Who owns the apartment?

Did you know you should NEVER lay vinyl over top of FINISHED WOOD flooring? You will cause MORE DAMAGE than if you simply ripped out the parquet and did NOTHING. I'm not kidding.

To get vinyl plank over top of the FINISHED parquet...you must sand down the finish OFF the parquet. At that point you might as well just go the rest of the way and stain/finish once more.

If it were me, I would go with a mid-range Laminate. That's $2-$3/sf. Make sure it has cork underlayment (again...you do NOT want anything plastic or rubberized over top the wood) attached to it.

If you must have something new in the kitchen and the bathrooms (because you will create a tripping hazard) NOW YOU USE vinyl planks in a STONE or TILE look.

Voila. Done. Like. Dinner.

Remember: vinyl 'sounds' ideal until you try to put it over top of stuff like FINISHED WOOD flooring. Caveat Emptor. Buyer Beware.

Is there a specific product you can refer to me? I thought vinyl would be best because we like to clean our floors every week or so

I like the European laminates. All it takes is a quick visit to a REAL flooring store. Find one that works with European products (if you aren't finding it). Again, you are looking for a price range between $2-$6 per square foot for laminate.

The GOOD stuff is around $3/sf. The bad stuff is $0.79/sf...that's some nasty stuff.

A BAD vinyl is $3/sf. A GOOD vinyl is $9-$10/sf. Remember: a GOOD laminate $4/sf will OUTPERFORM a bad vinyl for the same price.

To clean your floors every weak = NO WET MOPPING. NO STEAM CLEANING. You can damp clean. That means you spray the CLEANER onto the MICROFIBRE mop head (never 'spray' or apply water directly onto a wood/vinyl/laminate floor) and push it around.

The most amount of 'cleaning' you should be doing with wood OR laminate = sweeping or 'dry dusting' the floors. That can be done every 2 days if you REALLY want to get rid of the dust.

A 'damp clean' really should be once per week. You only need 'water' most of the time. A cleaning agent is 1/MONTH.

What do you like to use on your wood?

We would use diluted pinesol to clean the floors. Is Home Depot a great option to look the planks? I’m from Canada and I think that is one of the stores I’m aware of with hardware and stuff.

I would never put anything on those gorgeous floors. Instead of covering them, I would price out refinishing them. Change the color of the stain, but do not remove or replace them with vinyl anything. If your driver is to match your floors to your couches, I would buy a rug that offers a buffer between the floors and the couches. A much less expensive solution. Or, I would replace your couches with more modern looking couches that compliment your very cool mid century floors. Those are back in style!

Which stain do you recommend? These floors are banged up and the landlord doesn’t do anything.

Yes, they are in rough shape. But first I would contact a floor refinishing company. Someone who can inspect the floor and see if it can be sanded down and the deeper marks removed. You have, potentially, a beautiful parquet floor there. If they say it can be done, ask them what they suggest for stain colors. You could go darker or lighter, actually, although what is on there now is pretty close to a natural finish, I think. There are people here who can advise your better than I can. But I would price out a refinishing option before I would have anything done to cover up these floors. You might also explore the option/price of area rugs to cover the worst portions of the floor if they are focused on one area.

I agree, kempek01. This is a rental. But, apparently, the land lord has allowed tenants to install vinyl flooring in the building (see above). A rug is the easiest and least expensive way to improve the space, given that it is a rental. But….

After 20 years, yes update the flooring if you want. I'm assuming you aren't moving any time soon. Talk to your landlord about splitting costs, in actuality your landlord should be covering all cost, especially after 20 years!!!!! Please do not put vinyl over the hardwood. Please listen to the other comments. The best thing would be to refinish the floor and you can choose a new color if you wish lighter or darker as mentioned. And then still get an area rug to add some personality to the space.
Good luck!

I would work with your landlord on having them refinished. It is to his advantage to maintain the property with the most valuable flooring that he already has. Are you in a rent controlled apartment? He may be less motivated to upkeep the apartment if has no hope of ever getting a real market rent….

Thank you everyone for your responses I will take it into consideration. I am looking into a grey light washed floor.

I'm in Canada. Home Depot rarely has anything valuable in stock. You look to be in a 'big enough' city to have a flooring store or two.

Pinesol is NO GO for wood floors. It is a finish-eater. Pinesol is TOO aggressive for wood. It should only be used for tile, concrete, glass, etc.

The dark purple/black scratches on the floor are where the finish is COMPLETELY gone. The 'black' comes from soil (ie dirt from the earth) hitting the raw wood and oxidizing. That's where the black comes from. A flooring expert can refinish those floors...so long as they are thick enough. If your landlord is a slum lord, then they won't do a darn thing.

Every province has it's tenancy act. The landlord is required to do maintenance on fixtures. A floor is a fixture.

Thank youuuuu soooo much. I will never use pine sil again.:)))