At the price I just paid, I don't feel it is an entry level home, but it is one of the more affordable ones in this neighborhood. A lot of the houses around me are many times the price of what I paid (not that I got a super great deal, just they are McMansions). I am in the military so will likely only be in this house for about 3-4 years. I want to keep this house since it is in a great location within a reasonable commute to DC and will likely want to rent it out to a middle class (military or professional) family. I will probably end up moving back into this house after retirement and living there for many more years. I was trying to avoid carpet because I think there is a lot of maintence and if there is a bad stain that won't come out, it looks bad or will be costly to replace. We have a cat and may get a dog in the future and know accidents can happen and I know that urine/puke can get absorbed into the carpet padding. I also know that renters/families can be rough with carpet so I wanted something extremely durable. I have also had tile before and didn't enjoy the hard coldness of it. I didn't want to do wood or wood look because parts of the wall had the knotty pine paneling so that would be too much wood. So, that is why I was thinking of the sheet vinyl. I am on a tight timeline, trying to get the flooring redone before we move in (2 weeks) and live out of state so DIY is not an option this time. Was thinking about Congoleum's Airstep Advantage in Pecan Pie: http://www.congoleum.com/product_detail.php?id=88003 I am not sure if you are implying that if there is sheet vinyl throughout the lower level, it will be seen as "cheap" or a turn off to many people. This post was edited by brownnugen on Mon, May 27, 13 at 10:24

I just did a kitchen floor in a rental property. I used a 1/4" underlayment called Sureply. It is $20.00 for a 4 X 8 sheet, at Lowes. Each sheet weighs 20lbs. I used 1-1/4" Ring Shank nails. The instructions recommended using staples, but I am not experienced in using our air compressor & stapler. You butt the edges together, no need to fill in. A 1/8" to 1/4" space is needed at the wall edges, of course. I cut the sheets with a jig saw. A circular saw would work too. I used an Armstrong vinyl that was loose laid, with tape under fridg & stove areas and doorways only. The floor is about 10-1/2' X 10-1/2' and I used 3 sheets of Sureply. I cut the pieces, nailed ( 360 nails per sheet ) and layed the vinyl. I did it in one day, and it took all day (10 hrs). I guess I should mention that I am 62 yo, female and almost always wear a back brace. So, if I can do it, you sure can. I looked at your "My Page" and saw that you built your own home. That's impressive.

Thanks, Krayers. We are having a good time working on it. And Steph, I ordered the French doors from Home Depot and they are made by Reliabilt. They come in all widths from 12 x 2 panels up to whatever. Of course you do NOT have to use the track, I hated it because it always hurt my feet. Now, I have a STOP strip of wood across the TOP of the doorway, to make sure they do not swing inward, and that is where DH mounts the magnets. I also got the bifold shutter doors at Lowes, made by Jeldwen (or distributed by them I think). They were in stock on the shelves. And those are either shutters or raised panels. What I wanted was the bifold with frosted glass in the top panels, and shutters in the bottom, but did not find those any more. Hmmm, well, to add a little bit of information: I bought UNFINISHED bifold shutters for our front bedroom closet, replacing sliding mirror doors on tracks (which really hurt the feet), and it was a real pain priming and painting two PAIR of them. So I was really happy when I found that the 2 pair 12" wide panels I bought to make a linen tower for the new bath WERE PREFINISHED. So I know Jeldwen does make a prefinished shutter bifold, if it is not in stock, check online for your store. You can do a search online (Lowes or HD) for BIFOLD FRENCH DOORS or BIFOLD WOOD DOORS. We've ordered single French doors, plus the bifold French doors, for both AL and MA houses. If I'm not mistaken it was Home Depot, but could be Lowes. We had to have them shipped, not found in the store, but believe it or not, no shipping fee if picked up in the store. And they loaded them in our car.

I'm in the same situation myself with a rental condo in CA. I've had Pergo glue-together laminate in one rental that still looks great after 20 years. They don't make that kind anymore, most all the budget friendly laminate has a HDF core that is very susceptible to water damage. I did my own test with some samples and found that water I put on the surface of Pergo Max Premier did not seep into the joint after at least one hour. I believe if you pick a 10 or 12mm laminate with a substanial click/lock tongue like the Pergo you would survive most spills, just not plumbing leaks or refrigerator leaks. Your choices are around $2.49-$2.79 sq. ft. material only. The cheaper laminates are going to be trashed for sure. The other option you should consider is luxury vinyl planks. With your subfloor issue, you won't be able to use the thinner products (2-4mm). A product like Coretec Plus or Metroflor Engage Genesis has some body to it and would likely work for you if you take out the old parquet. $4-5 sq. ft. material only. This type of flooring looks pretty darn good these days. I would not, under any circumstances, put a real wood or engineered wood floor in a rental. Ever.