Tile floors over Carpet
With so many flooring options to choose from, picking
one that suits any home can be a task in itself. Floor remodeling usually hangs
in the balance between tile floors and carpet. Which is better? Which is
cheaper? Which will be easier to put down? Well, there are answers for these
questions.
In the category of "which is better", that depends on the person who is doing
the remodeling. The home can sometimes dictate that decision. With a mobile
home, it can be harder to get tile floors in because the floors are made of
wood. The tiles are harder to install that way. Also, a mobile home tends to be
made with everything already where it is going to go, making work-a-round's that
much more difficult.
Carpet can usually be a safe bet there. However, in a house, the floor plans can
be modified to allow for tile. It looks cleaner, and can make the house smell
better. While carpet insulates sound, it also traps mold and dirt, as well as
animal born parasites. However, when a tile floor is swept, all of that goes
with it. While it is harder then carpet, it is also cleaner.
Tile and carpet usually run at about the same price these days, so cost is
usually not an issue. Just choosing the right color tile and getting it put
down. While carpet just needs to be nailed down with a little glue and some
padding, tile does need a little more work. With scraping the old floor, laying
the grout, and putting down the tile, it can get kind of messy, but that mess
mops up with water and soap. The alternative is stains that you can never get
out. Carpet can stain very easily. It is a fabric-like material and if anything
is spilled on it, it can be very hard to clean. Dog and cat hair is also
difficult to get out of carpet. Most of the time, vacuums just can't get through
it and it ends up needing to be swept anyway. With children, stains are common
place, just as, with pets and pet hair. However, with tile, a mop and some soap
will clean just about anything off the floor.
In high humidity states, like Florida, moisture gets trapped everywhere. It is
even worse in houses with carpet. The moisture will get under the carpet where
you cannot see it nor get to it. There, it will sit, and start smelling. It will
also give way to black mold, which is highly deadly, and very common in Florida.
That is not a problem with tile. Carpet also tends to trap heat during the
summer. Tile stays rather cool. People who have bad allergies usually are
recommended by their doctors to use tile instead of carpet. That same heat
insulator also traps pollen, dust and pet dander (skin particles) which, when
breathed in, will cause allergy attacks and also asthma attacks. So, which is
better? Tile is a much better choice for people with pets and children, because
it is easier to clean. It is also better for people who have allergies and live
in humid states. In fact, tile is just better all the way around.
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