bf12345 , most good quality wood flooring can be refinished again in the future as taste and style changes. That refinish process can give you a completely different look. Wood has a really good ROI over time. Synthetic floors are a turn off to some homeowners. It may hurt resale value while wood flooring is always a big selling point for any home on the market.

We have gone back and forth on this as well- we are doing a major dining, living, kitchen remodel. We have decided to go with a beautiful wide plank engineered hardwood (French oak) from Bella cera called “Monza” bivio. It’s just light and natural and I think will look beautiful with our white cabinets. It’s a wire brushed engineered hardwood which I like more than the rustic hand scraped ones. It was very affordable at less than $4/SF. We have had a few people try to discourage real wood in the kitchen but my parents have had knotty pine floors for 30 year and they’ve held up fairly well and have been refinished twice. The only thing with engineered wood is the top layer is fairly thin with plywood underneath, so you can’t really refinish them but most wont need to be since they have a 25-50 yr residential warranty. I chose one that had some knots and grains and looked like it’d be forgiving. Some of the new lvt is more expensive but really pretty, I can just tell it’s not real wood and it feels a little plasticky and I just like natural materials. My friend has it in her yoga studio and for that application I think it’s great. The only thing I am nervous about is not being able to steam mop my kitchen and having to use wood cleaner with a microfiber mop. But I like rustic and genuine surfaces- we went with granite and are refinishing Saltillo. It’s not perfect but I’m just a natural materials person. You really can’t go wrong! But I think wood floors are always better for resale personally. The new vinyl is great though, and I would def do it in a bathroom, playroom, mud room, but don’t love it throughout the main house. Laminate is ok, but I don’t like the clickety clack sound when you walk on it, and I can almost always immediately tell something is laminate vs wood.

The only thing with engineered wood is the top layer is fairly thin with plywood underneath, so you can’t really refinish them but most wont need to be since they have a 25-50 yr residential warranty.

Sorry but this is partly wrong. If you have a better quality engineered hardwood flooring with a higher wear layer, it can be refinished 1 or more times. Ideally you want a floor with at least a 3mm floor layer.

I had an engineered wood floor in my condo for 6 years and just put engineered wood flooring in my new house build. I've never had a problem with it.

I would not use LVP because I just don't feel it's a safe choice for us or the environment. Here's an article that explains why.

bf12345 , here is a helpful diagram of our Engineered flooring using a 4mm and 6mm wear layer. It allows for several finishings.

Wood will be the best for value/resale most likely, unless you are in a neighborhood that the comps all have laminate and vinyl anyway. Of course, if you plan on staying there a while, buy what you like, not what's trendy.

With that said, even though there are now "waterproof" laminates, I still do not trust them in the kitchen if they are made with mdf or hdf core. The "waterproofness" in those comes from sealing at the joints so that water on top won't soak into the support layer. However, if water/moisture were to get underneath the board, which is still possible (if not as common) in a kitchen when dealing with a floating floor, that support layer will still swell and crumble like any other laminate. Think dishwasher issue or any spill right next to a cabinet where laminate would normally have an expansion gap.

Vinyl is the best when dealing with moisture in a kitchen but its a matter of are you ok with the artificialness of going that route. I do like a good luxury vinyl plank, but it really is not quite the same as real wood.

Engineered wood that uses essentially plywood for its support is a better choice than laminate as plywood doesn't swell and deteriorate when exposed to moisture, although you do need to make sure a moisture issue that soaks into the wood is resolved before it turns into a problem (note that some cheaper engineered wood uses the same hdf or mdf core as laminate and I stay away from those if kitchen is intended use). In my limited experience, the aluminum oxide finish used in a lot of pre-finished engineered flooring does make refinishing or simple scratch repair more difficult regardless of how thick the top layer of wood is.