Help me make the right flooring decision

[TanTJJim]

I'm going to start replacing the flooring in my kitchen and living room this weekend and have quickly realized the options are pretty overwhelming.

I think I've settled on either vinyl planking or good 'ole laminate flooring but want to make sure I avoid buying complete garbage so is there are any suggestions or specific things I should look for/avoid I'd appreciate it.

So far Pergo laminate looks like a good option in 12mm thickness or better and good water resistance due to kitchen use. I'll be using the same flooring in both kitchen and living room if possible.


Am I on the right track here or is there a better laminate option I may want to consider? Would vinyl planking be the better choice due to kitchen use or is laminate good enough?

Or am I just a complete idiot without enough bleach in my diet.

 

[Provience]

You almost get what you pay for, higher price typically nets higher quality images and thicker wear layers.

Just put in tile and be done for kitchens, utility and bathrooms, entry, living and sleeping rooms as well

 

[rockota]

If it was a. Option when we built, LVP would be all we’d have

 

[Ummduh]

I've put in lvp that was under $1/ft and it's held up fine. Buddy's house has 2800ft of the cheapest shit he could find, and it's been absolutely fine, he has 2 huge dogs too.

But really, I have a difficult time suggesting laminate over lvp anymore.

 

[TanTJJim]

If it was a. Option when we built, LVP would be all we’d have

I've put in lvp that was under $1/ft and it's held up fine. Buddy's house has 2800ft of the cheapest shit he could find, and it's been absolutely fine, he has 2 huge dogs too.

But really, I have a difficult time suggesting laminate over lvp anymore.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll take a closer look at what LVP options there are at home Depot. The first ones I was looking at (cheaper of course) seemed to have some longevity issues but I'll see if they have some better quality options that may fit the bill.

Unfortunately tile is not an option, although I'd love to I don't have the skill to do it and don't have the funds to pay someone who would do it well. I'm in the $3-4/SQ ft budget right now.

 

[Kyle]

Go tile. Or 100% real solid hardwood.

We have the waterproof laminate in our living room and hallway and it’s awful.

We DIY’ed our tile and it’s 95% as professional. Was super easy IMO.

 

[Here4memes]

I've tried LVP twice now with no luck. Even upgraded to professional glue the second go round and it still turned into a room full of one big trip hazard.

Never went wrong with tile or hardwood. But both have their own purposes. And both can be DIY even if you've never done either. Youtube University for the win.

But! Tile kills knees and hardwood kills backs if doing much of it.

 

[87manche]

have pergo in the kitchen.

if you drop a can on it it will dent it.
It also bubbled up in the mud room where it got consistently wet.
Would prefer LVP over laminate if I were doing all new.

 

[Unka-Boo]

I've tried LVP twice now with no luck. Even upgraded to professional glue the second go round and it still turned into a room full of one big trip hazard.

Never went wrong with tile or hardwood. But both have their own purposes. And both can be DIY even if you've never done either. Youtube University for the win.

But! Tile kills knees and hardwood kills backs if doing much of it.

This....wife watched a bunch of vids and sent it. I put down the concrete board, she did the rest...
Only real expense was a $100 tile saw from HF.

 

[Unka-Boo]

LOL...only pic I could find on phone

 

[SomeGuy]

We have hardwood kitchen, great room, and dining...I hate tile kitchens, cold/hard on the feet - wood is just so much more forgiving and warm.

That said, planning to do LVP in the basement given apparent durability so long as you install it right on a good flat floor. Just finished pouring all the self leveling down there last weekend, made a big difference on flatness.

 

[Weasel]

We have hardwood kitchen, great room, and dining...I hate tile kitchens, cold/hard on the feet - wood is just so much more forgiving and warm.

That said, planning to do LVP in the basement given apparent durability so long as you install it right on a good flat floor. Just finished pouring all the self leveling down there last weekend, made a big difference on flatness.

I'm planning on the same, have to grind a section to get it flatter. I think I've gonna use a cork underlay then the flooring.

 

[kmkommes]

In our last house I installed tile in the bathrooms. We tore it out after 12 years. I dont know that I would do tile again unless you choose a forever syle. It was a major bitch to remove. When we remodeled we went with a more expensive coretec LVP flooring in most of the house and in those bathrooms. We were only there for 6-8 months before we moved. It was really nice, stayed super clean, and was ZERO maintenance. I think we only washed it once and that was when we sold the house. Pics are here.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/1383-Harvest-Moon-Dr-Neenah,-WI-54956_rb/110773801_zpid/?

Our current house I replaced ALL the flooring on the 1st floor. We went with garage flooring from newageproducts.com for our halls and bathroom. It is basically a super thick LVP that looks like tile. We like it a lot. In the rest of the house we went with solid hardwood. Solid hardwood was an experiment. It is nice now. I'll let you know in 20 years if it gets torn out or replaced.

Hardwood Flooring Project

1st time laying hardwood flooring. Using 2" 16 gauge cleets. Other option was staples. I tried to research which was better and then just flipped a coin. Underlayment is Floormuffler bought at home depot. Home - floorMuffler – It’s What’s Underneath That Counts® Flooring is Solid 3/4"...

irate4x4.com

 

[ESC]

I put down tile in kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room. Everything else got Shaw laminate.

Learned tile from YouTube and it came out perfect. Just take your time.

 

[GonPostal]

Our new house is entirely LVP, of a higher quality. Good thick planks with preinstalled backing/vapor barrier, water proof mating edges, resistant to nail scratches from dogs running across them. This is pretty much "forget about it" flooring, that is easy to maintain.

Previous house had red oak T&G flooring strips. Was nice, but after 10 years it need refinishing in some traffic areas; but I wound up refinishing everything so it would look right. It was a pain to re-sand and refinish. LVP for the win!

 

[TanTJJim]

In our last house I installed tile in the bathrooms. We tore it out after 12 years. I dont know that I would do tile again unless you choose a forever syle. It was a major bitch to remove. When we remodeled we went with a more expensive coretec LVP flooring in most of the house and in those bathrooms. We were only there for 6-8 months before we moved. It was really nice, stayed super clean, and was ZERO maintenance. I think we only washed it once and that was when we sold the house. Pics are here.

ll let you know in 20 years if it gets torn out or replaced.

Your flooring looks great, thanks for the pics and advice! I don't think I can wait the 20 years for feedback before I pull the trigger on replacing mine though.

 

[TanTJJim]

Our new house is entirely LVP, of a higher quality. Good thick planks with preinstalled backing/vapor barrier, water proof mating edges, resistant to nail scratches from dogs running across them. This is pretty much "forget about it" flooring, that is easy to maintain.

Previous house had red oak T&G flooring strips. Was nice, but after 10 years it need refinishing in some traffic areas; but I wound up refinishing everything so it would look right. It was a pain to re-sand and refinish. LVP for the win!

I do like the look of T&G wood flooring but like you mentioned, it's not maintenance free over it's lifetime.

To everyone with the tile advice I appreciate it and I agree it's "the best" option but not "my best" option right now. Maybe in the future I'll redo the kitchen with tile but today isn't that day.

I'm looking at other LVP options at home Depot now, will see if there's a good option.

 

[Projectjunkie]

Concrete slab or wood subfloor?

If it's wood, and you're on a budget, lvp is a no brainer

If you're going to be there a while and it's concrete slab, learn how to do tile

 

[TanTJJim]

Concrete slab or wood subfloor?

If it's wood, and you're on a budget, lvp is a no brainer

If you're going to be there a while and it's concrete slab, learn how to do tile

I'm in a similar boat as you, single wide mobile home and I'm replacing all the subfloor at the same time so I'll be putting the flooring over OSB.

 

[KenV]

When I chose flooring for the traffic areas on our rental I did a ton of reading on real estate web forums since I figured I could get good intel on what works for people wanting to not spend their last $ on flooring, but still have a durable/attractive floor. I read several posts from landlords using LVP on rentals and then their own homes after seeing how well it worked/held up. I figured it was worth a shot.

The LVP we used (mid grade from Lowe's, house brand I think) is a few years old and looks like it was just laid down. No issues yet, and the tenants really dig it. We'll use it on the bottom floor of the new place, as it's the only area that needs flooring. (I like that we can rip it out easily if need be. Not sure why offhand, but it seems relevant.)

The installer said it was easy to work with. If that installer turns out to be you, so much the better

 

[Projectjunkie]

I'm in a similar boat as you, single wide mobile home and I'm replacing all the subfloor at the same time so I'll be putting the flooring over OSB.

Then lvp is the only way to go, I'd go plywood instead of osb if you can

Always buy extra and stash it for repairs...

My new place has 70yo oak flooring, so that'll be a learning curve...

 

[Ummduh]

Then lvp is the only way to go, I'd go plywood instead of osb if you can

Always buy extra and stash it for repairs...

My new place has 70yo oak flooring, so that'll be a learning curve...

Yep, ALWAYS stash a good amount of spare with anything manufactured... You'll almost definitely never be able to get the same stuff again.

As far as lvp, I'm referring to the click together stuff, not the glue down strip stuff like commercial flooring. I've put in 6 now and they've all been floating and easy as fuck. Only issue I've run into is that some of the stuff really, really hates to go together backwards like when you're in a door jamb or backlaying a hallway. It'll really put up a fight.

 

[Chevy_man]

Cheapest possible.

My buddy spent $10/sq in one house, and it was hammered in a few years. Next house he did $2/sq. Got 2 extra dogs, and 3 extra kids, and it looked like new 5 years later.

 

[Projectjunkie]

Yep, ALWAYS stash a good amount of spare with anything manufactured... You'll almost definitely never be able to get the same stuff again.

As far as lvp, I'm referring to the click together stuff, not the glue down strip stuff like commercial flooring. I've put in 6 now and they've all been floating and easy as fuck. Only issue I've run into is that some of the stuff really, really hates to go together backwards like when you're in a door jamb or backlaying a hallway. It'll really put up a fight.

Yeah, click together for sure, the couple I've done looked good 2 or 3 years later when sold

And I feel you on those shitty corners that take an hour

 

[TanTJJim]

Then lvp is the only way to go, I'd go plywood instead of osb if you can

Always buy extra and stash it for repairs...

My new place has 70yo oak flooring, so that'll be a learning curve...

I'm pretty set on T&G OSB as I won't have to do blocking under the joints. Is there a specific reason to consider plywood over the OSB that I might be missing?

I've definitely been following along on your build, I may start a thread on my wonderful mobile home as I progress.


Thanks again everyone for the advice, this is my current best option based on price and reviews, I got a box and will see how easy it goes together and will go from there.

Lifeproof Bradbury Hill Wood 22 MIL x 7.1 in. W x 48 in. L Click Lock Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring (18.7 sqft/case) I114813L6 - The Home Depot

It's time to make a change; start by adding 100% waterproof LifeProof Rigid Core luxury vinyl flooring to your home or business. Flooring is the foundation to any building and that's why we've formulated

www.homedepot.com

 

[TanTJJim]

For anyone curious this is the genesis for this whole project, under the Ram board is 2-3 spots that I'd fall through if I stepped too hard and the kitchen wall is sagging a bit next to the kitchen window. I'm sure I'll find more damage to fix once I get that cabinets out but when I looked underneath the house at least the floor joists look solid.

 

[SomeGuy]

I'm planning on the same, have to grind a section to get it flatter. I think I've gonna use a cork underlay then the flooring.

I did a bunch of grinding first to knock down a few really high spots with a 7" grinder with diamond wheel with dust shroud...worked fine but isn't pleasant, even with a good vac and respirator you still get dust in the air. Then did self leveling.to bring up the low spots and give me a consistent surface.

Didn't think of doing an underlay on it, the LVP I'm looking at has a foam backing or something, but might be worth a peak to see if it's compatible to further separate things.

 

[GonPostal]

......................

I'm looking at other LVP options at home Depot now, will see if there's a good option.

I recently had Home Depot LVP installed in an unfinished portion of my house. I went with the LifeProof brand, 30 mil thick planking; because of wear warranty, water proof-ness, and the decent quality.

Examine the various LVP's planking samples at Home Depot and you can quickly spot out the better ones.

 

[Pocahontas]

Life proof from hd is good stuff a little expensive but nice, have put in a few 1000 sq feet and never had a problem. Not sure if by you but the local hd was clearing out “last years” lifeproof for 1.75 a sq ft,

I like hardwood better because it feels warmer and is more aesthetically appealing but it is damaged easily and expensive.

Anywhere were the flooring is going to get wet repeatedly lvp/lvt is a no brainer.

 

[east_beast]

High quality LVP is good shit. We have real hardwood in our house and two big dogs and I wish I had LVP. My parents have had good LVP in their house for over a decade and it still looks brand new. Every square inch of my hardwood has light scratches. I can only notice them at the right angle when I'm looking for them but I know they're there and it pisses me off.