What is common in the homes in your area?

I installed 100% waterproof vinyl planks (Coretec) in my master bathroom & closet and LOVED it. It had a cork backing that made it warm and quieter than the tile that had been previously laid and it looked really nice. I'd totally do it again.

Yes, that's the one, waterproof with the cork backing.

I don't know what is common in homes in my area. The homes in my neighborhood all have a combination of engineered hardwoods in the foyer, with carpet and sheet vinyl elsewhere. Luxury Vinyl Tile would definitely put my home above the rest as far as looks are concerned; I'm just wondering if not having the hardwoods would make my home less attractive to buyers.

JLoyd, I'm on a PC and the Houzz format I get shows a list of old threads discussing similar issues to the right of the page. Example: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/hardwood-vs-lvt-luxury-vinyl-tile-dsvw-vd~4154793 Otherwise you could also search for LVT vs hardwood using the search box above.

I dont' know what it did for our house value, but we went with amtico flooring anyway. We like the softness, the cleanability and knowing we will never have to go through the work and mess and vacate the house to get the floors refinished.

I don't think so, especially if they know that you're using Coretec and the benefits of it - waterproof! What family with a dog or small children wouldn't love that?

Thanks, Rina. I didn't know I could do that. I'll check there as well.

Yes, vinyl is not as attractive to buyers as real hardwood. It may be more practical for you with a child and cats but real hardwood beats out vinyl.

The best observation on this thread is the first one. What is common in your area (and your price range)? I know many people here like LVT but I immediately feel the difference when I walk on it. If I was house shopping and the house was filled with LVT I would pass or consider the expense of replacing it when I made my offer. I've always had medium toned wood floors and our house has kids, dogs and messy husband.

IMO you do not mix real and faux wood in the same space so do the coretec everywhere , it is for sure better than carpet and old vinyl floor.

@J Lloyd, based on your answer regarding the other homes in your neighborhood having engineered hardwood in the foyer and carpet and vinyl elsewhere, having LVT is an upgrade to your neighborhood standard.

I would normally say go with engineered hardwood, but based on your needs (child and cats) the LVT would be more durable. I agree with Patricia Colwell that mixing real and faux wood is a mistake. The previous owner made a mistake by mixing flooring types and flooring colors, that is a big hit to market value IME. Having tile in the baths is normal, but the same flooring throughout the rest of the house works much better for market value than mixing flooring colors and/or types. There are times it can be well done, seen it. But most of the time it looks like the owner purchased whatever was on sale at the time without regard to color or style or type....so not a good look. The floor is one of the largest surfaces of your home so you are smart to research the impact of this very large surface.

Thanks, Denita. This viewpoint makes a lot of sense. The LVT is very pretty; certainly much better than carpet and vinyl that the other homes in the neighborhood have. Yes, the previous owner purchased whatever was on sale, and then did a poor job of install. He did everything himself, and we have spent the past 3 years un-doing everything he did. For his floor install, he used all of his little scraps, and if there were gaps, he just put a little wood putty in to cover it. Terrible.

We don't plan on moving any time soon, and I want to save up the cash first, so I have a while to think about it.

Modin Rigid (from Flooret, on Houzz and online) has better specifications than Coretec. Like Coretec, it has a cork backing. The similarities end there. Modin has a 40 mil wear layer, double that of Coretec and similar products.

Traditional vinyl can decrease home value. Hardwood is the gold standard. Personally I would prefer a rigid LVP over laminate. You should only use one wood-look product for your floors.

Modin Rigid is 7 mm thick, of which one mm is the wear layer.

Coretec and Karndean also have rigid LVP, but again their wear layer is at best half of Modin Rigid.

We have a second home, a condo, where we recently had LVP installed throughout the entire place. Because the rooms all flow together or off of a common hallway it was the best choice. It can be used in the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, etc.

We have hardwood in our primary home. It is lovely. Is the LVP as nice as the hardwood? No. But, does it look nice ? Yes. We have pretty area rugs where needed, along with furnishings, artwork, etc. I really do not think that anyone would focus on the flooring. It looks so much better than the vinyl, tiles, and carpeting that were there.

We will be replacing cheap engineered hardwood with LVP. I am not sure if the install of the engineered hardwood was faulty or just the cheapness of the product used accounts for the crappy appearance but it has to go. We bought this house less than 2 years ago and the flooring had just been installed by the previous owners. It is cupping and warping and looks awful. There is no way this stuff could ever be refinished.

The hardwood that is original to the house (1972 build) is in great condition so that will stay. I had hardwood at my old house and I loved it and refinished it and was always happy with it.

LVP is a better fit for this house because we are in the woods and have kid, dog, cats, and not much separation between inside and outside so lots of dirt and mud get tracked in. I had a flooring guy here last week and the LVP products he showed me looked great.

Hi there-
It truly depends on the home you are putting it in. You want to match the quality of your interiors. For example, a home with stone counter tops and high quality wood cabinets may lend themselves to real wood flooring. If you put an LVT into that setting you could bring the value of the home down. Best option is to match your neighborhood, and home value.

Ah. Yes, this makes sense. Our neighborhood doesn't have granite counters, except for a few people who may have remodeled their kitchens. We have Corian (quartz) at our house. The homes here have average features.

You can't get more than you paid for. You lose the difference in the "worth" of hardwood vs the "worth" of LVP. That's fair. You might not be losing any money if the hardwood is tired and needing refinishing anyway. You MIGHT have a different buyer's market when you go to sell. There might be buyers who are looking only for hardwood or wall to wall. That is always the way that game is played. We put in industrial grade LVP in our kitchen and dining area and LOVE THEM. We had laminate and carpet before. I have no interest in the "patina" of worn hardwood.

I am debating many of the same ideas. Such as removing all the small 12x12 ceramic tile and replacing it with vinyl wood plank for my own comfort. The small tile is preferable over carpet, but I am disabled and tile is extremely painful to stand & walk on. Idk that a good vinyl plank will add value to the home, but I'm not selling for about 10+ years, so I plan on living comfortably and investigate further into the selection & grades of vinyl on the market.

One thing you need to consider is YOUR NEEDS. What do you want for you. In your space. Personally, I don't want to suffer debilitating pain in my feet, legs, back

Since vinyl plank is fairly reasonably priced and is also easy to remove. The year before we decide sell for our retirement then we will add those vanilla options that buyers like to see.

I decided to go with engineered hardwood, which is what we had to begin with. I chose Shaw Belle Grove in the River Bank color. 5" wide distressed planks, in a medium brown. I absolutely love it! I'll post some before and after pics when I have more time.

J Lloyd--do you have any idea what the wear layer is for your Shaw engineered hardwood? Do you know if it can be refinished? We are trying to decide between engineered hardwood or LVP. I am worried about not being able to refinish the engineered hardwood.

I am replacing my hardwoods with luxury vinyl plank next week. I have never liked hardwood…to hard to live day to day life with a family and let’s.

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