I say look at the cost of the flooring over a period of twenty years (buying, maintenance, replacement, durability, and style).

Thank you but no, to vinyl planks. One cannot improve on site-finished white oak hardwood floors, and tile in bathrooms. Both will last for decades. My house was built in 1948, so it's 71 years old. I would not want to see what vinyl planks would look like in 71 years. I know what my hardwood and tile floors look like and they are beautiful!

Are vinyl planks your only budget option? They aren't a very good long-term solution.

Carpet is not always cheaper if you choose a good quality. If you have kids, it WILL get stained. And if you have indoor pets, well, ewww.

LVP can be used in SOME locations but I wouldn't suggest it as your "all over" flooring. We have it in a mobile home on our farm (it was a cheap closeout and DH installed it) and we have it in our basement (again, cheap solution). It DOES scratch. It serves our purpose in that it's relatively easy to clean. It doesn't look nice enough, though, that I'd use it as my main flooring all over the house.

The right vinyl plank brands will do excellent along with carpet in bedrooms. It is very common to do what you are doing. Most people prefer a little more warmth in the bedrooms but for clean ability and durability overtime will do LVT in other areas. Go for a nylon carpet along with a reputable LVT brand with a stable core such as CoreTec or Floorte just to name a couple. Even the best brand of LVT will scratch (they are not scratch proof, or pet proof just better resistant than some other flooring options). It is easy to clean, and if you choose a good quality LVT it'll do wonderful and I wouldn't consider a good quality LVT as a "Cheap" flooring option, just a great value for an active family. Hope this helps, our page has real pictures showing lvt installed, its beautiful

Good luck and congrats on the home build!

I prefer carpet in the bedrooms, for sure. No pets though - I don't have them so not an issue for me. Don't use vinyl. Check out the Supercore thread here on HOUZZ.

We had these in the kitchen of my last house and they felt terrible underfoot. They also collected dirt and dust in the little plastic "grains". I would never install it willingly.

Check out SUPERCORE at WeShipFloors.com. Good info on their webpage about SPC flooring.

Like Beckysharp we installed karndean (knight tile, whitewashed oak) in our last house and another brand on the lower level. We had a very high traffic house with six very active kids, and it was a hobby farm. I was extremely pleased with the look, feel, and durability. Although I love hardwood, the vinyl was a much better choice. There was hardwood in some of the existing spaces in the house, and the upkeep and damage to it was so much greater. We continually got compliments on the floor and quite a few friends who were building came to look at it and borrow my karndean sample books.

I think a lot of it depends on the style and type of home you're building. The house we moved to is 'grand,' and vinyl would be a mistake here. But for many houses it's both lovely and durable and a great choice.