I agree all floors need replacing in a flood other than that wipe up spills as you go. I am wondering why your cat is peeing on the floor ? I like vinyl plank make sure you have a few extras on hand in case of a biiger issue but that makes the most sense to me or better yet whatever the floor is next to this space .

Post photos of the space for best comments. Your contractor would have to put additional backer board in for your thinner product selections which can add to the overall cost - you are probably better off with a tile or a tile look laminate (note: if any water leak is significant enough even your sheet good vinyl would have to be replaced because the wood subfloor is what can get compromised with water.)

@thinkdesignlive, I edited the original post to add a pic, thank you.

Good point about getting a contractor who can do the installation well. Thank you!

We're currently in a rental house, where a hose under the kitchen sink detached overnight and we ended up mopping up 3" of water from the porcelain tile floor in the middle of the night, which is why I'm more paranoid than I would have been otherwise (and it would have kept going longer if my older child hadn't got up in the night wondering what the sound was). I had actually considered keeping the hardwood that used to be in that space, but after that, I absolutely would not.

And @mcarroll16, good suggestion about moisture sensors with alarms. I'd never heard of that before but will look into it.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting, the cat pee isn't a regular thing, but has happened twice in the 2.5 years since we got him, and apparently it just takes 1 pee incident (e.g. overnight that we might not catch until morning) to ruin Marmoleum. So I figure it could happen over the next 12-15 years of his life (especially when he becomes a senior cat) and before we'd likely sell.

We have 80's vinyl sheet flooring in our kitchen/laundry and it is soft and durable. Warm and forgiving. Easy to clean. Still holding up fine and not dull at all.

HOWEVER, there is a long scratch near the door from someone moving something heavy and sharp. It has turned black with age. I think someone dropped a hot coal or two in the laundry from carrying out hot ashes from the fireplace, there are black melted spots.

Of course our pattern is discontinued. Whatever you do, order lots of extra flooring. A pro will be able to fix anything so you can't tell where a patch is. The same way they match seams during installation.

@tracefloyd, that is reassuring that the vinyl sheet flooring can be repaired. I had the impression you'd have to replace the entire strip! So this is good news, and a good tip to keep some flooring in case the style is discontinued!

Nothing wrong with sheet vinyl if you can find some that looks nice. Look out for those little dimples that catch dirt. Obviously I haven't been vinyl shopped in a long time! If the new patterns look good it's actually kind of a perfect floor.

I don't get the appeal of plank vinyl over sheet. Few seams vs many seams?

Sometimes the most ecofriendly thing we can do is buy what we like that works well and just keep it.

I'm curious how many online references to cat pee destroying Marmoleum have you seen? I've had it in a kitchen with a cat and a dog and while nobody peed on it, I also used it a a temporary counter (for over a year) and a cat food placemat which got soaked and scrubbed in the sink. (obviously you don't soak anything mounted to a subfloor). Everything spilled on that floor and nothing stained or ruined it. The process for removing tree sap is the same as any other floor...

I designed with this sheet vinyl about 14 years ago. Beautiful and durable, but the client said it was difficult to clean (due to the "dimples" @Fori mentioned above).

@Fori, thank you for what you said about it being eco-friendly to buy what we like and keep it! During this reno, I'm getting all stressed about my choices not being eco-friendly.

• I REALLY tried to buy second-hand wood kitchen cabinets (there are many for sale) but I could not find an installer who would work with me on that and I'm not handy enough to do it myself. (They all were uneasy about taking responsibility for anything that could happen if the materials failed over time.) So I'm buying new after all.
• I wanted to keep my hardwood floors, but they got so damaged during the reno (wall removals, etc.) that the contractors said it would cost more to repair them than to replace them. And now I'm contemplating materials like vinyl!
• Countertops are so expensive that I'm contemplating laminate.
• However, I'm keeping all my working appliances, kitchen faucet, etc and everyone's like "What? You're keeping those???" Old and not looking their best and not matching, but I do feel in every case that I can stick with something to the end of its life, that I am still making some eco-friendly choices...... (and saving money)

Thank you for the reassurance.

Another ditto to what Fori said about dimples. Get the absolute smoothest vinyl you can find. Because the dimples are a huge PITA to clean.

Laminate counters are great. The only thing I don't like about them is the need for a drop in sink. Although I think there's one brand of undermount that works with laminate.

If you keep things (my irritable GC was kind of POed when he had to salvage my faucet, dishwasher, etc. on a large remodel/addition) make sure they are standard sizes. Ovens and vintage ranges, in particular. I don't think everything has to be new, but when it breaks, you need to be able to get the replacement in. :)

Yes do find the smooth-mount laminate sink! With the right installer and right sink, I bet an apron-front sink could be undermounted, too. The new laminates are great--I like the bright cheery old-fashioned fun ones so much more than the faux stone ones.

Get a second opinion from a hardwood floor company (that does site finishing) about fixing the floors if you're not sure. I had to patch and refinish some and it was reasonable. (My GC promised me it was unsalvageable and I needed new floors.)

@Fori, that's good advice on the appliances. The stove/oven and fridge are standard sizes. Dishwasher a little on the small side, but we could just replace with another smallish dishwasher if we had to. (It's a Bosch, so hopefully it'll last a long, long time.)

Unfortunately, it's too late to salvage the hardwood. But it's a good thought to get a second opinion in future situations like this. (Our reno is still far from over.)

Thanks for the different perspective on laminate countertops (an opportunity to make it look fun, rather than just "can't afford a better material"). We used to have a dark laminate countertop with a lot of surface texture, and I hated the way flour would get stuck in the seams and around the seam of the drop in sink. It never looked truly clean, and I was dreaming of a countertop that would actually look clean. But maybe that's still possible with laminate.