Changing the carpet in your Edmond rental home regularly is necessary, but most property owners don’t enjoy it. Have you ever considered eliminating the carpet from your rental home altogether? Increasingly, rental property owners are opting for hard-surface flooring over wall-to-wall carpeting. If this concept feels too radical, think about the reasons why fully removing the carpet is beneficial for landlords and tenants.
Carpets may harbor dirt and odor
One of the more challenging parts of having carpet in a rental property is keeping it clean. Although you may clean the carpets professionally between tenants, they might not take care of them during their tenancy. 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 the tenant cleans the carpet, they probably prefer to avoid the cost of hiring help or spending their own time.
In contrast, hard-surface flooring such as laminate or tile is simple 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 eliminate carpets is the difficulty of cleaning them after water leaks and floods. A small plumbing issue can result in major flooding in a rental house, and once carpets are wet, they can cause severe problems.
Soaked carpets must be removed, and the subflooring, pad, and carpet must be dried immediately and thoroughly to avoid mold growth. If the carpet can’t be dried, it needs to be replaced. If a flooding situation is not handled promptly and correctly, you could endanger your residents’ health and face severe liability.
Most hard-surface flooring, except for natural hardwood, is much easier to manage in a flooding situation. With proper installation, most laminate and vinyl flooring types are highly water-resistant and can be dried efficiently. This means there will be no need for costly restoration services or replacing flooring, just a focused clean-up.
Hardwood floors have a longer lifespan
Everyone knows that carpets should be replaced every five years. Some landlords try to extend this to seven years or even longer—usually to their own detriment. Most tenants aren’t keen on living with old, worn, or stained carpets. If carpets are not replaced regularly, tenants might think about moving out.
Old carpeting appears unattractive and is frequently hazardous. As carpet ages, tacks can come up from underneath and hurt people walking on them. Cheap carpet, specifically, doesn’t hold up for more than a few years in rental properties.
Hard-surface flooring, in contrast, has a much longer lifespan. Though tenants could damage hard-surface floors, most tile or laminate flooring will last at least ten to twenty years. Laminate flooring costs roughly the same as carpet but doesn’t need to be replaced as often, making it a better choice for rentals.
Ditch the outdated look of carpets
Finally, wall-to-wall carpet can sometimes make a rental property look dated. Newer homes typically minimize carpet, using it only in bedrooms or not at all.
To update your rental’s appearance, consider installing attractive laminate or tile flooring instead of carpet in the main areas. 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.
Explore the benefits of using hard-surface flooring in rental properties. Reach out to Real Property Management Elevate at 405-876-7611 or online for cost-saving tips on creating attractive, durable interiors that tenants will love. Our property managers in Edmond specialize in cutting maintenance costs without sacrificing tenant appeal.
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