Poll: Carpet or Hardwood?

[Heidi]

I remember seeing the pics and I loved the look of the floors. I actually have laminate flooring in my laundry room but I have found it is much slipperier than actual hardwood. My kids slip slide all over the place on it. I personally like that it is much "softer" than hardwood but it will be tough trying to convince my dh to go with that. He is a carpenter so we get all our materials at wholesale places and install ourselves so hardwood isn't that expensive. I am still trying to figure out how to lay everything out. Arghh! I wish I cold hire a professional designer because I am kind of at a loss as to what to do with the space... :confused:

ooooh...I would love to give you input. I'm pretty good at it, too. What's your budget?

[Sprouts]

ACK! I accidentally clicked carpet! sorry, I'm still groggy this morning for some reason.

I have wood floors with area rugs. Much much cleaner than carpet! I still steam clean my area rugs though every 6 months. We have a cleaner which in my opinion is a must have for a daycare.

Which cleaner do u have? I am looking for something durable

[Kelly]

I'm not really a big fan of carpet but I'm considering it for my DC area. I have laminate in the living room and 2 of the 3 bedrooms (DD wanted to keep carpet in hers) and love it. The daycare area/family room has carpet--light colored and old and stained. I'm hoping to replace it when I get my tax refund. I'd really love to have laminate but worry about it being cold. The room is on a concrete slab (the rest of the house is not) and is a colder room than the rest of the house and the floor is always cold even with the current carpet.

[mamac]

ooooh...I would love to give you input. I'm pretty good at it, too. What's your budget?

Budget? What's that? Lol. Seriously though, I don't really have a budget. I'm not going to go super crazy expensive things but my dh is willing to make me happy with whatever I want. Within reason, of course. I would love any input from anyone who can help. Especially seeing as I have no experience with a daycare and what works vs. what doesn't work.

[mamac]

I would never opt for hardwood for daycare space. Hardwood for MY own personal space, absolutely but for daycare space, heck no!

I could see kids wanting to "skate" in their socks on it and I'm sure bonking your noggin on laminate rather than carpet has to hurt more. For the sake of the new walkers and littler ones, I'd opt for carpet, even if I do have to steam clean it multiple times a year.

This was my thought too! I was surprised to see how common it is!

My parents switched from carpet and tile to hardwood in my childhood home. I remember them ranting about how expensive it was and even though we were in our teens and not all wild and crazy how easily it still scratched and dented - they had a bird every single time. I can't imagine being that worried about flooring!

I will most likely be getting some throw rugs for the different stations (alphabet rugs, circle time rugs, etc.) so I don't think the "skating" will be an issue. This is the reason why I would rather go with hardwood, though, and not laminate because laminate is VERY slippery. Both of my boys often skate their way into my laundry room.

I had the same thoughts on carpet for the little ones, too. That's actually why my dh and I opted for carpet in our living room but now that our kids are beyond the toppling over stage we are thinking of getting rid of the carpet because it is just so dirty. We don't have a formal entryway where we can avoid walking on the carpet when we come in so it definitely gets worn, even with regular cleaning. I'll probably opt for a small infant-only area with a nice plush throw rug they can crawl around on.

I welcome any input that seasoned DCs can provide as I have no idea what I'm in for! Lol.

[DaisyMamma]

rugs get ruined and gross so easily with little kids and little dogs.

[mrsnj]

We had wood....till a hurricane came and flooded my daycare. I had to tear it all out. Broke my heart. It was only three years old then. Learned my lesson. Now I have a nice soft commercial inside/outside carpet. Man I had to hunt hunt hunt for something that was nice and soft and worked well. I love it. We had our upflush pump go off during a washer cycle at least a good two or three times since installing (yeah another story ) and it looks perfect! Glad we did it!

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

rugs get ruined and gross so easily with little kids and little dogs.

I have children ages 2.5 to 5 and my rugs still look great. I spot clean them as needed (2 are wool, 1 is a car rug from Ikea, and 1 is a large circle time rug from Lakeshore).

[Meeko]

I love the IDEA of wood or laminate, but I find it cold. My sister-in-law's house is all wood floors and I hate the echo and how it makes the house sound like a warehouse. She has some rugs, but it doesn't seem to help.

I have laminate in my bathrooms and kitchen, but carpet elsewhere. It gets very cold here in Utah and I love the visual warmth the carpet gives. I do hate cleaning them tho'!

[Texasjeepgirl]

Harwood or laminate flooring with rugs. I HATE carpet

DITTO!!!

2 words
'WASHABLE SURFACES'

[KnoxMom]

I agree with the majority here. My floors do get cold, but I have a large area rug for the nursery and foam tiles for the play area. Having a surface that is easy to clean is important especially for meal time, arts and crafts and water/sand exploration. Good luck!