Need to pick a TYPE of flooring, HELP! Vinyl/Laminate/Hybrid?

3 months ago

last modified: 2 months ago

We need to replace our carpet and linoleum/vinyl flooring, as it's almost 20 years old and looks it! We have some engineered hardwood in two rooms we will be leaving, as it's in OK shape. For the rest of the house, we are looking for something that will last a long time, as we probably will not be doing any more flooring after this, as we are 60, so it's got to last! We need advice on which one is best for a busy home with animals and lots of foot traffic and will last. We have been looking at some flooring and it is very confusing. The first place we looked at their vinyl and laminate and their vinyl was more expensive than their laminate. The next place we went to they said that what they need to put underneath the flooring makes the laminate more expensive than vinyl. The third place we went to had some new type of hybrid flooring! The flooring will not be going on concrete, we have a basement and in the southeast of the US. Under our existing vinyl and carpet, we think there is some kind of builder-grade sub-floor with some Luan under the vinyl. In our rooms with the engineered hardwood, our floor was not perfectly level and you can see it in there more than anywhere else in the house. We think the sub-floor got too wet during the build, as there were some extended delays. This is going to be a BIG expense for us. The most we have spent since we lived here, and I don't want to make a mistake, as our savings will be gone and we will have to live and die with it. If you need any more information just let me know and I will add it. If more options meet our needs that I have not considered, please let me know. I will probably make another post to pick out the color after we settle on the type. Thanks in advance.

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Comments (5)

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Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 months ago
I have both laminate and LVP we have huge dogs and a wood floor would have been already damaged beyond help . The laminate we have is from Germany is still looking like new 16 yrs later it looks like slate . The LVP is from HD not expensive it is in our walkout where the dogs have free run through a doggie door to a big dog run They are in and out all day in all kinds of weather at the end of the day I give the floor a quick wipe if it has been wet outside and done. The laminate on the ,mainf floor is everywhere even in the bathroom the dogs play hard sometimes and no scratches at all. The laminate is from Kronotex. yes it needed the underlay but that is not a huge expense . When we got our LVP it was early days for the product now there are lots of choices that are probably much better for wear. We installed ours with Dri core underneath now the LVP are either glued down with no backing or have the backing attached.. You will need to do some resaerch to find what works best for you.
teresatree thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
Jennifer Hogan
2 months ago
I wanted a flooring that would be low maintenance, easy to clean, work well with my dogs, also in my 60s and don't want to redo floors again. I eliminated wood and engineered wood due to scratching/water damage . . . I eliminated tile or natural stone because of the hardness. Had tile in my last home and my heels and legs hurt by bedtime. That left me with laminate or LVP/LVT.

I like the tile look so I chose an VLT.

Learned that the in house brands at stores under the CCA Global Partners umbrella were made by Coretec.

CCA includes Carpet One, Pro Source, The Floor Trader and Flooring America.

Each store has a different name for their in house brand, but it is the same flooring and same color selections. I did a google image search to find the name under each store.

The stores are independently owned and managed and had vastly different pricing. Since I was installing myself, I went with the one that had the lowest materials price. If I were going to have them install I would have gotten estimates from each of the local stores to find out which was the least expensive including install. I live in and Amish community so I don't have to question the work that will be done and can safely choose the least expensive. When I lived in other areas I would check that the company had good reviews and no BBB complaints.

I love my LVT and am very happy with my decision.

My sister did Mannington Adura Max LVT (Tile look) in her entry, dining room, kitchen, laundry, pantry and hallways 8 years ago and it looks like new.

We just helped my niece select flooring for her home an bought Mannington Adura Max Acaicia African Sunset LTP. We had narrowed the selection to 3 choices, but this was not only the nicest color, but the product had a better wear layer and just felt like a better quality product than the other 2 we looked at. Cannot tell you what they were, I do remember they were both less expensive than the Adura,

I had also looked at Karndean when I bought my flooring. It was more expensive, seemed like very high quality flooring. When I looked at the Coretec sample and the Karndean sample I liked the Coretec better, but would not have had any quality concerns about Karnean flooring.
teresatree thanked Jennifer Hogan
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We got our first LVT in December. We put it in the DR/LR/Entry and Hallway. We planned to put it into an office and a bedroom, but weren't ready to have the whole house torn up at once. We have liked it so much that we put it in that bedroom and the master and ordered more to do the previously planned office and the last bedroom. I would have gone with it in the kitchen too (mid-reno now) but DH wanted porcelain tile and won. We have two Australian Shepherds and a cat. We live in a dusty area. My Braava is one of my favorite things ever. I'm so excited to get a charging station in one of my kitchen cabinets! Con: We do have scratches. Most were our fault and could have been prevented. We weren't quick enough to protect the feet of our DR table and had a contractor sit and drag his chair with his weight on it. We protected everything we could with felt pads. Then one day we broke out folding chairs when we had a crowd...more scratches. Again, our fault. The felt pads are a pain, they fall off. When we put the house back together after this kitchen reno, we'll have to do a pad check. I know I've seen some renegade pads floating around. Pro: We left for vacation after just having some work done on the indoor part of our AC. We also left a painter in our house as we left for vacation. We came home, anxious to check the paint job in the hallway and saw/felt squish, squish, squish. The condensation pump on the AC had died (or been killed...since the AC guy only charged us for parts, I think he sorta admitted guilt). All the tile is fine but one piece that's notched at an outside corner in the hallway. The flooring guy was out measuring the kitchen and I said that that one has to be replaced. He said no, it was just trimmed to tight and if they just trimmed it and heated it to re-stick it, it'll be fine. Also in the flood was our one extra box of planks. He assures me they're fine, but I'm afraid to look. Ours is Karndean Knight Tile in Walnut (to me it looks more like Maple). Ours is very flat. My inlaws have some Shaw that's more textured (theirs goes with their house better and ours goes with ours better). Looking at theirs, I want to say theirs wouldn't scratch the way ours did, but I'm not going to test it out. Here is a link that might be useful: Karndean Knight Tile
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Ok...now the elephant in the room would like a word: Can you source the SAME floor? I mean the IDENTICAL floor? This is first and foremost your #1 priority. Everything after that is a moot point. Most 'man made' products (such as laminate and engineered hardwood) have a "shelf life" of 18 - 24 months. Your project was completed about 2.5 years ago. There is a greater chance that you will NOT find the original product vs. finding it. So....therein lies the rub. If you can source the original product, you can add it to the original floor at the junction where it stops. You may have to pull that last row if it is "cut" (you always need an intact tongue/groove to continue). The HDF core is what limits the "run" of a product - as well as the type of tongue and groove. The 31 linear feet is getting very close to "maximum" run. And the 31 linear feet would need to be the LONG EDGE of the plank...not the short edge. Go ahead and google your floor (you will need to have the box in front of you to find the maker and the "line" of your product). Punch in the "line" and then add "installation instructions" to the search engine and see what you get. Many HDF cores have a 30 - 35 ft maximum run....on the LONG edge. And the short edge can have a maximum run of 25 ft. These are "common" numbers we see with HDF core floors. And just so we are clear - laminate is inappropriate for a kitchen. It has a life expectancy of 3-7 years. The 'high end' laminates can reach 7 years....but then they can die a tragic death at the hands of the dishwasher. Good luck. First things first: find out if you can SOURCE your original floor. Without that identical floor, your question is only hypothetical.
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eld6161
2 months ago
last modified: 2 months ago
We are happy with our LVP floor by Coretec.

Start by deciding what shade you want. Are you okay with a busy floor or want one more subdued. Do you like a country look.

A popular Coretec is.Calypso Oak.

Search on Houzz for Coretec flooring. Many post will appear.
teresatree thanked eld6161
eld6161
2 months ago
Here is a quick search on Houzz

This is Calypso.

You can see actual homes and what people think of it.
teresatree
Original Author
2 months ago
Thanks, everyone! We went with the lvp by a company that came to our house and brought samples. I didn't know my husband scheduled them, but their quote was lower than Lowes.

Need to pick a TYPE of flooring, HELP! Vinyl/Laminate/Hybrid?

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Patricia Colwell Consulting

Jennifer Hogan

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Need to pick a TYPE of flooring, HELP! Vinyl/Laminate/Hybrid?

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Patricia Colwell Consulting

Jennifer Hogan

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