Another thing to consider when looking at the engineered floors is plank length. I just realized why I didn't like some of the photos I saw ... they had too many short pieces which gives the floor a choppy look and to me, it looks too much like a tile effect. The Uptown Floors suggested above sound great, and I will look at them more closely, but they still have "shorter" board (12" to 8 ft). I am looking at another company with board lengths from 3 ft to 12 ft. Those longer boards make a big difference in the overall look in a larger open floor plan. The longer boards do cost more, so I need to do some more comparisons and value of spending more for a more pleasing look. Their other specs are mostly similar. I think floors are going to be my hardest decision!

Thought I would also update this thread since it popped back up. We moved into our new build 2 months ago and ended up choosing engineered wood for most of the house, except the mudroom, laundry room and their connecting long back hallway, which got tile. I can close this area off and the dogs stay here if we are gone for several hours. Their food and water is also kept in the laundry room. The floors are Duchateau - Riverstone collection - Sava color. So far they have not shown any scratches from the dogs making the crazy run to the front door when they hear the doorbell and/or fedex! The floors have a rustic look and slight texture that will make it easier to hide any scratches and dents.

LVT/LVP is simply another choice. Not right or wrong. I bought a fixer with a lot of old, bare thin carpet. I have a dog and didn't want carpet. I had tile for 20+ years and my joints could not take tile any more, but I like the look of tile, so I bought LVT. I am very happy with my selection. My niece removed all of the carpet from her 100 year old home and refinished the hardwoods that were found underneath. It looks beautiful and she is happy with the results. Her brother liked the look and went with engineered hardwood in his home. My sister built a home in a fairly exclusive neighborhood. Most of her neighbors wouldn't consider anything less than real hardwoods. My sister had real hardwood in her last home and wanted a different look and less maintenance. She went with a combination of LVT in the kitchen, dining room, hallway and laundry, tile in the bathrooms and carpet in the living spaces and bedrooms. Amazingly, her home won the "Best Design" in the annual best new homes contest that is held every year in our area. Maybe her home won because her home didn't look like every other new home built that year. My daughter replaced the carpet and engineered wood in her home. She selected wood look tile. She loves the look of hardwood, but she owns an 8 1/2 acre farmette, has 3 dogs, 3 horses and chickens. She can wet mop the entire space without a worry. I have another friend in Florida who picked LVP over engineered hardwood or real hardwood due to the moisture resistance of LVP. When selecting the finishes for your home, don't concern yourself with what everyone else has, pick the materials and styles that best fit your budget and your lifestyle and colors that make your heart sing. Make your home a place that will bring you joy every time you walk through the front door.

I don’t agree that LVP is not a good choice for basements. We used it because we have a walk out that goes to a free access dog run with 3 big dogs and the other entry is to the pool so lots of traffic with wet feet, muddy feet and at the end of the day a quick mop and it looks like new 12 yrs later . Hardwood would have by now looked like garbage from dog nails and water left sitting. IMO you choose flooring to stand up to your lifestyle not because some imaginary buyer will like it better. We have always had floors that are not real wood because we will always have big dogs and no matter how careful you are they can do some real damage to wood floors.