Flooring — carpet or other?

[Mojo88]

Is a level floor a problem even for new/newish houses? Mine is 7 years old.

Probably not a problem. Our floors were so uneven in the upstairs it would have been nearly impossible to install a hardwood or LVT.
One way and there are many to check a floor is the string method. Stretch the string from one end of the floor to the other. If you see gaps under the string, it will give you an idea of the severity. Do it in multiple locations keeping the string even and tight. Measure north/south east/west.
Level is a relative term. As luv my super said: a relatively even floor is suitable. Our upstairs has places where hvac has been moved and the floor would have required a self leveler. My wife wanted carpet, so I was in luck.

 

[anoop]

Here is an update after some more research and visits to a couple of floor shops. I thought I had decided on carpet and even picked one, but after an accidental discussion about vacuum cleaners, I found I had picked a carpet that would be hard to vacuum.

I decided again LVP because not only did I not like the look/feel (kind of feels sticky), but I was told by the store that they would have to come in and spend time leveling the floor. The need to level is apparently common even with newer homes on a concrete slab foundation.

I decided against engineered wood because it would have to be glued to the floor (VoC plus a pain to get it out in future if it needed repair, just like ceramic tile) and I was told they'd have to remove and reinstall the baseboard. Additionally there's the whole acclimation thing that has to work perfectly and humidity to need to stay steady. Should not be a problem in practice but it's still an added concern. (None of the stores I visited even sell hardwood. You ask for hardwood, they point you to engineered wood.)

I settled on Mohawk carpet with Recover backing.

This is supposed to be a hypoallergenic carpet (the backing is latex free) and was recommended over Mohawk's Air.o line

which requires a special installation involving tape that smells bad. (Why would you require the use of proprietary smelly tape to install a hypoallergenic carpet? Corporations never cease to amaze. )

Anyway, as I was waiting for samples to show up, I happened to talk to someone at Sebo (they make what are some of the best vacuum cleaners) who said Mohawk's Smart Strand fabric is very hard to clean because of density and would hard to mow through with the vacuum brush. He recommended trying to vacuum a carpet sample to see what it would be like. I'm too lazy to do that.

So now I am back to square one...

In an ideal world, I'd want to get a product like FLOR which is low pile and easily replaced in sections, but apparently you can't install that like a regular carpet.

Create Custom Flooring with Carpet Tiles & Area Rugs by FLOR

FLOR's modern carpet tiles allow you to create custom, unique area rugs that are as durable as they are stylish. Design your perfect rug with FLOR.

www.flor.com

 

[Tirvine]

We have raised and lost a few dogs on our 24 year old upstairs carpet. Downstairs is hardwood. The current dog, a setter, like those before, is eleven. When he crosses the rainbow bridge, hopefully a long time away, we are installing hardwood upstairs. The kitchen and bathrooms are black and white tile. Oriental rugs are easy to maintain.

 

[bonjing]

We went with a LVP in our home 3ish years ago. Bay Area. I like it. So far easy to keep clean, dry mop mostly. We do have two dents that have been covered pretty well with some hiding agent we got at a local wood shop I don’t even remember where the scratches are now, I just know the general area. Fridge dropped on edge, delivery drivers. Store owner took care of us well for that one. Second I dropped my coffee grinder burr that one surprised the hell out of me. But they are sharp and heavy.

Oh one major scratch caused by our recliner because it slides around. We have an area rug for it. Wife wanted decorative/fashionable/style whatever you call it. Half of the couch on the carpet half on floor. I wanted the couch fully on the carpet. Guess who won

House feels significantly colder now than before. Nice during the few weeks of heat we have here an I get to lay on the floor. But dang it the floors are freaking cold when you get that leg cramp in the middle of the night and need to stretch out or forget your slippers.

As far as acclimation we placed a bit more than we needed in each area, boxes opened and flooring exposed. They acclimated well over a week before installation. I haven’t noticed any more creaks and groans that we didn’t have before. In fact the contractor screwed down some of the floorboards where I noted the creaks were.

A few contractors explained that our biggest problem would be that lvp requires very sharp blades for cutting, at least ours did. The contractor we went with took care of everything. I trust that he used sharp blades as I don’t see any fraying/peeling of the print.

All our furniture are on slides or felt pads. Dinning table chairs sliding around so far haven’t caused any issues.

Sliding around in socks is still as fun as it was when I was kid.

But given all that I like it.

 

[cwright]

Installed a little different LVP 7 years ago, finished the last bedroom and bath last year. Karndean loose lay. It's thick, heavy with a non skid backing. No glue normally required. Prep floors, needs to be fairly flat, lay in planks firm against the wall, no gap. Very durable commercial product, if something happens, can lift up the plank and replace with another, engineered so well they are interchangeable. Looks good, stays flat. Only problem is using an aggressive vacuum with a hard beater bar can rough up the corners, after 7 years have 3 very small spots where about 1/8" has chipped off. Have some spares, not bad enough to change.

 

[StillShaving]

Here is an update after some more research and visits to a couple of floor shops. I thought I had decided on carpet and even picked one, but after an accidental discussion about vacuum cleaners, I found I had picked a carpet that would be hard to vacuum.

I decided again LVP because not only did I not like the look/feel (kind of feels sticky), but I was told by the store that they would have to come in and spend time leveling the floor. The need to level is apparently common even with newer homes on a concrete slab foundation.

I decided against engineered wood because it would have to be glued to the floor (VoC plus a pain to get it out in future if it needed repair, just like ceramic tile) and I was told they'd have to remove and reinstall the baseboard. Additionally there's the whole acclimation thing that has to work perfectly and humidity to need to stay steady. Should not be a problem in practice but it's still an added concern. (None of the stores I visited even sell hardwood. You ask for hardwood, they point you to engineered wood.)

I settled on Mohawk carpet with Recover backing.

This is supposed to be a hypoallergenic carpet (the backing is latex free) and was recommended over Mohawk's Air.o line

which requires a special installation involving tape that smells bad. (Why would you require the use of proprietary smelly tape to install a hypoallergenic carpet? Corporations never cease to amaze. )

Anyway, as I was waiting for samples to show up, I happened to talk to someone at Sebo (they make what are some of the best vacuum cleaners) who said Mohawk's Smart Strand fabric is very hard to clean because of density and would hard to mow through with the vacuum brush. He recommended trying to vacuum a carpet sample to see what it would be like. I'm too lazy to do that.

So now I am back to square one...

In an ideal world, I'd want to get a product like FLOR which is low pile and easily replaced in sections, but apparently you can't install that like a regular carpet.

Create Custom Flooring with Carpet Tiles & Area Rugs by FLOR

FLOR's modern carpet tiles allow you to create custom, unique area rugs that are as durable as they are stylish. Design your perfect rug with FLOR.

www.flor.com

That FLOR product looks interesting to use in certain areas of the home.

I would take up that challenge to vacuum the Mohawk Smart Strand fabric to see how it behaves. The density should work both ways, in that it would keep more of the dirt on top. Seems that a powerful vacuum in combination with a spinning brush head should help free stuck dirt. If the carpet is dense, why would it not also have a lower pile. Making the cleaning equation balance out.

 

[anoop]

That FLOR product looks interesting to use in certain areas of the home.

I would take up that challenge to vacuum the Mohawk Smart Strand fabric to see how it behaves. The density should work both ways, in that it would keep more of the dirt on top. Seems that a powerful vacuum in combination with a spinning brush head should help free stuck dirt. If the carpet is dense, why would it not also have a lower pile. Making the cleaning equation balance out.

The vacuum cleaner rep said the fibers are dense to have a more plush feel and more plush means harder to clean. He said the brush wouldn’t make it deep enough and might strain the motor. Instead he suggested going with a canister without a brush but said that would still not clean as well as a low pile carpet.

 

[luvmysuper]

The floors don't have to be level for LVP, you just can't have sudden big dips or rises. Flat is a better term than level.
Not perfectly flat, just generally flat.
Sounds to me like the seller was trying to upsale, either through increased installation cost or more expensive product.
I'm in a 50 year old house.
I can assure you that my floors are not level, and not perfectly flat.
Despite that, I've put in LVP with absolutely no issues during installation or after.

 

[Whisky]

The density should work both ways, in that it would keep more of the dirt on top.

That’s what I was thinking too. If the carpet is very dense it will keep loose particles on top of it so you shouldn’t need a brush to get deep into the carpet.

 

[Tirvine]

So once you have wood floors (or any hard surface floors), do you use rugs or not? If you use rugs, do you prefer a room sized rug, leaving just a border of wood, or several smaller rugs, showing more wood?

 

[bonjing]

So once you have wood floors (or any hard surface floors), do you use rugs or not? If you use rugs, do you prefer a room sized rug, leaving just a border of wood, or several smaller rugs, showing more wood?

We have a rug under the couch and beds. Just big enough for it to fit. Maybe sticks out a foot or so around the edges of the bed. The couch we have one of those “L” shaped ones and the it now sits on top of it with obvious rug showing in front of the reclining portions. Oh and a small rug for the entry landing.

 

[anoop]

So once you have wood floors (or any hard surface floors), do you use rugs or not? If you use rugs, do you prefer a room sized rug, leaving just a border of wood, or several smaller rugs, showing more wood?

If it were me, I would probably want to put something, probably like FLOR, edge to edge mainly to avoid sweeping things under the rug (pun intended) and to offer sound insulation. Unfortunately FLOR appears to be a DIY company only so I'd have to find someone to do the install but since it doesn't install on an unsealed concrete floor.

 

[anoop]

BTW, does anyone know if there is such a thing as a snap in hardwood floor with good reviews? I see some options when searching but hard to tell if they are real or gimmicks and don't think they are available at local stores.

 

[bonjing]

Can’t really help with anything recent. We have laminate, can’t remember what it really is, bought from Costco. Installed in the basement well over 10years ago. It’s held up to shoes from the outside when friends are over, and I’m sure an untold amount of grit. It is showing wear, scratches and what not but nothing catastrophic. The biggest fault is the area by the sliding door window, it does show the sun bleaching, but only around where the blinds close. It’s not the best looking, but for the price that was paid way back when, we have gotten more than our monies worth. Laid over concrete with just a vapor barrier.

What we have now in the main areas is still too new to say anything other than we love it. Bought from floor and decor. We had the contractor put it in. The planks are thick, but the tongue seemed a bit brittle.

 

[StillShaving]

BTW, does anyone know if there is such a thing as a snap in hardwood floor with good reviews? I see some options when searching but hard to tell if they are real or gimmicks and don't think they are available at local stores.

I sometimes watch the youtuber "Home RenoVision DIY". He has a 20+ playlist of different flooring videos. He has one comparing different luxury vinyl planks highlighting their different quality versus their price points. And a more recent one showing engineered hardwood, which he was even more positive on. I personally don't know much about this product, but I did like the stiffness and ease of installation that he demonstrated in this video:

 

[ctr]

LVT going into 4 th year. No real complaints. Much easier to keep clean.

We have one area run in the living area, and a small entry rug. Much prefer it.

About those cold floors? Slippers.

 

[bonjing]

BTW, does anyone know if there is such a thing as a snap in hardwood floor with good reviews? I see some options when searching but hard to tell if they are real or gimmicks and don't think they are available at local stores.

Something to keep in mind, I did/assisted with the floors when I was maybe late 20’s as I remember it no big deal worked after breakfast and till late into the night on the weekends and after work on week days. I’m in 40’s now, we’ll worth the contractor price.

Don’t get me wrong, I still look at the basement and am proud of the work, but I’m to dang old to be on my knees and bent over anymore.

 

[luvmysuper]

I'm 65, two words:
Gel Kneepads!

 

[Tirvine]

I am in my mid-70s and still hear my old track coach yelling, "Come on, Irvine, gut it out!" That instilled the mindset that no matter how hard something is and how much it hurts, there is a way to dig deeper and get it done. Boy, is that a stupid mindset! I need those gel kneepads!

 

[bonjing]

I'm 65, two words:
Gel Kneepads!

I have the dead on set nice and thick for this big ol’boy. But sadly I am part of the: walk, stand, sit, sleep, fart, sneeze, happy, sleepy, dopy, doc, think to hard and trigger a pain in you back club