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wood.

wood.
and if they are really worried, slippers.

I vote for wood also.

This one's easy (in my opinion) - wood. It will also allow for the versatility of area rugs. And engineered hardwood is fine -it can still be sanded and refinished (at least once or twice in its lifetime).
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wood. wood. wood.

laminate floors these days are great, they have come a long way. plus, as far as resale goes, families with children love laminate, it withstands minor water damage better and doesn't scratch easily. In fact, I recently put laminate floors in my whole house (minus bathrooms and kitchen). I could afford wood (maybe not the best wood, but some decent wood), but went with nice pricey laminate because we have kids and we decided it would be more practical.

Really, the only down side - you can't refinish it. And if it does get ruined badly somewhere - not much can be done to save it. Have to replace.

High end laminates also are great these days, none of that plastic feeling and they don't echo with every step.

In most cases - carpeting is very outdated and is a negative these days for buyers. People are looking for hard wood or wood-looking stuff.

Ad far as cold goes - a nice area rug will solve that problem. And think about all of the dust they will get rid off by ditching the carpet.

Good luck! :)

I feel passionately about hardwood floors but if your parents are anything like my parents I would suggest carpet in a light brown/taupe color a shade or two lighter than the area rug they have now. My guess is that after redoing their floor your parents don't want to buy a new area rug and the rug they have now is way too small.

Doublecheck your prices. I found that decent engineered hardwood (which is essentially pretty plywood) was pretty much the same cost per square foot as basic red oak solid hardwood.

Avoid the cheapo laminates that don't have a real wood top layer. They decrease the value of your home.

If you can't afford real wood, don't fake it - go with carpet.

Terra cotta tiles. If you can't have real hardwood, this is my next favorite thing.

...and I've never felt that wood floors are cold to the touch, personally.

One other point re: color - dark stained wood is gorgeous. But it shows every speck of dust.

engineered..............i've lived in my house since 1977, and FINALLY have wood floors. carpet gets dirty, period. engineered can be refinished.........my favorite choice was a liz claiborne(honestly, beautiful flooring) but i couldn't afford it. i went with a maple floor, which reflects the light beautifully. make certain that the installer knows what they are doing.......my husband actually hand-picked the boards for each room, and they accepted his monitoring. also, if your moulding is removed, choose a new moulding shape that will let you cover the gap, without using that ugly quarter-round.

i even vacuum(sucks up invisible sand) my engineered wood floors, and use a swiffer for hard to reach spots.

i love the way it feels under my bare feet, and a larger area rug(on top of wood) would pull that room together.

Wood.

Love wood. Hate laminate - it's not wood - it's polyvinyl over compress board- whole different dynamic. I own both. With that said:

Mahogany

Engineered wood or wood. My parents are getting ready to do some remodeling in their house and this was one of the issues they had. During the debate of carpet vs. wood, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. My mom and he have done a lot of research on the disease and discovered that a wood floor is better for PD patients as it is easier to traverse and helps maintain or regain balance easier than carpet.

My parents are 60 and 61 respectively and this is their last hurrah in terms of fixing up the house which is why my mom and I are making changes that will suit she and my father as they age (levers instead of knobs on all doors, hardwood instead of carpet, couches and chairs that sit higher, etc). In doing so, they can enjoy their home and accoutrements that will serve them well as they age.

wood

Wood.

But here's an off-the-wall question: would they consider cork? Cork is warm underfoot and really soft and lovely to stand on, but is as durable as wood. With a few scatter rugs they'd probably be pretty happy with it and it's also pretty.

If they cannot afford wood flooring then they should go with carpet. Laminate floors cannot be refinished or sanded in anyway - they are not wood but a thin layer of paper and melamine over composite wood. Heavy scratches and/or dents means the entire board will need to be replaced. This can be a problem if a specific colors is no longer available and then it becomes hard or near impossible to match.

They seem to want carpet. Carpet only gets dirty if you allows shoes or food/drinks in.
Wood would look wonderful and there's always area rugs.
I don't know much about the comparative effects on home value, but if I were shopping for a home and found it to have engineered floors, I'd be disappointed. Even if it's carpet, I can ditch and replace that myself, but I'd feel badly about pulling up perfectly good engineered floors just because I don't like them.

Carpet...

Well since it isn't really wood and it is laminate, I say carpet. If they decide to get real wood in the future, the carpet will be much easier to tear out, rather than taking up all that laminate again. I don't care for anything faux, not even faux wood. That is just my opinion. I would wait until I could save up for the real wood flooring, worth the wait imo.

My parents have real wood in part of their home and the laminate in another part and the difference is drastic. In winter, the laminate doesn't warm up like the wood does, I guess because wood holds the heat or something, I'm not sure, so the laminate is colder to walk on. Also when you wear shoes in the house, the laminate is much noisier to walk on than the hardwood part.

I guess I vote carpet just in this situation, but I really don't like carpet at all. I love hardwood the most, that is why I say hold out until they are able to buy the real thing. The real hardwood will also boost the value of their home.

What about cork? It is much warmer feeling on your feet than wood.

wood

Love the cork suggestion, failing that, wood. Carpets are nothing more than dust catchers and who knows what else.

Dark wood with a large (9X12 or larger), light colored area rug. You could also use Flor carpet tiles to customize the size of the area rug.

wood
walnut

Wood....people add wood for warmth. Add an area rug for a splash of color among all that brown...or lay/buy wood laminate in a pattern...like herringbone or parquet are classic and timeless

WOOD!! Easier to clean and much more beautiful!

Nice wool low pile carpet. A toasty light brown might be nice.
I also like the cork idea.
I think laminate flooring is really unattractive. It doesn't feel, look or sound anything like real wood to me.

I completely agree with designpirate. I would wait until they can afford solid wood. (Make sure the product is "solid" because manufacturers can label laminates as hardwood even though it is mainly plywood)

If they are afraid of comfort with the wood they could also bind a large piece of carpeting. It would be less expensive than purchasing an area rug and easy to take to a cleaner.