Does Hardwood Flooring Increase Property Values?

Written by Dustin Miller Posted On Wednesday, 27 March 2024 00:00

Hardwood flooring is valued for its beauty and charm as well as its overall durability. Wood floors are also hygienic and easy to clean, making them an excellent choice for those bothered by dust and other irritants that tend to get trapped in carpet fibers.

While there is an endless list of reasons to choose hardwood floors, some homeowners might wonder if timber flooring increases their home’s overall value. While only a real estate agent can tell you if any changes to your home will increase its value and by how much, note some considerations to keep in mind when it comes to installing hardwood floors in a home that you might put on the market in a few years.

Hardwood Floors Sell Homes With a Neutral Look

Many real estate agents advise their clients to keep their home’s decor as neutral as possible when putting that house on the market. Prospective home buyers often have a difficult time imagining their own color choices and personal belongings in a home with an eclectic or unusual look, so a simple but warm decor often appeals to more homebuyers.

Hardwood floors sell homes with a neutral look that appeals to a wide range of buyers. For example, a prospective buyer who prefers a modern style and appearance in the home might not appreciate traditional berber carpeting, but will appreciate the simplicity of wood flooring! Wood floors also appeal to prospective homebuyers who appreciate traditional decor, a rustic look, or a more transitional style, so that solid or engineered hardwood can attract more offers for your house overall.

Hardwood Flooring, Durable for Years!

People in the market for a new home don’t like to think of moving into a house and having to immediately make extensive or even minor repairs or updates. No matter their other features and even a home’s price, buyers tend to overlook houses with sagging wood window sills, a dilapidated roof, outdated plumbing and electrical features, and other materials in poor repair, in favor of homes in good condition.

This is true for a home’s interior floors; old and worn carpeting inside your house can cause a prospective buyer to move on to another property rather quickly. However, hardwood flooring is durable for years! Even if it’s a few years old, wood flooring is likely to be in good condition when you’re ready to put your home on the market, ensuring that you don’t lose any prospective buyers simply because of the condition or appearance of your home’s floors.

The Most Durable Wood Floors Withstand Wear and Tear

The most durable wood floors will appeal to a wide range of buyers who are looking for a “turn key” home, meaning one in good condition, as said. However, many prospective homebuyers want a flooring material that will remain in good condition long after they’ve moved in as well!

Even if a house has relatively new carpeting inside, homebuyers know that carpet fibers become matted down, threadbare, or otherwise worn and damaged rather easily, especially in homes with children and large pets. They also know that solid or engineered hardwood flooring more readily withstands all that heavy foot traffic, the wear and tear of children’s toys, and other potential damage, making a home with engineered or solid hardwood floors more valuable to many homebuyers.

The Ease of Cleaning Hardwood Floors

While carpet fibers are softer underfoot than wood floor tiles, those fibers are also notorious for trapping dirt, dust, mud, pet hair and dander, human hair and shed skin cells, insect droppings, cigarette ash, pollen, and a list of other irritants! Regular vacuuming and consistent shampooing or steam cleaning by a professional is cumbersome and expensive but typically the only way to keep a home’s carpets clean and hygienic.

Prospective homebuyers know that the density of solid hardwood floors makes them much more hygienic overall and easier to keep clean on a daily basis. Solid wood floors won’t trap dirt and dust and typically need nothing more than a light dust mopping to stay clean. For prospective buyers who demand a clean flooring surface and don’t appreciate lugging a heavy vacuum around every day, hardwood flooring makes your home much more valuable in their eyes!

Can You Paint Solid or Engineered Hardwood?

Another great selling point when it comes to hardwood floors is that you can paint or stain solid or engineered hardwood. The wood floor experts at Kansas City Flooring Pros note that a professional flooring contractor should first sand the floors properly before recoating, to create a surface that will hold paint or stain properly without removing so much timber that you damage the floor slats or create grooves and swirl patterns along the floor.

However, if left in the hands of a professional, painting solid or engineered hardwood floors allows you to change their appearance as often as you want, going from a light whitewash to a dark walnut stain and everything in between! While you can dye carpeting, this process is not as versatile as painting or staining hardwood when it comes to giving your home’s interior a fresh new look. Prospective homebuyers might appreciate the option of changing the appearance of a home’s floor somewhat easily over time, making your home more appealing to them.

Hardwood is a Floor Option for All Seasons!

If your home is located in an area with extremes in weather, hardwood floor tiles are an excellent option and one that many prospective homebuyers might appreciate. In colder climates, a dark paint or stain color will keep the home’s interior warm. In tropical climates or areas with long, hot summers, a gray or whitewash floor color keeps a home cool and comfortable.

Prospective homebuyers might also appreciate that they can place a thick area rug over wood floors during cold weather and then remove that rug during summertime, to keep the home’s floors comfortable no matter the weather. Changing the appearance of a home’s floor this way is also an option if a homeowner tends to change a room’s decor throughout the year, as they can also change the area rugs and their new home’s flooring will always coordinate perfectly with the overall appearance of its surroundings.


 Dustin Miller is the owner of Kansas City Flooring Pros and has been flipping properties and renovating homes for over 10 years. His team of experts know exactly how to increase home values and what the best renovation projects are to increase your home value when you are getting close to selling.

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