Replacing Damaged Wood Laminate for Resale

6 years ago

When I purchased the home three years ago there was old 1980s tile everywhere. I decided to change the flooring throughout the entire house. I chose wood laminate for all areas except the bathroom. I was doing renovations to the majority of the house and money was tight. I decided to spend money to update the plumbing and fix electrical issues and not go with expensive floors. I probably spent total $2000.00 on the wood laminate and installed it myself. I realize what a mistake it was to go with such a cheap flooring. The dishwasher leaked two years ago and now there are multiple places on the kitchen floor that the wood laminate is not sitting flat. Six months ago the AC began to leak, so now in the hall and one bedroom there are parts of the floor that do not sit flat. Ive decided to sell the house in the next 6-9 months. Would I get a return on my investment to install real wood flooring? Am I better off just leaving the flooring and selling the house as is? Ive also thought about carpet in the bedrooms and using the same cheap wood laminate but replacing the damaged parts (in kitchen and hallway). I should also mention Ive since replaced the dishwasher and AC so the leaks didnt continue but it took who knows how long before I realized these things were leaking to begin with and I know damage was done.

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Comments (2)

SJ McCarthy
6 years ago
I would talk to a realtor before spending any money. Have your realtor offer some suggestions and then go with the 'Most for the least' on his/her list.

Yes you should fix the laminate that is damaged. The easiest way to do that is to use a STONE LOOK or TILE LOOK vinyl product in the kitchen.

I would then look at adding carpet in the bedrooms (getting rid of the laminate that is damaged) and leaving it at that. You spent $2K for a quick and easy fix. It did it's job. Now you need a new product to do another job. And that job is to replace the damaged stuff AND sell your house.

I would start looking at tile-looking vinyl that would work nicely with your counter tops and cabinets. You can spend $4.50/sf for a nice thick vinyl (you don't want too much of a floor-height variation). You can then change out the bedrooms to carpet. Or you can change out ONE bedroom to carpet and leave the others as they are.

Carpet is on the 'most for the least' list. It gives you the most return on investment for money paid. Carpet is cheap and FAST. So fast! If you want it even CHEAPER than do ONE room in carpet. Once you have done that room/those rooms you can SAVE some of the good planks. You will then use those good planks to FIX the hallway damage. Voila! You have fixed your issues.

For the $ amount on your flooring investment = $0.55 per $1.00 spent. Roughly. But again, before you list your house, go ahead and talk to a realtor. You might be in a super hot market which means you could have a house with 3 walls and no roof and still get whatever you are asking for. We don't know. Not until you talk to a realtor.
Megan Lowe thanked SJ McCarthy
lyfia
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
If you can get the same matching flooring to what you have then I would just replace the damaged sections with the same and be done with it. Unless you are in a high cost of living area where wood floors are expected I don't think you'll see a return on your investment with wood floors.

Edited to add - Don't beat yourself up over the damaged flooring. I'm sure if you had wood it would have been damaged too.
Megan Lowe thanked lyfia
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