The earth underground is 50-55 degrees F for much of the USA. Carpet and pad are very good insulators. This is important if you use the basement in the wintertime. Concrete/tile/stone are very poor insulators and the floor will feel cold. Of course, this is not an issue if you have radiant floor heating. Engineered wood or laminate are somewhere in-between for insulating value but not nearly as good as carpet and pad. I think replaceable carpet tiles with attached pad would be the ideal basement floor. I have never used this type of product. I'm not a huge carpet fan, but it works well in our basement with kids. We have a 1/2" nylon pile and standard pad that is soft and easy to clean in a darker color to hide stains. Ours is a bi-level, so we do have regular double hung windows for decent light and the walls are a light color. Insurance will take care of the backup or water heater flood or sump pump failure if it ever happens. Thankfully, our sewer line has no trees between our house and the main. The water heater is also new. The sump pump is the only real risk. I will be installing a battery backup in the near future as the power does go out here fairly often during big thunderstorms when it rains heavily. I have been home on two occasions when I had to bail the sump pump well, very LUCKY!

The install for tile would require an assessment of the substrate. If this is on plywood/wood joist system, then the "deflection rating" for the joists/subfloor comes into play. That would have to be assessed anyway. Adding a piano on top won't do anything - assuming the deflection rating is good enough for tiles. If this is on cement slab, then there is very little concern about tiles cracking due to weight. Cracking due to improper substrate prep or install is of greater concern. The echo/noise the tiles will create will be ASTONISHING. Playing a piano in an area with tile will be like playing the piano in a bathroom...lots of echo and reverb. I prefer the slightly better acoustics a wood floor can offer. It isn't a huge difference but it can be enough to take the experience out of the "horrible" range and into "not nice but acceptable" category. The area rug will help, but it isn't enough to counter act all of the echo a tiled floor will create. Just for fun, have the carpet removed and then leave the space uncovered for a few days. Go ahead and play the piano in the uncovered space. That's about as good as you will get to understanding the difference the carpet made in that room. Tile will make the acoustics worse. Wood will make them slightly better. Just a thought.

So let's talk the about the difference between an engineered hardwood and a vinyl plank. And there are more than just the difference between the two flooring options. There are many differences within each type of flooring. For example: engineered hardwood flooring can come in different thickness overall and vinyl planks can come in different plank styles (glue down, WPC and SPC). Let's break this down for you guys a little further. Engineered hardwood is an incredible option for an authentic with longevity in mind. Typically is worth less than it's hardwood counterpart (hardwood) but in some instances, depending on the wood species, a high end engineered hardwood veneer could be worth more than a low grade hardwood such as your North American (domestic) species. Engineered hardwood is more often on the 7/16" side of thickness and that is your more price friendly thickness. You can special order a thicker 3/4" board, but that will come at a heftier price because it's added layers. The added layers create a more stable plank that expands and contracts at a lower rate than it's 7/16" counterpart. Engineered hardwoods always should and for the most part come prefinished with an aluminum oxide coat. This very coat is your barrier against everyday beatings from walking traffic and dropped items. This coat is very tough but no floor or finish is indestructible. You will have dents and scratches pop up over the years. Depending on the company, you can buy "refinish kits". Although, technically you cannot refinish aluminum oxide, the kits just help you hide the scratches until you decide to do a professional refinish to your floor. Lastly, let's talk about refinishing your hardwood floor. Please have a professional do it! And it is very expensive to do this job. Depending on your floor size it can cost well over $3,000 USD. At this rate, you are in the market for a high level LVP. Which brings me into the luxury vinyl plank spectrum. As you all are aware, LVP's are dominating the flooring market and they should be. They do a very, VERY good job at imitating a hardwood or stone surface and multiply the longevity all the while. Vinyl has come a long way in the last couple of decades let alone the last few years as far as planks are concerned. There are plenty of options and so, so many different brands all wanting you business. Luxury vinyl planks can be divided into two different categories in the market right now: glue down or floating. The first generation of vinyl planks are your glue downs. They are still very popular and serve as one of the friendliest DIY repair floors. You simply heat the old damaged plank, peel it and put a new one down. The floating aspect of planks gets a little more complicated as you can have a WPC (wood polymer composite), SPC (stone polymer composite) or a loose lay style. And you can look those up to see the complete difference in each to see what's your most needed. I'll lightly go over each to explain what they are. While all three styles are virtually waterproof, you really can't go wrong with any and will have a good product in each one. WPC's are a click based plank which does not require an underlayment, hence being labeled a "floating" floor. The foaming agent in the core of the plank helps with sound absorption and makes the plank a little more friendly to stand on. It's a thicker overall plank and you should think about how the trims will be affected. SPC's are a click based plank which also does not require an underlayment which helps reduce the installation cost. The core is limestone based and makes it very rigid and tough. It's extremely dent resistant but for the most part is lower in wear layer for some reason. You can however find plenty of SPC's with a higher wear layer, nearing 28-30 mil, but it will cost you more because you will have a high dent and scratch resistance. And finally you have your loose lay planks which are the ultimate form (as of now) in easy maintenance and installation. They do not require an underlayment, do not use a click system and don't need any adhesive (although some installers recommend gluing the perimeter). They have a friction backing which let you lay the plank adhesive free without any movement on its end. The plank itself is waterproof and pretty dent resistant. While engineered hardwood does cost more and is less maintenance friendly, it does add value to your home with the hardwood veneer. The ability to refinish gives you a long floor life but the cost of a refinish is a setback in itself. Luxury vinyl planks are a low cost and long lasting floor option but adds little to no value to your home. The endless options of styles and colors gives you endless customization to your home at a far less price. Either option can last a while but at this time vinyl planks are a better option for any household with multiple members, both human and furry alike. I hope this little bit of information helps in the short and long run. Just a flooring dude.

Hi @mpbiersack. We are still extremely happy with the flooring. No issues except my husband says there's one board in the kitchen that doesn't seat well. Not sure if it's from a defect or poor installation. It does scratch easily so all our furniture feet have felt or some other protection. Take care when moving heavy furniture. I can't speak to moisture because we're up on a raised foundation and live in a low humidity, high desert area. We used this flooring throughout our 2300 sqft house except in two guest rooms and media room. Still in love with the color.