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Remodeling Flooring Design Dilemma

HELP! Wood look tile downstairs and LVP upstairs or all LVP

3 years ago

We just bought our forever house, and we can’t decide on the flooring (the current laminate is scratched and damaged in many areas, so it needs to be replaced. The carpet is also 20yrs old and stained).

We are trying to decide between 3 options:

1. Wood look porcelain tile downstairs and matching LVP upstairs.

2. Wood look tile downstairs and carpet upstairs.

3. Whole house LVP.

We really aren’t sure about carpet anywhere, as we have 3 kids and 2 dogs (labs). We also have a pool and the house is in Vegas. I do not want tile on the stairs. I’m torn between LVP bullnose or simply wood treads stained to match flooring. The stairs would provide a transition between flooring if we went with option #1, but would it look weird? We will have gray walls and want a brown flooring with a textured or hand-scraped look.

Cost is also a factor, as we are looking at 3000 sf. If we go with #3, can I find a durable LVP that won’t scratch for under $3/sf? I can find the tile I like for under $2/sf, but I would have to add mortar and grout costs, and most likely we would have to hire out installation. We installed LVP in our previous house ourselves, but due to being military we didn’t live in it long so I don’t know how well it holds up over time.

Any advice???

Comments (5)

SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
To install tile, the total costs can run $12 - $15 PER SQUARE FOOT!

To install vinyl the costs run around $9/sf (that includes $3-$5/sf for vinyl + $1/sf carpet removal + $2-$3/sf).

If you have limited funds, then tile downstairs is going to eat into your budget. Tile is the most expensive product to install. The cost of tile is roughly 20% of total cost. The subfloor preparation and the labour to install are MASSIVE costs.

Be aware the upstairs carpet is hiding some of the worst subfloors in the world. I would budget $2/sf for subfloor preparation upstairs. Downstairs over concrete...it could be higher...assuming the original owners didn't do much work under the laminate.

If you go with whole home vinyl you are looking at total costs of roughly $10/sf all in. The stairs are going to be the expensive part. They can add another 10% - 20% onto your budget for them to be resurfaced.
Ana Gutierrez
last year
last modified: last year
Hello, we are almost in the same scenario as you described. What did you all decide? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Renovations can certainly be stressful when you’re not sure where to turn! Here are few recommendations from our team that identify the best flooring for the space. 1 & 2. We love a nice plush carpet, but if you are looking to carpet your entire upstairs we wouldn’t recommend a plush option. Although great for the bedroom, extra plush carpet wouldn’t be as ideal in the office – where you may want to roll an office chair – or for the walkway and stairs – which is more of a high-traffic area. And we wouldn’t recommend mixing and matching carpet that butt up to each other from a design standpoint. Therefore, we would suggest our Anso Colorwall - Gold Texture – as it is a smart choice for higher traffic areas. LVP is growing exponentially in popularity. If you’re looking at luxury vinyl plank options for the main floor you may want to check out Floorté, which is our enhanced vinyl plank. The collection boasts highly authentic hardwood and tile looks with products that are strong, durable, flexible and waterproof. Vinyl flooring is resistant to water, mildew and stains so it's a great flooring choice to handle all the activity of the main level. If you are set on having a glue-down, our locally made Uptown Now collection has many lovely designs. Hope this information helps as you make many decisions in the coming weeks!
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Will the real hardwood and LVP interact anywhere? (like a staircase) Faux wood next to real wood never really looks good but since they're on different floors it should be okay. Where you live really impacts the decision. If you live in a colder climate, not having carpet under your feet when you wake up might not be as comfortable. Carpet also dampens noise so you hear less downstairs. Really it's a personal decision, neither is going to hurt your home value.
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We have both in different situations. We're in the south with a pool and a dog. We had dark wood-look tile installed in our den in 2011. It looks great but is dark so the fur from our white long-haired dog is always there (but loved!). We had skinny grout lines and also chose grout that was darker than the tile. It is still lighter than the dark tile. (I was told you can use a Sharpie to make the grout darker but I'm afraid of that). We also had lighter wood-look tile installed in our master around 2015 and it also is great. We have a lesser expensive condo with LVP, no dogs, medium color. This is the best color for not showing dirt, pet fur, etc. It looks fine as long as it is broken up with area rugs. For a long expanse it looks "cheaper." I would see what similar homes in your area have. Both are better than carpet. If you do wood-look tile try to get them to do very skinny grout lines to look more like wood.
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@Lindsay K, I do remember older sheet vinyl would sometimes have a strong odor. I made a comment regarding LVP off gassing in another thread. I'll copy it here: ...I am SUPER sensitive to any off - gassing and smells or odors! I once could not get out of bed for over a week. Finally traced it to a mattress topper (made from a petrolleum based product). Even after it was removed from our bed, just rolled up in the corner of the bedroom, it affected me. It took me over a week to recover after it was completely removed from our house! All that to say - we laid 750 sq ft of SuperCore Xtreme - NOT a single problem with odor, off-gassing or anything! We used Asheville Xtreme. I wasn't thrilled with the color when I picked it. Just the process of elimination. Now that it's down - LOVE it! Just enough knots for character. Great neutral color. (Website pics on SuperCore.com are not a good representation, IMO.) I have mentioned in other comments - it's in our lower level where people come in from a sandy beach. After a full summer, NOT a single scratch. Mops easy - no spotting, no smears, just clean. 14 adults and 15 grandchildren almost every weekend!! I do not know about other brands of LVP.
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PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
LVP is never a forever kind of material and in an upscale home, it is misplaced.

I suspect the laminate in your home was very inexpensive and did not have a wear layer good enough to withstand dogs and kids. Besides it was too shiny for the home in general.

I would consider a classic color porcelain wood look tile or a better wood look laminate.
RedRyder
last year
@Ana Gutierrez: It’s least worth your time to research engineered wood. It’s not as expensive as people think and many handy homeowners are able to install it. It also goes over some types of existing floors. It looks the richest, especially if a medium brown is your preference.

Laminate floors are the least durable and the worst in a wet climate. Any flooding, even a little, will ruin it.

Luxury vinyl tile gets great reviews. The better products look more like wood than laminates.

All of these can be bought in planks that are not hard to install. Tile, as was well pointed out, is ridiculously expensive and hardest on your back. Most vinyl will survive the dogs pretty well. I know a family with two Rhodesian Ridgebacks who installed luxury vinyl in the bedroom and bathroom of their twins’ suite. The mother wishes she had a reason to put it around the whole house.

Do your research. Ask questions at flooring places so someone knowledgeable can answer about durability and dog-nail scratching. You can shop for bargains after you get all the information together. Don’t go to big box stores yet.
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
If you check on this forum, there are people already replacing their LVF after a few years. Depending on the installation, they can become hard to clean, be wavy on the floor and water can lift them over time.

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