You do know that you can refinish hardwood floors to be darker. There's many choices that will give you the modern look that you desire. However, if your heart is set on LVP then LVP it is.

@shirlppThank you! I forgot to mention that we have a 85lb puppy. Water and scratch prove is another reason we feel LVP could be a good choice.

I would go over the top, just to preserve that hardwood floor for someone else some day, or maybe even for yourself, someday. LVP is a nice floor, but, it will never compare to older hardwood.

Vinyl over that hardwood and the hardwood will be trash. I would refinish the hardwood, it will be less prone to water damage and dog damage in the long run. And a better floor all the way around.

Refinish the hardwood. There is a reason hardwood floors still exist. They DO last.

I'd refinish the wood and keep the dog's nails trimmed and put a mat under the water bowl.

I can't understand why anyone would replace hardwood with vinyl. If you are going to do that, leave the hardwood in place to preserve the integrity of the house

"If you are going to do that, leave the hardwood in place to preserve the integrity of the house"

You cannot put vinyl over hardwood and hope to salvage the hardwood. The oils in the vinyl will ruin the hardwood.

Refinish hardwood. it will work, we had it with kids, dogs, backyard pool=wet dripping kids on floors too. Sold a house with scratches everywhere, new owners were delighted as they also had big dogs.

Refinish the hardwood and trim your dogs nails frequently. A big dog with long nails will screw up the vinyl too.

We've seen 'vinyl over hardwood' and it turned into an icky, slimy mess. The vinyl was in place for about 10 years. When the homeowners removed the vinyl (to reveal the hardwood) they discovered their hardwoods had turned mushy.

Wood breathes but vinyl does not. When the vinyl was put over top of the hardwood, the vinyl caused the wood to sweat. That sweat sat on TOP of the wood (like a small lake) for 10 years. And that wasn't the only problem. The FINISH on the hardwood had a chemical reaction to the vinyl. The FINISH turned into a slurry of orange/black liquid polyurethane. Vinyl is a petroleum based product. And the polyurethane is ALSO a petroleum based product. The two put together have chemical reactions.

So...if you are going to do this, you MUST:

1. Sand OFF the finish of the hardwood = $2/sf

2. Lay an approved underlayment for the vinyl (that is NOT a vapour barrier) like craft paper

3. Do NOT allow the vinyl to sit on the hardwood for any longer than you need (ie. when 'puppy' goes to the great dog run in the sky)

Even if you do ALL of this, you STILL RISK damage to the hardwoods = unsalvageable.

Or....you remove the hardwood ($2/sf for removal assuming it is ONLY nail/cleated in place...if it is glue down = $3/sf). Now you pay $4/sf for the vinyl and $2 for the installation = $8/sf.

Or you have the hardwood sanded/refinished = $5-$7/sf. Oh...wait...that's the IDENTICAL price of purchasing $4/sf vinyl + $2/sf installation.....hmmmm.

The value of the home is MAINTAINED if you keep the hardwood. The value of the house DECREASES if ANYTHING happens to those hardwoods. Remember: you have ALREADY PAID for those hardwoods.

If you assume $10/sf for the hardwoods is INCLUDED in your mortgage. If you have 1000sf of hardwood, your house has a value of $10,000 JUST FOR THE FLOORING. And you are PAYING interest on that $10,000. If you want to change out the flooring, you will be paying another $7 - $10/sf for 1000sf = $7,000 - $10,000 AGAIN!

What makes FINANCIAL sense to use up the floors you are ALREADY PAYING FOR. That means to go ahead and TRASH those wood floors. They are paid for! Why spend more on a problem that doesn't exist.

And when you are 'done' with how they look, you spend $5-$7/sf AT THAT TIME!

And to be clear...a hardwood finish = 25 years worth of life. It could take you 15 years or more to FULLY trash this floor. Imagine what money you could save if you put your $7,000 in the bank to gain interest for 15 years???!!!! You'll have enough money to move up to the TOUGHEST finish on the market = $7/sf...not a problem.

Or you can ruin those hardwoods by working with vinyl. It's your call.

I have an 80 year old oak hardwood floor in a small house - all parts of it got lots of traffic. I took up the wall-to-wall carpet in the LR/DR about 5 years after I moved in and refinished the floor. The floor had old rubber carpet padding melted to it from the heat/steam of carpet cleaning! The refinishers did a beautiful job -that was nearly 25 years ago. Since then I have had cats, a large shar-pei mix, and children - the only significant damage came from the child spilling nail polish remover in her bedroom on the who knows what kind of finish floor - probably predated polyurethane - that did way more damage than the dog or cats cumulatively did.

I even have it in the kitchen, it survived the dog's dishes just fine (good sized mat underneath them.)

Hardwood is tough, it lasts, and will be popular still when the vinyl plank trend has run its course.

When I was a child growing up in a 100 year old house, my parents bred chocolate labs and golden retrievers. We had at least 4 80+ dogs in the house at all times, plus puppies and cats, plus 4 kids and our friends , and 3 adults. Hardwood throughout. My own 200 year old home has the original hardwood floors. There is a reason for this. Hardwood floors can take endless beatings and survive.

Please don’t think hardwood can’t stand up to hard traffic. You would be doing yourself, your house, and future occupants of your house an incredible disservice if you cover good hardwood with a faddish synthetic.

You made the right decision.

If you get a chance, pics would be awesome (:

ok, now I'm confused. We have hardwood nailed upstairs in our childcare. The floors in front of the sink, under tables, takes a huge beating. Don't want staff mopping at days end due to finish. About to pull up all the hardwood and replace with LVT. Talk me out of it. So expensive & time consuming to move everything out to refinish yearly.

It sounds like you need to replace with LVT @Diane Chinnis Havens

@Diane Chinnis Havens, (1) mop with something that will not damage finish and (2) finish hardwood with a stronger product.

No properly finished and cared for hardwood should need to be refinished yearly - that is, if it has a poly finish, not wax.

Is there some reason you can't have mats in front of the sinks and carpet scraps or other protection under the tables? I am assuming that the 'beating' mostly comes from water splashes and spills.

My hardwood refinishers told me to vacuum the floors, and only use white vinegar+water to damp mop the wood when needed.

You really like the entire house smelling like vinegar? I’d have a problem with that. It’s bad enough when wife uses vinegar in a small area.

It isn't full strength vinegar! Approx. 1/4 strength, and no, the whole house doesn't smell like vinegar. Not even the room where I cleaned after a short time.