Flooring Options

[Irishgirlyc58]

I’m not sure this is the correct spot for this but I’m posting here anyway.
I’m going to have my carpet replaced in all rooms but the kitchen and bathrooms. Those areas currently have tile and I will probably replace at a later date.
Carpet everywhere else in an open floor plan so planning on whatever I replace with going throughout the house.
I was looking at luxury vinyl plank but would engineered hardwood be better?
I am pretty tough on things and have no intention of spending hours on end maintaining floors.
I have a pool and grandkids who spend the night often.
My house is a home to be lived in. I like it to look nice and clean but I don’t want to fuss over it.
No pets currently but plan to get a dog once the flooring and painting are done.
Anyone have thoughts on the type of flooring I should have installed?

 

[braumeister]

So many different options, and you'll have to think about it for a while.

But when we bought our condo six years ago the first thing we did was rip out all the wall-to-wall carpeting and replace it all with hardwood flooring. Best thing we ever did.

 

[pb4uski]

We have hardwood, tile and sheet vinyl at one home and vinyl plank and tile at the other.

I think a hard surface is the way to go... I recall seeing the silt that filters through a carpet and pad when we took up the carpet... gross.

I do like the our vinyl plank. The thing I like about vinyl plank vs hardwood is if you spill a cup of water on vinyl plank you don't really need to worry about it... ours is "waterproof" and can be used in bathrooms and kitchens. But with hardwood if you spill a cup of water it is best to mop it up as soon as you can.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I have laminate and it looks almost as good now as when it was installed in 2012. I love mine but be prepared for dust bunnies and pet hair everywhere that are something that I just never encountered when I had carpeting. I used to have 2 large hairy German Shepherds and 2 cats and I think the carpeting did a better job of trapping the hair and so easy to vacuum up.
I do vacuum my floors and occasionally damp mop but a swifter or dry mop is better for picking up pet hair and if you're flooring is dark colored you will see every tiny little hair which drove me crazy in the beginning. I attached a couple of photos, I haven't vacuumed in a week so if you enlarge you will see dust bunnies and pet hair and debris the dog has dragged in. It also needs damp mopped and then it will shine like new.
Having said all that I would never go back to carpeting and I'm considering a matching LVP for my bathrooms, the tile floor is staring to look old and tired.

 

[OldShooter]

... I was looking at luxury vinyl plank but would engineered hardwood be better? ... Anyone have thoughts on the type of flooring I should have installed?

I can't prescribe for you, but we are building a new house and the following pertains:

We really like the cork flooring in our current house, but during some dog-sitting, the dog decided to dig a hole and was successful --- right down to the underlayment. We've patched it but it's not beautiful. So we abandoned cork for the new house.

We have an old bear, been-ther-done-that, builder who only does high-end houses. He really likes the luxury vinyl and showed it to us several places when he was touring us around to some of his projects. We're not going to use it, though, simply because I don't like using plastic for anything.

He is death on the "engineered hardwood." It's just a fancy name for plywood where the top wood is thin to save money. He says it is quite vulnerable to water causing the plywood to delaminate, which is hard to repair. I did see one manufacturer that made their plywood with 1/4" of the hardwood, solid right down to the tongue but he was very negative on that, too, because there was still the water vulnerability.

So for our house, also an open floor plan, we are going with solid 3/4" hardwood/hickory. This includes the kitchen area.

The master bedroom end of the house will be carpeted like yours. There is a fairly large entry way separating the carpet from the hickory; we are doing this in multicolored natural slate. We like the texture of real slate; there is tile that is a pretty realistic reproduction but I don't see the point of faking what we can buy for real, and also having a smoother surface where slipping on a wet floor could be a risk.

 

[zinger1457]

I went with engineered hardwood, it does collect dust but probably no different than any hard surface, best to use one of those robotic vacuum cleaners. If you have wide open spaces the repeating patterns used in laminate/vinyl flooring will be noticeable. To me engineered hardwood looks better but probably isn't as durable as vinyl plank.

 

[JRon]

We did dark hardwood everywhere except the bedrooms and it shows dust about 2 hours after vacuuming so we would not do that again. I prefer laminate or luxury vinyl tile because it’s much easier to maintain and any hard surface will hide the dust better with a medium to lighter color.

 

[braumeister]

We did dark hardwood everywhere except the bedrooms and it shows dust about 2 hours after vacuuming so we would not do that again.

Excellent point. I should have mentioned that our hardwood is light colored so we don't have that problem.

 

[ScoopKona]

My path to early retirement was buying distressed houses, fixing them up, and then renting them to coworkers.

I have used three kinds of tile, carpet, LVP, stained concrete and hardwood.

For me, there are only two solutions: Rotoprinted porcelain tile and concrete

Real stone can etch if you spill acid on it -- vinegar, lemon juice, etc and similar. The travertine we laid down in our primary residence is beautiful, but not particularly functional in the kitchen.

Hardwood moves over time. Gaps happen. It can be fixed. But I prefer tile to hardwood.

LVP is just kinda cheap.

Rotoprinted porcelain looks like real stone (can't tell without a magnifying glass -- anyone looking that closely is welcome to leave). It doesn't etch. It's hard to damage. And if grouted with epoxy grout, it is maintenance free. Best of all, if you get a color that matches the dirt in your area (seriously, this is the way to go), the floor will still look nice even if you let cleaning go for awhile.

Stamped, stained concrete is even MORE user friendly. And if building new construction, you can have all the work done at the beginning and then never worry about it again. This is what we're doing for every house we build here at the farm.

 

[Philliefan33]

The new house we are building comes standard with engineered hardwood in most of the common areas, but we are going to ask for wood-look laminate instead. The open floor plan necessitates the kitchen floor to be the same as the great room, and I don’t want hardwood in my kitchen. I’m too messy when I bake.

The vinyl plank we have in the laundry room of our current house has all the water resistance of vinyl, but looks plastic-y. We have wood-look laminate in our vacation home and find it to be a nice blend of water resistance / looks.

 

[Bamaman]

There are so many great floor options today that making a decision is very difficult.

It all comes down to what kind of floors are used in your retail market. And the type of house you live in. For example, in Florida homes are often floored with porcelain tile.

My daughter has a 3000 square foot nice home in Memphis built on a slab. She tried to sell it twice over the years, and people looking in that price range didn't like the feel, look and sound of a laminate floor. After a flood, she replaced the floor with a LVT, and it's not much better.

Our home is built with a crawlspace, and we have 3/4 inch oak hardwood floored with carpeting in the bedrooms. Our entranceway, living room and dining room have handmade Turkish rugs. The house just feels so much better with hardwood and rugs. If I was replacing floors today, I'd go to LL Floors (Lumber Liquidators) and put down 3/4 inch Rosewood--the most beautiful floors I've ever seen.

 

[savory]

As a guy who use to sell products to take care of floors, here are my thoughts. Hardwood and engineered hardwood, depending on the manufacturer of the engineered product, start off much the same. The key difference is the number of times it can be sanded and repaired. Harwood will typically have a 2+ times longer life. Shuffling, shoes, especially sandy ones that act like sandpaper, contact with moisture and sharp objects cause scratching of the surface and ultimately wear of the top protective layer. When the wood becomes exposed (top finish coat worn through) is when the real damage to the wood will occur.

Refinishing a hardwood floor is not inexpensive and it is messy. You should learn the cost of that as part of your potential total exposure of your purchase. Contractors do a better job with the vacuums attached to the sander but it is still messy. So no matter if you need to refinish a hardwood floor or an engineered floor, mess will be the same. Remember the engineered floor might have only one refinishing which maybe fine depending on your traffic.

The vinyl floors in terms of appearance have come a long way. Little to no worry about water damage from top exposure. Your concern is mostly with poor installation and the water gets underneath. As for wear, i think they do a good job. The looks have also improved but that is obviously a personal choice. I think wood looks warmer but I am not sure if I could tell the difference in a blind label test. You may want to compare the cost of replacing a vinyl floor vs refinishing a hardwood floor putting aside the mess for this analysis. And recognizing there are two basic levels of refinishing. A light top sanding and applying a new wear coat or two. Or, actually sanding the wood, typically when the wood is exposed and damaged and than adding the wear coats.

Our daughter elected to use vinyl in the lower level and engineered wood in the living room/bedrooms. Shoes are typically not worn in the house and no kids. The bathroom and kitchen are vinyl. I would personally never use wood in the kitchen given the shuffling foot motion of washing dishes, cooking and the opportunity for spills. The same goes for the bathroom, mainly do to all the water.

Another poster mentioned other surfaces such as concrete. Some installers are doing an interesting job with that. And, big box stores have moved to concrete from vinyl tile. They changed because the concrete keeps its basic OK looks with no floor polish. Eliminating the floor finish activity is a major cost savings for them. In your home, decorative concrete could last a long time and there are contactors that can do a nice and fun design with the color finishes.

Hope this helps.

 

[Philliefan33]

Another factor is how hard the floor feels. We just spent a month in FL, at a condo complex with tile floors. Many of the residents are suffering from plantar fasciitis, likely from going barefoot on the hard surface.

 

[RunningBum]

With a pool and grand kids, I think luxury vinyl planks are the way to go, to hold up best to water.
https://floorcritics.com/vinyl-plank-vs-engineered-hardwood-flooring/ has an extensive comparison.

I have a somewhat similar choice coming up. My main floor is all hardwood, except for a tile mud room and carpeted guest room. Upstairs is all time except the baths. The carpet is very much ready to replace. While I like the feel of carpet in the morning, my cats seem to make sure they barf on carpet. Trying to decide if I can go cheaper with LVP or engineered hardwood, or if I should match the hardwood throughout.

 

[MC Rider]

We like the original oak flooring in part of our 1956 house. Had the living room and hall refinished a few years ago. Did the non wood floors in porcelain tile. I don't know if you can even buy wood flooring like that now.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

There are so many great floor options today that making a decision is very difficult.

Boy howdy!
The choices are overwhelming!
I appreciate all of the comments and have read each one.
I have decided on the LVP. Listening to all of the pros and cons of each type has really helped me decide. For my lifestyle and location I think the LVP will be the best fit.
I have a sample and it does not look like plastic at all. I did have other samples that looked like cheap office flooring. I wonder if that is the type that looks more like plastic?
I guess time will tell! I plan to schedule the floor measurements to get an estimate. I’m prepared for sticker shock.
Now to pick out paint color.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

We like the original oak flooring in part of our 1956 house. Had the living room and hall refinished a few years ago. Did the non wood floors in porcelain tile. I don't know if you can even buy wood flooring like that now.

My mom has this in her house built in 1955-56. Original flooring. House with a pool, with 5 kids, 3 grandkids, 3 gg kids later it still looks like new.
I don’t think you can get that these days. Not in my budget numbers you can’t anyway.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

With a pool and grand kids, I think luxury vinyl planks are the way to go, to hold up best to water.
https://floorcritics.com/vinyl-plank-vs-engineered-hardwood-flooring/ has an extensive comparison.

I have a somewhat similar choice coming up. My main floor is all hardwood, except for a tile mud room and carpeted guest room. Upstairs is all time except the baths. The carpet is very much ready to replace. While I like the feel of carpet in the morning, my cats seem to make sure they barf on carpet. Trying to decide if I can go cheaper with LVP or engineered hardwood, or if I should match the hardwood throughout.

Thanks!
I was always a fan of carpet. I like the feel and look. But I’ve decided that carpet just never really gets clean after the first few years and I don’t have a dog now but I intend to adopt one once I get the house redone.
I’m going with LVP and then I’ll look for area rugs. Those should be easier to clean and change out over time. I could be wrong though.

 

[MC Rider]

My mom has this in her house built in 1955-56. Original flooring. House with a pool, with 5 kids, 3 grandkids, 3 gg kids later it still looks like new.
I don’t think you can get that these days. Not in my budget numbers you can’t anyway.

Yet it seems to have been standard issue back then.
There are probably a million different versions of LVP out there.
Some are better quality than others. Picking a quality one and a good installer seems like a good idea.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

Some are better quality than others. Picking a quality one and a good installer seems like a good idea.

I think this is true for just about every home project!
Luckily the place I’m going through is locally owned and I’ve known the man’s wife for over 50 years.
There are a few pluses to growing up and living in a smaller town.

 

[MC Rider]

I think this is true for just about every home project!
Luckily the place I’m going through is locally owned and I’ve known the man’s wife for over 50 years.
There are a few pluses to growing up and living in a smaller town.

No doubt. And suddenly my thought sounds rather generic. lol.

Oh well, good luck with project.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

No doubt. And suddenly my thought sounds rather generic. lol.

Oh well, good luck with project.

I didn’t mean that at all!
I think you gave very thoughtful advice and I appreciate it.

 

[MC Rider]

I didn’t mean that at all!
I think you gave very thoughtful advice and I appreciate it.

No offense intended, or taken. Just having a laugh.

You could actually apply the good quality and workmanship idea to a lot more than a house.
Too bad this forum won't let me like your comment.

 

[CRLLS]

WRGT engineered hardwood (oak). We did that in our kitchen ~15 years ago. It has held up abysmally in the kitchen. It does not take dropped utensils as well as a traditional oak as the inner layers are softer woods. I did cork in a lower bath over in-floor-heated concrete. It is the warmest flooring short of carpeting. But in a kitchen... I think not. I recently installed LFT in front of a sliding door. I like the product. It might be the winner for a kitchen. But I do not have enough time with it to recommend it.

 

[pb4uski]

...The vinyl floors in terms of appearance have come a long way. Little to no worry about water damage from top exposure. Your concern is mostly with poor installation and the water gets underneath. As for wear, i think they do a good job. The looks have also improved but that is obviously a personal choice....

When we were rebuilding, we sort of ran out of steam/patience and ended up having the walkout basement done in sheet vinyl... a faux tile in the family room, hallway and lanudry/utility room and a faux maple wood floor in the two bedrooms. Part of the reason that we decided to go with sheet vinyl is that level is a radiant slab.

While the floors in the walkout were being done my the flooring subcontractor, the builder was off for a few days on another project. He told me that when he returned to the project and went into the bedrooms he was initially surprised that we went with wood floors in those bedrooms until he rubbed his hand over the floor and realized that it was vinyl!

11 years later we are still very pleased with our choice.