San Francisco studio apartments, and most bay area residential homes or condos, come equipped with standard hardwood floors.  It’s almost the catch phrase on every property management’s advertisement for renting their apartments.  Craigslist alone has a slew of, “For rent, charming studio apartment features hardwood floors, maple cupboards, and easy access to local downtown bars and restaurants”, listings advertising apartments for rent.  It’s been a strong selling point and a nice feature to have in your cozy new home; if you don’t mind the finish wood look.

So what options do we have if our dream town home or condo (with a scenic view) has a lavish Red Oak hardwood flooring but you’d rather put something over it? One option is to cover the floor with carpet, either entirely or as a centerpiece.  But let’s weigh the options on which is better to have: hardwood floors or carpet covered floors.  Psssst, we goona be bias on this one and say that hardwood floors have more advantages than disadvantages over carpet. But here goes…

Carpet:

San Francisco is usually cold and foggy (especially if you live in the avenues of the Sunset District or in Halfmoon Bay), so the comfortable heat insulating feature of carpets is a huge plus. It also absorbs sound well, giving you a quiet and comfy living space.  It’s therapeutic for people who are on their feet all day at work.  Its biggest advantage; however, is that you can easily replace carpet when scratches, mold, stains or apparent wear and tear begin to take toll.  Also, with changing old carpet, you do get the option to use different colors to brighten the room or make it more Zen!

But carpeted flooring has huge disadvantages.  For starters, new carpeting comes with a health hazard.  The synthetic fabric in carpets, and the associated products used during installation, can leak chemicals over the years that cause sinus problems.  Carpeted floors also demand regular cleaning that can become very expensive. Even more so if you have white carpets on your floor combined with pets, and a two year old baby! Yikes!  Replacing and just maintaining carpets clean can become a burden and in some cases a nightmare.

Hardwood Floor:

First off, hardwood floors are not as hazardous as carpet; so no worries about allergies becoming a problem.  Cleaning hardwood floors is relatively inexpensive (a mop and bucket of water is cheaper to clean with than a vacuum) and it has a longer shelf life than carpet floors.  If you live just above the boilers of your building’s heating room, you can brag and say that you have heated floors in your apartment unit.  Ha! Spills, stains, and scratches can easily be remedied from most hardwood floors without having to tear the floor out and replaced!

Disadvantages to having or installing hardwood floor is that you may need a professional to do most severe repairs to damages on the floor from scratches, fading or even replacing.  It almost requires a skill tradesman to give your floor a needed face life.  Most apartment renters pay the price of living in units with hardwood floor.  They lose their deposits because of all the damages left behind from moving furniture around, walking on the floor with shoes, and making dents on the wood floor surface.

So which is better? Well, why not have the better of both worlds?  Enjoy the hardwood floor and use a carpet centerpiece to give the flooring a touch of décor.

Fun, cheap, or free things to do in: San Francisco, CA

What:  Macy’s Holiday Windows: Pet Adoption Display Unveiling 2012
Date:  Friday, Nov. 16th  Time:  5:00pm-8:00pm
Where: 170 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA (Union Square )
Cost: FREE

What: Macy’s “Gal Meets Glam” Mini Makeovers, Sips & Sweets
Date:  Saturday, Nov. 17th  Time:  2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Where: 170 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA (Union Square )
Cost: FREE

What: Pier 39 Tree Lighting Celebration                                                                          Date:  Sunday, Nov. 18th  Time:  12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Where: Pier 39, The Embarcadero, San Francisco CA
Cost: FREE