Many people love carpeting, especially in a cooler climate like the one in Ontario. Just in terms of appearance, it’s easy to find a shade that enhances the rest of the room and goes with the overall decor. But carpet eventually goes out of style, so to retain that fresh and exciting look, the flooring needs to be replaced probably every four or five years.
Wood flooring in Toronto has just as much eye-catching appeal, and there are many other benefits as well.
Flexible Appearance
Much like there are different kinds of carpet, there are many different types of wood. There are darker shades that create a very warm and intimate tone for your space, lighter shades that look great in spaces that have lots of light, and the popular medium shades that offer a little of both.
The consistency is different as well, and the various effects complement the various appearances of wood floors.
Better Acoustics
One of the benefits of carpet — that it is quieter — is also one of its strongest drawbacks. It absorbs all the sounds in the room, whether they are desirable or undesirable ones. If you enjoy making music or listening to music, hardwood floors are definitely the way to go. Both you and your guests will notice and appreciate the difference. After all, there’s a reason that most recording studios and performance halls have wood floors.
Colorfast
Given enough time and traffic, almost all carpet fades. That’s a major disadvantage if you originally bought the carpet because of its color scheme. While it is possible to treat carpets and at least delay this process, the constant influx of chemicals into the air is not really good for anyone.
A few woods fade over time, especially in rooms with lots of sunshine, but they are easy to avoid as there are many alternatives. For the most part, the wood floors you put down today will look exactly the same ten, twenty, or even thirty years down the road.
Speaking of “exactly the same,” a related benefit is that no two wood floors look alike, because of the natural swirls and other patterns. Furthermore, instead of geometric cookie-cutter designs, the shapes embedded in wood floors are randomly dispersed.
Refinishable
If you decide you do not like carpet, the only way to change the flooring is to completely start over with new carpet. However, if you want a change and you have wood floors, it is relatively easy to refinish them and make them darker or lighter.
That brings us to another common “con” of wood floors, viz, they buff, scratch, and chip. That’s true, but it is also easy to take care of these imperfections by sanding the wood. On the other hand, if carpet becomes worn (and it will, usually within about five or six years), it is impossible to repair and quickly begins looking worse and worse.
To see for yourself what a difference hardwood floors can make, stop by a showroom today.
