I was going to go with engineered hard wood--BR111, amendiom fooring. I LOVE it. It is beautiful. I went back and forth to the stone yard, etc., to make sure it was the one I truly wanted to go with my kitchen cabinets and granite. Then, I heard the final quote from Lowe's for my kitchen, dining and living room area and hallway, which desperately needs new flooring. I figured since I was redoing the kitchen I may as well....I also wanted to eventually do hardwoods in those rooms as they are all open to each other. I wanted to make sure the the hardwood would be the same dye lot, etc. I was going to go with the engineered hardwood in the kitchen, dining area, living room (it is all one big room) and the hallway area. The quote for the engineered hard wood, materials and labor was almost $10,000! That was a far cry from the $3700 Lowe's first quoted me (of course, not on paper). I could have just cried! Now I am too looking at laminate again. I have had wood laminate in the kitchen, (before the demo), and the bathrooms and laundry room. I have an Armstrong one that looks like tile--25 year warrenty. My CG hates laminate, but he won't live with it (I will be the one, not him) nor will he install it. His, in his house, was ruined by a water leak in his kitchen. He has forever sworn off the stuff. I have had my wood laminate for about 5 years. I have loved it! It is easy to clean and maintain. Still looks new. If there is a ding in it, it comes with a putty kit to fill in the ding. I have only had one ding, put in by the installer! I don't have small children nor pets, however, my neighbor has wood laminate in her entry way, dining and living room area. She loves it and has grandchildren and a rather large golden. It looks great and she loves the upkeep as it is very easy. I really, really wanted the engineered wood for resale value. Once you see the depth of real wood, it is hard to go back to a "picture" of wood. It just doesn't have the same depth. The installer who came out to measure my house stated to go middle of the road with the warrenty for engineered wood. Don't pay more for the 25 year one, go for the 15 year one. Said the finish was the same for engineered wood, only difference as the thickness of the wood. He stated in 15 years, I would probably be tired of it anyway and would want a change. Also, even the 25 year warrenty floors will show wear and tear after 15 years. (Don't you hate the "throw away" mentality? But I probably won't be living in this house in 15 years and will be in a skilled nursing facility by then) However, you can refinish the thicker engineered wood a couple of times if you want. So, I am looking at the Pergo and Armstrong wood laminate floors. For the Pergo floors for the 30 year wood laminate, it does have a thicker coating on it. I took a screw to the samples this morning to see how they scratched. I didn't press real hard, but no scratches--or at least none that I could see. I am looking at a medium tone walnut. I do know that when I have inadvertantly dropped things on my wood laminate in the kitchen in the past, (glass bottles of things like grapeseed oil) they didn't break. They would have on real tile and I would have had to worry about keeping the grout clean. Ugh! So, I am trying to soothe my broken heart with the laminate and will ask again why the engineered wood (same price as the laminate or cheaper) costs so much more to install. I know they do level the cement slab prior to install. My GC stated one of his wood floor people he uses, could install a distressed wood floor in my kitchen for about $500 total cost for material and labor. I just didn't like the "distressed" floor samples he had. I am very tired of the country look and am going for the transitional look instead. I have done country for the past 35 years. I need a change! I have a very small kitchen and the flooring size is about 9 X 8 feet. Lowe's price was $1600 for the cheaper (15 year warrenty) engineered wood (materials and labor)! I am not sure the person there knew what she was talking about. Stated the vinyl that came with the house, which is glued to the slab floor of the kitchen would have to come up for the wood floor to go down. Then she was stating it might have asbestos! I said, oh please, it is the same cheap stuff they happen to have as one of their samples at the store! I thought the last part in my head and didn't state that out loud. I don't know what haz mat thing she was thinking! I showed her the cheap vinal I had. I asked if Lowe's sold something that had asbestos in it. I still may have to go with carpet in the dining and living room from Lowe's. They are having a special right now and I am just broke from my remodel of the kitchen. I will find out the cost of the laminate this morning when I am over there in a few minutes. I am sad about the whole thing. I was so happy to have finally made up my mind on the engineered wood. It really was going to be very pretty.

Plastic does not last a lifetime. What utter crap. Take windows. Wood, single-pane windows will easily last 100 years with maintenance. Vinyl windows will last no more than 20. Hardwood floors can be refinished 3-4x and scraped and recoated innumerable times, also frequently lasting well over 100 years. LVP? 20 is a HUGE stretch. Try 5, 10 if you're lucky. People use plastic because they have been sold on the fact that it is "durable" and "low maintenance" and "cheaper," which may be true if you're speaking in terms of 5 or 10 years. But the costs - actual and environmental - are much higher when you acknowledge that its life cycle is much shorter than natural wood products that can last 3-10x longer. Then add in the fact that manufacturing new plastic on that shorter cycle is terrible for the environment, too, and the real costs become obvious. The idea that LVP is used in "high end" homes is an odd one. Where I live, it's only used in the basement of high-end houses, where hardwood obviously isn't suitable. It would be a huge red flag to see LVP anywhere on the main floors of a house, even under $1m.

Just a follow up... I ended up using Life Proof LVP. This is a Home Depot product. I was very hesitant at first but after a very convincing employee and reading lots of positive reviews I went with it. The price point was about half of Coretec. I was able to select a color and style that look almost identical to a Coretec sample. . It’s been in for 6 months and I love it! The contractor made sure that all concrete below was perfectly level as this is a floating floor. Install was done professionally but did not seem too taxing. No sub floor products were necessary. No scratching or dents . I recommend you look at options. I’m happy I did .

Your worry is about leaks in the pipes that damage any wood floors. So, get a whole house leak detector and get the hardwood - engineered or otherwise. I just ordered this: https://www.phyn.com/product/ . The other one that is highly recommended is Flo by Moen. They detect leaks through pressure changes and typical water usage. Also under the dishwasher put a dishwasher drip pan and buy a dishwasher that has a water shut off if it detects a leak. The drip pan channels the water to the front of the DW so that you will see the water before damage is done. https://www.amazon.com/Eastman-EZF70486-70486-Dishwasher-Black/dp/B00WQRKDNY/ref=asc_df_B00WQRKDNY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167125770928&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2371089925326721163&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032027&hvtargid=pla-312054148738&psc=1 I just installed 1700 sq ft of engineered flooring and I don't want to do it again due to water leaks. So I am doing the above. If there was a pan for the refrigerator, I would put one there too. But, the leak detector should solve most of my worries. I live in East Bay and houses move and I was told that engineered wood can tolerate that better than hardwood. In the laundry I installed vinyl planks which I have to say, I really love as it is super easy to clean up, no worries about water damage. It is a gray plank and weirdly I have gotten compliments from neighbors thinking it was "real wood"...