comfort that’s hard to match. However, you can change that.

One thing you can do is add area rugs, which are excellent at adding warmth and design to a room. They’re easily replaced and with a timeless wood look, you can consistently change things up and never worry about your floor clashing with your latest design choices.

Another thing that many prefer about carpet is that it provides a warmer place to step, but there’s now a solution for that, too. Many of today’s laminate floors are approved for radiant heating. This is not the same type of water radiant heating that was fairly common long ago in the Northern states, but is electric radiant heating that installs directly underneath. A low heat is emitted which warms the floor and is truly a pleasure. The kits are very easy to use and it even saves on heating bills. If you decide to use electric radiant heating underneath your new laminate floor, be sure that particular laminate is approved for radiant heating, as to not void the manufacturer warranty.

If it has been a while since you’ve seen what laminate floors have become over the years, they are drastically different. The wood looks are much more authentic and advances in manufacturing have crated tougher, longer lasting floors that look like much more like real wood than they ever have. Consumer demand is mostly responsible, as once these floors took hold, manufacturers became heavily committed to making them even more desirable.

You already know that laminate flooring is more durable and will look better than carpet for longer. That’s probably not why you’re here.  What you’re likely struggling with is comfort over practicality, but there’s no reason you can’t have both.

The decision between laminate vs. carpet can be a difficult choice, but if you take into consideration not just today, not just tomorrow, but six months to a year from now, even if you’re trying to sell your home, the choice is pretty clear. Once one weighs all the advantages and disadvantages of each product and considers the solutions to those disadvantages, it can be a simple and confident decision.