Help! Head is spinning with flooring options.

8 years ago

Okay, I would really appreciate some advice on a flooring dilemma my husband and I are having. This may be a little long but wanted to provide as many relevant details as I can think of.

My husband and I live in a nice area- our house, for which we paid about $400,000, is one of the least expensive in the neighborhood (the most expensive houses in the neighborhood probably go for around $550,000). It's the two of us, plus two cats, plus a new Great Dane puppy. We plan to have children in the next two to three years. We live in a warm and humid climate (think mid-Atlantic/upper part of the U.S. south). The downstairs floors are all heart pine hardwood, the upstairs is all carpeted (minus the bathroom, which are tile). We plan to remain in this house for 7-10 years.

One of our cats recently peed all over the carpet in one of our upstairs bedrooms. After much research and experimenting with odor-removing products, we decided we're going to need to completely redo the flooring (and possibly also the sub-flooring, depending on how deep the urine has penetrated) in order to get out the smell completely.

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the number of different flooring options available to us and the variety of considerations in play, so I'm hoping for some guidance. We first and foremost want flooring that is not going to have to be ripped up again should one of our sweet animals decide to have another peeing incident, or destroyed by the dog's nails when it gets a big bigger. Our second priority is not hurting our resale value. These two priorities seem to be somewhat in opposition to one another at times. Most pet-oriented sites I've read say we should get luxury vinyl or laminate since they are easily cleanable and not very porous (a drawback of traditional hardwood). Most home decor-oriented sites I've read say we should avoid mixing actual hardwood and "imitation" hardwoods in the same home, as that can decrease the resale value (and that depending on what the market is like in our area, the presence of vinyl alone can decrease the value, though I'm not sure if that applies since we're replacing carpet, another "low tier" flooring). I can't completely figure out where other options, such as bamboo, fit in all this. Does anyone have any advice?

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Comments (5)

User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I know laminate is popular with a lot of folks, but I’m personally not a fan for a variety of reasons. Vinyl can be an ok option for a small bath or laundry room but not a whole second level especially in a house in that price range. I don’t think resale should be something you concern yourself with too much either though. If the house is well maintained and has a good “overall appeal” it will do well regardless of the flooring you have upstairs. Downstairs would be a much different story but upstairs not so much. And you know, a lot of people don’t want carpet for health reasons, so in the end, removing it could actually work in your favor. I would just try to use something that has a nice “general” appeal, nothing that is busy or taste specific.

If it were me, I’d be installing a beautiful wood look tile. Then I’d find some budget friendly rugs to help ground the rooms a bit. IMO, it’s the best of all worlds, lots of options to choose from, easy maintenance, animal friendly and oh so pretty.

Here’s some sample pics I found
Saypoint zone 6 CT
8 years ago
I would ask your real estate agent for advice on this if you are concerned about resale. In my area, wood look tile, laminate, or LVP would not go over as well in living areas, including bedrooms. Hardwood is the way to go. Your area might be different. That said, people around here won’t hesitate to rip out anything they don’t like and start over.

I kept multiple pets at a time, plus fostered for small breed rescue. Puppy mill rescues are not house trained at all when they come in. Poor things. My solid hardwood floors held up well, but I was home and accidents were cleaned up promptly. Pets were confined to kitchen/laundry/breakfast area with slate floors when I wasn’t home to supervise. Area rugs were a total loss.
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SJ McCarthy
8 years ago
I'm going to recommend working with white oak hardwood (solid if you can). And there is a reason for this. At the time of RESALE (7-10 years from now) you can have the floors "touched up" by using a process called a buff and coat. This is when a hardwood flooring professional comes in and screens (buffs) the floor and then applies a single coat of finish (chemical match to the original finish). This screening LEAVES the original finish INTACT! And it is often done in a single day (plus a few days for curing).

This form of "touching up" can improve the appearance of scratches/etc by 50%. It is like a quick make-over for your flooring. It is an excellent way to perk up your hardwood floors (and your soft woods for that matter) to make them ready for resale. The cost is roughly 1/2 of a full sand and refinish. If a full sand and refinish averages $5/sf, then a buff and coat is often $3/sf.

There is no other form of flooring that can be removed and replaced for $3/sf!

You already have soft wood in the home. Luckily a Great Dane (full grown) is a 'Sofa Speed Bump'. They are not high energy dogs. In fact, a mid-sized dog with plenty of energy will do MORE damage than a big dog who prefers to lounge rather than do laps around the house.

If you do not want hardwoods, I suggest you go with a high-end laminate ($4.50/sf) and and decide whether or not to replace it when you get ready for resale. You can always use carpet upstairs once again ($3-$4/sf) as the replacement. You purchased a house with carpet in it....it is most likely what someone else will purchase from you.
User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I agree that it is area specific, in the south, hardwood is often not the first choice due to the humidity, in other areas where humidity isn’t an issue, it’s extremely popular and would be my first choice too. But wood is a natural element and how the specific flooring you’d choose would react to animal urine may be different from what someone else experiences. I can’t believe that every installation would hold up as well as another might. We’re in the upper midwest, houses in my neighborhood range from 350-550ish. The wood look tile is popular and I’ve seen some gorgeous installations, personally, I’d have no problem installing it if the need arose.
Anna Tomchuk
8 years ago
lukkiirish, thank you for share this great design on first foto. Now I know how my bedroom have to be.