Baltimore, August 4--Hardwood has resurfaced as the trendiest thing to tread on in American homes, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Although carpet continues to dominate flooring, hardwood has seen a surge of interest during the past decade. From the pages of consumer home magazines to the aisles of home improvement centers, hardwood is being promoted as the material of the moment.
From all of our anecdotal evidence, we know that [the popularity of] hardwood flooring is growing," said Gopal Ahluwalia, vice president for research with the National Association of Home Builders in Washington. "It used to be that everyone wanted carpet in their homes. Now all they want is wood."
What's more, it has become a prime selling point in a real estate market that has posted record sales during the past two years.
According to appraisers, flooring experts and real estate agents, hardwood floors-- provided that they are in good condition-- add value to almost any home. A recent survey of real estate agents by the Pittsburgh-based Hardwood Information Center estimates that hardwood flooring can add as much as $10,000 to a home's resale value.
"It definitely increases salability," said Kerry Mitchell, a broker with Access Real Estate Services in Hampstead. "And in homes that are over $350,000, it's almost crucial."
Before putting their Baltimore house on the market earlier this year, Mitchell and her husband replaced the linoleum and worn-out carpeting on their first floor with hardwood, investing about $4,000. The new oak floors made such an impression that the couple increased their initial listing price by almost $50,000. Their house sold in a week for about $390,000. The Mitchells estimate the hardwood upgrades added about $15,000 to the final price.
Why has hardwood become so hip?
Some attribute its popularity to the age-old adage: What once was old is new again. Others note the mind-boggling variation of hardwood species in today's market, from exotic Brazilian cherry to bamboo.
Dave and Mary McGettigan, who just built a home in Finksburg, had red oak floors installed throughout the house, except for the bedrooms and bathrooms.
"I'm a fanatic about clean floors, and with wood, you can easily mop them," said Mary McGettigan. "Plus, once they settle they last forever and always look great."
In 2002, U.S. manufacturers sold 627.5 million square feet of hardwood flooring, a 90 percent increase from 1995, when they sold 330.2 million square feet, according to annual data from the Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association.
The carpet craze began during the 1960s, when homeowners wanted it wall-to-wall. This love affair with carpets came out of several decades of compulsory hardwood, mandated by the Federal Housing Administration for use in all homes built or remodeled with government loans. As soon as the administration revoked this rule in the 1960s, carpeting became chic in part because it was so much cheaper to install.
Wall-to-wall carpeting is priced at approximately $5.22 a square foot with installation, compared with hardwood floors at about $11.96 a square foot. Not until the mid-1980s did homeowners begin ripping up their carpets to reveal handsome hardwood underneath.
Today, homeowners are not only pulling up carpets; they're also putting hardwood down in rooms that were once relegated to tile or carpeting, like the kitchen and the bedrooms. A recent study by the national homebuilders' group showed that wood flooring in kitchens has grown from 9 percent in 1999 to 21 percent in 2002.
Hardwood has earned high consumer confidence. Last month, the National Wood Flooring Association polled a group of 1,000 non-wood and wood floor owners. Among them, 39 percent said hardwood is the easiest material to clean, 57 percent said it is the most beautiful and 81 percent said that it increases the value of their home.
"It is the most expensive material, but don't forget there is a cost-value relationship," said Ed Korczak, executive director of the National Wood Flooring Association. "It has all the values we want in our home. It shows status, and more importantly, it's structurally responsible."
