Carpet vs. hardwoods in nursery???

[shindagrl]

We're getting ready to decorate the nursery, and the old wall-to-wall carpet has gotta go. We think we might have pretty decent hardwoods underneath, and my brother had commented that a lot of really nasty stuff gets on the rug in a baby's room. He said we might have better luck with a hard surface, as far as ease of cleaning goes. He even suggested linoleum (which I'm NOT into).

This had never occurred to me, and I was wondering your opinion on the subject. Is the floor really a target for bodily fluids and who knows what else???? It's pretty much a toss-up $$$-wise, because we'd probably need to do some touch-up refinishing on the wood and then buy an area rug to warm it up a bit. If we carpet, we'll most likely buy a remnant. If it makes any difference, we don't plan on staying in this house more than two years max.

Thanks for any advice.

Cindy
mom to soon-to-appear Elise, 8/7

[westchicagomom]

We have hardwood in the nursery and other than the fact that it will be hard on her knees when she's mobile, I like it. Breastmilk, formula, poop particles - you name it can fall on the floor. Hardwood is very easy to clean. Carpet also can trap a lot of dust,etc.

Is the rest of your house hardwood? It might be weird for selling purposes if just one room was hardwood. But maybe not!

If you decide on carpet, you should get it in as soon as possible so all those chemicals off-gas. You don't want the baby inhaling them.

I would probably go w/ the hardwood (definitely NOT linoleum!), but that's just my opinion.

Good luck!

[lcl]

we also haave an old house which had carpeting over nice wood floor. we ended up taking the carpeting out and refinishing the floors which came out beautifully . my son vomited easily when he was sick for the 1st year and a half. also as a newborn if we weren't careful, he would spray during diaper changes. having wood floor was easier to clean and we are very we happy had that. we did have an area rug which got dirty and we never got around to cleaning it.

[Momof3Labs]

We have wood floors through most of our house, and they are soooo easy to clean. I wouldn't go with linoleum - yuck - that would definitely make the house harder to sell. I'd go with hardwood but put down a rug or something to soften any falls and to keep sound from echoing in the room.

[Elilly]

Another vote for hardwood. We have them in all of out house except the living room, halls, and bathrooms. Very easy to clean and dust. We just put an area rug in the nursery to help cut down on the noise.

[crl]

Well, our baby isn't here yet so take this for what it's worth. But I vote hardwood too. Have you ever seen the dirt that's underneath carpet? We ripped the carpet out of this house not long after we moved in and, well, YUCK!

[houseof3boys]

I love hardwoods and we have them throughout our house. We have a PBK wool rug in Ryan's room that covers most of the room though! Cleaning is easier on wood I think and if your little one has allergies it is definitely better! :)

[JenCA]

This is what we have, too (a PBK rug that covers most of the floor in DD's nursery)--although we have laminate floors, not hardwood. Anyway, I love the look, and it's very easy to clean/care for. So I vote for hardwood, as well. :)

[murpheyblue2]

Me too. Hardwoods throughout the house with a PB (not PBK) rug in DD's room. Once they're sitting up, crawling and pulling up (falling), it's great to have some soft surfaces around.

Ali
Mom to Megan 9-28-03

[shindagrl]

Wow, a unanimous vote! Guess we'll be sticking with the wood. We have it in the main living area, so it will "flow" with the rest of the house just fine.

Thanks for your input. Let's just hope that the woods underneath are in good shape. It's taken two full months to do some minor renovating in the kitchen, and I can't take that happening with her room!

Cindy
mom to soon-to-appear Elise, 8/7/2004

[jpang]

Okay, you have one dissenting vote here. Or maybe a partial dissent-- if you install hardwoods, make sure that your floors don't creak. We are renting a house that has hardwood floors, which I love and generally prefer for all the reasons that others have mentioned. They look great, are easy to clean, are good for people with dust allergies, etc. However, the floors in DD's room squeak, and I can't tell you how frustrating it is to just have gotten the baby to sleep in her crib and be quietly sneaking out the door, when SQUEAK!

Now that DD is starting to crawl, I wish we had carpets so that I could just put her down on the floor. Instead we had to buy rugs to cushion her.

So even though I once swore I'd never have anything but hardwood in my house, I now think that if I had small kids, I might put in a not-so-expensive carpet for a few years, and then, rip it out and put in hardwood when the kids are a little older.

Just my two cents.

[westchicagomom]

LOL - ours totally creak too (we live in a 1920's house). I think it has a lot to do w/ what's supporting the floor and how the floorboards are attached.

It must have been quite a sight to see DH and I tiptoeing this indirect route to the nursery door after checking on DD in her crib just to avoid creaky floor boards. I think she has gotten used to it now, but from time to time I think it still wakes her up.

I agree that I would like carpeting just for a little while because DD has just learned how to crawl and it is getting more difficult to keep her off the floor (in addition to the fact that our house it totally not babyproofed!)

[maridave]

I would add one more thing. I would definitely suggest hardwood. I also had carpet in the room that I wanted to convert to a nursery. We had someone come and refinish the floors and it wasn't that expense. The room is a 10 x 12 room and it cost me $275 dollars (I live in Long Island, NY). I definitely think the cost is worth it as the floors came out beautiful and since we also decided to go with pecan wood furniture it matches really nice. If you do get the floors refinished - get a moisture cure base as this helps to protect the wood floors for spills better than the other bases.

[shindagrl]

What exactly is the moisture cure base? Is it a type of stain or the sealer??? Does it take longer to dry? Where exactly do you find it? DH will be doing all the work himself, so the only cost we'll have in it is the drum sander rental and the stain/sealer.

I've found an area rug for a great price that someone else on this site recommended. That'll help decrease the echo effect, and give her something to crawl on when the time comes. Lucky for us our floors don't creak!

Thanks for all the advice, everyone.

[maridave]

Moisture cure is a type of sealer. It took 8 hours to dry, but the contractor suggested that I not go into the room for 24hours.

I would think you should be able to find it in a home improvement store. However, I'm not sure I would recommend it if DH is doing it. A lot of websites that I looked at said it is difficult to apply and better left with professionals. I would go with the oil base urethane instead. Found a website that talks about the different finishes -- see attached link.

http://www.finishingwoodfloors.com/technical_help/finish_types.html

good luck!

[StaceyKim]

I would do the hardwood floors with a large area rug.