Carpet Vs Timber Floor?? - Asthma Sufferer Query

YAPP

Hi All, Can some one in the know please advise from expierence.

New House Fitt out reqd in 2-4 weeks time.
Living Room 6.0mx5.0m
Lounge 6.0m x 5.0m
Bed 01 4.5m x 4.8m
Bed 02 4.8m x 4.8m
Bed 03 3.6m x 4.2m
Bed 04 4.8m x 3.60m

Questions are as follows;
Q1: We have a new arrival on the way and Carpet may prove softer
for infants tumbling and falling around like little drunk folk so they dont
hurt them selves too much,
BUT
we have an Asthma Sufferer in the house too.
Argument for timber is that any loose dust will/can be swept away and kept clean, thus eliminating the asthma problem.
HOWEVER,
Argument for Carpet is that any dust in the house will settle and be retained in the fibres of the carpet and not be airborne causing problems with asthma.
Prediciment seeing as we need to floor these areas in the next 2 to 4 weeks.

Any advise/expierences are welcome.

All rooms are well vents with 4" wall vents.

thanks

YAPP
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Also looking for best prices for both at moment.
Semi Solid Oak Flooring 9mm on 9mm ply for Eur 20/m
Vs
Carpet of choice, felt backed (& ok for UFH) for Eur 10/m
no underlay reqd and both are supply only---
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mad m

Has to be wooden floors all the way,sure toddlers has a nice cushion of nappy under them to cushion a blow even on wooden floors.In my experience of having two kids and have house with only the stair and landing carpeted.If your new arrival is the only child so far it will be a year or so anyway till he/she starts toddling.Remember also that wooden floors can be noisey so tip toe around when baby is sleeping

I have seen a friends house laminated in the bedrooms and solid wood secret nailed downstairs.I would prefer the tongue&groove in bedrooms which when properly sanded and Lacquered can last years because not much traffic in bedrooms.

The living room is different as you would want a harder wearing wood(hardwood).With the whole house in wood/laminate you will see the crumbs/dirt alot more than a carpet so get a good broom.

I have seen a sale on at Brooks Thomas lately.

Superman

mad m wrote:

Has to be wooden floors all the way,sure toddlers has a nice cushion of nappy under them to cushion a blow even on wooden floors.In my experience of having two kids and have house with only the stair and landing carpeted.If your new arrival is the only child so far it will be a year or so anyway till he/she starts toddling.Remember also that wooden floors can be noisey so tip toe around when baby is sleeping

I have seen a friends house laminated in the bedrooms and solid wood secret nailed downstairs.I would prefer the tongue&groove in bedrooms which when properly sanded and Lacquered can last years because not much traffic in bedrooms.

The living room is different as you would want a harder wearing wood(hardwood).With the whole house in wood/laminate you will see the crumbs/dirt alot more than a carpet so get a good broom.

I have seen a sale on at Brooks Thomas lately.

go for carpets upstairs, there cozyer also they allow people to come in late without wakin the whole gaf. down stairs i'd shell out a load and get nice parquet (not sure if i spelt it right but its pronounced park-ey) wood, because it simply lasts ages and looks nice.
I'd say you could get a suitable carpet for asthmatics cause alot of people have it and theres bound to be some special ones out there.

gregos

No. Avoid carpets if you can. They're simply a breeding ground for mites. There was far less asthma in this country when we had no money and just had lino everywhere. The increase in asthma was directly related to the increase in prosperity that enabled everybody to carpet their homes.

However, it's easy for me to talk. How much of this work will you do yourself? I can tell you from experience that laying hardwood floors myself cost me about 40 euros per square metre, including all the extras, and that's using pre-finished hardwoods to avoid sanding. I've also laid floors the hard way using drum sanders and 2-pack lacquer, but you don't want the dust and fumes hanging around if you have a new baby on the way. If you have to pay somebody to do this, it could be costly. You can also consider the laminated stuff. The quality isn't as high, but there's less work putting it down which could save you a few bob.

I have wooden floors throughout my house, which is very large, and there doesn't tend to be a problem with noise. I even have a wooden staircase!

Alun

We have wood floors throughout after years of having carpets everywhere. You just wouldn't believe how much dust and other crap settles on the floors that is immediately visible on the wood, whereas on a carpet it just "disappears" out of sight and out of mind. We'd never go back to carpet again.

smileygal

We don't have any carpets at all and haven't for years. You can see how much dirt & hairs gather, especially with pets.Baby will increase it!

Way better for asthmatics to avoid known triggers.

Rugs are a good halfway house - especially by the bed for cold mornings.

Macy

As has been said, it's not just the dust it's the dust mites that live in the carpets.

yop

Brookes are having a decent sale alright, also "the Door Store" on boucher road in Belfast is also a good bet for good prices,
You have Carpet Right beside them also

magpie

Carpet on stairs and landing, the best wood you can afford everywhere else.

The Rooster

Another option is Amtico(.com) and Karndean(.com). Basically a very upmarket vinyl. Quite expensive, but no more than good wooden floors. Softer than wood or tiles, yet very hardwearing and easy to maintain - guaranteed for between 12 and 20 years depending on what you get. Huge choice of colours/effects. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but might be yours, so you should check the websites. Frank McGowan in Airside, Swords stocks both.

YAPP

Thanks alot for that guys,
still in a tizwaz about the whole thing,

Think we';ll put SemiSolid Oak in the livingroom & main bedroom, (living area)
with carpet on the stairs and landing (traffic area).

As for the other bedrooms, may just go with laminate in a few months; a nice DIY project for those long winter months!!!

thanks
YAPP

Any other advice on the asthma front anyone???

gregos

YAPP wrote:

a nice DIY project for those long winter months!!!

Good idea doing it yourself.

Invest the money you save as follows:-

1. Chop saw with slide action
2. Small portable table saw
3. Air-driven brad gun with small compressor.

All available cheap these days.

Spend the savings in advance and you won't need to use so many winter months doing the job.

KoNiT

I'm asthmatic, dust & animal hair are the killers with me. If you;ve a pet, keep it outside or get rid. Carpet never bothers me if cleaned regular. Steam cleaning kills mites. Hoover the bed & steam clean as often as you can, its not the mites that get you, its the sh1t tthey leave behind!!

We have Laminate timber floors in sitting room & our bedroom, lino in kitchen.
Do not lay laminate, its too friggin cold in the bedroom, its too cold for crawling babies. Although wooden floors are mighty when cleaning puke, food, puke, nappies...Did I mention Puke? congrats btw

Maybe semi solid is warmer to walk/crawl on - I'd be interested in finding this out.

We have Carpet in hall, & kiddies rooms & spare room.

Word of warning on new carpets - fibres. New carpets have loose fibres, our lad when he was crawling, developed a sore throat over it. Hoover was in demand after that + he was banned from the hall till fibres stopped falling out of the carpet.

Our house was constructed in 1985, we've reciently fitted double glazing & I haven't had an attack or "wheezyness" in bed since. I put it down to the "cold front" from the single glazed window as 'my side' is nearest window..

I would nearly find the "vent" in your house a trigger if situated near it (cold air)

The Rooster

YAPP wrote:

Think we';ll put SemiSolid Oak in the livingroom & main bedroom, (living area)
with carpet on the stairs and landing (traffic area).

As a matter of interest, why are you going for carpet rather than wood in the landing?
I've just ordered semi-solid wood for my bedrooms and landing, and carpet for the stairs only - just wondering if I missed something obvious that would say carpet is better in the landing?

yop

What sort of prices are ye getting on the semi-solid lads, are you finding much of a difference???

Also what is the story with solid and semi-solid and UFH????

Cheers

kadman

Solid, self explanatory. Solid timber of your choice.

Semi solid. Solid timber veneer from 5mm upwards on a cheaper timber, normally spruce backing.

UFH..Urea formaldehyde, I presume. Thought to be a carcinogen, an adhesive substance used as such, widely used in the woodwork industry. Two part setting glue, reknowned for its strength.

Maybe he is refering to another UFH.

kadman

Alun

kadman wrote:

Maybe he is refering to another UFH.

Under Floor Heating ?

kadman

Alun wrote:

Under Floor Heating ?

You're probably right Alun. Apologies .

kadman

gregos

yop wrote:

What sort of prices are ye getting on the semi-solid lads, are you finding much of a difference???

Also what is the story with solid and semi-solid and UFH????

Cheers

Personally, I'd be inclined to go for solid. At the moment, McMahons are selling pre-finished maple and oak for about 28 euros per sq. yd. That might seem dear, but there's no sander to hire, no varnishing and the whole thing goes together nicely, provided you have a small bit of experience. I think there's a McMahons in Galway, which isn't too much of a trek for you.

As regards UFH, people will tell you that timber floors are ok. There has to be a certain amount of insulating going on and I think they definitely hold back some of the heat when the system switches on. But the energy has to go somewhere, and eventually even the solid timber flooring starts to feel warm. After that point, it's a steady-state heat transfer and the flooring doesn't have much effect, good or bad. I suppose ideally, if the heating was on the whole time, you'd want to use tiles or something like that but then they'd feel cold in the summer when the heating is off. You can't win.

Mothman

With sweeping a wooden floor, don't use a standard brush. it raises the dust.
Use one of those cloth sweepers. Can't for the life of me remember what they are actually called, but you just push it in front and systematically sweep the floor. I then just clean this sweeper with the vacuum once you covered the whole area. Also I put the same flooring down in most of the house and did away with any saddles, which is great for sweeping as well.

For noise, we don't wear shoes in the house

smileygal

There's one called the Swiffer. I use the red Vileda one anyway -lightweight, brilliant on wooden floors, can use wet(Dettol)/dry wipes and no scratches or dents. It swivels 360 degrees so you can reach pretty much everywhere.

Capt'n Midnight

One option is to get wood floors and rugs. A big rug with some rubber backing so it doesn't slide around the place, it'll probably shed like a carpet at first too. I've been told that it's better for the carpet to not remove all the fluff but to let it bed back in again and later remove the excess - anyone hear that ?

or do like in viz and buy two carpet times and strap one to each foot - you get that carpet feeling in every room

smileygal

Very Vivienne Westwood

YAPP

Yop,

14mm th Semi-Solid Oak in 1 7" board at Eur18.50/yd2
14mm th Semi-Solid Oak in 3strip board at Eur 15.00/yd2

Advised against putting Solid down on the GF due to UFH.
Prob going with 1st Semi-Solid, nicer board laid (1mm champferd edges - nice)
on GF Lounge & Dining, and carpet to 4 no Bed, Stairs & landing;
as KoNIT says, just keep it clean reagulary and cant be too bad,
1: its well ventilated
2: carpets more confortable to Bed. areas
3. brother-inlaw fitts the stuff, fitting is going to be economic (we hope!)

Thanks for all the advise lads, really, food for thought for others I'm sure.

fyi,
got quoted for carpet for all bedrooms and stairs and landing at Eur1050.