Flooring choice, not for the garage

[andyvh1959]

Getting further on my kitchen remodel, which includes new flooring. And the flooring will continue into the dining room, down the main hall all the way back to the bedrooms. Vynil flooring is all the rage these days and yet I feel thicker hardwood is the choice. At Home Depot I talked to the local flooring "expert" to review hickory, maple or bamboo flooring versus the variety of vynil. He said vynil for sure for durability and ease of installation, waterproof, all that. Plus it goes down much more easily, locking together, with the damper backing. Solid wood of course means glueing it down, or nails/staples, and finishing.

I did find a vynil planking product I liked for the color and surface texture, so it didn't look like a printed product with no grain texture. It has variety of color and texture looking closer to actual wood. It also was 10mm thick and had the thickest "wood" surface on the base material. We plan to sell the house within five years. So I will likely go the quality vynil choice. Anyone out there with actual experience with vynil planking floor products? Any input is appreciated.

 

[The Cobbler]

I used to install LVP when I was doing contract work for rentals . we used the glue down so panels could easily be changed , it was faster to install than click and more. one other thing I like about the glue down is you can use off cuts on either end, because there's no tabs to contend with. it's also not as reliant on flat floors ( it has more tolerance)
I would use glue down in my own house.
every manufacturer of flooring product claims there's is better than the other guys. basically look for wear thickness , wear ratings and pick a colour you like .

 

[housewolf]

Like almost everything, it’s a battle of trade offs. I had wood in my last house. I put it down myself 30 years ago and when we left it still looked great, worn but looked great. We built a new house in 2020 and had two chances to go with wood but went with vinyl, the first floor was warrantied. We didn’t glue it down but I wish we had. It is very tough, easy to maintain, and looks “nice”. Wood looks and sounds better. If I knew for sure I’d get the same performance out of a wood floor as I did the last time, I’d be all over it but who knows with pre finished planks.

We have two dogs. They spend most of their time outdoors but do come in at night. I believe there’s a good chance they’d destroy the finish on a wood floor in short order. In four years they haven’t put any wear on the vinyl.

 

[m6z]

I've had tile, wood, engineered wood, carpet and vinyl.

For me, it'll be tile or wood moving forward.

 

[billconner]

I'm in the wood camp, full 23/32 t&g. I used the pre finished in last two rooms and plan to use it on all of second floor. EXCEPT, in kitchen, I used cork tiles and really like it. A little resilient and easy maintenance. I would have used it in hall and front entrance except did not want to rip up ceramic by previous owner.

 

[txvwnut]

If the the boss and I ever move or she talks me into redoing the kitchen and bath floors i'm going with linoleum in those rooms. The rest of the house is t&g oak hardwood and I'd do it in a new house build as well.

 

[jar944]

Tile or 3/4 solid hardwood.

I would not consider vinyl regardless of the "luxury" they added to the name

 

[andyvh1959]

The kitchen floor is currently 2" tile that I installed back in 2004. Held up well, but over time and my elderly cat having pee issues in his final days the grout has discolored. But the tile also doesn't work color wise for our remodel, so out it goes.

My BIL heard about my floor project and of course he had to interject (tell me) what I should do, though he doesn't do any of the work himself. He is adamant about only using commercial grade vynil sheet stock in a kitchen. One, for the durability as commercial grade is likely thicker, though less styles are available. Two, he says no matter the way the floor planks lock togther a seam means a leak path. Now, he may be right to a point, but I think the most current interlocking floor planks seal mush better than they used to do. Also if I use the interlocking vynil floor planks in the kitchen I could also seal the seams with some product.

But he also doesn't like my sister to use the over to bake anything because in their kitchen the electric oven is right next to the fridge, and he is nut-zoid that running the oven will mess up the operation of the fridge. Again, he has a bit of a point, and any kitchen design guide says to not place the oven next to the fridge. But really, for intermittent, maybe 1/2 hour a day use if that much, can't hurt the fridge operation. He should just push a sheet rigid pink insulboard between the oven and fridge.

 

[duneslider]

As one who was a flooring contractor. I would only put tile and hardwood in my own house. (I do have a small amount of carpet).

I will be putting some sort of an engineered product in the basement when I finish it but it will most likely not be LVT. However, if I was only going to be in a house for 5 years I would probably not want to invest in a nicer floor.

 

[mike93lx]

Getting people to call plastic flooring "luxury" was a huge win for the industry. People seem to believe it.

Hardwood

 

[jar944]

The kitchen floor is currently 2" tile that I installed back in 2004. Held up well, but over time and my elderly cat having pee issues in his final days the grout has discolored. But the tile also doesn't work color wise for our remodel, so out it goes.

My BIL heard about my floor project and of course he had to interject (tell me) what I should do, though he doesn't do any of the work himself. He is adamant about only using commercial grade vynil sheet stock in a kitchen. One, for the durability as commercial grade is likely thicker, though less styles are available. Two, he says no matter the way the floor planks lock togther a seam means a leak path. Now, he may be right to a point, but I think the most current interlocking floor planks seal mush better than they used to do. Also if I use the interlocking vynil floor planks in the kitchen I could also seal the seams with some product.

But he also doesn't like my sister to use the over to bake anything because in their kitchen the electric oven is right next to the fridge, and he is nut-zoid that running the oven will mess up the operation of the fridge. Again, he has a bit of a point, and any kitchen design guide says to not place the oven next to the fridge. But really, for intermittent, maybe 1/2 hour a day use if that much, can't hurt the fridge operation. He should just push a sheet rigid pink insulboard between the oven and fridge.

How much liquid does he expect to spill on the floor?

As for the oven, if it gets hot enough on the sides to cause problems with an adjacent refrigerator there are far more serious issues.

 

[legenddc]

We've had our "luxury" vinyl plank flooring for just over 2 years now on our whole main floor and the whole basement excluding my shop. So far it's held up very well for us with two kids running around. My biggest complaints are because it's so thin you can feel any irregularities under it and the texture can sometimes cause dirt to stay, even after you vacuum.

That being said, it's held up well to all the abuse my family has thrown at it and there are only two scratches, both our faults. Sometimes ice cubes are dropped and left to melt on our kitchen floor and it doesn't seem to leak through the floor, even overnight. Obviously we try not to let water just sit on the floor but accidents happen with two kids.

I'm not saying it's the right choice for everyone. We had to replace our floors and wanted something that could also be in our basement, be durable enough for our kids (4 and 6 at the time) and fit the style/value of our house and neighborhood. In 10 years if we're still here and need to redo the floors I could see moving to hardwood and making all 3 levels have the same flooring.

 

[Rusted Nut]

Our current home is 10 years old, and has some sort of builder grade vinyl plank flooring. It’s held up really well, still looks new. A couple of small bubbles where the dishwasher leaked, other than that it looks brand new. Hardly any wear showing, even by front door. We wear shoes inside. Honestly I’m shocked it looks as good as it does.

 

[dcg9381]

Getting people to call plastic flooring "luxury" was a huge win for the industry. People seem to believe it.

Hardwood

It's actually a lot better than the old plastic floors were. You can certainly tell if you look close enough, but it's not terrible.

I won't use any type of hardwood in areas where you might get water, including a kitchen. Even engineered hardwood has issues.

I used this product in our home (and in the kitchen): https://www.califloors.com/blog/introducing-geowood

Before I bought it, I took a sample and soaked it in a bucket of water for 3 weeks. It's a composite core, a 1mm of hardwood laminate, then has a hardened finish. It's probably in the same class as "engineered hardwood" for aesthetics, but it's hard to scratch (if you have pets) and it's going to handle water.

 

[mike93lx]

It's actually a lot better than the old plastic floors were. You can certainly tell if you look close enough, but it's not terrible.

I won't use any type of hardwood in areas where you might get water, including a kitchen. Even engineered hardwood has issues.

I used this product in our home (and in the kitchen): https://www.califloors.com/blog/introducing-geowood

Before I bought it, I took a sample and soaked it in a bucket of water for 3 weeks. It's a composite core, a 1mm of hardwood laminate, then has a hardened finish. It's probably in the same class as "engineered hardwood" for aesthetics, but it's hard to scratch (if you have pets) and it's going to handle water.

I'm not saying it's junk, but it's definitely not "luxury".

I have hardwood in my kitchen and while it's not my first choice, it's held up well for 20 years

 

[Fav Onefour]

Speaking to Vinyl plank question. I've done a half dozen projects with lay down style. Have not used glue down.
I've seen quite a variety in the flooring even from the same brand.
@andyvh1959 , Try one test with the style you like. Set out a couple pieces on a nice flat surface and lock them together. Seam profiles vary quite a bit. The steep dippy doo seams are harder to keep clean. I'd also give the planks a clang test. Some of the thick surface versions are extremely hard. I'm not a fan of that characteristic for my own home. It's noisy and feels "cheaper". Looks alone are not enough to decide in my book.

The lay and lock stuff I've done is incredibly easy. Make sure the floor is completely flat. If you get that right, it's a gravy job. I did a couple rooms with the branded matching transition strips. I hated them. I've gotten to the point that I won't use them if they are free. The locking is problematic and the strips have a short life compared to the planking. I've switched to using this style edge transition.

Redirect Notice

There are quite a few different brands and options in color, shape, style, and height. The last one is critical. Get a height that is just barely enough and it's a nice looking low profile edge.

I've done a variety of other flooring as well. Sheet stock is good stuff for a kitchen. It really needs a flat surface. The prep could be a deal breaker. Wood floors are nice and I love the look. Not sure if I'd do a kitchen in my home with the stuff. I have bamboo and hardwood floors. The both show wear in lower traffic. Wife over watered a floor plant on bamboo and the fix won't be easy. That's the type of concern I have about doing the kitchen in wood.
Tile is nice. The grout is not. The grout in lower traffic areas gets dirty quick. Sounds like you already know how it will work in the kitchen.

 

[The Cobbler]

I'm not saying it's junk, but it's definitely not "luxury".

true, but it is far superior to sheet vinyl & VCT, pretty sure that's how it got it's name

 

[jar944]

I won't use any type of hardwood in areas where you might get water, including a kitchen. Even engineered hardwood has issues.

Unless you are a habitual kitchen sink spiller/water sprayer, solid hardwood in a kitchen (or bathroom) is a non issue.

If you need the flooring to be able to be submerged in water for days and survive then that is a very unique use case.

 

[larry4406]

We did ceramic in my wife's kitchen and installed floor heating cables as well. We love it. I am not a fan of hardwood in kitchens.

 

[dcg9381]

Unless you are a habitual kitchen sink spiller/water sprayer, solid hardwood in a kitchen (or bathroom) is a non issue.

You mean unless you have kids/grandkids.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

We had bamboo, 10 years ago. Our lab destroyed it in about six months. Scratched terribly. I have heard good things about LVP.

However, our favorite interior floor is porcelain tile. Have had that in two houses now and it is darn near indestructible.

Good luck

 

[andyvh1959]

Wow, thanks for all the great input and replies. Glad I asked the question as I thought it wasn't fitting for a "garage" forum. But then, most everyone here does their own work and certainly evaluates products a lot more in depth than the usual buyers. Off to buy quality, textured, vynil planking, and I only plan to chose the brands with the thickest top layer. I saw some that had a top layer well less than 0.031" thick.

 

[FJ4FUN]

I resisted it at first but now am a believer... my next interior floor will be LVP. My high energy Doby has destroyed my solid oak hardwood and I like the feel underfoot of LVP.

 

[drmarkr]

However, our favorite interior floor is porcelain tile. Have had that in two houses now and it is darn near indestructible.

Good luck

Which is why it's probably the best floor for a shop a well!

 

[katsarosm]

Modern vinyl flooring has nothing in common with what it was 10–15 years ago. The UV layers, sound insulation, and locking system change day-to-day use. I went with Absolute Floors for my kitchen, dining room, and hallway. Two days later it was in, no dust, no adhesive smell. The surface feels solid underfoot, cleans fast after cooking, and the transitions between rooms are perfectly flush. After a few months of traffic and spills, edges haven’t lifted and there’s no discoloration near the windows. If you’re debating vinyl vs. laminate in high-use areas like a kitchen, this has been the most practical upgrade I’ve done.

 

[67King]

We have been building a house for a couple of years, now. Set to move in in about a month. I put in 3/4" site finished hardwood in our current home 18 years ago. We opted for engineered hardwood throughout the main level and upstairs on the new house. Main reasons are that the site finished stuff isn't as wear resistant, especially with dogs, and that it doesn't handle water very well. My wife is adamant that hardwood can be "damp mopped," but there are signs that the wood is starting to scallop (note I installed the flooring, but I did have it professionally finished).

As the house is on a lake, and we have a couple of boats and all of that, we went with LVP in the basement. We went that way because it will be most likely to get wet and/or muddy, so we wanted it to be more easily cleaned.

Flooring was finished a week ago. First a heads up on me, though. I'm a completely **** retentive, Type-A personality when it comes to pattern like stuff from tile floors and walls, and wood flooring. Observations:
1. Engineered flooring looks nice. Not quite what I was expecting when we started to look, but that's a "me" issue, not the product. I was expected the 2-1/4" stuff the same size as conventional hardwood, but that had beveled edges so there would be slight grooves between all of the planks. 67Queen chose a much wider plank that does not have the grooves. Despite that, the floor lines up perfectly the seams are imperceptible beyond the change in woodgrain. I personally still prefer the look of the narrower wood as more typical on site finished floors (probably because that was the standard over the last century). This particular flooring comes in varied lengths of planks, so you stil have a random, staggered look. However, the randomness is just from a few sizes, so it doesn't have nearly as much of the random look as a site finished floor.
2. LVP. Absolutely amazing how good this looks. You can't really tell is isn't wood. I'll say that my builder does a lot of very high end homes, mostly multi-million dollar homes, and he has clients who go with this. The only thing that gnaws at my super-Type-A personality is that the pieces are all uniform in size, so there is no randomness to how the pieces look. This is again a "me" problem, as I look at flooring and look for this stuff. YOu can't really see the seams if you aren't looking.

Hope this helps.

 

[jmdirk]

Speaking to Vinyl plank question. I've done a half dozen projects with lay down style. Have not used glue down.
I've seen quite a variety in the flooring even from the same brand.
@andyvh1959 , Try one test with the style you like. Set out a couple pieces on a nice flat surface and lock them together. Seam profiles vary quite a bit. The steep dippy doo seams are harder to keep clean. I'd also give the planks a clang test. Some of the thick surface versions are extremely hard. I'm not a fan of that characteristic for my own home. It's noisy and feels "cheaper". Looks alone are not enough to decide in my book.

The lay and lock stuff I've done is incredibly easy. Make sure the floor is completely flat. If you get that right, it's a gravy job. I did a couple rooms with the branded matching transition strips. I hated them. I've gotten to the point that I won't use them if they are free. The locking is problematic and the strips have a short life compared to the planking. I've switched to using this style edge transition.

Redirect Notice

There are quite a few different brands and options in color, shape, style, and height. The last one is critical. Get a height that is just barely enough and it's a nice looking low profile edge.

I've done a variety of other flooring as well. Sheet stock is good stuff for a kitchen. It really needs a flat surface. The prep could be a deal breaker. Wood floors are nice and I love the look. Not sure if I'd do a kitchen in my home with the stuff. I have bamboo and hardwood floors. The both show wear in lower traffic. Wife over watered a floor plant on bamboo and the fix won't be easy. That's the type of concern I have about doing the kitchen in wood.
Tile is nice. The grout is not. The grout in lower traffic areas gets dirty quick. Sounds like you already know how it will work in the kitchen.

The newer epoxy grouts are apparently much more resistant to staining. But they have a pretty short open time compared to cementitious grout so you need to work quick and in small batches.

 

[steve308]

Avoid bambo. Not what it was advertise to be. (at lease to me) 50% house is bambo, balance is LVP. LVP less to maintain, less to clean, less scratch from pets and less expansion / contaction with seasons changing.

 

[Billi444]

We just redid our floors from the kitchen all the way down the hall — went vinyl all the way. The good brands don’t look fake anymore seriously has that nice wood vibe and the install was super chill compared to real wood (no nails, no cussing halfway through ). Price-wise it’s solid value this year. Found a breakdown online that helped me plan the budget right https://concretefloorfinishes.com/concrete-floor-finishes-cost-in-2025/

 

[duneslider]

I am commenting as a flooring professional and giving my opinion based on my experience installing all this stuff for a couple decades and as a person who has used much of it in my own homes.

LVP's have gotten way better and some do look very good.

LVP's do not look as good as real wood, don't kid yourself, but I also acknowledge that real wood (even engineered wood products) are not for everyone and for every location.

I do have a significant dislike for ALL click together flooring. It's cheap, it installs fast, it's virtually impossible to repair down the road. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten calls from people that dropped a piece of furniture while moving in and gouged a floor, there is no easy way to fix that in click-together floor. If it is close to an end you can pull up flooring to replace the board but you can't really just fix one in the middle of the room.

My opinion is if you are are going to do LVP then do the glue down style, when installed correctly it looks the same as the click together but you can actually just pull up a piece in the middle and replace it.

Fact of the matter is I have refinished wood floors that are over a 120 years old and when done they look good as new. I have touched up grout on tile that is close to 100 years old and the tile still looked good. Time will tell if all these engineered products will stand the test of time, I don't think they will.

Real luxury flooring is wood, stone, tile (ceramic/porcelain) and yes they all do require some upkeep to keep them in tip-top shape but when installed correctly they will all last more than a lifetime but in the state of society we live in now most people don't care about a lifetime product.

And for the record, I have cussed more installing click-together flooring than any other flooring combined.

 

[Steve W.]

I am commenting as a flooring professional and giving my opinion based on my experience installing all this stuff for a couple decades and as a person who has used much of it in my own homes.

...

My opinion is if you are are going to do LVP then do the glue down style, when installed correctly it looks the same as the click together but you can actually just pull up a piece in the middle and replace it.

...

And for the record, I have cussed more installing click-together flooring than any other flooring combined.

We just replaced flooring in our house over the last couple of years. Living room and bedrooms have carpet, bathrooms and kitchen have vinyl flooring that looks like large tiles, the rest is LVP. GLUED DOWN.

I had never considered the repairability of the flooring, but I can't stand the hollow sound of the click-together stuff. The old Pergo flooring is also in that category. Our house is on a slab, so there was just a little prep work, but the floor is solid and SILENT. Had one strip replaced a few weeks ago, as the glue had de-laminated, but the new piece went in with virtually no fuss.

.

 

[logical]

I've had solid finished in place solid oak, pre finished solid maple, and engineered prefinished wood of various species, including a known to be dry basement...clued to the concrete with a high end 4 in one mastic. The house I am building will be tile and engineered hickory main floor and my first use of LVP for the lower/basement level.

I buy the idea of LVP if you have active kids or pets, but the whole waterproof thing seems like a stretch. Real wood, whether engineered or solid just plain looks, feels and sounds more high end.