Those are all good and valid points. To clarify any confusion, solid pre-finished hardwood floors can be refinished if you ever need them to be. Theres a bit more sanding involved to get the factory finish off, but it's done all the time. The floors get sanded down, and the bevels are no longer there, leaving you with a newly site-finished floor. The little grooved edges are called micro-bevels, and the durability of your flooring greatly depends on its installation. Those microlevels won't necessarily cause your flooring to be more susceptible to water damage than a site finished floor, as long as the installation is nice and tight. Yes, your hardwood floors will expand and contract, but every wood does this. It's just a natural characteristic. Quartersawn hardwood is known to have less movement than plain sawn, so if the gaps are a concern, you may want to think about looking into quarter sawn hardwood. Having hardwood in a kitchen is risky regardless if it's prefinished or site-finished. You just need to know, as a homeowner, that certain precautions need to be put into place to ensure the longevity of your floors. (Especially in a kitchen) Another thing I wanted to touch on was the fact that you said you had carpet in an area and tile in another. This would mean (hopefully) that the tile is sitting on either cement board on top of plywood, or there is a cement subfloor where the tile is located. This would have to be addressed when the tile is removed, and you are probably going to need some subfloor prep for your hardwood floors. Most likely additional plywood to bring the elevations of the floors to the same height. Many factory finishes are, in fact, more durable wear layers than a site-finished polyurethane coatings. And that is one of the reasons why many pet owners choose pre-finished floors. As long as you're not choosing a particularly soft wood, a prefinished floor would be just fine for your home. It would make sense, having children and a pet because of the time you'd have to vacate for the finishing process of site-finished floors. It would, overall, be an easier install. The quality and longevity of your hardwood floors depend on the quality of your subfloor, and the quality of the installation, not whether you have site-finished or pre-finished material. Good Luck! Pre-finished vs Site-Finished Hardwood floors

I am not a huge fan of vinyl plank flooring. It feels very fad'y. Ten years from now, it'll be the one thing that lets you date when you did the remodel. Having said that, they do have pretty decent designs these days. They come really close to fooling you into thinking it's the real thing. And while some of the hype seems to be just that, they reportedly do stand up to abuse much better than older man-made materials. The nice thing about real hardwood though is that you can relatively easily refinish it. Or you can pick a material that looks great even when it is distressed. Neither one is really an option with vinyl planks. On the whole, I do agree with you though. The much better flooring material in the kitchen is tile. No need to stress if you spill something. And if you install radiant floor heating, it feels really nice on your feet, too. And if you carry if through the rest of the house, you can use area rugs in select locations. But that's going to be more expensive than putting down LVP. So, it's a bit of "you get what you pay for". On the other hand, if you plan on living in the house for the long run, it might make sense to do things right once, rather than replacing the cheaper flooring every couple of years.

@Ericka EspeEspe wewe sorry for the extra words, the app is being strange. We ended up installing Provenza At Ease. We like it even though it is a little more knotty than expected. We brought home a bunch of samples some we liked during the day some at night. We didn't want gray, orange, yellow... just subtle natural shades.

LVT/LVP is simply another choice. Not right or wrong. I bought a fixer with a lot of old, bare thin carpet. I have a dog and didn't want carpet. I had tile for 20+ years and my joints could not take tile any more, but I like the look of tile, so I bought LVT. I am very happy with my selection. My niece removed all of the carpet from her 100 year old home and refinished the hardwoods that were found underneath. It looks beautiful and she is happy with the results. Her brother liked the look and went with engineered hardwood in his home. My sister built a home in a fairly exclusive neighborhood. Most of her neighbors wouldn't consider anything less than real hardwoods. My sister had real hardwood in her last home and wanted a different look and less maintenance. She went with a combination of LVT in the kitchen, dining room, hallway and laundry, tile in the bathrooms and carpet in the living spaces and bedrooms. Amazingly, her home won the "Best Design" in the annual best new homes contest that is held every year in our area. Maybe her home won because her home didn't look like every other new home built that year. My daughter replaced the carpet and engineered wood in her home. She selected wood look tile. She loves the look of hardwood, but she owns an 8 1/2 acre farmette, has 3 dogs, 3 horses and chickens. She can wet mop the entire space without a worry. I have another friend in Florida who picked LVP over engineered hardwood or real hardwood due to the moisture resistance of LVP. When selecting the finishes for your home, don't concern yourself with what everyone else has, pick the materials and styles that best fit your budget and your lifestyle and colors that make your heart sing. Make your home a place that will bring you joy every time you walk through the front door.