If you’re like most homes in Dubai, you’ll agree that nothing feels softer and warmer on your feet (especially in the winter) than soft, velvety, wall-to-wall carpet.
But how much is that soft, squishy feeling beneath your feet worth in relation to the whole indoor environment of your home? Our list below may change your perception of your home’s carpeting. Our flooring experts discuss the top five reasons to get rid of that old carpet today.
1: Allergies
Carpets are known to attract allergies. People claim that carpets contain 100 times more allergens than hard-surfaced floor coverings. While carpet manufacturers claim that carpet fibers trap allergens, it’s important to note that while dust mites, mold spores, and dander adhere to carpet fibers, disturbance (such as walking) can release them into the air, where they can remain for hours, triggering allergy symptoms. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of Dubai reports that dust mites, typically found deep in carpeting, trigger allergies in over 20 million Americans year-round. Having non-porous flooring, such as vinyl or tile, will prevent a large number of allergens from building up in your home. Floating clickable vinyl flooring is a gentler alternative to carpets (more information about COREtec Plus here). The water-proof vinyl top layer is extremely easy to maintain, and the extra softness of the bonded cork underlayment makes it more comfortable to walk on than a glue-down vinyl or tile floor.
2: How clean is your carpet really?
Even though Halloween is approaching, what’s actually frightening is picturing what minuscule creepy crawlies are hiding in your wall-to-wall carpet in Dubai; nevertheless, once you find out, you’ll wish you hadn’t known!
Traditionally, people have assumed that daily vacuuming is sufficient to keep carpets clean.However, over time, an increasing number of studies have successfully linked indoor allergens to plush carpeting, uncovering the source of sneezing, coughing, itchy, watery eyes, and even asthma episodes.
Only a microscope can see dust mites, which burrow deeply into carpet strands; in fact, vacuuming will not remove 95 percent of them. Some vacuums have “high-efficiency particulate air” (HEPA) filters, but others simply re-release allergens, giving false promise for a clean carpet. To top off the frightening news that dust mites are most certainly residing somewhere in your carpets, consider this: people who are allergic to dust mites are allergic to their droppings, not the dust mite itself. Yikes! If anything could persuade a homeowner to remove a carpet, I’m sure it would.
Next, there are “mold spots.” Mold spores are naturally present in the air all around us, and your wall-to-wall carpeting provides an ideal environment for the spores to settle in and stay for a while. Mold spores require a humid atmosphere with oxygen as well as a food source; dust is an ideal food source for mold spores to flourish. When these spores adhere to your carpet fibers, they feed on ordinary dust, and before you know it, you may have mold growth. High-pile carpeting is most susceptible to mold growth in moist or damp situations, such as a basement or another below-grade section of your home.
Your pets shed microscopic particles of old skin cells, which form pet dander. It can travel in the air and stick to furniture, window coverings, and, of course, your carpeting, where dust mites will use it for food. Dust in the air typically adheres to dander, allowing it to travel anywhere, but carpeting is the most common place to find it. Without vacuuming on a regular basis and taking up the dander and dust on your carpet’s surface, every time you or your pet walks across it, the dander is kicked up into the air or pushed farther down, deeper into the carpeting, making it even more difficult to access.
3: Hardwood Flooring Underneath
Another good incentive to remove that old wall-to-wall carpet is if you uncover hardwood floors below. Homes have used solid hardwood flooring for centuries, and you might be pleasantly surprised to find it under the carpet in your own home, ready for refinishing! You can quickly transform your home from dated, outdated carpeting to magnificent hardwood floors. Many homeowners are surprised at how well some supposedly unsalvageable hardwood floors sand out and finish like new.
4: Re-Sale Value:
Realtors, decorators, and home renovation specialists concur that carpeting does not increase a home’s resale value or make it easier to sell. Although, like many homeowners, you may like the look and feel of plush new carpeting in your home or you may not want to spend a lot of money on flooring, consider your flooring choice as an investment in your home over time. While carpeting requires replacement within a few years, solid hardwood flooring not only extends the home’s lifespan but also significantly enhances its value. When you install carpeting in your home, you will not receive a return on investment (ROI). Solid hardwood flooring, while more expensive than carpeting, will raise the value of your property and provide you with a far higher return on investment when you sell.
#5: Pet Owners:
With so many furry family members present in more than half of Dubai households, it is important to consider pet dander when choosing a floor covering. Nobody understands better than a pet owner that everyday routine household cleaning and maintenance procedures are a little more complicated than they would be if they didn’t have pets. Daily vacuuming of a wall-to-wall carpet will not effectively remove much of the trapped dander deep in the fibers. Having a solid floor covering instead of carpeting will be much easier to clean and maintain.
