Carpet in a bathroom......just nasty for many reasons. Gross!

Hope I can help with some of your concerns.

We just removed all of our remaining carpeting in hall and bedrooms (had an older dog with hip issues, so waited) and I can’t tell you how happy we are.

When lifting carpet, I was shocked how much dirt there was, even though I vacuumed weekly and shampooed yearly. It’s so much easier to keep clean and gives peace of mind in regards to air quality and health/allergies.

- We have added a large area rug in master, smaller bed side rugs in the other bedrooms, a runner in hallway which reduces noise in a high traffic area, and a large rug at front door.

- Regarding softness, there are all kinds of area rugs that are thicker.

- In bathroom(s), consider heated floors and a soft rug at sink.

- We have a large walk in closet and I love that I can quickly wipe up the floors and reduce dust.

Look at Ruggable. They make area rugs that have a top part you can "peel" off and throw in the washer. Great for pet "oopsies" or kid "oopsies", and they have lots of styles/colors. Caveat: I have not purchased any of these yet, as we're in the very early stages of our build, but I have been looking at them and plan to try them when we get into our new house. I think you're making the right decision. Carpet is much harder to keep clean and can be downright nasty before you even realize it. We are doing all hardwoods and tile in our custom build, no carpet whatsoever.

If anyone battles allergies, non-carpetted ( not a real word! ) floors are so much better as well. I can't wait to get rid of mine.

Don't panic - I'm sure it will be beautiful - everyone goes through this phase of second guessing everything they did!

I really dislike carpet, so if I did not have all wood floors, I would easily go LVP.

If your worried about cold floors.......everyone gets a pair of really cozy slippers :-)

If you are in Texas, you are probably building on a reinforced cement slab. Solid finish floors (wood, tile, LVP) will be very comfortable in the summer, and slightly cool in the winter. Area rugs in main rooms and smaller rugs in key areas should make the house very comfortable, and also make it easier to clean up any messes.

Most carpet companies have a big display of remnants that are usually 12' wide and up to about 20' long. They will cut it to length and bind the edges to make a large area rug.

Bruce

I am voting for crazy, not because of the flooring but because it is Friday.

@anj_p, @Bruce in Northern Virginia, @Debbi Washburn, @Emily, @Maureen, @SJ McCarthy, and @Rehabit, I wanted to thank you all for your helpful words! We will stick with the LVP and I'm not freaking out anymore. We'll look into carpet tiles or Ruggable or binding carpet edges. You have all made me feel much, MUCH better. <3

What LVP did you pick?

@Indecisiveness It's called "Beltway Willowbrook," though the product photo on the manufacturer's site doesn't look very accurate imo. Here's the photo I took of it at the design center, which I think represents it pretty accurately. (As well as the rest of our kitchen colors.)

A lot of my inspiration came from this kitchen below, though I dislike different-colored islands. Ours will be the same white as the cabinets (which is SW snowbound). Walls are SW agreeable gray with snowbound trim.

I love how the LVP looks, though one challenge I'm discovering is that not much is this color. E.g., I wanted ceiling fans with wooden blades, but our builder didn't offer any options that came close to matching it - they were all too red. (Admittedly, they didn't offer many ceiling fan options period.) We ended up with this one:

You'll be fine. Gray matching gray when the two are 8-9 ft apart is pretty easy. So long as they are in the same tones...you should be fine.

Do you have an accent colour you want to work with?

@SJ McCarthy Thanks. :) In terms of accent color, the short answer is that we don't have one yet. My plan was to let that be dictated by the new pieces I want to add if I find something I really like. E.g., maybe I love an area rug with red or teal or whatever, and then I build the rest of the decor around that. We've been in crappy apartments for most of our lives with hand-me-down furniture and a few nicer pieces, and most is beige or brown. So I think that should give us flexibility to add color when inspiration strikes and then build around that.

Our current master bedroom, which is the only room I've ever had that really has a cohesive color scheme, is whites/creams/beiges. I had planned to get some wall art to go over the bed in a bright color and then add some other flourishes (vases, lampshades) in that same color family. But in California you can't really put anything over your bed that has weight to it because of the earthquakes, and I had a lot of trouble finding exactly what I wanted. So that room has remained just white/cream/beige, though I like that it feels clean.

I've also always liked the idea of hanging quilts on the wall, though I prefer a more modern/whimsical style than a country look. So I might wait to find one that I like and build around that.

Also, I really have no idea what I'm doing. Feel free to make suggestions. :D

You won’t regret your LVP. In our former house we replaced carpeted rec room with LVP. That was our main entertaining space. So easy to clean before and after parties- kids or adults- all the messes. No regrets. New home will LVP in most all the room.

We’ve been slowly pulling the carpet and laminate out of our house and replacing with LVP. Best. Decision. Ever. I wish we could have done it years earlier, when we had more pets (4 of those) and younger kids (5 of those.)

Temperature wise, in our house that isn’t very energy efficient in a cold climate, I find the LVP to be no colder than our carpeting was, and warmer than our laminate was. The area rug in our living area (open floor plan) makes things comfy cozy.

We’re shopping builders right now, and absolutely plan to do LVP.

I have pads under all of my area rugs - adds cushioning and increases the life of the rug.

We recently moved from an all-carpet home to all-wood floors home and I was nervous about it too. We have rugs in each bedroom, living room, and sunroom with rug pads so we can still lay on the rugs as comfortably as we did with carpet - This was especially nice for our kids (one who was learning to walk). After 1.5 years I've gotta say it's our new normal.

Also, shortly after moving, we got a puppy. There were several accidents on the living room rug and sunroom rug so we removed them for a time until he learned to go on the pee pad. It was an uncomfortable month but he learned quickly and life has been normal ever since. Even after the rugs were back down we kept the pee pads out and he went on those. We also kept bedroom doors closed but that was more so he wouldn't eat the kid's toy. Now that he's over that chewing phase we keep the doors open but he seems more tentative to go into their rooms without someone else there inviting him in. He seems to understand his boundaries.

**Side note: I love our original hardwood floors but with young kids and pets, kinda wish we had LVP so I wouldn't have to care as much with water, scratches, etc.

RE your concern about assembly or other projects on a hard floor:

I have hardwood throughout my small house and so I bought an inexpensive moving blanket (from Harbor Freight) that I toss down when I need a softer surface to protect both the project and the floor. And, I have a cushion (kind of like the old Girl Scout sit-upon) that I use for sitting or kneeling as I work.

You are overthinking all of this. Get the non-carpet floor and just put down area rugs in places. About the dog pee -- the dog will keep going to the place it has gone before - because of the smell. Be sure to get the odor out of any area rug. Maybe in the areas where the dog tends to go put down an outdoor rug that is meant to be hosed off and just take it outside to clean it (there are some pretty ones). Better yet, take the time to retrain the dog, and get a doggie door.

We're replacing our yucky carpets w/LVP, and I'm excited. Between pet accidents and hair balls...I just can't anymore w/carpet. I wear slippers all year b/c my feet hurt. I don't register the floors being cold. I'm in Iowa.

@Tara Thanks for the suggestion! We actually have a dog door now, but our dog prefers to pee on our carpet than go outside. And I'm actually quite familiar with dog training principles and have used them to great success many times - it's just that with two parents working from home and dealing with the trials and difficulties of a new baby, we just haven't had the time to prioritize what needs to be done. Life is hard sometimes, and now is one of those times. So there's a lot of cleaned-up pee on our carpet. :(

I feel your pain, but I am pet-less now . . . and happy.

The thought of carpet in a bathroom makes me cry a bit.....I thought the commercial carpet in our house when we bought it was a horrible Petri dish.

we torn out nearly 3,000 sq ft of new-ish carpet from our home over the course of several years. Purchased from an older couple, grown kids and no pets. Oye the dirt underneath! We did wood and love it years later.

We know many people that have done LVP in new construction and remodel projects. Based on their (all) year positive reviews, we put it down in a cottage renovation. I, a confessed wood floor snob, cannot believe how good it looks.

I was hesitant too, but took the plunge. put it everywhere even bathrooms. I have not looked back. Had a washer explode water all through laundry and kitchen. No problem just mop it up and good as new. If I had put laminate or carpet I'd be pulling it all out again. So many times happy it's everywhere.

Dog pee? Ick. I would get rid of the dog. LOL. No animal pee on my floors. I would never tolerate that.

He would never! He just likes to get in pictures

Hi all! for everyone that has LVP in their whol house, any issues with echoing or the house being louder in general? I also want to rip out all the carpet in our house and replace with LVP but my husband is nervous about the noise level (and 2 dogs running ). Thanks!!

My LVP is much quieter than the laminate flooring I had before. It’s almost soundless. You can hear the pups claws click clacking, but no echoes.

Noise levels will change when you change your flooring, but it would matter what sort of flooring it is. Echos are softened by area rugs , runners, furniture etc.

Ever watch the home shows when they look at a house with no furniture in it? They always echo.

I sell alot of LVT/P and no one has ever told me it makes more noise.

Good luck!!

Has the "crazy" part been confirmed or repudiated yet?

Slippers and area rugs. There are lots of well priced rugs out there. Wait for the sales. You won’t be sorry, especially if you’re feet are in slippers. Floors super easy to take care of, and rugs create warmth and absorb sound.

• Your. (My inner English major is cringing at inability to edit/correct in Houzz).

@Sarah Did you have your LVP installed? I’d love to see pictures if you can’t post some. Are you happy with it? I’m thinking of going with the same product & color. Thanks!

@R C Sadly, our house won't be finished til late summer! However, I might be able to help some. I have a photo from a model home from our builder, and I showed this photo to the design team and said "I want this flooring." They couldn't verify which one was in the photo with certainty, but it probably is this same one because nothing else looked similar and this photo wasn't taken that long ago. There's probably some photoshopping happening here as well, since these are obviously marketing photos, but this photo is what made me go this route.

@RC, for some reason Houzz won't let me @mention you, so I don't know if you'll see this. But they installed the flooring today, and I recalled that you wanted to see it. It looks good! I love it! I think it'll look somewhat lighter when there are more than zero lights on. My MIL had hardwood floors for decades and when she saw this today she couldn't believe how real it looked. It also significantly reduced the echo in the big living room.

@sarah I don't think the house mobile app lets you tag people? I love your flooring. I'm glad you're happy with it. We're building a 2200 square foot home and we decided to go LVP throughout. This is the first time we've had a house with no carpets in the bedrooms; I'm looking forward to it. I'm so excited about buying rugs and being able to change those out every couple years.

As far as your dog and house training you might look at other issues such as Addison's or Cushing's disease which have urination as a symptom. Both are stress related diseases and all it takes is a test. Are dachshund was diagnosed with Addison's earlier this year which means that she can't create enough cortisol to manage her stress and urination was part of that.

@Sarah the floors look amazing. We are going to do LVP throughout our new build too. What brand and color did you choose?

No.

@Renee According to our paperwork, it's "Beltway Willowbrook." I'm assuming Beltway is the manufacturer and Willowbrook is the color/style, but really I have no idea! Also it's very fortunate I got those photos right after they installed, because 24 hours later they had covered the floors with paper (presumably to protect them from future construction work). I'll attach another photo here, though really it will look much lighter when the lights aren't all off. I'll also attach a photo showing how it looked in the design center lighting, which is closer to how I expect it to look in our house lighting.

@sarah thank you so much Sarah!! We have the same taste! I love your pics!! I’ll see if I can search those names. We haven’t meet with our designer yet. I am just trying to do my homework. Best of luck on everything!!

@Renee They just hooked up the electricity yesterday, and now I have a photo with the lights on. This gives a much more accurate impression of the flooring (also our awesome bathtub was installed!). This is the only room where they haven't papered over the flooring yet. Wall color is SW Agreeable Gray and the trim is SW Snowbound.

Ouch! I hope you are young and flexible LOL! I am 65, and while I could get in there, I sure would not want to have to. I mean, it looks cool...but I would have to pass on that. Floor looks great!

@Chessie The irony is that we actually don't even take baths! The default option was a built-in bathtub surrounded by a rectangular tiled edge, and I knew we'd be bonking our knees and calves into the corners every time we walked into our closets. Similar to this one:

So we upgraded to a freestanding just so we could avoid the bruises! Though looking at it now that it's installed, it kind of makes me want to take a bath after all.

@sarah….LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Love everything!!

Baths are the best!!

Sarah did you put tile in other bathrooms or LVP?

@Renee LVP everywhere! The whole house (except the exterior tile in the front and back).

I think it looks great and I agree with everyone else on the rugs! We are also putting LVP in our entire downstairs. Carpet will be upstairs just because I don't want it to sound like a herd of elephants when my kids are playing, but did no carpet downstairs.

@S P Thanks! We're single story, but I think if we had two we probably would have done something similar.

@sarah we are doing the same thing!!!! I’m glad I’m not the only one that is doing it in the whole house.