We are getting ready to move into a new house and I am looking into replacing carpet in the basement for a wood-look and I am undecided for floor materials in the kitchen. We have family friends that put the vinyl planks in thier basement. I need to find out what brand it is but...it was a very dark color and looked very nice! I heard that her sump-pump broke and she had at least 6 inches of water and her floors still look great, apparently you would never know that she ever had standing water in her basement. I'm not sure MARIES1120 if you would be open to something like that. I'll try to find out what brand!

Any suggestions for me in my kitchen. We have wood floors throughout the main floor, the kitchen is a worn out vinyl sheet. What would be recommended for the floors to match the wood...or at least blend in and coordinate. I like the look of porcelain, but I'm am pretty prone to dropping things and do not want to break my dishes or the floor. Feedback is appreciated! Thanks!

I am open to anything right now. The one flooring store said laminate was going out and the luxury vinyl tile is the big trend. Another store said he has laminate in his kitchen and loves it. I am also looking at porcelain because of its durability. I don't know if the type of flooring would keep something from breaking if dropped but dropping something on some floors might damage the floor - as in my experience.

I am testing out Pergo XP laminate from Home Depot. I put 2 pieces together and put them under water for an hour and nothing happened. I pounded on it with a meat mallet and only the side with the big spikes made any impact and not much. When I was there someone was buying this in a slate look that was nice looking.

I haven't found a tile I like yet so at this point the Pergo XP is the only option I have.

I have always recommended hard tile first for any utility area, or areas prone to accident, abuse, entry and egress. Rock solid and wears like iron.

Thanks Floorman. Hard tile is on the list. The GC said installation would be much more expensive due to prep and time involved but still might go that way if I find a hard tile I like.

My humble opinion: 3/4" solid wood flooring is still the best value for main floor. It can out last the life of the house usually with 5 to 6 times resandable surface. Resale value is a hige and well desired by everyone.

I did see 3/4" hardwood I liked but GC said staying at 1/2" or less would be best to blend with other rooms.

That doesnt matter. They are called reducers. Allows for easy transitions to rooms at different heights.

When we put hickory engineered wood (Harris Tarkette) in our kitchen the flooring was shipped from an online retailer. They had used strapping tape to link the stack of boxes into several bundles. When we opened the boxes the strapping tape had cut through the outer boxes and damaged the edges of either the top or bottom plank in several boxes. I contaced the seller and he immediatly shipped replacemants. Once installed we have not had any wear but when we accidentally dropped a large butcher knife and it landed on a sharp point it cut a gash in the floor. That would happen to any wood, laminate or vinyl flooring. I don't think I would let a chip incident discourage me from selecting the Mirage boards. That has an even better reputation than the HT line did. If you really want a hardwood look I'd go for it. My wife and I are senior citizens and she wouldn't have a tile floor to stand on in the kitchen all day, even though we use it in the washroom. I even put a 5/16" thick cork underlay under the engineered wood the make it easier to stand on.

All of this is very helpful and informative! Thanks!

nerdyshopper - it was just a 4x4 laminate flooring sample that fell and not that far. A knife I could understand. I saw some hardwood that was much cheaper that looked like it would hold up better although I'm sure for the price it was rotary cut.

A lot of options out there to check out. Good thing we won't be ready to do the floor until the end of July so I have time to look.