A) please do not put down a wood floor next to a different wood floor. I would tile the floor in the laundry or install luxury vinyl. As for the foyer, kitchen and other public areas, if you can, I would have them all be the same flooring- wood preferably. Another option is you can tile the foyer, kitchen and laundry and leave the bamboo floors. As for cost, I would call a reputable flooring installer and get quotes on labor- and ask him to determine how much flooring you need. You can then add up the material costs based on what you select. Cost can really vary depending on so many factors but in general, real hardwood and tile will be the most expensive. Good luck!

Thanks for the recommendations, M&M. I know--cardinal rule is not interrupting that flooring flow, right? I guess we would have to continue the light bamboo flooring right through then, or replace the whole damn thing, existing bamboo hardwood included. I wish I had unlimited funds...

the ares with laminate is 300 sq ft total, so I took a look at some sites that allow you to plug in your sq ft, flooring type, and then choose the level of service (removing old flooring, installing subfloor, etc), and it's looking like about $2000-$3000 for new bamboo hardwood. Hoping someone can tell me if that's sounding like an accurate ballpark figure?

$1.50 a square foot for removing laminate, vinyl, and hardwood/ bamboo.

$1.50 a square foot for installing wood, either solid or engineered, laminate, and vinyl.

$1.75 a square foot to sand and stain unstaind wood, stain is included.

Tile is expensive it goes from $4.00 to $7.00 a square foot, depending on the Instaler, and not just anyone can do it.

(Labor only) If I was the one doing the job I personally wouldn't charge you over $1,500.00 total, but I'm over pricing it, because in my opinion it's better for me to over price to be safe then to under price and lose money. Obviously im only doing that because I haven't personally taken a look at the job. So it could be cheaper. I would say get more then one person to give you a price, shop around and ask for references.

Thanks so much for this. It helps to hear from someone with direct expertise and price knowledge. This will give me a basic guideline to use once we move in and start our updates. Cheers.

Jhmarie you're extremely right about nail down it's more labor intensive but not by much. Big companies such as Homedepot, Lowe's, and local flooring business in the area use that as an excuse to charge more tho. In the end the subcontractors and the home owners are the ones getting ripped off. Subcontractors get less then half of what those companies charge and the home owners get stuck with the bill. But if the installation is going for $3 a sqft in your area please let me know where, I would love to open up a shop in that area lol.

My concern about removing sheet product and replacing with more rigid flooring = the "level" of the subfloor. Is this a slab home (everything sitting on concrete)? Is this a wooden subfloor on joists (wood frame home)? Sheet products are used to hide plenty of problems/wonkiness of the subfloor. Just be careful when thinking about how to change this up.

I'm not fond of "bamboo" in kitchens or entranceways. They are picky-picky floors that, when low-end, can lead to heart ache in these areas.

The other concern I have = replacing flooring BEFORE you decide on the "final look" of your kitchen. The kitchen looks to be dated...which you would like to update. That's awesome. But please DO NOT do the flooring first!!!!! Please don't do it that way!

If you do floors first, you will spend $$$ on a project that is temporary. Yes. Temporary. The reason: most kitchen renos involve a LARGE update...which often includes a change in FOOT PRINT! If you change the foot print, you change how much floor you need and where. Which means you won't be able to keep the floor you put down today.

Sigh. If budget is a big concern, I HIGHLY recommend you leave the perfectly serviceable/functioning floor in place. And "live" with the floor/kitchen until you are ready to rip EVERYTHING out and start again.

I would put the $2000 into a savings account and let it gain some interest. While you figure out what the FINAL look will be, it will be working hard to help you reach that goal...by sitting in the bank and not on your floor.

That's actually true flooring has to be last. When we do commercial residential or new homes, the flooring is last.

Yes, good point. I will wait until we've updated the kitchen and bath on the main floor. Thanks for the insight, everyone. All important.