You probably think a lot about the safety of your food, don’t you? But how safe and reliable is the flooring surface in your home? When it comes to flooring options, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA emphasizes the fact that solid hardwood floors improve indoor air quality.

Hardwood Floors don’t harbor microorganisms, allergens, or pesticides that can be tracked from outdoors. What’s important is that the number of people affected by allergies each year is staggering. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America says that about 50 million people in the U.S. are affected by nasal allergies alone. And this number is increasing every year.

More importantly, allergies affect as much as 40 percent of children, and about 30 percent of the adult population in the U.S. Allergic diseases, including asthma, is at the fifth position in leading chronic diseases in the U.S. for adults. And it is the third most common for children under the age of 18.

So, here’s where the health benefits of hardwood floors are essential. They are easy to clean, minimize the accumulation of dust, mold, & animal dander, which makes them a healthy option for your little one’s first steps and beyond.

Choosing engineered hardwood floors increases the value of your property. You must know that hardwood flooring looks great, lasts for years, and adds long-term value to any home and is considered a high quality flooring option. It also has the potential of becoming a strong resale argument, exceeding the initial installation cost of the floors. Further, it enables a faster sale and brings higher prices at the time of resale, mainly because it shows no signs of wear and tear.

But there are many more benefits to a quality installation of an exotic hardwood flooring that you might not be aware of, the most significant being – an improved health outlook for you and your family. Here are five more essential points to consider:

Hardwood doesn’t trap allergens

Carpets can trap precisely the kind of fine particulate matter that exacerbates allergies. Pollen, animal dander, and other particles find a home there and don’t ever want to leave. Plus, allergens can exist everywhere. Some are more common outdoors, while others are more common indoors, like dust mites & pet dander.

However, allergen sources can be present anywhere at any point in time. And the impact of air-borne allergy-related illnesses is staggering. It results in losses of up to $17.5 billion in health care costs and more than 6 million working hours each year. Thus, it makes sense to minimize & prevent allergy triggers whenever possible.

While outdoor allergens are not always easy to control, there are ways to minimize the impact of allergens that occur inside our homes. Frequent dusting, vacuuming, and washing will reduce many indoor allergens, but these activities can stir them up as well. One way to prevent allergies altogether is to eliminate many of the areas where they can gather.

Carpet harbors dust mites

In the indoor environment, flooring is one area where the number of indoor allergens can be controlled. Certain types of flooring, like carpets, are a huge gathering place for allergens. Small microorganisms like dust, dust mites, mold, animal dander, pollen, and other substances always tend to accumulate in carpet fibers.

Flooring installations or types that are different from carpets, such as wood or hardwood, tend to minimize the accumulation of allergens because they do not possess any fibers to trap these substances.

Taking steps to mitigate these kinds of allergies can result in improved indoor air quality. So, get this, if you have infants or small children around the house, there is no definite way to know that the germs and bacteria trapped in a carpet will not harm them. This makes having hardwood floors installed a much safer option for you and your children. Plus, they can be easily cleaned daily without harm. On the other hand, the more you vacuum or shampoo a carpet, the faster it deteriorates.

Disinfect Hardwood Flooring in a snap

There are no analogous yet straightforward ways to purge pathogens from carpet. Whereas hardwood floors are incredibly easy to keep clean. All it takes to sterilize hardwood is a quick damp-mopping with a manufacturer-approved anti-bacterial cleaner. Besides, they can be easily swept or vacuumed to remove any dirt or debris that has accumulated.

Just imagine not having to clean your floor very often, while still knowing that your floors are not harboring any environmental hazards like dust mites or animal dander, feels good to imagine that, doesn’t it? What makes hardwood floors even more comfortable to maintain is the fact that they are a whole lot more stain-resistant than carpets. If you accidentally spill something, all you need to do is wipe it up.

Better Air Quality

As mentioned above, unlike carpet, hardwood floors do not trap dust, pollen, particulate matter, pet dander, or other common allergens. This means that they are a must for allergy sufferers as they always tend to improve your indoor air quality.

Now, why are wooden floors better than tile or laminate in terms of air quality? Well, because even though tile and laminate do not have the fibers that carpet has, they still have grout lines and an embossing. These grout lines and embossing are an excellent place for dust and other allergens to settle.

Moreover, if you want to retain the value of your home, hardwood flooring is the only way to increase the value of your home, if you wish to sell it or not. This is because carpets are often replaced by new owners, or require replacement before selling the home.

Besides, what’s essential is that the cleanliness, combined with the renewable resources, and fewer chemicals required in manufacturing carpets, means that hardwood flooring can guarantee a happier, healthier home and environment for all of you for years to come.

Hardwood is a natural product

Carpets are made using synthetic fibers. Moreover, the chemicals used to manufacture carpets can be very toxic, and the amount of plastic used is extremely harmful to the environment. And producing them often includes chemical processes that leave harsh residues. Plus, these solvents, polymers & sealers can leach into your home for years after installation.

When other types of flooring begin to look tired and worn, your hardwood floors will still look beautiful. More importantly, since hardwood floors are a natural product, the chemical emissions are very low. Furthermore, since they last much longer than carpeting, the production energy, in the long run, is much lower as well. Plus, they become more valuable as time goes by. Also, remember that unlike carpeting (and even vinyl), hardwood floors can be refinished rather than replaced when the finish needs an update.

We are Austin’s Favorite Hardwood Flooring Specialists

We at Supreme Hardwood Floors, Inc. have been refinishing residential and commercial hardwood floors since 2014. We are experts in our field, and we’ve successfully refinished hardwood floors in apartments, condos, townhomes, single-family and multi-family homes, gyms, and commercial buildings throughout the greater Austin, TX area. Also, we are proud members of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) because we believe in continually educating our team in excellence. “Quality, Service, and Craftsmanship is our mission.”