Go look at cork. You'll get the hardwood tones, the price point (close) and durability.

I think that you need to have the darkest wood floor that you can tolerate. at least that is what I did to keep some harmony between all the disparate woods and wood stains n my house.

most of my wood pieces have limited graining; however, I opted for a wood floor with an exposed grain --- panga by duchateau. See link below. It makes a dark floor easier to maintain and the color variation helps it coordinate with the different woods/stains in my house. iI is an engineered product and it sounds like you have the capacity to install it. It is pretty forgiving if you are not that skilled given its wire brushed finish. I can't help you in respect to pricing. I installed mine about seven or eight years ago. I purchased it through DirectBuy. however, I know that it is ready available through many flooring companies. I have read many complaints about oil sealed wood flooring, but i can say that i have not experienced any of the issues about which I have read on here. I have dogs and a very indoor/outdoor lifestyle. So my floors have been exposed to lots of abuse and cleaning. The sales people at the local hardwood flooring store that carries Duchateau's cleaing solution ask me if i drink it.

I attached some images of the flooring with some of the different woods in my home.

http://duchateau.com/product-category/flooring/hardwood/the-terra-collection/

Kelly, your floors are absolutely gorgeous!

I have been looking for engineered hardwood flooring. I have looked at a ton of different places. I haven't made up my mind yet, but after a lot of research and my own experience all I can say is, please stay clear of places like Lumber Liquidators. I brought home samples from a place called Flooring Liquidators and just them sitting next to me caused me a headache, tight chest, burning throat, and itchy nose/eyes. Aside from the safety regulations that seem to be ignored in the production of products made for these companies, there are complaints upon complaints about poor quality products either out of the box or that fail in some way (and good luck with that amazing "warranty"). Places like these are really the only place you will see that $2 a sqft price. I have heard a lot of negative things about the big box stores like Home Depot and Lowes as well. It may be worth it to you to take the gamble that you may be one of the lucky ones it works out for. I could understand that if quality was the only concern it may be worth taking the risk, especially if you aren't out the price of labor. For me, I just can't see taking the risk with possible health concerns.

ALL of that said, since I can't use solid hardwood as we are on a slab foundation, I don't know too much about that. As long as you aren't on a slab foundation (there are several other factors such as humidity and shifts in it during the year to consider) then solid hardwood is something you can look at, and maybe you can find a screaming deal on a low quality solid hardwood. Probably from somewhere like the dreaded Big Box store (I think I heard somewhere that they will sometimes have a special in store sometimes and just sell it until its gone), or if you happen to know a contractor, they have deals that they only offer to contractors sometimes. I don't know that $2 even for low quality solid hardwood is going to be easy to find though. Still, it wouldn't hurt for you to look at your local flooring places. If you are going to take chances with a low cost product, I'm going to assume it's coming from China. I would not take the risk with an engineered (has to be made with glue, cheaper to make it with glue products with high level of formaldehyde=products coming from there saying they are CARB compliant but aren't because it saves them $$$.) Cheap solid hardwood, as far as I know, shouldn't harm you (someone correct me if I am wrong!), other than possibly being a disappointment as far as quality and durability.

The only other option I can think of is wood look tile. I am unsure of the cost per sqft of quality wood look tile, although I have read that porcelain is preferable as the color goes completely through the tile (so if slight chips happen they won't be so noticeable) and ceramic hardness can vary, while porcelain is always a 5 on the p.e.i. (p.i.e.? pie? I think I like that scale haha). For any of these options I can't really give you a good idea how easy it would be for a DIYer.

All this is said from someone who started at a $3sqft price range, so believe me I understand where you are coming from. Flooring is a major decision whether it is $2sqft or $20 and I wish you the best of luck! Whatever you decide, I hope you post what you choose!

At that price or close to that price you can get some oak flooring, but even that it's a stretch..My in-laws had their floor installed about 8-9 years ago and that was the price for oak. I don't know what the price is now, but you could get something close if the surface is large, meaning the entire house. Definitely don't go with Lumber Liquidators. Check with several places in your area to see what prices they have for you. We had several quotes when we had the floor installed. Also, keep in mind that there is also a fee for removal of the current floor.

$2 won't even get a descent vinyl or laminate. Your expectations are not realistic. Your budget needs to one upto 6-7$ sq. save up until you can afford to do this properly.

Sorry....DIY under $2/sf AND NO LAMINATE?????!!!!!! Oh dear. Floor paint. Actually a good floor paint in the right amount of coats = $3-$4/sf. Nope. That's out. Too expensive for you.

A low/mid range laminate = $1.49 - 2/sf. That's as cheap as we get. The underlay = $0.20 - $0.70/sf = out of your price range. But DIY possible.

Vinyl = you don't want. Which is fine...a DIY vinyl = $3/sf...again too expensive.

Carpet = not DIY and not in your budget.

Carpet tiles = $4-$5/sf = too expensive.

Hardwood = $3-$25/sf = not DIY and not in your price range.

Ceramic/Porcelain = $4-$25/sf (all materials included) = not in your price range.

Concrete = $5-$25/sf = too expensive

Cork (4mm glue down + ALL THE liquids) = $2.79/sf = too expensive (subfloor prep = $1-$3/sf...and not really DIY friendly...but possible).

Good-side Up Birch faced plywood + 3-4 coats of polyurethane = $3/sf = too expensive.

Sorry - we are out of options that are DIY and under $2/sf and are NOT laminate. Even plywood with polyurethane could be too expensive for you.

Please save up some more money and get a floor that you want/will last more than 7 years.

I agree with libradesigneye. The first thing I changed when we moved into our new house was the kitchen floor - replacing tiles with cork. Cork is extremely durable, has a variety of different looks and can be stained to virtually any colour. It is lovely and soft to stand on and if you happen to drop something breakable (glass, ceramic etc) there is a good chance it won't break. Maintenance is extremely low - just a quick mop. Our floor is ten years old and still doesn't need the finish redoing. We have timber floors in other rooms in our house but after living with timber and cork, I would always now put cork in the kitchen.

One way to get hardwood flooring for less than $2/sq foot - remove it yourself from a house being demolished, pull the nails out, and then reinstall in your own house. I must warn you that it is very hard work and requires storage space, transportation and time. This also requires tools and skills and an incredible amount of luck to find the material.

Second option is 99 cent/sq foot, short lengths of bottom grade oak. Not an easy project to install as it will be difficult to keep the floor even with that many small pieces...costs a fortune in nails as well. Then, you have to sand and finish which will be difficult to do for $1/sq foot by the time you rent the equipment, and buy the sandpaper and finish materials.

Your photo does not show cheap cabinets, cheap countertops or cheap doors...why would you want cheap floors?

I appreciate the feedback. I needed an honest answer-re: is it feasible to find for that price range. Thanks for the answer. I agree 100%, re: saving up and using something more nicely finished. Don't want "cheap", but I also do not want to go with what we really love, which is hand scraped barn wood flooring, as I know this is not our 'final house' and we are not trying to put tons of $$ in it. Need to get back on resale later on, and the current flooring is not going to do the trick. Need hardwood or hardwood looking stuff, no carpet and no laminate.....on a budget. We will re-evaluate and I will update this as we go. Thanks!

Any recommendations for places to shop for flooring? Is somewhere like Lowes or HD a feasible option, or do I really need to search at specialty 'flooring' stores?

Princesa-thanks for the recommendations and "no" to LL......I was looking at their site for ideas recently.

Kelley-thank you for the photos and recommendations. I love that flooring!

Luxury vinyl plank is pretty fabulous stuff for a lot less. Many cannot tell it is vinyl and it wears like iron. You said no laminate, so I did not mention before .. .but you might want to take a look. The high end stuff looks cerused . . like the most expensive wood floor you can't afford.

We are using Coretec flooring for the basement. You might want to look into that.

Libra-can you provide a link to an example? Or, just look up luxury vinyl plank? My biggest aversion to 'fake' is if you can 'tell' or not. Like I said, I am thinking of resale value later, and when you walk in, if you can tell it's vinyl or laminate or not.

I had to remodel and redesign 5 apartment buildings that were close to the beach. My parameters were flooring that could be in a "wet" area (i.e. bathroom/kitchen) as well as the other parts. Easy to clean and maintain but at a reasonable cost. For that price point it had to be a Resilient Vinyl Plank Flooring because of its versatility in wet areas too and has the wood texture. Most people assume its wood because its texture and the repeat pattern is not obvious at all.