Dear Dave,
We’re doing some updating on our home this spring and need some advice.
Our home was built in the mid 90’s and has a lot of carpet throughout. We’re considering selling after we do the updates, but who knows, we might really like the new look and decide to stay! Our question is, would tearing out the carpet in the main living spaces and installing hardwood be a good upgrade? Or, is there another material that you think would be better?
We would appreciate your opinion! Thank you –
Dan – Fruita, CO
Dan,
My bet is you love the new look and decide to stay… at least for a while! Doing some updates will definitely give the home a wonderful fresh feel and probably prove very appealing to you and to prospective buyers. Hardwood floors are a huge upgrade and very desirable to virtually any buyer. The big question is not if buyers will prefer them, but how much will they cost and will you get the money back out of it. I would generally say that you will get most of your investment back from installing hardwood floors, especially if you subtract the cost of new carpet and pad from the cost and see what the difference is.
You might consider some of the higher end engineered hardwood products, as well as real wood. We use and suggest these products often with very good results. They wear like iron, have a very natural look and can be a bit more cost effective and still have the feel and sound of solid hard wood floors. Just don’t go cheap, because every buyer will know when you go cheap and they will no doubt notice. When possible, I recommend hardwood floors for higher resale value. Good luck.
Dave Kimbrough
The Kimbrough Team
