Category: Carpet Flooring

Thinking about swapping out your old flooring for something new? Or perhaps you’re picking out flooring for a brand-new home? Then you’ll definitely want to familiarize yourself with the advantages and drawbacks of various flooring materials to select the one that best meets your needs and interior design vision.

If you’re considering investing in carpet, there are several things you should know about this flooring material before you make a decision. Read on to learn about the various types of carpet you can get, the pros and cons of carpeted floors, and the way to determine whether carpet is indeed the best type of flooring for your home.

What Types of Carpet Are There?

When it comes to picking out carpet for your home, the first thing you should know is that there are several different options. Some types of carpet are better suited to households with children and pets, while others fare better in homes that don’t see quite so much traffic.

At Hiltons Flooring, we carry several types of carpet to suit the needs of a wide variety of homeowners. These include:

• Berber/loop carpet is suitable for high-traffic areas but may not be best for homes with pets since animals’ nails may get caught in the loops.
• Cable carpet is very soft and thick but tends to deteriorate in high-traffic areas. This carpet is probably best suited to rooms that don’t see frequent use.
• Saxony carpet is very soft, almost like velvet. It’s dense and elegant but prone to deterioration in high-traffic areas. This type of carpet readily shows footprints and vacuum lines.
• Patterned/cut & loop carpet is durable and conceals stains well, which makes it a suitable option for high-traffic areas and homes with kids or pets.
• Twist/Frieze carpet is very durable and hides stains and foot marks quite well. It’s suitable for homes with children and pets, commercial buildings, and all high-traffic areas.
• Textured carpet is casual and soft and hides marks and footprints well. It’s well suited to all households and high-traffic areas.

Pros and Cons of Having Carpet in Your Home

Although hard flooring has somewhat outshined carpet in popularity in recent years, carpeted floors still have a lot to offer homeowners who desire comfortable, inviting flooring. But as with anything, carpet does have its cons too. Let’s take a look at the benefits and drawbacks. 

Benefits of Carpeted Floors

Aside from carpet’s obvious advantage in the comfort department, carpeted floors offer homeowners several advantages, including:

• Noise control/sound absorption
• Affordability
• Concealment of dirt and stains
• Heat retention

Drawbacks of Carpet Flooring

Why might carpet be a less-than-optimal choice for your home? Disadvantages of choosing carpet for your floors include:

• Carpet may show more wear and tear than hard flooring like vinyl, laminate, or tile.
• Carpet can suffer damage caused by moisture.
• Lighter-colored carpets can show stains.
• Carpet fibers tend to trap allergens and dust.
• Carpet requires more maintenance than hard flooring.

How to Determine Whether Carpet Is the Best Type of Flooring for Your Home

Now that you have at least a basic understanding of the types of carpet available to you and the benefits and drawbacks of installing carpet in your home, it’s time to do a little analysis. Here’s what you’ll need to consider to determine if carpet is right for you:

• Do you have children or pets? Do you want soft flooring for your kids to play on? If so, carpet is a solid choice.
• How do you feel about footprints on your flooring? If you’re not a fan, you can choose a low-pile carpet that won’t show marks. Hard flooring could be a suitable option too.
• How do you feel about long-term flooring maintenance? Are you okay with shampooing your carpets annually or hiring someone to do it for you?
• Do you prefer super low-maintenance flooring? If so, carpet may not be your best choice. Opt for something like tile, laminate, or vinyl instead.
• Does anyone in your household have allergies to pollen, dust, or dander? If so, carpet can trap those allergens, so you’ll need to be very diligent about vacuuming if you do choose carpet. Hard flooring may be a better option for those whose allergies are severe.

Choose Hiltons Flooring for Expert Carpet Installation in Dallas and Fort Worth

Curious about your carpet options? Stop by Hiltons Flooring in Arlington to check out our extensive inventory of high-quality carpet, hardwood, laminate, tile, stone, and vinyl flooring. Our knowledgeable team can help you select the best type of flooring for your needs, budget, and design goals, and our expert installers are some of the best in the business. To learn more about what we have to offer, feel free to give us a call today at [phone] or contact us online with any questions, and we’ll reach out with additional information.

Are you building a new home and trying to decide what type of flooring you want? Perhaps you’re renovating the flooring in your current home? Have you thought about opting for carpet either in a few rooms or throughout your house? While hardwood flooring, tile, and laminate have enjoyed a massive rise in popularity in recent years, carpet is still an excellent flooring choice. That’s especially true if you live in a cool climate or just crave a little softness under your feet. 

If you’re contemplating carpet and aren’t quite sure if it’s right for your needs, our team at Hiltons Flooring is here to help! We offer both flooring and carpet services in DFW and Arlington. Below, we’ve outlined the pros and cons of using carpet in your home to give you a little more clarity in your decision-making process. 

Pros of Installing Carpet in Your Home

A lot of people think carpet is inherently a huge pain since it naturally requires a bit more upkeep than hard floors. But that isn’t true at all! Carpeting actually offers homeowners several benefits. Check them out below.

Carpet Is Soft and Inviting

If you love the feeling of soft, fuzzy fabric beneath your feet, carpet delivers. It’s a little tougher to achieve that feel with tile, laminate, or hardwood since you’d need to use several rugs throughout your home to get the same effect. If you’re in the market for the comfiest, most inviting flooring option, carpet is your number one choice. 

It Helps Control Noise

Installing carpet throughout your living areas or even in just a few bedrooms can really help cut down noise transmission throughout your home. Hardwood, laminate, and tile essentially reflect sound since they’re hard, so they can’t offer the same noise-dampening quality that carpet boasts. Since carpet actually helps absorb sound, it’s a great choice for upstairs rooms or even the upper levels of multi-unit dwellings. 

Carpet Helps Keep Floors Warm

Nothing can help keep your feet warm quite like carpet, so if you’re prone to getting chilly indoors, it might be the best flooring option for you. Since carpet features a layer of padding (called underlay) beneath the carpet itself, it provides far more insulation than any hard flooring can.  

Carpet Can Hide Dirt 

Obviously, white carpet won’t do you any favors in the masking-dirty-floors department, but if you opt for darker-colored carpeting, it can work wonders for camouflaging dirt. Plus, even when the carpet does get dirty, all it takes is a quick vacuum to get it clean. Occasionally, you’ll want to shampoo your carpet too, but that doesn’t need to be done more than once a year.  

Carpet Is Affordable

Compared to many flooring options, carpet is quite affordable. It’s certainly less expensive than hardwood, and generally it’s cheaper to install than laminate or ceramic tile too. If you’re on a budget and want high-quality flooring that both looks and feels great, carpet is an excellent choice. 

Cons of Installing Carpet in Your Home

What are the potential drawbacks of installing carpet in your home? As with any type of flooring, carpeting does have a few disadvantages that any homeowner should consider. Learn all about them below.

Carpet Traps Allergens

If not cleaned regularly, carpets can trap dust, pollen, dirt, dust mites, and other allergens within its fibers. If you’re sensitive to those allergens or anyone in your home has respiratory difficulties, you may want to think twice before installing carpet. Of course, if you’re diligent about vacuuming, you’ll significantly reduce the amount of allergens your carpet harbors. 

Carpet Shows Wear and Tear

Probably the greatest drawback of using carpet in your home is that it can show wear and tear and start to look dingy quickly if you don’t care for it properly. Light-colored carpets can stain easily, so they may not be a great choice for homes with small children or adults who don’t like cleaning. 

Without proper care, carpet can also show quite a bit of wear and tear in areas that see high foot traffic, so it may be best reserved for bedrooms rather than entryways or hallways.  

Carpet Can Be Susceptible to Moisture Damage

Because carpet is fabric and features underlay, it can trap moisture beneath the surface of the flooring. That moisture can prompt mold or mildew growth, which may pose a health hazard. Depending on the severity of the moisture problem, it could also do some damage to the subflooring if left unattended. However, moisture trapped beneath the surface of hard floors can also prompt mold and mildew growth and may also damage the floor’s structural components. 

Carpet Requires Consistent Maintenance

A lot of people shy away from carpet simply because they’re not keen on vacuuming all the time or shampooing their floors. And while it’s true that carpet does require a bit more maintenance than hard flooring, it’s also true that any flooring must be cleaned regularly. 

If you’re thinking about installing carpet in a rental home, consider your flooring options carefully. You never know how tenants might treat the floors and fixing damaged carpet when they move out is a lot more involved than replacing a tile or two or a few pieces of laminate or hardwood. 

Hiltons Flooring: Your DFW Carpet Installation Experts

Contemplating installing carpet for your DFW home? Get in touch with our team at Hiltons Flooring to learn more about your options! Our experts can help you assess your flooring needs and recommend the best options for your unique home. Feel free to stop by our Arlington showroom to browse our extensive carpet selection or give us a call today at [phone] for more information. You can also send us a message with your information and questions, and a member of our team will be in touch!