Carpeted floors in the tropics: why??? (homes, tile, gated)

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by TX transplant

We also remove our shoes and are clean freaks but we don't have AC and the moisture from outside (especially lately with all the heavy rains) is felt indoors to the point where one can actually "smell" mold (allergies) so the carpet just makes no sense in that case.

As for cleanliness, there is no amount of cleaning that can keep a carpet as clean as hard surface flooring. None!!!

I agree.

I like area rugs over wood floors. It's easy to roll them up to clean the floor thoroughly and easier to get the rug clean than carpet. And especially in areas where heavy moisture is likely, I like synthetic fibers, which are far less likely to harbor mold, and open weaves, which allow sand and dirt to fall through rather than building up. I say, think "beach house," even if you don't live at the beach,

Why do people carpet, when it's not appropriate for their lifestyle? I think it's mostly because they bring a whole body of esthetic preferences and expectations from the mainland, and don't re-evaluate them. That's what gradually wears away at the local traditions, people coming in and doing it a different way. In a similar vein, metal roofs are traditional, but people want shingles. Board and batten siding is traditional, but people want clapboard. And so on...

[whtviper1]

People get carpeting for a lot of reasons.

For a lot of people, tile is tacky/cheapish.

Hardwood floors are expensive. I have hardwood on the main floor, but wouldn't consider it for upstairs where I have carpeting. It is to loud when people are walking around. It also gives a nice mixture. Laminate is cheaper but needs to get replaced fairly often.

You don't have to mop carpet - anything else than carpet shows dust quickly. Furniture doesn't slide on carpet.

[tpk-nyc]

Real estate prices are so high that many people are forced to skimp on interiors, fixtures and furniture. It’s not uncommon for a half-million dollar home to have cheap and ugly flooring. All the money is going to pay the mortgage.

Also, the Islands maintain the Japanese tradition of keeping wood floors absolutely pristine and spotless. It’s exhausting and you can feel like a slave to your floor. On the mainland people often wear snow boots on wood floors in the winter. If the floor is scuffed you have it sanded and refinished. We treat wood like any other floor covering, whereas in Hawaii it’s something precious that has to be maintained.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by tpk-nyc

Also, the Islands maintain the Japanese tradition of keeping wood floors absolutely pristine and spotless. It’s exhausting and you can feel like a slave to your floor. On the mainland people often wear snow boots on wood floors in the winter. If the floor is scuffed you have it sanded and refinished. We treat wood like any other floor covering, whereas in Hawaii it’s something precious that has to be maintained.

Not ALL Hawaiian residents do that. As a matter of fact, I've been in many Big Island houses, mostly older, where the wood floors are merely wood boards, over jousts, that have been painted. But these houses were built to be practical for working people to be living in, not to show off. Hardwood floor? Who had time for that? Like you said, if a floor got scuffed up or worn, you sanded it and painted it.

That's the "beach house" or "farm house" approach I was talking about. Pleasant, warm, appealing, but low maintenance.

Reminds me of another thing. In traditional Hawaiian plantation style houses you didn't carpet the upstairs because there usually wasn't an upstairs. Heat rises, which is an advantage to a second floor in a New England house, but not as much in the tropics. Matter of fact, the iconic traditional Hawaiian "sugar shack" roofline, or Dickey roof, with wide brows and a low sloping section meeting a tall "steeple" section in the middle was designed that way to create a chimney effect, drawing hot air up and out of the low slung house. Also the single-wall construction so widely used in Hawai'i doesn't lend itself to second stories.

Not to say they weren't built in Hawai'i, because they were from the early 1800s on, by whalers and traders from New England who brought their tastes with them, and built what they were familiar with, including two-story houses with "widow's walks" on top. But while the plantation manager might have lived in a house with columns and rugs and oak or native wood floors, the rest of the staff lived in low houses with painted or even bare-wood floors, and frankly, I love that simplicity.

[kaimuki]

I never cared for carpet. Growing up in Wahiawa, we had to do everything we could to keep the red dirt from getting into the house. We NEVER wore shoes or slippers in the house. Now I live in town and my house has bamboo flooring in the parlor, family room, dining room, bedrooms and my office. My kitchen and bathrooms have porcelain tile.

[Mikala43]

Isn't carpet one of the cheaper floorings to replace? It may be why you see it in rentals so often.

That, and we don't wear shoes in the house.

[Mikala43]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

People get carpeting for a lot of reasons.

For a lot of people, tile is tacky/cheapish.

Hardwood floors are expensive. I have hardwood on the main floor, but wouldn't consider it for upstairs where I have carpeting. It is to loud when people are walking around. It also gives a nice mixture. Laminate is cheaper but needs to get replaced fairly often.

You don't have to mop carpet - anything else than carpet shows dust quickly. Furniture doesn't slide on carpet.

I HATE tile. We have coffee stained bamboo in the living area..... had to buy a freakin' roomba to keep it clean.... it's like a daily chore. Dogs don't help. Live and learn.

[Floorist]

Actually, you are not supposed to go barefoot on carpet. The oils in your feet can ruin it.

[Kayekaye]

Stayed in a rural home that was very clean and modern, but it had wall to wall carpeting. When my kid dropped one crumb of a potato chip on the floor it was flooded with tiny ants that would swarm into a mass about 8" wide and then disappear before I could get them. This continued the whole time we stayed there. It was built on the side of a hill/mountain and had a lot of open space under it that was full of critters. The owners were gone or we would have asked them to wage battle.

Snug as a bug in a rug, I guess there is truth in some sayings.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Kayekaye

Stayed in a rural home that was very clean and modern, but it had wall to wall carpeting. When my kid dropped one crumb of a potato chip on the floor it was flooded with tiny ants that would swarm into a mass about 8" wide and then disappear before I could get them. This continued the whole time we stayed there. It was built on the side of a hill/mountain and had a lot of open space under it that was full of critters. The owners were gone or we would have asked them to wage battle.

Snug as a bug in a rug, I guess there is truth in some sayings.

Not to mention, fleas just love carpets. And pets leave all kinds of other surprises in carpets.