It all depends. Sigh. I know. Not what you are wanting to hear but it is the truth. A low-end laminate at $0.79/sf out of the worst factory in China is going to have issues. A high-end vinyl out of the best materials with a price of $7.99/sf is going to have very few, if any issues. With laminate, the worry is formaldehyde and other VOC products used in the adhesives. The particle board of laminates can be made with extremely dangerous adhesives (illegal in 11 states in the USA...the other 39 states have to take their chances) or they can have eco friendly materials out of Switzerland that are so healthy you could EAT them. With vinyl, you are looking out for phthalates. These are not normally found in the VOC content readings. They are particles that come off of low-end PVC products - especially if they have recycled content. In the "health" world, recycled plastics are unhealthy. The virgin PVC products are the healthiest because the manufacturers have to spend the money to have TIGHT control of the product. It sounds counter intuitive, but you want VIRGIN PVC content in your vinyl products. The post-consumer recycling is not a human-healthy choice. The phthalates are what you are watching for. And remember: you get what you pay for. A high-end laminate out of Switzerland will get you one of the healthiest "man made" floors on the market. It will also be more expensive than some entry-level solid hardwoods from Home Depot. The high-end vinyls out of Korea are some of the most advanced products we have for man-made floor coversings. They too will be more expensive than a MID-RANGE solid hardwood from a hardwood flooring company. Pick your price range and go for the highest quality product in that price range. Ignore the laminate/vinyl concept. Go with the highest priced product in that range.

We just completed phase II of our reno which added on a 1st floor primary suite, bathroom, walk through closet and laundry. Also added an entire suite of two bedrooms and bathroom over the garage. We continued the Chesapeake flooring into the ”rear foyer” which serves as a transition space between the family room, outdoor space and the new primary suite. We have a seamless flooring transition there. I opted for wall to wall carpeting in the bedroom and closet with tile in the bath and laundry. I wanted a neutral porceline in the bath and a fun color and pattern in the laundry. We did the entire upstairs addition (except the bathroom) in the same Chesapeake vinyl flooring with area carpets and it’s perfect!

Floating vinyl (click together) needs the same amount of subfloor prep as a glue down. Vinyl (the thin stuff) is flexible (like chewing gum). It will mold into every hump, bump and jump left in the subfloor. The glue from the bamboo has to come off (regardless). I vapour barrier can be put down over the glue residue but an attempt really should be made to get rid of as much of the glue as possible. Once the concrete subfloor is al nice and smooth and level, you can put any floor you want over it. Personally I prefer a HIGH END laminate ($4.50/sf out of Switzerland or Germany). The product out of Europe is extremely good. You can put down a small amount of tile in the kitchen and bathrooms and you are all done. If you currently have carpet on the stairs, you might want to update the carpet. Changing the surface on the stairs is expensive. As soon as a new product is added to the treads you MUST update the stairs to current code. And that can be MORE expensive than the flooring job. I kid you not. The benefit of LAMINATE: you can add as much underpad as it can handle (6mm cork is lovely). Drawback of laminate = it cannot be used in a kitchen (which is where the tile comes in). Benefit of vinyl: it is water proof.(which is only needed in 10% of the house) Drawback: it HATES underpad (just assume it must go down over the concrete...no extra padding allowed), it HATES direct sunlight (can warp/fade) it HATES heat (warps).

This is COMMON. The noisy crackles are so common (how common SJ?), they are SOOOO common we have multiple threads going on the same issue. The noise is WORSE in the morning and it is WORSE at the beginning of the floor's life (in the first 6 months) but then it settles down. As far as we can make out, this is MOSTLY down to the cushion on the bottom of the plank. Yep. The squishy stuff that people believe is good for vinyl so they pay extra for the stuff. The squish is JUST ENOUGH to allow the plank to move (compress underfoot) to cause the click edge to rub against one another. The ideal way to get rid of this noise: get rid of the underpad on vinyl. Or you can get rid of the click edge (glue down or loose lay) Or stop using vinyl all together. Vinyl is thin and the click edge is DELICATE (as you've just experienced). It is BRITTLE. And the click edge is the weakest link (again...you've just experienced this). This is why it is SOOOO important to have flat/level subfloor before laying vinyl. Laminate can handle a bit of movement. It has a fibre board core that is THICKER and more ROBUST. The 'bounce' of laminate drives many people nuts but it is what keeps the floor fully functional over a wonky subfloor. Vinyl doesn't do that. It MOULDS itself to the subfloor. It flexes itself over every hump, bump and lump. That also causes issues with the very weak click edge. The more humps, bumps, etc you have the MORE the vinyl click edge will rub against one another...and eventually break/walk itself apart. If you MUST HAVE water proof floors for 100% of your home, then vinyl plank is one of your only options (cork flooring is another...but I digress). If you do NOT need water proof everywhere, then go ahead and find a HIGH END laminate for 95% of your home and then use either vinyl or ceramic/porcelain tile in the 5% where water proof is needed. A HIGH END European Laminate (VOC content is SOOOOO low it is undetectable in CARB II testing) costs the same as mid-range vinyl! I kid you not. Ask yourself: Do I NEED 100% water proof for 100% of my flooring???