Why not just put in hardwood now not sure what your kids can do to it now that they won’t later.

My kids are 3, 11, and 14. Spills are a pretty common occurrence in our house, so I want a floor that is going to be 100% waterproof. That's why I've decided that a floating vinyl plank floor is what we need to go with, at least for a few years, until the kids are older and more responsible about cleaning up messes and not scraping toys or dropping heavy items on the floor.

I wouldn't worry about spills. Hardwood can handle that. I have rough boys and worry about scratching, myself. We are planning on a Coretec product that has it's own underlayment.

At $2/sf (plus $2/sf for install) and you only need it to last for 4 years, there is no "down side" to this purchase. None at all. You aren't looking for AMAZING WEAR...you are looking for cheap and cheerful with some basic wear characteristics.

Done. You can stop searching. At $2/sf...and only needing 4 years of service, this is pretty good.

Of course a $0.79/sf laminate will offer the same service....but that's up to you.

According to the Home Depot website, the wear layer is 12 mil on the Home Decorators Collection vinyl plank. From what I can tell online, 12 mil is the minimum standard for commercial use, so I'm thinking that should be enough for us.

I was originally thinking about laminate, like the Pergo Outlast+ with 24-hr water protection, but with the frequency of spills in our home (and kids not always telling us know about them) I think that going with something completely waterproof is a better option.

Thanks for the input!

The Pergo Outlast Pewter oak was my first choice they claim it's waterproof for 24 hours but I know that I'll always be worried about it in the back of my head I have 3 little ones that play with water and spill stuff so before I spend several thousands on it I decided to go with vinyl plank flooring for Peace of Mind I don't have to lose it every time the kids spill totally waterproof

Dont waste your money, go to Home Depot for review and read about our lemon experience and wasting over $1300 on floor that snaps up and clicks with edges not in alignment and i know dirt will collect here and that was our reason for the vinyl. Dontbuy Home Decorators brand.

The beauty of hardwood, especially oak, is that it is very durable when finished properly. It will outlast you, your kids, and your grandkids! And unlike vinyl or laminate it can be refinished many times to look like new.

of course real hardwoods are beautiful, but they are not waterproof. The last thing you need is a floor buckling up from absorbing water ...we had a water tank burst on the lower level where the family room and office are and it seeped under the walls to the adjacent rooms and it destroyed everything -we had to rip up flooring and wooden baseboards because of mold issues. Get the vinyl plank -it's mold and mildew proof as well as waterproof...this is the best way to go hands down...a no brainer.

hey travis, did you end up installing this floor? the bad reviews have me worried, but there are a lot of great reviews as well...

We installed this flooring in Java Hickory. I love it! We installed it over a concrete floor in the lower level of or split level home. It is in an office and gets light traffic. The floor is beautiful and has held up the year it has been in. We like it so much that we are going to replace our lower level bedroom carpet with the same flooring. Couldn't be happier.

We have installed the Home Decorators Collection Stony Oak Grey, we are not happy with the results as it has come apart at the butt ends in several places and now we are having issues with it coming apart in a few places along the long seam. We have installed a ot of flooring in various homes, so this is not our first rodeo. Beautiful flooring but I would not recommend it to anyone. We will NOT use it in any future homes.

We ended up going with the Stony Oak Grey of the Home Decorators Collection at Home Depot because the pricing fit our budget. We absolutely love it! We haven’t had any issues with it coming apart, but we spent a lot of time during install to make sure that every piece was fully locked into place and completely flush. A good, soft mallet comes in handy! I’m guessing it’s not a flooring that you want to rush on during install. We put it directly over the concrete slab in our downstairs office and entryway around 9 months ago. We plan on continuing it through into the living room when we have more time to work on it.

I had just installed this flooring last week. Looks great. Horrible to install. Very time consuming . I would never use this product again. I have installed many different locking type flooring including the 79 cent cheap flooring. This was by far the worst. I have already had the butt joints coming up on some pieces. If I had not put the base down I would have pulled up the whole floor and returned it to home depot. Very disappointed,good idea,poor execution.

I have the Crystal Oak by Home Decorators and it looks beautiful but was so time consuming and difficult to install. I would say if you don't have the patience then do not get into this because it is not easy but beyond exhausting to make sure it is aligned correctly....although the results are amazing when done right...

One question to ask Home Depot....How long is the warranty on the material AND the installation? If they install it, they should warranty the work.
The reviews listed here by Houzzers do not sound very encouraging.

The care instruction says to use distilled water for cleaning. Has any one tried using swifter sweeping wet cloths.

I've used the swifter wet jet on the floor and its okay but there are streaks. After several mopping's the flooring gets dull. I really prefer to use plain water and wipe it down with a soft cloth. I have an older cat who has several accidents a day, so my floors are mopped 4-6 times a day so I think it has had a good breaking in. The floor is 1 1/2 years old. I've also used Clorox and Lysol wipes for quick pickups. Those work well with no damage to the floor.

The Home Decorators flooring is actually good for the price — it has a 12 mil wear layer which when I was researching flooring I found out you should look for flooring with an 8 mil or higher for it to be durable. You have to be careful about what type of base you install it on for the best results.

Do you REALLY like that grey floor, or do you just like it because you think it's stylish? It used to be but isn't any longer. I would choose a floor that looks like it came from a tree. It will have a lot more longevity, and give your house warmth.

Blondelle....may I ask about why you are opposed to the gray? We just purchased this and brought it home. Planning on installing in the next few weeks.

installing home decorator collection vinyl plank is really no more difficult than installing laminate flooring. the joints are a little smaller but they work the same way. i'm 74 years old and i had no experience in floor installation but i watched a couple of you tubes and i had no problems. my kitchen floor is not perfectly level and the planks are forming to the high and low spots on the floor but none of the joints are coming apart. now, these high and low spots are shallow-not real pronounced because i used floor patch in the deep areas but i did it by eye and not a straight edge. people that visit don't even notice. i have a feeling that most people that are having joints separating may have not installed it properly. personally i like my home decorator saw cut floor.

Installed home decorators callahan aged hickory in Sept 2018. (1700sq ft $2100 underlayment: $550 flooring: $1550) at the time of purchase I was informed of the 7 year warranty. During install, I had issuess with the tongue and grooves cracking and breaking off. 6 months after install, noticed separation in high traffic areas(between kitchen & bathroom and hallways) thought maybe next time I will used some wood glue. During 2019, I noticed chips and scratches in the flooring from time to time. Went to home depot and pretended to be interested in this same floor but did not reveal that I had already purchased it. I voiced my concern about duribility and they made it clear multiple times that there was a warranty. I said, "Let's see it!" Come to find out the warranty only covers sunlight damage. Let them know that I already purchased the floor in 2018 and was not satisfied. They responded with "well, it's cheap flooring anyways, contact the manufacturer."

We installed the stony oak gray in my friend's kitchen. Found the stuff for sale on clearance. Looks like it's no longer available though. But it was very easy to install. It's only 4.2mm thick so it cuts easily (we did use a flooring saw though) and it conforms to warped floors pretty well. Put it over plywood that was not the slightest bit level. It had gradual humps though so the floor just hugged it and stayed together. It's been in the kitchen a couple years now and is still doing fine. Gets lots of spills that are fairly easy to clean up.

Wish we could find more of it because my friend wants to rip out the carpet and put in more vinyl plank.

This was my friend's kitchen before the upper cabinets were installed.

Light in the room had a yellowish tint so it makes it look more yellow than it actually is. It made the space feel so much better.

Before the floor looked like this:

That floor was all wavy and awful.