why no wood on 2nd floor (subfloor, how much, Home Depot, laminate)

[canine7]

its seems that even the nicest houses i see with all wood on the entire first floor(even in downstairs bedrooms)-almost always have carpet on the stairs and second floor.
Is there a reason for this in nc-the climate or something?
AND IF YOU ADD LAMINATE OR WOOD on the second floor-i guess you should then remove the carpeting from the staircase right/
I just hate carpet
thanks

[johnrex62]

It gets very noisy when people walk on wood floors overhead with shoes on.

[JohnE1000]

I assume cost is the main reason. Also, I know people who prefere carpet in bedrooms. Personaly, I would put hardwood everywhere if I could afford it.

[MrsBTA]

We noticed the same thing - it's definitely not a climate issue, just a cost issue. Sometimes, there would be carpet on the stairs and upstairs hallway, but never in any of the upstairs rooms.

When we bought our house, it was still under construction - wood floors had been installed downstairs, but none up. Luckily, they hadn't installed any carpet yet, so we were able to change that out. We have hardwood on the stairs, hallway, and in the bedrooms. The builder had no problem doing this for us, we just had to pay for the difference between the carpet and the hardwood.

When we looked at existing homes that had carpet upstairs, we always factored in the price of replacing it all with hardwood (and yes, definitely including the stairs).

[VickiR]

Wood floors used to be reserved for the more expensive homes.

It seems that more and more builders are using wood floors or laminate in more homes.

Its costly to use wood, so carpet upstairs is used more often.

Its also slippery to use wood on the stairs (ask me, hubby has fallen twice now!).

Its also somewhat noisey to have wood floors upstairs. I can hear the cat walking when she is upstairs on the hardwood and I'm downstairs! Can you imagine have 3 kids running through the house?

Alot of buyers WANT carpet in the bedroom.

When I replaced the carpet in my house, I put hardwood on the stairs and in the upstairs hallway. I would have put it in the master bedroom but hubby wanted carpet. So carpet we got. I really wish I hadn't listenend to him and had gone with the hardwood.

Vicki

[SunnyKayak]

nothing is finer than playing tag with your dog or kid in your sock feet and end up sliding down the stairs on your rear LOL been there done that.

[saturnfan]

Another issue.

Carpet can hide a lousy subfloor job by masking unevenness. It can also keep down the noise from poorly supported subfloors.

In fact, I asked several builders about hard floors upstairs (allergies), and they said no. I'd take linoleum in a wood grain for easy cleaning with a mop.

[VickiR]

Saturnfan...I always tell my clients when you ask the builder for something and he says "of course I can do it". Your next question should be "how much?"!!!

If the builder says NO, I'd want to know WHY. Some of the tract builders don't give you that as an "option". Most of the custom builders will allow you to add options to your heart's content...as long as you are willing to pay for it!

Vicki

[saturnfan]

Linoleum really ought to be about as cheap as carpet. No big deal there.

Just means they need to do a good job on the subfloors. I went into a few units under construction, and the wood used for the upstairs subfloors looked like it had been reclaimed from used packing crates.

[LeafsFan85]

1) Hardwood are more expensive then carpet
2) It cost alot more to put on second floors, you have to cover the entire floor except the bathrooms, whereas on main floor you will olny need to install hardwood in Living,Dinning, and Family room.

To me install Carpet runner over the oak staircase is like putting a layer of clear plastic over a leather sofa.
and if i can't afford to put real hardwood on the floor, then i would just leave the carpet alone, I hate home depot laminate flloor.
I saw houses that listed over 800K on mls and advertise that they have Parquet (sp?) Flooring.