Hi. I had pergo wood laminate installed in my kitchen and extended it to the bathroom that is adjacent to the kitchen for a seamless look. I have had it about 8 years now. Still looks new. I have dropped all kinds of things on that flooring. And NO dents or dings or anything. You can not tell it’s not real wood. Even my brother thought it was wood and he is a high end real a state appeaser in Manhattan.
I have porcelain wood look tile for my hallway and two other bathrooms.
The Pergo cleans with vinegar and water. Nothing sticks to it
The porcelain is also easy to clean with vinegar and water.
I like to use healthy cleaning products.
Best of luck in your choices❣️

Installing hardwood in Florida takes extra effort. The first part of that effort is having EXCELLENT humidity control in the home. In hot, humid climates that means the A/C might not be enough. It might require an additional whole-home dehumidifier. It can also rule out an 'open window' type of home. Again, it depends on the location and the humidity levels.

Hardwoods must be kept in a 'happy humidity' range between 45% - 60%. At all times. Every minute of every day. For ever and ever. And ever and ever. That means you will spend more on your HVAC system to have that type of 'push button' control (whole home humidifier/dehumidifier).

And then the type of build also dictates the best practice for installation of hardwoods. A concrete slab takes extra effort to glue down wood. A high-end adhesives must be used and those add $2-$3/sf...just for the glue. The hardwood and labour are on top of that.

In Florida, the most appropriate floors are stone, tile, terrazzo or concrete. All of which are hard and cold. Of course a cool floor in a hot climate is a BENEFIT...not a drawback. Part of the cold flooring is it helps keep the house feeling cool.

Vinyl is then the next option. The difference between the 'wood look' or the stone/tile look is simply aesthetics. If you LIKE the look of wood, then go for it. If you LIKE the look of stone/tile, then go for it.

With vinyl you will require very good UV block on your windows. Ask your builder what level you have on your windows right now. You will want to find something with UV block ABOVE 50%. I prefer to see 70% - 75%. That keeps the vinyl and the house cool. But it also makes growing indoor plants a difficulty. Plants struggle with UV blocking windows at 70% or higher.

Awhile back, I had an in-home consultation with a mom-and-pop flooring shop, and the son of the owner strongly suggested that I abandon the idea of LVP, largely because I want a dark floor. He said that by "pet-proof, kid-proof, and waterproof" the manufacturers really just mean "waterproof." He said I'd notice every single scratch every morning (my living/dining/kitchen all face south), and that it would drive me nuts. One of the samples I brought home actually had a huge scratch across it, so that was the final nail in the coffin for me.

I have a lot of kids and a fondness for large/giant dogs. The color of the LVP might make a difference; dark colors tend to show damage more readily. My husband and I are now debating between wood-look tile (I was assured of very tight grout lines) or engineered hardwood. We're in hot and humid Central Texas. :-)

"Every minute of every day. For ever and ever. And ever and ever. "

Slow down SJ. I know Florida. Every minute? I guess I'm the lucky one that includes Hurricane Irma that shutdown power for 14 days. No effect on my engineered floor.

Folks it's not as complicated as some say. Just follow proper specs with someone that knows what they're doing and not a handyman.

more on engineered floors in Florida

We ship a TON of Engineered floors to FLA. Its just important to make sure you keep the humidity levels within product specs. Most AC units will do this no problem.

SJ if you don't know what you're talking about please don't respond. I've had engineered hardwood on concrete first in my condo and now throughout the downstairs of my house. Upstairs the engineered hardwood is on top of whatever they put on the second floor.

I've never had a problem with my engineered hardwood floors. We have something here called air conditioning. It's amazing in that it helps keep the humidity levels low enough to not create problems.

Some areas of Florida have humidity that is too high for A/C to take care of completely.

I totally believe this.

My husband just bought a portable dehumidifier for the kitchen/dining/family room, less than a week ago. We have it set at 45%-50% humidity. When it turns itself off (after the bucket is full of water, which takes our particular unit 10 hours or less), I don't always have time *right then and there* to empty the bucket. If I wait even an hour, then the unit registers 70% humidity, and has to work harder to bring the humidity back down.

I never realized how much water was in our air. I'm able to water all of my trees, shrubs, and perennials with all of the water extracted from the air. It's crazy. :-O

I had Coretec Hayes Oak installed in my house; it would be a bright and airy color LVP and perfect for FL. Sometimes I look at it and think it looks like the color of sand! I love it. It cleans up very easy, the color goes with all wood tones. It is wide planked -- 8.98" x 72.05" x 8 mm -- the width and length cut down on that patterny look. My photos on are this thread (as are some from other members).

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5750480/coretec-hayes-oak-photos#25331096

@kculbers could you please send me pics or the flooring you have? I have dogs that like to lift their leg now and then and I need dog proof flooring in my new addition. So stressed.

Hi Valants. My first 2 pictures are my Pergo laminate flooring. The 3rd picture is my Energie Kerr Italian porcelain wood look tile in my hallway. The 4th picture is my Energie Kerr Italian porcelain wood look tile in my bathroom. Both are water resistant and easy to clean!