if it's more modern high end finishes, then I'd like the polished concrete. (I have stained/polished concrete in one of my bedrooms)

In no way is wood-look LVP 'high-end' in my book. It's nice, but not that nice! It would depend on which LVP you've chosen. Some are better looking than others.

what about a nice porcelain tile?

Thanks for the input, Beth H! Porcelain tile would have been the preferred choice, but the basement is large (2300 square feet) so it was cost prohibitive. The house is a historic house, so the finishes aren’t modern per say, but hopefully timeless.

LVP does not equal high end!

Polished concrete is much more expensive than tiling. Other concrete flooring treatments, such as acid staining, will be less costly.

Here's rough slate flooring I installed in a home now on the market for C$3.4 million.

I like my LVP in my basement we installed it with dri-core under it to keep the floor a bit warmer IMO a concrete floor in a basement is very cold and not inviting at all

Not only do Dri-Core and equivalent products keep the floor warmer, they prevent trapping upward moisture drive from feeding mould growth under basement vinyl flooring.

As Building Science Corp. advises, impermeable basement finishes should be avoided.

Are you selling? If so, what does the market call for in your area? If not, I’d pick what you like. Concrete and LVP are very different looks and feel different under foot. Concrete will be colder.

This is totally dependent on where you are. We have LVP in our home and it is what is expected in a basement in our area. It would never be acceptable on a main floor but in basement it is widely accepted and homes around us sell for a pretty penny.

Tiling 2300 sf is costly. Yes it will work out to be $15-$18/sf when everything is paid for. A concrete floor is a costly product as well. A 'low-end' floor is $5/sf. That low end concrete floor WILL stain. It WILL etch. It WILL require twice-yearly maintenance by the homeowner (2300 sf of polish x 2 per year). Every 2-3 years it MUST be stripped of the polish (2300 of stripping the floor) and then the cycle starts again.

A bullet proof concrete floor (that is UGLY) will start at $7/sf. That is the one with coloured/textured epoxy used for garage floors. It will be ugly as sin but it will NOT require maintenance.

If you want PRETTY (microtopping) concrete with a STAIN (3 colour stain = $$$) with a clear epoxy over top (no maintenance) you are looking at $12/sf or more. A HIGH END concrete floor (for a HIGH END home or a high-end LOOK) = $25/sf.

Whew!

I would personally go with a cork floating floor over vinyl OR concrete. Cork is a luxury finish and is MUCH warmer and MUCH quieter then EITHER tile or concrete. A high-end cork floor starts around $10/sf with installation ($8/sf for material + $2/sf for installation).

With 2300 sf of space, you won't be saving money on anything...especially if you want HIGH END.

SJ McCarthy, thanks for this well thought out response! When you give those numbers for the concrete, are those assuming a concrete slab is not already there? We have a brand new concrete slab already poured, so then it would just be the work to polish/seal or epoxy or stain, correct?

This basement would need to be a finished basement, finished to actual habitable space standards, with correct head room, finished ceiling, egress windows, etc, to be worth investing in doing any type of finished flooring. Polished concrete costs more than a porcelain tile install, and is more high end. Vinyl is not high end.

@ Melissa - I'm sorry but no it isn't about dealing with the ugly, raw slab. A concrete slab is just that. A slab. It is poured with the understanding it will be covered up. It is not meant to be exposed. You can save a *little bit (a few thousand) by having the concrete sealed and the microtopping added AT THE TIME of the build.

In other words, the same guys who poured the slab (hopefully they have a higher grade professional in the company who can do the microtopping) come back to add the 'finishing concrete'.

Just like a plywood subfloor is NOT meant to be used as flooring, so too a concrete slab is NOT meant to be used as flooring. You still have to 'put something over it'. That's the micro topping.

The concrete floor professional will come on site and sand/shot blast the NEWLY poured slab (there are additives in the concrete that make it cure faster...they rise to the surface and must be removed before anything else is done). They will then use a primer and then pour (aka 'top) a thin layer (aka 'micro') of 'pretty' aggregate. This new aggregate is what is ready to be 'finished'.

Now you do your polishing and your staining and your epoxy. And you still owe $10 - $15/sf for this work.

And to be clear, most people who own finished concrete as a floor will cover it up inside of 7 years. It is a tough finish to live with because it is had, cold and LOUD. The echo it produces is astounding.