Wood floors vs. Luxury Vinyl wood look

3 years ago

I have read many many stories on the horrors of real wood floors on here and people saying NEVER again.

I would like a un-polished White Oak, wide plank look. So now we have Luxury Vinyl, and they are hard wearing, water resistant and some look pretty good. I have found one that I thought was nice however the photos online from the manufacture and the sample book look terrible. I was fortunate enough to see a large sample put together that I liked. However, I am worried that they picked all the best planks to make a great looking example and that it was not a good representation of what you would really get. I am now considering getting a box and putting it together in a room see how it functions and looks.

So back to the wood, solid, engineered. The big complaint that I saw was water damage and now with all of these smart gadgets. Is that really such an issue anymore? They have water turnoffs for A/C systems, dishwashers, washers, did I get it all? What do you all think? I will mention I live on a ranch and the floor will see its fair share of dirt, doggy nails.

Thoughts?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

jck910
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
REAL hardwood. I rarely see horror stories on here about real hardwood. My floors are 50 years old - original to the house - are easy to care for and look great And yes they are in my kitchen
kriii
3 years ago
I have engineered hard wood in most of the house, including kitchen. No water damage issues but I do wipe up drips right away. Check with the floor manufacturer about dogs. My flooring will handle dogs of up to 40 lbs before nails will leave a scratch.
Related Discussions
Wood looking tile vs luxury vinyl
Q
Comments (16)
Hi Guys, We sell Coretec Plus from US Floors. They have some really nice colors and with a cork backing which adds warmth and comfort. We have installed this product in commercial and residential application. We have been selling this product for three years to hundreds of customers from our website and have yet to have a complaint. Check it out! Hope I can help! Chris@nicefloors.com
...See More
Can't decide on wood look tile or Luxury vinyl planks for Kitchen!
Q
Comments (25)
I brought a sample home from Home Depot and could scratch it with my fingernail. Having said that, we went with a different brand as mentioned in my earlier post. it has a 5 mil wear layer with some kind of cerama beads, (I forget all the lingo I learned when researching ours). and I have never found a scratch on ours. We put it throughout our 1,000 sq ft cabin and also in our TV room at home. We have a 10+ lb. cat that tears around like a maniac. All claws intact. The wear layer is very important. It is recommended to put felt pads on all furniture feet. Makes for very easy moving of chairs etc. anyways. That way you shouldn't have to worry about scratches so long as there is no sand or stones lingering on the floor. But the felt pads would help minimize a problem anyways.
...See More
luxury Vinyl Plank —Can it look at good as wood?!
Q
Comments (6)
The old saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." As a flooring snob, I can spot faux-wood look products within 30 seconds of walking into a house...that includes the hugs and kisses required in polite society prior to COVID distancing. If you have the ability to 'see' patterns (remember that LVP, Laminate and tiles ALL have planks that repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat, etc) than you will be very upset with the look of wood-look products. I will admit the herring bone install will HIDE the repeating pattern a bit more...but it will show itself. And that will happen in the weirdest way. Just when you feel like you've done an AMAZING job of creating the 'perfect' fake floor, you will notice TWO planks/tiles that are identical and then you will never be able to 'un-see' it. I'm a very pragmatic person. If I had the budget to enjoy a real hardwood herring bone (I wish) I would not hesitate to have it. On the other hand, my budget is 'DIY' laminate, then that's what I will work with. I will purchase the HIGHEST GRADE product I can afford so that I can get the best possible floor for my budget. But I will also realize I won't be laying wood. I will be laying photographs of wood and those photos will repeat. I'll do my best, but the repeats are still there. My personal effort to sort them, will be all I can do to contribute to the BEST looking laminate floor I can possibly get. And THAT'S what I would be happy with. And remember: a glue down is one of the few ways a vinyl floor can be laid in a herring bone install. That will increase the cost of the install as well.
...See More
luxury vinyl plank wood look flooring
Q
Comments (9)
@millworkman Waterproof in the sense of everyday, common mishaps. It’s a floating installation. No one expects it to protect their subfloor from a flood. Don’t be obtuse. When installed, planks lock together with a rubber tongue and groove. Spilled water does not permeate the seams. It sits on top. Test it out. In the event of flooding, you can easily take apart the planks, dry them out and reinstall.
...See More
roarah
3 years ago
I have original hard wood in my main living spaces of my older home. The kitchen has a bit of wear after 94 years with one refinishing 15 years ago but really look great still. I have LVP in my basement and had a water boiler leak and we were able to slightly lift the planks to dry and they did not need to be replaced so this was great. The do have more wear than my wood floors from cat nails and kids playing, it is the main play area of my house but they too look great considering the price, the flood and high traffic they see.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
IMO a ranch is a working space and the less hassle the better . I have vinyl plank in my walk out I have 3 large dogs in and out all day through a doggie door to a large dog run. In all kinds of weather. End of the day a quick sweep and a damp mop and those floors look like new 13 yrs later IMO hardwood would have been a disaster . I think you need to understand your life and choose flooring to work with it. The stable where I keep my horse they put vinyl plank in the bathrooms and kitchen in the indoor arena they look great 6 yrs later
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
The ISSUE with finishes (wood or vinyl...doesn't matter) is the LOW GLOSS finish. Yep. The very look you want is the ISSUE that gets the biggest number of complaints. Sigh.

A low gloss (unpolished) look is HORROR to keep LOOKING clean. Low gloss allows OIL to show. And by OIL we mean SKIN oils and PAW oils. Yessssssss....skin oil is SHINIER than the gloss on the floor. Ooooooohhhhhh dear.

So...the vinyl planks out there have big complaints because of the GLOSS level. The low gloss wood floors have the same issues.

So I guess you have to pick your poison.

First things first: Homeowner know Thyself. Are you a 'clean-shiny' person? That is to say, do you feel GOOD when you see a newly cleaned floor look SHINY? Think about that for a minute. Imagine cleaning a low-gloss floor (wood or vinyl...don't care). Imagine you put some effort into a little damp mopping because the floor looks a little dusty or dull. While wet you feel the floor looks GREAT....but then it dries and it looks EXACTLY the same as it did before you pulled out the mop. Oh booo!

Now imagine the same scenario but now imagine PAW prints on every square foot of floor. You do the mop...you follow the instructions given by the flooring producer. Your floors look great when wet....but when they dry the paw prints RETURN! Whaaaaaaaat?

And to make things worse, the moment someone/dog steps foot on the floor, they leave prints once more.

I'm not trying to insult anyone here. In fact these issues come up again, and again, and again on Houzz. Vinyl, tile, cork, hardwood, laminate, etc. Anyone of the that has a LOW GLOSS finish have complaints. And the complaints are almost EXCLUSIVELY about how the floors never 'stay clean looking'.

Do yourself a favour and figure out if you are a 'clean-shiny' person (I am...but then again I couldn't careless if my floors look clean/dirty...I'm the worst housewife/woman in the WORLD!).

If you are (nothing wrong with it...it's who you are) then STAY AWAY from low-gloss ANYTHING.

Wood floors vs. Luxury Vinyl wood look

Comments (5)

jck910

kriii

Related Discussions

roarah

Patricia Colwell Consulting

SJ McCarthy

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US