Thank you! This is why I wanted to ask real people. I just added pictures of the main parts of the house. The carpet is throughout and the linoleum in the kitchen is also whats featured in both bathrooms and laundry room. Do you have any suggestions for a good budget product to use over such a large area?

Consider a perimeter adhered vinyl so that future replacements or upgrades will be less costly. They also cut down on how perfect you need to be with prep. Telegraphing is less of an issue.

Tile Eastern CT - can you expound on that please?

Do be careful of a barn wood color floor because that is a very trendy floor - and the more trendy, the more likely to become the dreaded "dated". This is not a forever floor so I am less concerned about the trendy factor, but I doubt barn wood will be the flooring trend in 10 years. A more neutral brown, which will still go with all your surfaces would have a longer lasting appeal.

I would go with a nice sheet vinyl. I don't think you would be happy with any LVT or wood, that, with installation, totaled less than 4.50-5.00 sf.

Wherever you now have carpet, most likely you'll need to put down a smooth underlayment before you tile.

Yanno, the reviews on this are pretty darn good. Not sure how long it would last, but it is very inexpensive.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficMASTER-Seashore-Wood-12-in-x-24-in-Peel-and-Stick-Vinyl-Tile-Flooring-20-sq-ft-case-PW1840/206414061

This is probably a better choice. Also has very good reviews.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/LifeProof-Lighthouse-Oak-8-7-in-x-47-6-in-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-20-06-sq-ft-case-I106511L/300461621?MERCH=REC--PIPHorizontal1_rr--300699284--300461621--N

Lot of pictures there on those reviews too. You can even do it yourself and stay well within your budget.

Do you know what is beneath your carpet? Any chance it could be hiding wood flooring?

OP said the carpet was original to the house - it would not have wood flooring beneath it, maybe a plywood subfloor. But she could also be on a slab.

Are you looking at putting vinyl in the living and bedrooms? What area of the country do you live?

I have stick down tile .had it for 9 years ...still stuck and looks as good as new

OK....so here is what I WOULD DO: Pull the carpet and lino BOTH and FIND OUT what's underneath. Carpet hides the WORST subfloors (both in prep and in materials) on the planet. Builders KNOW they can mess up the subfloor because carpet will hide everything.

So....once carpet and line are GONE...I would then choose an installation material BASED ON the subfloor material that is in place. Example, if you have PERFECT PLYWOOD (which is EXPENSIVE....so I HIGHLY DOUBT IT) then you can think about peel and stick vinyl (which will be cheap, cheerful and require replacement rather quickly = 5 - 7 years).

If you have PERFECT CONCRETE SLAB (again...HIGHLY DOUBT IT) then you can think peel and stick. See above.

Now back to reality. The chances are you have bad subfloors. As in laun or fibre board or OSB (oriented strand board = looks like the plywood has been made from potato chips). If this is your substrate, peel and stick will NOT STICK. That means you NEED TO LOOK at floating (click together). The price will go UP because of the price of the locking system (royalties, manufacturing machines are expensive, etc) but the INSTALLATION will be faster/easier.

Or you have horrible concrete (lumpy, pitted, sloped, etc.) and you need SERIOUS repairs on the concrete. That type of repair isn't going to come cheap. And it is a gut-wrenching DIY project.

And vinyl is great for dogs....but PLEASE WORK with a product that is NOT MATTE. We have dozens of threads with people CRYING over their matte finished vinyl....and HATING IT. And NO, the finish is not defective. Which makes them even MORE upset....because there is no warranty covering "angry".

And just for fun, a rental unit will have a different life expectancy for flooring. Rental units have a 7 year life cycle for flooring. Yep. That's sever (7) years and the floors need replacing.

So....choose what YOU LIKE today. Get it as tough as your budget can allow (high-end laminate in the living spaces + decent vinyl in kitchen/bath/laundry) and then realize it will only survive a few more years (2-4 years) as a rental floor. That's it.

And LAMINATE (especially the high end one's) are EXTREMELY tough. They are STUPID-EASY/cheap to install as DIY and require LESS PREPARATION to the subfloors than vinyl.

Because rental property is in your future, don't think anything beyond "seven years".

"Now back to reality. The chances are you have bad subfloors. As in laun or fibre board or OSB (oriented strand board = looks like the plywood has been made from potato chips). "

I guess I am lucky? I have 3/4" plywood.

What is it that makes them hate the matte finish?

I have vinyl planks that were glued down not peel and stick. It's been very durable and everyone that sees it thinks it's real wood. The price we got was amazing! So my experience has been so far so good.

Every once in a blue moon you'll get a tenant in your rental that will be meticulous about: (1) taking care of the place as if it were their own, and (2) will report needed repairs IMMEDIATELY before a small problem becomes a Much Bigger Problem.

And I do mean, every once in a blue moon. I have friends who are great renters and their rental agent literally adores them. She negotiated with the RE trust who owns the properties she manages to get them a sizable rent break when they had to move from one rental to another, just to keep them as tenants. Understand our rental market is blazing, volcano-like red-hot and she could have gotten that extra $700/mo in probably 30 seconds flat if she'd advertised for new tenants.

No matter how durable / cleanable a flooring is for an owner, I have great faith that there is a prospective tenant out there, somewhere, who can and will trash it.

(Yes, that's why we don't own rental property any longer, LOL.)

Since you have no labor costs, put in a flooring that has a very good wear layer on top. Meaning, the thickness of the clearcoat. What type you use isn't as important as how good a product it is within its class.

Don't confine yourself to HD and Lowe's. Find the largest flooring store in your area and go talk to them. If there's a problem, they've seen it and had to deal with it. You're under no obligation, and it can be very useful to talk to people who deal with flooring 7 days/wk, instead of stockers who can't do much more beyond ask you how many boxes you want.

Skip the peel and stick. If nothing else, pulling it up to replace it is a pain in the butt if you are dealing with a rental. Remember once it becomes a rental then floor replacement is a business expense; the new tax plan did not change this (I believe so, anyway - if I'm incorrect, thanks to whoever has more updated info).

Morin floret vinyl plank in Arden would look fabulous throughout.

Hi everyone!!! Thanks for all the feed back!!!! I’ve pulled up the carpet in orts of the house and I have bare concrete floors underneath!

I’m working with a contractor and we’re figuring out the best options for me at this point. Leaving the bedrooms, bathrooms and laundry room alone FOR NOW- the goal is to eventually get the whole place done in the same flooring (bathrooms and laundry room with have a different type of vinyl more looking like tile not wood). It’s looking like I am going to do some form of floating material. Like suggested.

Thanks for all the tips! I’m also figuring out the total of the project per square foot including materials. I didn’t realize the prices given by some places include installation :). Will provide updated pictures when the project is done!!!

Ah ha! I thought you might be on concrete. Good luck with your decisions. Looking forward to seeing what you wind up with.