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You’d be hard-pressed to find a homeowner who doesn’t want hardwood floors.  Wall-to-wall carpeting is out, and hardwood floors are in.  But are they worth the price?  Let’s face it: at $8-$10 per square foot (installed), wood flooring is more expensive than carpeting or the increasingly common laminates that offer a similar look.

If you’re on the fence and can’t decide whether to install hardwood floors (or maybe peel back your old carpeting and refinish the wood underneath), this list may be able to help.  We’re going to take a look at some of the benefits of hardwoods:

1. Longevity

Thanks to durable finishes that are easy to repair, solid-wood floors can last for a hundred years or more.  There are very few flooring materials that have been around as long as wood.  Over the centuries, it has shown itself to be a lovely and durable floor choice.  Other newer materials have yet to prove themselves.

2. Coziness and Warmth

Not only is hardwood more pleasant to walk on than laminate (which always feel cold and a little “plastic” underfoot), but it is naturally warm.  Wood is an excellent insulator, thanks to its thousands of tiny air chambers per cubic inch, which hold in heat.

3. Hypoallergenic

Got allergies?  Unlike carpets (read: breeding grounds for mold, mildew, and dust mites, all of which can be tough on anyone with allergies), wood floors don’t give pollen, animal dander, mold, etc. any place to hide and thrive.  Even when you steam clean carpets, it’s impossible to get them entirely clean.  In fact, getting them wet just makes things worse.  Hardwood flooring is an excellent choice for anyone with any kind of environmental allergies.  (And it makes good sense for everyone else too–who wants to lie down on a floor that’s hiding mold?)

4. Easy to Clean

A little sweeping and a little mopping, and your hardwood floors will keep looking nice for a long time to come.  Even families with dogs and kids are realizing that it’s easier to mop a hardwood floor than try to spray/scrub/wash grape Kool-Aid out of a carpet.  Another perk is that a scratch here or a gouge there really just adds character to wood floors (of course, you can always have them refinished if you prefer perfection).

5. Increase Home Value

Unless you’re going to be living in the same house for the rest of your life, you should think about how the flooring choices you make today will affect the price you can get for your home when you sell it.  Carpet will look old and used in just a few years, whereas wood floors last a long time and add value to a home (if you’ve ever watched those house hunter shows on television, you’ve doubtlessly seen just about every potential buyer looking around hopefully for hardwood floors).  Even laminate flooring, which looks like wood flooring, is a distant second choice for homebuyers.  It just doesn’t have the same warmth and feel.

These are just a few of the benefits of hardwood floors.  We didn’t even mention the aesthetic value: at the end of the day, they just look better than the alternatives.  If you can afford to pay an extra couple dollars per square foot, go with hardwood.  If you have hardwoods hiding under your existing carpets, tear those suckers up and get the wood refinished.

Cork flooring offers several outstanding benefits to homeowner looking for something new and exciting in their home. The durability of cork flooring is appealing to most homeowners. High heels and furniture can do no damage! Cork flooring tiles are typically protected with a durable environmentally friendly urethane containing no formaldehyde. When cork is subjected to pressure, the gas in the cells is compressed and volume reduces considerably. When released from pressure, cork recovers very rapidly to its original shape. Cork is remarkably resistant to wear, as it is less affected by impact and friction than other hard surfaces because of its cellular composition.

Natural cork is a fire inhibitor, not spreading the flame. Cork also does not release any toxic gases on combustion. Another major benefit is the fact that cork is antimicrobial and insect repellant. Even termites are unwelcome. The suberin, the inherent substance of cork, is a natural insect repellent

Perhaps the most valuable asset of cork flooring is the ease of maintenance. Today, waxing is no longer needed. Sweeping and mopping will be the usual maintenance. A few years down the road when the finish starts to wear off, lightly sand the floor and reapply a new coat of urethane. Your floor will last for several decades.