Cost of restoring hardwood vs. new carpeting?

Question

My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a home which we're pretty sure has hardwood underneath the carpeting. Once we're in the house, we'd like to get a professional in to look at the flooring and see if it actually can be restored but the carpet that's there now has to go either way.

Does anyone know the cost comparison between restoring hardwood flooring vs. installing new carpeting?

thanks!

Answer 1

Depends on where you are located but it may be as cheap,and a lot less mess, to have new carpet installed. If you refinish you must

1. Remove the carpet and pad.

2. Remove all the "tack strip", staples that held down pad.

3. Remove all the base boards and shoe moldings.

4. Seal off the room or rooms that will be refinished.

5. Sand the floors with a flor sander, once with a medium grit, and then with a fine grit sandpaper.

6. Sand along the walls, in corners, and near any obstacles with a close quarter sander, again gotta use med. and fine sandpapers.

7. Vac. up every little grain of dust and dirt.

8. Vac. up every little grain of dust and dirt.

9. Coat the floor with polyurethane. Allow to dry usually at least 12 hours

10. Sand with very fine sandpaper

11. Vac. up every little grain of dust and dirt.

12. Coat with polyurethane. Allow to dry usually at least 12 hours

13. Sand with very fine sandpaper

14. Vac. up every little grain of dust and dirt.

15. Coat with final coat of poly. Allow to dry this one needs 24 hours most of the time

16 . Reinstall baseboard and shoe molding

All this takes time, a lot of expensive equipment and qute a bit of trouble, expect to pay well to have this professionally done. It can be done one room at a time, and all the tools are available for rent if you want to tackle it yourself. Nothing really super hard about it, time is the biggest factor, well that and all the dust...

All that being said though I prefer wood floors myself. They add warmth and value to your home, and with a little maintenance they will last well beyond your ownership of the home. Figure the cost anywhere from $2.00 per sq. foot & up.

Answer 2

Hardwood has a higher value and is more sanitary than carpet.  There are also numerous health concerns associated with carpet - check out the following web page on carpeting...

http://www.building-your-green-home.com/...

and there are also 2 pages on hardwood flooring:

http://www.building-your-green-home.com/...

Check out all your flooring options in the resource box below.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

all depending the quality of carpet  how ever the cost for us was about the same

Answer 4

If your hardwood is in good condition, I have seen refinishing deals as low as $1.50/sf in my area (New England).  Carpeting can vary greatly based on the quality & type of carpet.  I prefer the hardwoods if it is feasible because they just seem more long term to me - carpets can get stained (despite what they say), and hardwoods are more sanitary.  They are easier to spot clean & carpets can hold far more dirt in the fibers over time.  Good luck with the house!