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Flooring. Luxury... vinyl!?

TooPatient

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Love the information here! DH has been wanting hardwood but the dogs have scratched the wood decks beyond saving. This new vinyl sounds awesome!

I will say we have laminate "wood" planks in the kitchen and bought spares to replace as needed. Two need replacing and I haven't bothered yet because to replace them, we have to remove the side piece and the planks from the edge to get to the ones in the middle needing replaced. That also means pulling out either the dishwasher or stove. The vinyl may be different, but worth asking so you can decide how many extras you are likely to want.
 

yssie

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Thanks @redwood66, @LisaRN, @Arkteia, @TooPatient!


Walked around the showroom a bit. Showroom vinyl was apparently installed eight years ago... it looks fantastic. It definitely sounded "hollow" and a bit "echo-ey" to walk on, but I believe that can be mitigated by gluing it down (as opposed to leaving a floating floor) - interestingly, though, the sound didn't bother me at all!

My phone slipped out of my purse as I was manhandling some slat samples. If that floor had been tile I'd most likely be dealing with replacing cracked casing right now. We are not doing the house in tile :eek-2:

@mrs-b Thank you for the extra info and your thoughts! We'll be doing vinyl through the first floor - the carpet upstairs can stay for now. I very much hope to make the Boston GTG and would be delighted to inspect your floors (and your furry boys!!) ::)

The kitchen renovation hasn't even started... and I'm over it. The no-more-carpet... I cannot wait.

@madelise - "Water proof and scratch proof are my utmost priority" - That. The coating on CORETec Plus is over 3x thicker than Home Depot's Lifeproof line - easy choice.

We had to replace the carpets before selling our old house. Our realtor recommended berber - "cheap and hip". As a pet owner I can safely say that if I was buying a house ripping up any and all looped carpeting - no matter how new! - would be my top priority. We went with shag 8)
 

mrs-b

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Thanks @redwood66, @LisaRN, @Arkteia, @TooPatient!


Walked around the showroom a bit. Showroom vinyl was apparently installed eight years ago... it looks fantastic. It definitely sounded "hollow" and a bit "echo-ey" to walk on, but I believe that can be mitigated by gluing it down (as opposed to leaving a floating floor) - interestingly, though, the sound didn't bother me at all!

My phone slipped out of my purse as I was manhandling some slat samples. If that floor had been tile I'd most likely be dealing with replacing cracked casing right now. We are not doing the house in tile :eek-2:

@mrs-b Thank you for the extra info and your thoughts! We'll be doing vinyl through the first floor - the carpet upstairs can stay for now. I very much hope to make the Boston GTG and would be delighted to inspect your floors (and your furry boys!!) ::)

The kitchen renovation hasn't even started... and I'm over it. The no-more-carpet... I cannot wait.

@madelise - "Water proof and scratch proof are my utmost priority" - That. The coating on CORETec Plus is over 3x thicker than Home Depot's Lifeproof line - easy choice.

We had to replace the carpets before selling our old house. Our realtor recommended berber - "cheap and hip". As a pet owner I can safely say that if I was buying a house ripping up any and all looped carpeting - no matter how new! - would be my top priority. We went with shag 8)

@yssie -

I'm about to throw out a looped 8 x 10' rug I've owned for less than 3 months - I feel your pain.

Never again with looped.
 

redwood66

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@yssie I did notice the "noise" at first, especially with the dogs, but the benefits outweigh that immensely and now I don't notice or care about it at all. Ours is not as thick as the sample you showed so ours is likely noisier. Did the showroom have several different types or thicknesses installed so you can hear the difference? There are many kinds available. Since DH worked at Lowe's we went with one of their brands and installed it ourselves so it is not the most expensive but still shows like new. I would imagine that Home Depot's middle of the road brand is similar.
 

kgizo

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I love vinyl floors!!!!! In our last house we did 2 rooms bc we had a dog with bladder cancer. So easy for clean up and the floors didn’t show signs of wear or scratches. I was worried it might be a problem when we sold bc we had hardwoods and carpet in other rooms so the vinyl was noticeable in the 2 rooms, but it wasn’t an issue at all.
When we replaced the floors at our lake house I was thinking of laminate and the contractor steered me towards vinyl bc it doesn’t make loud, hollow sounds when you walk on it, unlike laminate which has a sound that immediately lets you know it isn’t real wood. I’m not familiar with the brand you are considering, but mine didn’t have any grooves. Whenever we sell this house I plan to stage with rugs or cover it all in inexpensive carpet if vinyl is an issue for resale.
The only potential downside is that I think it reflects light more than hardwoods so it is noticeable to me it is vinyl. But, that might be bc I know and am looking for it bc we have had guests who have no idea. Their dog will have an accident and they get so apologetic about “ruining my nice wood floors” and I tell them “no worries, its vinyl”.
You and your pets will really like how low maintenance it is.
 

KaeKae

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I need to go see this product in person!
When we moved into this house last year, the very first "project" we agreed to do was replace the master bedroom rug. It's pink. Ugh. As it turns out, our kitchen is done with vinyl tiles and we like them. They look as good as the ceramic tile the bathrooms And I love that the kitchen floor isn't as cold, and if I drop a plate, it's less likely to break into a million pieces.
 

yssie

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@yssie I did notice the "noise" at first, especially with the dogs, but the benefits outweigh that immensely and now I don't notice or care about it at all. Ours is not as thick as the sample you showed so ours is likely noisier. Did the showroom have several different types or thicknesses installed so you can hear the difference? There are many kinds available. Since DH worked at Lowe's we went with one of their brands and installed it ourselves so it is not the most expensive but still shows like new. I would imagine that Home Depot's middle of the road brand is similar.
The company we picked to do kitchen and flooring gave us the option of either Home Depot’s line or Coretec. I think the middle layer is about the same thickness on both, but the Coretec top seal is thicker and it has the underlayment built in which saves us a ton on labour (the kitchen is tiled so we know it’s flat under there, but under all of the carpet... probably not so much!)

Two of the showroom floors were floating Coretec (just laid over the old tile apparently) - their middle “plus” line and their top tier “pro plus”. The sound difference was hugely noticeable... We were very surprised by how little we cared! The plan was to go for the pro plus stuff anyway, but it isn’t available in the colour we want, so - oh well!

Apparently “floating floors” of any sort will always sound more hollow than flooring that’s been glued to the subfloor - and ours definitely will be glued in to prevent shifting, so it’s possible that ours will be a little more quiet and less hollow once finished ::)
 

yssie

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I love vinyl floors!!!!! In our last house we did 2 rooms bc we had a dog with bladder cancer. So easy for clean up and the floors didn’t show signs of wear or scratches. I was worried it might be a problem when we sold bc we had hardwoods and carpet in other rooms so the vinyl was noticeable in the 2 rooms, but it wasn’t an issue at all.
When we replaced the floors at our lake house I was thinking of laminate and the contractor steered me towards vinyl bc it doesn’t make loud, hollow sounds when you walk on it, unlike laminate which has a sound that immediately lets you know it isn’t real wood. I’m not familiar with the brand you are considering, but mine didn’t have any grooves. Whenever we sell this house I plan to stage with rugs or cover it all in inexpensive carpet if vinyl is an issue for resale.
The only potential downside is that I think it reflects light more than hardwoods so it is noticeable to me it is vinyl. But, that might be bc I know and am looking for it bc we have had guests who have no idea. Their dog will have an accident and they get so apologetic about “ruining my nice wood floors” and I tell them “no worries, its vinyl”.
You and your pets will really like how low maintenance it is.

The planks slide in really tight together, no grooves and no bevels - the finished seam looks every bit as tight as our old hardwood was. I’m really excited to not have to worry about cleaning liquids up before they stain the wood or soak into the seams... not have to plan to refinish the surface regardless in a few years because the dogs’ nails have scratched it noticeably... not have to deal with humidity and warping... :bigsmile:

Your point re. light reflection is really interesting! Our hardwood floors were gorgeous once refinished - that glossy sheen on a completely smooth, evenly-coloured, untextured surface... I assumed we’d want the same aesthetic in “wood look” vinyl but we much preferred a strongly textured, rough, distressed-looking surface. Maybe that’s why!
 

yssie

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I need to go see this product in person!
When we moved into this house last year, the very first "project" we agreed to do was replace the master bedroom rug. It's pink. Ugh. As it turns out, our kitchen is done with vinyl tiles and we like them. They look as good as the ceramic tile the bathrooms And I love that the kitchen floor isn't as cold, and if I drop a plate, it's less likely to break into a million pieces.

A week ago I was debating between tile and vinyl. Then I dropped my phone in the showroom. And OMG, I don’t want to replace every single thing the humans drop, the dogs knock over, the cats take objection to and bat off whatever surface they’re-not-supposed-to-be-on-but-are-anyway...
 

KaeKae

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A week ago I was debating between tile and vinyl. Then I dropped my phone in the showroom. And OMG, I don’t want to replace every single thing the humans drop, the dogs knock over, the cats take objection to and bat off whatever surface they’re-not-supposed-to-be-on-but-are-anyway...

@yssie Are we long lost relatives? Your life sounds too much like mine. :)
 

redwood66

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The company we picked to do kitchen and flooring gave us the option of either Home Depot’s line or Coretec. I think the middle layer is about the same thickness on both, but the Coretec top seal is thicker and it has the underlayment built in which saves us a ton on labour (the kitchen is tiled so we know it’s flat under there, but under all of the carpet... probably not so much!)

Two of the showroom floors were floating Coretec (just laid over the old tile apparently) - their middle “plus” line and their top tier “pro plus”. The sound difference was hugely noticeable... We were very surprised by how little we cared! The plan was to go for the pro plus stuff anyway, but it isn’t available in the colour we want, so - oh well!

Apparently “floating floors” of any sort will always sound more hollow than flooring that’s been glued to the subfloor - and ours definitely will be glued in to prevent shifting, so it’s possible that ours will be a little more quiet and less hollow once finished ::)
If the store ones are floating and installed over tile they will be much more noisy than ones installed over plywood, concrete or oriented strand board (OSB). We had to add a new layer in some spots to match flooring levels because the kitchen had roll vinyl under the laminate we removed. Gluing down will cut the noise but I would not want to be the one to remove it if you ever decide you hate it. Getting it up will be a huge costly pain. There is a padding layer that can be added to cut the noise, especially if installing over tile, but we decided against it. Good luck with whatever you decide on.
 

yssie

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@redwood66 gluing vs not was presented as six of one and a half dozen of the other - glue apparently creates a much more waterproof seal by keeping the planks in tight alignment, but removal (of an entire floor or of one small damaged section) is much more complicated. The other half heard “more leak proof” and “six of one” won immediately :mrgreen2: For homes that don’t double as zoos I should think difficulty of removal against a slightly improved seal over time becomes a much more weighty comparison.

Thanks for the heads up on how different materials might impact how it sounds! Seems to be old plywood under the carpeting - more forgiving than tile, at least.
 

distracts

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This was a fun thread to read. We just moved to a new house a few months ago. Our old house was hardwoods everywhere except kitchen/bathrooms. The new one has a couple spots of real hardwood, what I think is engineered wood in all the main living areas, and carpet in all the bedrooms. My husband and I looked at the carpet and said, "well, we'll have to replace that with wood eventually." Dog + cat (soon to be two cats!) + eventual future children + our own messiness = carpet is a terrible, terrible option.

The first week in the house? Our dog pulled up half the carpet in one of the rooms. :roll Since that is the room that we use as an exercise room, we have been thinking of redoing that with vinyl or tile, so it's nice to read about someone making the same choice.
 

CHRISTY-DANIELLE

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My hubby was dubious about "waterproof" (horror story in the old house: broken dishwasher the day after new laminate floor installed, and the night before an Open House, no less...) hubby is looking for truly waterproof.
We took a sample of Home Depot Lifeproof, put it in water for 24 hours. No damage!
I have him completely sold on LVP now! Coretec is a lot more expensive than Lifeproof... We need over 2200 feet! Is it really worth the extra to get the Coretec?
 

redwood66

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@CHRISTY-DANIELLE for us it was not. The flooring we put in has had water and snow slush on it with no seepage into the subfloor. The locking channels are what is important to keep the water out plus a tight fit. After a year we have had no issues whatsoever. Ours has excellent locking mechanisms that are very tight, though this makes it more muscle work to put it together. I had many a blister after we were done since I was on the mallet. LOL. The thicker type will be quieter though. Your thresholds and transitions will be much more prominent with thicker planks depending on where it meets your other floor styles.
 

CHRISTY-DANIELLE

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@redwood66 We want to do the entire first floor, last stage of 3 years of reno on our "new" house. Previous owners put in tile (white!!!) and cheap laminate. Rooms are all different flooring... drives me bonkers! So its going to be an investment no matter the brand. I am happy with "good enough" if it will be low maintenance and hold up to kids and dogs...
 

redwood66

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@redwood66 We want to do the entire first floor, last stage of 3 years of reno on our "new" house. Previous owners put in tile (white!!!) and cheap laminate. Rooms are all different flooring... drives me bonkers! So its going to be an investment no matter the brand. I am happy with "good enough" if it will be low maintenance and hold up to kids and dogs...
As an FYI if you are putting it over tile the thinner stuff will be noisier. Over laminate you should be good. What I like about it is if you want to change it is easy. And if your subfloor is not exactly level perfectly it won't matter.

This is what we put in and the hickory was good for us because there are about 3 colors of wood in our house and it blends with all of them.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/SMARTCORE-...c-Hickory-Locking-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank/50076951
 
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FL_Sol

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Yep. I'd do the vinyl floors. Also- I swear to God if I had it to do over, I'd do laminate countertops instead of my leathered granite. I love formica. I make no apologies......
May I ask why? Is it the price? Or durability (or both)? I was thinking of doing laminate countertops to hold me over for a few years (I can’t decide if I want to take the chance with quartzite) but figured I would end up still wanting stone in a few months and it would be a waste of money. I recently had travertine floors put in and they are a little fragile but not so bad being flooring as opposed to countertops, but I still am worried about the flooring etching or staining. I would really like one less feature to be worried about.
Sorry if I missed the details in another post..
 

soxfan

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May I ask why? Is it the price? Or durability (or both)? I was thinking of doing laminate countertops to hold me over for a few years (I can’t decide if I want to take the chance with quartzite) but figured I would end up still wanting stone in a few months and it would be a waste of money. I recently had travertine floors put in and they are a little fragile but not so bad being flooring as opposed to countertops, but I still am worried about the flooring etching or staining. I would really like one less feature to be worried about.
Sorry if I missed the details in another post..

Sure! I just love how easy it is to clean and I think the quality is much better now. The patterns are stylish and it's cheap. I'd totally do it to hold me over for a few years if that was my plan....
 

FL_Sol

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Sure! I just love how easy it is to clean and I think the quality is much better now. The patterns are stylish and it's cheap. I'd totally do it to hold me over for a few years if that was my plan....
Thank you!
Last question, Yssie. I don’t mean to hijack your thread, I was just surprised to see how Soxfan felt about her countertop.

Soxfan, do you think your leathered granite is still pretty or have you become tired of it? Do you ever wish you got polished. I have had an interest in leathered but worry I may feel different about it once in my home. I have never seen it installed in a home, only slabs in stone yards.
 

soxfan

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Thank you!
Last question, Yssie. I don’t mean to hijack your thread, I was just surprised to see how Soxfan felt about her countertop.

One more question. Do you think your leathered granite is still pretty or have you become tired of it? Do you ever wish you got polished. I have had an interest in leathered but worry I may feel different about it once in my home. I have never seen it installed in a home, only slabs in stone yards.

I love it. I wanted soapstone but this is soooo much better- doesn't stain, etch, etc. Everyone always raves about it when they see it. And the steel gray color that I have is level 1 granite cost- the cheapest. They finish it smooth on one side and leathered on the other right at the quarry. The leathered appears lighter to the eye than the polished. It's very soft and doesn't get as cold as the polished. And you cannot see stains and food on it like you can the polished. It's VERY forgiving.
 

soxfan

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The reason I said I'd do laminate if I had it to do over would be if I were on a budget. My parents gave me a wad of money when my grandparents died, so I didn't pay for it myself and I decided to splurge. IF I were uncertain or couldn't afford granite, I would have done formica.
 

CHRISTY-DANIELLE

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My 2 cents, nothing wrong with the new laminates... (we chose Wilsonart) 20180724_074451.jpg had granite in past, wasn't that impressed. ..PS don't look at those awful floors!
 

Rockdiamond

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Amazing thread- I hope the guys are allowed in!!

We had a hole in the flashing of our roof, and two storms.....destroyed our gorgeous 50-year-old Parque floor in the living room.
We were devastated, but we're putting oak hardwood to replace.....
The downstairs laundry room had carpet- which was also destroyed- vinyl sounds like an amazing idea for the laundry room!!

Anyone have links to suppliers?
 

yssie

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We have carpet in our exercise room too @distracts! We were iffy about the idea but figured we could always deal with it later. It turned out to have been an unexpectedly good choice - since moving our normal maintenance schedule has been nearly halved, and the only difference is the extra cushioning under the machines! That room will be one of the ones we put vinyl in now, and we'll probably throw a run under the treadmill and cycles.


@CHRISTY-DANIELLE for us the thicker Coretec top seal was the main appeal - six sets of claws puttering about all day long took a very quick and very penetrative toll on the old hardwood, and we've since acquired #7... and #8 is probably on the way! And hopefully some human kids soon too. The Coretec version has the underlayment built in, which wound up saving us quite a bit on install costs (that'd be separate material with separate installation w/ Lifeproof), but if you're doing it yourself that's obviously not a factor. The locking mechanism that @redwood66 brings up seems to be excellent in both Coretec and Lifeproof.

This is what we picked: http://www.usfloorsllc.com/flooring-products/margate-oak/


@JrJ, @soxfan laminate counters really are SO much better these days! Just like vinyl floors I suppose! ::)

We debated between concrete, quartz, and granite for a while... wound up going with granite. We use our crock pots a fair amount, so not having to worry about leaving them on for hours on end will be nice. The biggest issue was ritual resealing, but apparently there's some sort of super sealant they can apply that apparently lasts 10-15 years... there's that recurring theme of doing pretty much everything we can to avoid maintenance :bigsmile:


@Rockdiamond how horrid!! ;( That parquet must have been lovely :(sad I would have a tough time going from that sort of undeserved destruction to anything but hardwood for replacement... Did the subfloor survive?
 

CHRISTY-DANIELLE

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I should mention that my center island with a cooktop is the workhorse prep/cooking / baking area. . it's currently travertine (previous owners choice) but I'm probably going to put in quartz. But the laminate is on the perephery, works fine for what we use it for, coffee bar, etc.

My Lifeproof sample has attached underlayment, plus a rigid core, but I am guessing the plank is 5mm total thickness. This is a fall project, so we have some time to shop and compare. Thank you @yssie for this thread! I can't wait to hear what you think of your new floors! Please review when they are done!
 

GliderPoss

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I love vinyl too, brings back warm memories of the farmhouse we grew up in. We had vibrant turquoise patterned vinyl in the kitchen - very soft underfoot and easy to clean too. Many years later when I met my husband, I went to his house for the first time to meet his parents.... they had the exact SAME VINYL in their kitchen. It was fate. :kiss2:
 

partgypsy

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Thank you for sharing this information. I have Marmoleum (linoleum) kitchen flooring, but we really didn't take care of it, and I'm afraid it's too far gone to save. I'm going to look over these recommendations. Does anyone have recommendations for sheet vinyl? I need something that doesn't add heights, and the less seams the better!
 
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sledge

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Any pics @yssie? Also curious pricing if you don't mind sharing. Looking for material only price per SF and also labor cost per SF. Most likely me and a few buddies would self install as I'm picky and tend to get myself into projects like these.

Also how random was the pattern? Some of the pics on the manufacturers site looks like it may be too perfect for my tastes. My last place had synthetic hardwoods in dark stain and random lengths, coloring and weathered markings. I loved it!

Also not being rude by any stretch but what is average age group of those preferring vinyl? I know as I am maturing my tastes and preferences change. I'm curious if the feedback is a mixed group as I'm curious about resale value and if they are as appealing to younger generations. For instance, it seems synthetic wood and wood look tile is the current rave where I'm at. Not sure if that's due to location, age or what builders are pushing in new homes. My guess is the latter.
 
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