I have vinyl plank with huge dogs in my walk out basement where they have free access to a large dog run it has been in for 11 yrs and still looks awesome. We have a laminate on our main floor that looks like slate and has also stood up to the brats for 11 yrs there is no way wood could have handled all that abuse. IMO laminate or vinyl plank in good condition is better than scratched up wood floor that would have to be refinished before sale. We now have a great pyrenees as our 2 old dogs have passed away and he really is rough on floors , no wood could possibly stand up to him.The pic is the laminate floor and the old dogs

Flooring is typically installed first and cabinets installed over the finished flooring. But in an older home, sometimes there are compromises. In my own house, about 13 years BEFORE we replaced the cabinets, we took up the old vinyl tile flooring in order to put in hardwood floors. Since this house was built in 1948, it had plank-style sub flooring throughout. The previous owner had put down plywood on which he could install the peel and stick tile that was there when we bought the house. So in order to make our new hardwood flooring level with the floors in the hall and DR, that plywood had to come up, but the cabinets were staying. The hardwood flooring company had a devil of a time cutting out that plywood in order to install the hardwood floor (damaged the kick plates substantially but we just painted them black so the damage didn't show). Now, the cabinets were coming out and new ones were going in! My new ones are installed on the old plywood-over-plank flooring, and they were able to adjust the kick plates so that the somewhat jagged edges of the new hardwood were hidden by them. We just put the refrigerator on the plywood as I did not want to have to have the hardwood floor people come out and try to patch it in (location of refrigerator was moved) and refinish the entire floor. It works just fine. When dealing with an old house that has been remodeled more than one time, one must get "creative"!

I hear or notice the noise way less now, but still hear it from time to time when walking over an area for the first time. We have a couple of seams that have a small gap forming. As others have pointed out and i have come to learn, the problems that we have with the floors are caused by the unevern (not flat) subfloor. So, from that perspective, i cant blame flooret. However, most people that are buying these vinyl floors are doing so for the advertised ”value” and installing them in extisting homes. When you consider the time and expense to make old subfloors PERFECTLY flat, they are no longer a good value. That is my biggest complaint at this point; they drastically under communicate the amount of time and money required to achieve the desired outcome. To those of you who installed these Flooret floors, im sorry and hang in there. The noise and /or your attention to it will improve greatly over time.

I know this renovation stuff is a trying process. When it comes to older homes, the PREPARATION is oft MORE EXPENSIVE than the new product + cost of labour to install. I would guess this is the case you are facing. Yes it will cost upwards of $4-$5/sf to deal with this subfloor (cut out + 2 new layers of plywood added to the joists). Then the cost of the vinyl and the cost of the labour is to be added to that number. I know it hurts. The good news is: once the old layers of flooring are gone, you NEVER have to deal with them again! Ever. Why? Because you bit the bullet, paid the piper and dealt with it correctly the first time.