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Why Removing Carpet is a Smart Move for Your Rental Home

A cozy living room with a couch, coffee table, and hard-surface floors
Swapping out the carpet in your Apex rental home every few years is important, yet most landlords dislike the task. Have you ever considered eliminating the carpet from your rental home altogether? A growing number of rental property owners are replacing wall-to-wall carpeting with hard-surface flooring. If this idea appears too extreme, think about why completely removing the carpet makes sense for both landlords and tenants.

Carpets may harbor dirt and odor

Keeping carpet clean in a rental home is one of the more challenging aspects. Even if you have the carpets professionally cleaned between tenants, they might not keep them up during their occupancy. If tenants reside for several years, those carpets could be collecting dirt and grime for a long time.

Carpet fibers are infamous for retaining bad smells, especially if not cleaned properly and often. Even if tenants clean the carpet, they probably prefer not to spend money on professionals or their own time on the task.

Conversely, hard-surface floors like laminate or tile are easy to clean. Such flooring can be scrubbed to shine in minutes and as often as tenants desire, preventing unpleasant stains or odors. Hard-surface flooring is much more sanitary for young children and those with respiratory or other health issues than carpet.

Avoid soaked carpets in case of a flood

Another reason to abandon carpets is the hassle of cleaning them after water leaks and floods. Even a minor plumbing problem can result in significant flooding in a rental, and wet carpets can become a serious issue.

Wet carpets must be pulled up, and the subflooring, pad, and carpeting should be thoroughly dried to prevent mold growth. If the carpet can’t be dried, it must be replaced. Failing to handle a flooding situation promptly and correctly can risk your residents’ health and lead to severe liability.

Most hard-surface flooring, other than natural hardwood, is much easier to manage in a flood situation. When properly installed, most laminate and vinyl types are highly water-resistant and can be dried efficiently. This means expensive restoration services or flooring replacement won’t be needed, just some focused clean-up.

Hardwood floors have a longer lifespan

It’s no surprise that carpets have to be replaced every five years. Some landlords attempt to extend that to seven years or more—typically to their detriment. Most tenants are not fond of living with old, worn, or stained carpets. If the carpet isn’t replaced on a regular basis, they may think about moving out.

Old carpets look unattractive and can be dangerous. As carpets get older, tacks can emerge from underneath and injure people walking on them. Cheap carpeting, particularly, doesn’t last more than a few years in rental properties.

Hard-surface flooring, on the other hand, is much more durable. Though tenants could damage hard-surface floors, most tile or laminate flooring will last at least ten to twenty years. Laminate flooring is similarly priced to carpet but needs less frequent replacement, making it a better choice for rentals.

Ditch the outdated look of carpets

Finally, wall-to-wall carpeting can give a rental property an outdated look. Newer homes often limit carpet to bedrooms or avoid it entirely.

To modernize your rental, think about installing attractive laminate or tile flooring in the main living areas instead of carpet. Unlike carpet, which tenants can’t change, hard-surface flooring allows tenants to add rugs or other décor items to personalize the space while keeping it clean and durable.

Modern laminate tile offers a variety of sizes, colors, and patterns, including wood-look tiles that can enhance your rental without the cost and hassle of natural hardwood.

Uncover the advantages of hard-surface flooring for rental properties. Contact Real Property Management Wake County at 919-747-3488 or online for cost-saving tips on creating attractive, durable interiors tenants will love. Our property managers in Apex specialize in cutting maintenance costs without sacrificing tenant appeal.

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