Before WWII, carpets featured as a luxurious addition to high-class homes in America. From one's accessibility to wool and dyes to the availability of loom technology and equipment, carpets were a rare and costly home feature. However, later down the line post-war, newer technology emerged, allowing people to create carpets in mass productions with different, accessible, and cheaper fibers. At one point in time, many homes included carpeted floors no matter a person's social standing due to the appeal of new technology and increased accessibility.
The natural beauty of wood floors attracts many people and complements a range of aesthetic designs. For many years, they reigned as one of the most appealing and beneficial floor types, transforming from a cheap and common asset to a more luxurious home detail. Now, engineered hardwood flooring manufacturers in the USA add a new hot flooring commodity to the current market, enhancing the experience and appeal of wooden floors. Engineered wood provides a more sustainable, aesthetically appealing, durable, and long-lasting flooring option. Installing engineered hardwood into your home improves many aspects of your life.
Whether you bought an old home with existing carpeting or want to change your previous design decisions and remodel your home, you might be due for a flooring upgrade. Here are five signs it's time to remove your carpet and switch to new floors.
Stubborn Stains
Unlike hardwood flooring, carpets require a lot of maintenance due to their material structural design. The tiny fibers that make up the surface of the carpets quickly absorb and capture various substances they come into contact with. Leaving stains on your carpet leads to numerous other issues that decrease your experience with them and their appeal, including producing odors, creating conditions fit for mold growth, and discoloration. When stubborn stains resist various forms of attack, it might be time to remove your carpet.
Numerous factors put your carpet at risk of stains, from spilled drinks to pet bathroom accidents. Although carpet's fiber material provides added cushioning and warmth to the floor, their structural design also increases absorption rates and their ability to trap various external factors like mud and dust. Some stains are stubborn and require heavy-duty tools and solutions to minimize their effect. Depending on the stain, cleaning equipment, and the age of your carpeting, cleanup doesn't always revive your carpet. Even hired carpet cleaners can only do so much sometimes. Whether you use a specialized vacuum carpet cleaner, chemical sprays, or intense scrubbers, stubborn stains like to put up a fight, ruining your carpets for good.
Adamant Odors
Like stains, adamant odors make it hard to clean and keep carpets operating under quality conditions. Strong smells tend to occur for various reasons, including mildew, mold, bacteria buildup, VOCs off-gas, and old age. Just as the fibers absorb liquids and stains, they also soak in scents. The structure and tight-knit texture of fibers make it hard to deep clean and reach certain carpet spots to eliminate lingering smells and their causes.
Mold and mildew arise from liquids and damp patches remaining on the carpet for long periods of time. The moist surface provides an attractive breeding ground for bacteria, especially when in humid atmospheres. Growing mold and bacteria release off-gases that send odorous smells into the air. Trying to remove the mold from your carpet and other adamant odors requires strong chemical products and intense cleaning methods that put your carpet at risk of damage, further making a case for replacing your floors with new ones.
Increased Allergy Symptoms
One of the most appealing qualities of wooden floors is their slick, hard surfaces. Their smooth top veneers make it easy to wipe up spills and collect residues without damaging the core of the floor. Any dust or fallout onto the ground collects on the surface of the wood panels, making it easy to clear. As mentioned previously, carpet fibers capture, absorb, and hold onto various substances. Aside from collecting stains and smells, they also apprehend allergens.
Carpets create atmospheres that cause and affect those with allergen sensitivities and respiratory issues. Airborne toxins or allergen debris like dust, animal dandruff, and fur get caught in the thick carpet fibers and remain in hard-to-reach spots. Over time, the allergens collect and build up further irritating and stimulating allergies. If you've noticed an increase in symptoms such as sneezing, congestion, and irritated, dry eyes, then it might be time to discard your carpet.
Reduced Carpet Appeal
Most carpets live up to five to fifteen years. At the end of their lifespan, various appeals of the carpet decrease, including worn padding and surfaces, wrinkles, matting, fraying, discoloration, and uneven leveling. There is very little you can do to revamp carpets, meaning that once they reach the max of their life, the less use they possess.
Damaged Surfaces
No matter the age of your carpet, all carpets are susceptible to various external influences. Unlike wood, it's easy to damage the fabric of carpets. It takes very little effort and strength to poke holes, burn, and cut up its surface. Once damaged, carpet is hard to repair.
Carpets get made as one cohesive piece of flooring. You can't simply patch a certain section of carpet without replacing a huge strip. Not only does replacing carpet sections waste a lot of material, but it also costs a lot of money. Any damage done to the surface of engineered wood floors can simply be covered with floor markers and wood putty or easily be replaced without taking out a chunk of the existing floorboards. Depending on who you share your home with, the amount of traffic your floors face, and your lifestyle, certain living situations put carpets at a higher risk of damage. If your home includes a lot of exposure influences to carpets, you may want to switch out your existing damaged carpet for new flooring.
Equipping your home with the perfect floors for your lifestyle, aesthetics, and needs offers a range of benefits, including increasing your home experience and comfort levels. With these five signs showcasing it's time to remove your carpet, you can update your home to better match your needs and install new floors that'll change and enhance your lifestyle. From The Forest offers a wide collection of engineered hardwood floors to explore. Engineered planks provide you with stylish, durable, long-lasting, and highly beneficial floors that provide numerous upgrades to carpeted flooring.
