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When you’re looking to sell your home getting the best possible price is always front of mind. Renovating the stand out details of your home can dramatically increase its value but with it comes with risk of over-capitalizing and not getting your money back.
Hardwood Floors Do Increase Home’s Value!
The floor in your home is one of the first things any potential buyer will notice so you may be wondering whether it is worth replacing your current flooring with hardwood flooring in order to increase the value of your home.
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How Much Does It Cost Replacing Carpet With Hardwood?
The first aspect to take into consideration is how much does it cost to replace carpet with hardwood flooring. There are many different options when it comes to hardwood flooring, and the price, as well as quality, will depend on the type you go for. The options are differentiated by the width and the grade of the wood.
What Is the Best Flooring to Increase Home Value?
You may ask yourself “what is the best flooring to increase home value?” Here is a good guide on what to look for in quality hardwood for your house. The three most popular choices include Red Oak Select which is a top grade hardwood and known to have the nicest looking finish with very few little color variation. The width of the pieces vary and depending on which you choose, the cost ranges between just under five dollars to just over seven dollars per square foot.
Natural Maple is another popular choice that is harder compared to Red Oak Select and has slightly more color variation between the pieces. The cost starts at four dollars per square foot and goes up from there as multiple widths are available.
Finally Rustic Ash is a more cost effective option sitting at around three dollars per square foot with more of a rough appearance. For all options, you can choose whether to purchase flooring that is pre-finished or finish it yourself.
Generally the most popular option is to purchase pre-finished flooring as it saves time and the result is a higher quality finish as the job has been handled by professionals. Purchasing pre-finished hardwood will increase the price per square foot by a couple of dollars however if you choose to apply the finish yourself, you will need to pay extra to purchase the product and tools required to do so.
Upon deciding which hardwood suits your homes style and your personal preference, your existing flooring would need to be replaced and floor underlay would need to be in place before laying the wood. The underlay is a thin layer placed between the floor and the hardwood which cost usually ranges from twenty-five cents to five dollars per square foot, depending on what you go for.
The cost of installation will usually range between three to five dollars per square foot depending on which company you decide to run with. All together the average price of replacing carpet with hardwood is around four thousand dollars but can range up to ten thousand.
A commonly used alternative to hardwood flooring is laminate. With a look similar to wood, it is cost-effective and provides a stylish look to your home. Laminate mimics the look of wood but tends to have a glossier finish and more color variation between pieces.
The cost of laminate is usually around two or three dollars cheaper per square foot but can work out to be significantly cheaper when compared to more expensive wood. The installation is generally cheaper and extra costs such as the finishing isn’t included and nowhere near as much preparation work is required.
Many people prefer the look of hardwood over laminate as the authentic wood gives the home a feeling of luxury and in most cases may look more tasteful. A common question of which will increase the value of your home is often raised when comparing the two materials.
Laminate appears to be more cost effective in the short term but if you’re planning on selling your home and wish to make as much money back on it as you can, laminate may not be the option for you.
What Is the Added Resale Value to Your When With Laminate Vs Hardwood?
You may ask yourself: what is the resale value of laminate vs hardwood floors. When it comes to the reselling of home with hardwood vs laminate, a few factors contribute to the overall value. Firstly the overall appearance oh hardwood is considered by many to be better. Laminate often has a shiny look to it and the color variation is very noticeable, giving it a cheap look.
Hardwood flooring on the other hand is visibly better quality and adds warmth to your home, making it in some cases a feature within itself. Laminate can be noisy to walk on as well which may give your home a less luxurious feeling.
Buyers tend to favour hardwood flooring as it is more durable and due to the quality, tends to last a lot longer compared to laminate. In addition, if hardwood floors get marked or damaged, the procedure to fix them is as simple as sanding them down and refinishing them, whereas there is no way to fix damaged laminate.
People like the peace of mind of knowing their flooring will last a long time. Not having to worry about replacing your flooring is a huge positive factor, whether you plan on selling or not.
How Much for Hardwood Floors vs Laminate Cost?
How much does hardwood vs laminate cost? Due to its cost, laminate presents itself as a great budget option but because of the higher price of hardwood flooring, buyers are generally willing to pay more for it as it’s better quality. Depending on which type of hardwood flooring you choose to install, the price of your house could rise at least fifteen thousand dollars. This is a huge amount and it makes up for the initially expensive cost of installing the flooring.
The prices of installing laminate do vary slightly but on average replacing you existing carpet with laminate will only increase the value of your home by three and half thousand dollars at the most as buyers know it is a much cheaper alternative and don’t place much value on it.
How Much Does Hardwood Floors Increase the Value of a Home?
The price of hardwood vs laminate may be a lot more expensive in the long run with extra costs for installation and finishing, but the quality and longevity of the hardwood far outweighs that of the laminate, as well as the overall look. What you save in the short term by installing laminate will affect the resell value of your home in the long run by increasing the value only by roughly three and a half thousand dollars compared to hardwood flooring which will return you over four times that amount.
