I'm in the process of researching for my first remodel. I live in a small 1950's ranch on a cement slab in Anchorage, AK. The neighborhood is modest, basically a carpet/laminate/vinyl floor area. We live in a very wet climate - with 7-8 months of winter plus a lot of "rainy season" in the non Winter months. We currently have 3 cats, but plan to get another dog down the road and we like our dogs big. As part of the remodel, we are tearing down the wall that separates the kitchen from the entry/LR area. We also converted from a furnace to a boiler system. The "pipes" for the new boiler system got routed through the old channels for the forced air in the cement slab. We will be flooring over the holes where the old grates were, but cannot plug them up with cement for obvious reasons. I want the same floor throughout the public spaces of the house, which is basically the LR, den, DR and kitchen. Wood or a wood look is really important to me. The front door will have a tiled entry area but the back door is a slider leading out to the deck and will not have tile. Everywhere we go, they are recommending LVT. Glued down, as opposed to snap-together. They swear these floors will hold up to everything we can throw at them, that they don't scratch, they wear great, and are impervious to water. They say repair is a breeze with glue down in particular. However, the prices get competitive with engineered hardwood given the subfloor that will be required for the LVT so it can cover up those holes in the concrete for the old grates. And that makes me pause. I know hardwood., engineered or not, will add value to a home and LVT will not. On the other hand, LVT will apparently require little to no stress related to upkeep and damage. If the prices are equal, does it even make sense to consider LVT? Conversely, does price matter or is the real issue to consider what is going to hold up best in our situation? Do you agree with these assessments and WWYD (what would you do or recommend) in this kind of situation?

Our house had oil-based poly floors when we moved in, they were trashed anywhere there was much use within four years. I refinished the two most used rooms that were the worst using Bona Traffic, a waterborne finish and the floors still looked like new 10 years later. We then had all the floors professionally refinished using oil polyurethane, having been sold by the flooring guy who insisted it was "just as good" (also a Bona product)so that they'd all look the same and there was obvious wear patterns by three months later when we moved out. The kitchen floor was wet every day for all 10 years it had the waterborne finish and there was never any discoloration or damage. Not sure what axe Olek is grinding, but it's completely inconsistent with my experience. Applying the waterborne finish perfectly is much more difficult than oil, which I expect is why many pros don't like it. I recently did my workshop floor with "mixed domestic hardwood" and finished it with Bona Amber Seal which popped the figure in the curly and birdseye maple quite nicely and the Bona Traffic HD product. It's had the heck beaten out of it for the last six months with construction and heavy tools being dragged around on it and underneath the grime it's pristine and shiny. Oil poly is beautiful, at least until you actually use it.

Exactly. I agree . In my prior comment, the walls are actually pretty square. We measured it in front of him and he also measured. This should not result in a difference of inches on the other side of the room. In my last comment about the rows, I did not measure from wall. I measured from his first row to his last. Which like I sd, we all agreed the walls were fairly even and square. So it’s hard for me to understand how a fairly straight room became off by inches and why there are no expansion gaps on one side of the room to a 3/4in gap. Anyways, he finally admitted to not measuring anything when we asked to see and hear his process/explanation for laying down the floors. All he did was decided to start at the left corner of patio door and that was it. Why he choose the shortest wall in my house to start with patio doors and a fireplace in the center?? Idk. He didn’t have explanation. He blamed my walls for not being squared but how did he know if he never measured? He only measured when my husband and I did it in front of him. He did nothing to ensure his line was straight. No chalk line, no markings, laser, nothing. He said, he’s never had to measure his first row to make sure it’s straight. He also said open concept homes can’t have wood floors that align and flow into other rooms. That you’d have to make rip cuts and lay down transition strips between spaces. I’m sorry, I’m not an expert but I know that statement is untrue. You can flow flooring into other rooms regardless if it’s open space or not. Well an update is we let him go. Our issue still stands. The floors as they enter the other rooms do not match up. At this point, it looks like ripping up the floors the only option. This time, will start in our hallway since that’s our longest wall and it connects all the rooms. Will use splines to switch directions and should there be cuts, it’ll be by the walls and not dead smack in the middle of my floors like it would be now.

Same floor throughout. Hardwood is great for increasing the value of your home, having a natural product installed that is beautiful. Hardwood will dent, scratch and is not great with water. You will want area rugs at each entrance, and under pet bowls (regardless of hardness of the wood, all will scratch and dent). But that's the beauty of a real hardwood. If you'd like something more resistant to scratches, and water, interlocking LVP is a great option. Here's a few pictures of LVP: