Wood vs. Engineered Wood? No contest in this case. If the home was built in 1905, put real hardwood in. This preserves the integrity of the home's building materials. Plus, as you can see from the age of these floors, higher grades (i.e. thicker) hardwood can be sanded several times; you usually don't get even one chance to sand engineered wood. The hardwood layer at the top of this multilayered product is simply too thin. Level Floors and Subfloors There are ways to level a subfloor, ranging from replacing parts of the subfloor with thicker or thinner sheets of plywood (or planks, see below), to pour-on leveling compounds that harden to make the entire floor level. What you use to level uneven areas depends on what the subflooring is. If it is plywood or concrete, the compound works. But more likely with this home, on floors at or above grade, there will be wood planks laid at a diagonal across the floor joists. So in your home, the layers were probably joists first, then subfloor planks of wood, then hardwood with tongue & groove joints. You cannot effectively use a pour-on leveling compound on a plank subfloor, as there are cracks between the planks. However, you can lay a new hardwood floor directly on a wood plank subfloor as long as those planks are sound and relatively level. Replace individual planks that have been damaged by water or insects, are otherwise compromised, or even missing (it happens!), with either new planks of lumber, or with plywood of the same thickness as the planks. Any lumber you install, for either the subfloor or finished flooring, should be brought in to your home several days prior to installation, so the materials acclimatize to your typical interior temperature and humidity. Unlike for ceramic or porcelain tile, the subfloor does not have to be perfectly level. And unlike vinyl sheeting, planks or tiles, the hardwood won't "telegraph" minor differences in height, and minor surface irregularities, so the subfloor doesn't have to be absolutely perfect; it should be sound, strong, uniform and essentially level. Your flooring contractor can give you specifics on what upgrades your subfloor may need once the original hardwood is removed. Joists If the floor is significantly not level in parts, or if certain areas feel spongy when you walk on them, I recommend you have your flooring contractor, a home inspector, or structural engineer inspect the subflooring and especially the floor joists. You don't want to invest in a new floor, only to have it become damaged because some joists weren't attended to. Transitions Transitions (a.k.a. thresholds or molding) between existing rooms and the new floor ought to be made of the same wood and same finish (stain, polyurethane, etc.) as the new flooring you are putting down. As wood ages, the finish becomes darker, so trying to make the transitions match the finishes of existing floors is very difficult and not recommended (what will match those floors right now won't match later after your transitions age up a bit). Eventually, the transitions wouldn't match either the new or the old floors! Transitions come in four types: reducer (when the two floors being joined are of different heights), seam binder (when the floors are the same height, and the boards from each are very close to one another), T-mold (when the two floors are the same height, but there is a crack between the two rooms' flooring) and stair nose or stair edger (when the flooring needs to curve around the front of a stair's "tread"--the flat part of a stair upon which you tread!). The transitions for your particular project can be ordered when you order the hardwood, so make sure to include measurements for those doorways/entrances. The contractor can tell you if he/she anticipates there will be a height difference or gap between the floorings, which would require those particular transitions. Dry Air Concerns Consult a local lumber supplier or flooring contractor familiar with your local climate conditions to discuss finishes or other tips for keeping your wood floors healthy in the dry winters. Sounds wonderful! Have fun!

This may be a bit against the grain on what others are saying, but I think improvements MIGHT be worth considering. Potential buyers also need to feel an emotional attachment to the house, and many people can’t see past a few updates that they could do themselves. Even if they plan to do updates, if it makes them have an overall impression that the house is “dingy” or not taken care of, they will carry that impression of the bad carpet into how they view the whole house and may have a more negative view of all of the other aspects of the house. Also- for many home buyers, coming up with the downpayment and closing costs takes up all of their available cash. They may not be able to do improvements for a while so they have to imagine living there in the condition they see it as. For many, $5k more on a mortgage is $25/ month which is easier to budget for than finding $5k right after closing. That being said, without seeing the condition of your carpets or knowing the style and price bracket of your house, it’s hard to say to what extent you should do improvements. If your carpets are bad, I’d do the new carpet. $7k for a vanity seems too expensive to me unless you are in a $500k+ house. Maybe see if you can get a new granite top and faucets instead, and keep your vanity base? Here’s a pre-made one at a HD that could be under $1k with faucets: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-73-in-W-x-22-in-D-Marble-Double-Trough-Sink-Vanity-Top-in-Carrara-74108/304250820?cm_mmc=Shopping|G|VF|D29B|29-22_VANITIES|Multi|PLA|71700000033435165|58700003894708140|92700031220423112&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlOfjocOR4QIVjbXACh3MNwzaEAQYAiABEgIJHfD_BwE Good luck on listing your home!

The answer to you question is: you can‘t use engineered flooring. The height difference means you must go with real hardwood and tile the concrete area. Think about wanting to raise your ceilings to install taller crown height that you love. You just can’t. We looked at a $2M house that offered engineered flooring over the expected site-finished hardwood and for me, it immediately made the house seem cheap. I don‘t care for the faux finish on engineered wood or the sound made when heels walk on it. I also don’t see where repairs are easily made. Engineered makes for a faster install, no fumes, no cure times, sustainability, and a large variety of widths. All of that works in a new construction environment. But keep in mind, there too, you cannot revert back to real hardwood. What is a homeowner to do?…raise all the cabinets and doors? Obviously, no. I definitely would not chaulk the gaps. That is a maintenance nightmare for routine cleaning and changes in humidity and settlement. Choose real hardwood and tile the concrete area. You will be happy you did and you will love it forever.

I'm not sure what LVT is. :) I have an appointment with the flooring person for Saturday to test out samples. Cherie, we hate forced hot air because it bothers my and the kids' asthma and allergies so I am actually very happy about these baseboard radiators as radiant heat is much easier on the lungs since it's not blowing hot air all over the place. There is central air for the summer months. We live in Northern NH... it gets cold here for sure. I am going to keep the tile in the kitchen for now and the rest will be new flooring *all going in the same direction* ! We are ripping out the red carpeting, which is in all four bedrooms as well as on the stairs. We want to replace that with flooring and we don't want yet another type of flooring in the house so it makes sense to do the living and dining room as well. When we reconfigure the kitchen, we'll have to match it up and remove the tile at that time.