Whether you're having a new home built or know you need new floors for the home now, wood floorboards should be at the top of your list. They're a much better option than carpeting and certain natural tile. Consider a few reasons why every home should have wood floors.
1. They're more hygienic than carpeting
No matter how often you clean them and no matter how powerful your vacuum, carpet fibres will always hold dust, dirt, human hair and shed skin cells, pet dander and pet hair, and even dead bugs and bug droppings. Often those who have severe allergies or breathing problems are advised to remove the carpeting from their home since these fibres can be so unhygienic. If you have breathing disorders of any sort or are worried about the cleanliness of your floors, wood floorboards are always going to be the better choice.
2. Wood floorboards last longer than carpeting
Even if you remove your shoes at the door every time you come into the house and clean your carpets regularly, you will still need to replace that carpeting every few years. Fibres get matted down and steam cleaning and shampooing can only undo so much damage.
However, wood floorboards last for decades and can be instantly restored with a bit of sanding and refinishing. If one gets stained or damaged, you can replace that section of the floor rather than having to remove all your carpeting. This can actually make them the more cost-effective option, since you won't need to be installing new flooring every few years as you would with carpeting.
3. Wood floorboards are more eco-friendly than carpeting
It's easy to think that wood floorboards are a poor choice for the environment since installing these means cutting down trees, but many floorboard manufacturers harvest their materials from trees grown specifically for flooring. Bamboo is also a very eco-friendly choice, as it grows very rapidly and is easy to replenish.
Wood floorboards are also recyclable, so if you decide to remove them at a later date, it will be easier and more eco-friendly to dispose of them than it is to dispose of carpeting, which is rarely recyclable at all. This is especially true as carpeting gets older and the fibres get worn down beyond repair. Wood floorboards can be ground down and used in other projects or in some cases, the floorboards can be removed whole, sanded and refinished, and then reinstalled in another home. This too is another reason to choose wood floorboards versus any other material.
For more information, check out a website like http://www.woodlandstimberfloors.com.au.
