Why you should consider the carpet versus tile debate?
More and more carpet is rarely installed outside of the bedrooms. Allergies and maintenance are causing carpet sales to plummet. Should you make the switch to tile?
If you are considering it think about this.
- You will never have to rent a steam cleaner again.
- No more hiring a carpet cleaner, only to have the stains that drove you nuts return in a couple week.
- No more vacuuming daily – just purchase a large dust mop and do a quick swipe.
- No worries about the dings or scratches that are so common with wood flooring.
- No warping or buckling that comes with laminate flooring.
- None of the allergy issues that come with carpet.
Carpet versus tile - tile seems to be winning, but does it really?
I have had carpet for years. I have also had a dog.
Bad combination!
One of the best decisions I ever made was to tear up the old carpet and put tile down.
What might hold you back
One thing that held me back for over a year was I was worried it would be cold. I bought some good slippers and honestly never gave the cold thing another thought.
Something else that made me hesitate was grout lines. I was concerned that I would be on my hands and knees constantly cleaning and scrubbing grout.
To overcome this problem we did a test.
We installed ceramic tiles on a large piece of plywood and then tested out several different grouts, grout aditives and grout colors. We put that board outside on the patio for a year to see how it would wear.
That board took a beating. We spilled wine on it, barbequed on it, stomped dirt and grime of all kinds into it. It was a mess at the end of a year. But….
Amazing!
We came up with a type of grout and the color of grout that NEVER stains and I mean NEVER. The differences between colors was astonishing, but also, the additives made a difference in a stain sitting on top or soaking in like a sponge to the grout.
Now, we had to come up with a tile that was low maintenance. In our very first house we had a glossy whilte tile on the floor.
Horrible to keep clean. I was a slave to that floor.
That reminded me that I did not want to make a mistake with the sheen or the texture of the tile.
This required yet another test.
I picked out 6 different tiles that I really liked and that would work with the grout color that was a must have. Once again we installed the tiles, with the stain hiding grout and lived with them in the house for 3 months. Again the results were shocking.
My favorite tile was NOT the tile that was the lowest maintenance.
I moved that board around and looked at it in different lighting and at different angles. What I found with my favorite tile was that at certain angles you could see every speck of dust and every smudge of dirt. Not good when you are doing a large area of tile with lighting from different angles.
Bummer.
But also halelujah because what if I would have just gone with that tile and installed it in my entire house! Yicks. That would have been a time sucking mistake.
See our post: What is the best marble or tile for your project?
Armed with my new knowledge of tile sheen, texture, grout additives, grout brands, colors I headed down to Dal-Tile, our local Salem Oregon tile store and made my purchase.
We thought about heating the floor in areas with an in floor heating system but decided against that due to the extra cost. I am actually glad that we didn’t spend the extra money because we probably would only use it a few days out of the year.
If we lived in a less moderate climate it may be worth it though, especially in bathrooms where you will likely be barefoot.
It’s true, carpet is usually cheaper to buy and cheaper to install.
I calculated it all out and the shorter lifespan of carpet means that you end up paying more for your flooring in the long run.
According to google the average cost of carpet is about $2.60 per square foot depending on where you live. But the interesting part is that the life cycle cost – which mean factoring in the maintenances costs, installation, and the removal is about $7.50.
So, I figured out that because carpet only lasts about 6-9 years max it costs you about $1.20 per year, per square foot versus around .33 cents per year because it is going to last you around 50 years and require little or no maintenance.
That my friend, is a big difference.
The other huge difference that all in my family have noticed is that our allergies are better. One of our customers even commented that her son’s asthma has completely gone away since she switched the entire house over to tile and ditched the carpet.
If you’re ready for an allergy-free life, and a low maintenance one at that then don’t wait – give us a call today to set up a free estimate.
Thanks!
Ron
