Hard wood or carpet for den

Just bought a new house and the whole first floor is hard wood. However, the den has a carpet that we need to replace. Some people have said that carpet is better in the den (especially if you have young kids) as the basement does not extend beneath the den (making the room very cold). I love hard wood floors but also want to be comfortable watching tv in the den. Your thoughts?

Get the hardwood -- just be sure to put some insulation underneath it. Then you can always use a rug during the "young kid phase" if necessary.

we have exactly the same situation -- hardwood throughout the house and a den with no basement underneath it -- just an unheated crawlspace. the floors are beautiful and we love them, but that floor is damn cold in the wintertime. if you think the kids will be spending time on the floor, i would definitely look into carpet or finding a way to insulate the floor, as eg suggests.

Hardwood with throw rugs.

depends on whether you expect spills and accidents or not. If you have dogs and clumsy children...hardwood, with a few spare layers of varnish.

Thanks, guys!

Originally Posted by millionaire75

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Thanks, guys!
Have you made a decision?

What about putting some radient heat under the floor?

Originally Posted by JayJay

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Have you made a decision?

not yet.

kids = carpet. Falls, toys, playing on floor. Would you want to play on a hard cold floor?

Hardwood with area rugs.

+1 on the hardwood + throw rug suggestion.

I'm tearing up carpet now, and i'm amazed at how much dust is holds/creates.

Hardwood will be slightly more expensive, but will outlast the carpet many times over, since you can refinish it, and wont bother you if you have allergies (who doesn't these days?)

+1 Hardwood with area rugs. After the kids destory it you can have it screened and re-coated (lightly scratch the top layer of polyurethane and apply (3) coats of oil-based polyurethane) or a full sand & finish where the bare wood will be exposed. With todays coatings that contain aluminum oxide the durability factor is much higher than it once was. I would recommend not going with a "Bargain Basement" brand or even Bruce. They are so massed produced with very little attention to quality. "Bargain Basement" brands have several issues including improper kiln drying which can lead to cupping, cracking, and bowing in the future. Look into some better Canadian mills such as Mirage, Mercier, or Lauzon. If you want to go for an exotic look go for BR-111 or Expama. Feel free to PM me with any detailed questions.

Originally Posted by FromCAtoCO

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kids = carpet. Falls, toys, playing on floor. Would you want to play on a hard cold floor?

meh. pain = they learn faster.

Originally Posted by Lucky7

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+1 Hardwood with area rugs. After the kids destory it you can have it screened and re-coated (lightly scratch the top layer of polyurethane and apply (3) coats of oil-based polyurethane) or a full sand & finish where the bare wood will be exposed. With todays coatings that contain aluminum oxide the durability factor is much higher than it once was. I would recommend not going with a "Bargain Basement" brand or even Bruce. They are so massed produced with very little attention to quality. "Bargain Basement" brands have several issues including improper kiln drying which can lead to cupping, cracking, and bowing in the future. Look into some better Canadian mills such as Mirage, Mercier, or Lauzon. If you want to go for an exotic look go for BR-111 or Expama. Feel free to PM me with any detailed questions.

Thinking about making my own in exotic, doesn't take much more then a planer and a tongue and groove bit. That and bit of hand sanding.

In my other post i finished those exotics by hand sanding from 100 grit to 1000 grit in about 5 stages, 0000 grade steel wool, then a tack cloth, linseed oil and finished with a bowling alley wax. Nice thing about the wax is that you can touch it up easily.

This finish is fine for me since i wear leather soled shoes and dont try to do wind sprints in my house, but it might be trouble for kids.