The value of the home will dictate the value of the floor. Laminate in a new build is equal to 'builder grade' carpet. And this level of finish is seen in entry level homes. A medium-high quality build (several steps higher than 'entry level' home) would benefit from a higher end floor.

If you work with vinyl, you will need to know the drawbacks of vinyl. It is sensitive to HEAT...if you live in a hot climate you might find that the vinyl sitting in front of windows/sliding glass doors could have issues. That means you would need to UPGRADE your windows. You would need to bring in a window with 70% UV block or HIGHER. Blocking UV blocks the heat.

One of the most important finishes in a home (to maintain the value of the home) are the floors. If you drop in low-value laminate in a moderate/high value home then your home's value will suffer. Flooring is as important as roofing. If you have a high-value roof line then feel free to get high value floors.

Personally I like to see tile in kitchens/baths. Laminates are welcome in all other areas...but again your location and the inherent value of the home will dictate the level expenditure on the flooring.

An example: A roof will offer 15-25 years (depending on initial investment of materials). A solid hardwood floor (regardless of width) can offer 60-80 years of life. Yet many people invest more in an expensive (yet useless) roof line rather than investing in the flooring.

A bit more about your situation would help us.

We have LVP (luxury vinyl plank) throughout our entire main floor, including the entry, kitchen and a bathroom. Our previous house did as well. It's waterproof and much easier on the feet than tile! We are also in Ontario and haven't noticed any issues. I would definitely choose it again.

OK so we are dealing with Canadian super-hot building economy (I'm in Vancouver BC...so I get it). This could be an 'entry level' home that is worth $700K (ahem...Vancouver and Toronto 1bd apartment) or it could be an upscale, yet more remote location where the 'dream homes' start at $700K. In Ottawa itself, your mid-level home starts at $700K and moves up from there.

If you want duration = hardwood. If you want a floor that you will need to change out in 15 years, go for the LVP. If you want a cost-reducing floor, go for the LVP.

Ottawa has mixed humidity climate. It can be damp and very cold in winter or it can be blisteringly humid in summer (90% humidity). That means you MUST HAVE an upgraded HVAC system that has a dehumidifier. Must. Have.

Both the LVP and the hardwood NEED this type of control. A wide plank hardwood is REALLY going to need the humidity control...so if you want to upgrade the LVP to hardwood in 15 years then you really need to have your HVAC system up to snuff. So you might as well get it installed TODAY so that you do NOT have the $6K upgrade in 15 years (no...I'm not kidding about that...$6,000 is common for a humidifier/dehumidifier upgrade on an installed HVAC unit).

Please talk to your builder about the HVAC system. Remember that A/C doesn't always control the humidity the way you think it does. The humidistat NEEDS to be there and be fully functional. It is easier/cheaper to deal with this during the build stage then to retrofit the unit later.

And remember: maple turns a STRONG yellow as it ages. As pretty as it is in the 'new' stage (beautiful pale butter colour) it does NOT stay that way. Even with a water based finish...it turns a STRONG yellow. It takes a special flooring installer with special chemical compounds and special training to get a maple floor to STOP turning yellow.

And if you ever want to stain it, maple is a B!TCH to stain! Heart break written all over it. If you want that pale almost white colour of a freshly installed maple floor, you might want to look at a high-grade White Oak in a clear coat or a European Oak in a clear coat. Both with offer that super pale look without turning BRIGHT yellow inside of 1 year.

It's your home. And yes laminate is a no-no in kitchens. It has issues with repeated spills and splashes and it is ESPECIALLY sensitive to the steam from a dishwasher. A laminate floor in in front of a dishwasher can have issues inside of 3 years (bubbling, peeling, puffing, etc).

You currently have DARK hardwood floors...they are a different appearance than natural maple. What looks like a big scratch on dark wood may not even show up on natural wood. It will be barely detectable.

All floors *scratch. Even porcelain tile (although it is SUPER DIFFICULT to do it...it is still possible). That being said, scratches aren't necessarily 'damage' to wood. Only if they go all the way through the finish and hit raw wood are they considered 'damage'. The *look of a floor is different from the performance of a floor.

A banged up hardwood (plenty of minor scratches all over the surface) is still a fully functional floor (because the finish is in tact and working perfectly). A banged up laminate floor means it is getting awfully close to needing replacement. A banged up vinyl floor can be fully functional...but there is no way to repair it. It either comes out or it stays looking *bad for as long as you can stand it.

A hardwood floor that has surface damage can receive a buff and coat around year 12. This is a surface 'pick-me-up' that adds a single layer of finish. It adds beauty (makes it look more acceptable) but it won't fix 'deep' scratches. The buff and coat is slightly more than half the cost of a full sand/refinish. It usually costs around $3/sf

A full sand and refinish = $5/sf. This is often done around year 20.

So you have some decisions to make. Do you go cheap and cheerful with laminate or vinyl at $3-$7/sf (vinyl in Canada is quite expensive) and then pay the $2 removal/disposal fee and another $2-$3/sf for install every single time you feel the floor is looking too banged up; or do you pay $7-$12/sf for a super nice hardwood and then pay $5/sf every 20 years to get them refinished.

Hardwood normally needs a sand/refinish every 20 - 25 years. A laminate floor usually needs replacement (with all costs involved with it) every 15-20 years. Vinyl (normal stuff) should have the same requirements as laminate. The high-end vinyls ($7/sf) should have a lifespan closer to 20 years. But it again requires full removal/disposal fees as well as purchase and install fees once the floors have 'had it'.

And to be clear, both floating laminate and vinyl have issues with 'long runs'. They require t-mouldings through all doorways as well as in-field transition strips every 40 feet or so. If you want to get away from those things, you will have to work with a glue down vinyl...and that means the vinyl just became as expensive as a regular hardwood (3" plank).

Whew! It is your decision of course. You are asking for a high-value, long lasting product while looking at laminate and vinyl. You may have to decide which is more important because the 'forever' floor you want does not come from man-made sources.

Carolyn,

I love the look of hardwood. However, I think that for active families or people with pets, a refinish cycle of 20 years is too optimistic. We just purchased a new home with brazilian cherry (which is supposedly one of the hardest hard wood floor options). The former owners were retired and had some large dogs. The house was built 12 years ago and the floors were trashed. They had them refinished before we moved in. My parents also have hardwood-- their's is red oak. They had to have them refinished after about 10 years. So if this is part of the cost figuring, I would plan on closer to 10 years if you want the hardwood to look nice and unscratched. Obviously it's different for every family.

In our last house we put in vinyl plank. I have six kids and we live on a small farm. The floors get a lot of water, dirt, and foot/shoe traffic. After 4 years they still look amazing. We did a white painted oak look upstairs and a light maple/birch look downstairs. I was very happy with them. The extra bonus with vinyl plank is that if you gouge or scratch a plank, you can pull it up and replace it. We saved a box of extra planks specifically for this purpose (although we haven't used any yet).

We also had old hardwood on our stairs. I've heard vinyl on the stairs isn't a great option because of the edges, which have to have some kind of metal strip.

I realize vinyl is not for every family or every house. However, for durability combined with affordability it's such a great option. Ours looked amazing and even contractors would walk in and not know it was vinyl. I would not hesitate to use it again. We found ours on sale for about $2 a sq/ft. We installed it ourselves because we're experienced in DIY-ing flooring, but even with install to me it's a very solid option that makes sense even if you are considering upgrading in 10+ years.

I would stay away from Laminate flooring, period. What ever you decide request the MSDS and check the VOC's, Volatile Organic Chemicals, these are gases that are released for products.

AS houses are becoming more air tight these days, they are also holding more gases inside that you breathe.

vinyl may feel funny on the feet, so if walking barefoot keep that in mind. if your not sensory to the feel of it then I would definitely recommend it as a nicer more affordable choice that also happens to be durable and waterproof which is great!!

If I didn't do engineered wood, I would have done LVP. I think it would be the best choice for you.

Your description of the house sounds like we'll see the house on one of those murder solved TV shows.

Flooret Modin ridged plank vinyl has a wear layer of 40 mils. 9" x 72". They'll give a 20 year commercial warranty or a lifetime residential. Sales are only direct. Here. and Here.

We plan to install SPC in our entire home, similar to the Flooret pictured above. We installed the first level in December. We are a family of 9; we have kids in and out of the house all day long. It's wearing super well. I'm still not sure what we will do with the stairs. I don't plan to install the SPC there, though. Wood was not in our budget, nor would I have considered it.

3pinktrees - what type of Laminate did you use (brand?)? Any pics?

SuperCore from weshipfloors would be my choice-it's rated to like 500 below and above, waterproof, probably have to put it in a wood chipper to damage the stuff.

Curious if you went for the LVP and if so, what are your thoughts?