I'm looking to replace the carpet in my condo with some type of hardwood flooring. I have two options I'm looking at: engineered hardwood or "luxury" vinyl. I'm leaning towards the engineered hardwood but would like to hear other opinions from anyone who'd care to share them.

Also, just for reference, I have an estimate for both. The engineered hardwood came in at $9.25/sq.ft and the vinyl came in at $5.50/sq.ft. That's a pretty big spread in price, especially since we're talking about doing just about 650 sq.ft.

my brother had installed the engineered hardwood in his townhouse shortly before selling it. Looked good but he didn't like it overall.

Chose the nifty vinyl stuff for his large newly remodeled home. It looks great and has none of the 'vinyl clicky-clack' when walking across the large open areas.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
I'm looking to replace the carpet in my condo with some type of hardwood flooring. I have two options I'm looking at: engineered hardwood or "luxury" vinyl. I'm leaning towards the engineered hardwood but would like to hear other opinions from anyone who'd care to share them.

Also, just for reference, I have an estimate for both. The engineered hardwood came in at $9.25/sq.ft and the vinyl came in at $5.50/sq.ft. That's a pretty big spread in price, especially since we're talking about doing just about 650 sq.ft.

Does the price include installation?

Seems a little high, to me at any rate, even with labor. Since the last time we were looking (about 15 years ago), the price was not that high including labor.

We decided on laminate flooring in our family room, laid it ourselves. Not difficult even back then when the Pergo company highly recommended using adhesive in the joints. Has not seen any damage yet, and it gets a LOT of hard usage. Especially in the winter when we are hauling firewood, etc for the stove.

The newer stuff does not require adhesive in the joints. It just "clicks" together. Preparation is simple, too. roll out the material that comes in a roll. And start putting the pieces of flooring down. As the flooring is thin (maybe 1/4 inch) it does not interfere much with doors, etc. Worth checking into.

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:

Chose the nifty vinyl stuff for his large newly remodeled home. It looks great and has none of the 'vinyl clicky-clack' when walking across the large open areas.

That's kinda what I was hesitant about with the vinyl. That and the spongy, floaty feel some have.

By the way, that price does include everything including labor. Also, my unit has no subfloor. The new flooring will be laid on concrete.

I may end up doing the installation myself with the help of my brother in law who owns and runs a home improvement business, but I appreciate the feedback on price nonetheless.

quote:

By the way, that price does include everything including labor. Also, my unit has no subfloor. The new flooring will be laid on concrete.

You will need a good vapor barrier under the flooring! Friend used to do that kind of work, and he used heavy guage vinyl sheeting. Comes in rolls. Just roll it out, tape the joints and get to laying the flooring.

I had lux vinyl installed in my previous home. Will never use it again. If you chose to install it you should install the special subfloor otherwise you will see floor nails and seams. Hardwood is a much better option. Once you add the special subfloor the cost of both solutions are about the same.

I installed engineered hardwood throughout our last house.I glued it down on top of a concrete slab. The glue was a bit of a bugger to spread, but it turned out nice. I laid down thin strips, 2 1/2", but will go with the wider planks for future installs.

I’m looking at the ceramic (?) tile that looks like wood. I had some installed in my pantry 2 years ago. Love it. Durable and easy to clean, just mop it. Not even a scratch in it. Looks great. Now I’m looking at doing most of the rest of the house in it.

As opposed to wood, if you have a water leak, it won’t ruin these.

Good luck to you.

I use ceramic. I like big dogs and it works well.

I put engineered wood in my house and it has been great.

Paid extra for a good pad over the slab so not a lot of squeaks.

We had Karndean LVT planks installed throughout the house a few years ago. They are wood-look vinyl planks glued directly to concrete. They are flexible, yet thick enough for a beveled edge increasing the realism. It really does look like wood even after a few years of labs playing on it with no scratches. It's not mushy and boots/shoes don't "click" on it like Pergo. The best part is I don't stress over it like I did my real Brazilian Cherry floors in my previous home. Standing water around the water dish? Who cares!

Mrs. 'Hook had an antique iron overheat, melt, then melt through the plastic table. About 12 planks were ruined, but the repair crew came in with heat guns, lifted the planks out and replaced with new ones. They were here and gone within an hour and we can't even tell where it happened. Very happy with the product and I'll do it again in my next house without question.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SeaCliff:
I have the engineered flooring in my downstairs of my condo. It is on concrete glued but had to do some self leveling in the living area and grinding concrete in the kitchen area.

Coming in the condo the 5" planks go with the flow then I had them switch direction going into the small hallway to the kitchen. No transition strip.

Mine is the Meadowbrooke
http://www.mullicanflooring.co...key=%60ENGINEERED%60

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:

Chose the nifty vinyl stuff for his large newly remodeled home. It looks great and has none of the 'vinyl clicky-clack' when walking across the large open areas.

That's kinda what I was hesitant about with the vinyl. That and the spongy, floaty feel some have.

By the way, that price does include everything including labor. Also, my unit has no subfloor. The new flooring will be laid on concrete.

I may end up doing the installation myself with the help of my brother in law who owns and runs a home improvement business, but I appreciate the feedback on price nonetheless.

IMO vinyl is a much better choice. If you're above the 1st floor, you usually have to go with cork underneath it for sound. Make sure you go with a premium under layment which is above 30 cents a square more. For either. It makes a HUGE difference in noise and the floor doesn't feel squishy and floating like you described with a premium underlayment . I have vinyl in 2 bedrooms and a 100lb Rottweiler running around on it for years hasn't phased it.

If you decide to do it yourself,this company is great to work with. I bought and installed around 800 sq feet of engineered wood this fall. I would also not go with the real thin engineered wood.I think the thicker wood will hold up better.This company can also send you samples before you buy.

http://www.weshipfloors.com/

The company is located 30 miles from where I live and I was really happy with the purchase.

I installed porcelain wood look tile in my house and I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s not the cheap stuff (it was $5 a square foot not including installation) so it looks like wood.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
I installed porcelain wood look tile in my house and I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s not the cheap stuff (it was $5 a square foot not including installation) so it looks like wood.

I agree, if you are going down on concrete... tile would be best and the fake wood stuff is really good.... since the other stuff you are looking at putting down is also fake, I'd go with tile. The only down side of tile is it is hard... but it will be there forever.

I've had Kahrs engineered hardwood down in my condo for 14 years. Put a vapor barrier under it as I'm on slab. The finish and look have held up well. Pricing for the flooring starts at $5 plus for the materials depending on the hardwood chosen. It cost about $2 per square foot for installation then. I bought it from ifloors.com

I put down the lux vinyl in the kitchen, dining room and entry way. Its been 3 years and so far im happy with it. I had to use some transition strips and they are not the best looking. Seems to hold up nicely with water near the dog bowl.

In the kitchen and entry I put the floor directly over the old linoleum and it worked out well.

In the dining room I put it over the plywood sub floor and I can tell there is a hollow, echo feel to the room. If I do it again I would 100% add the roll of the foam under padding stuff.

The only real issue I had was the transition from the kitchen to the powder room which is tile and its about a 1/2 inch height difference. I would have had to lay plywood down on most of the first floor to make it even.

I installed the flooring myself and it was pretty easy for a DIY project. The lux vinyl only needed to be scored with a utility knife and it would snap clean off.

The new Vinyl looks great and is very durable. But for resale, wood is worth its weight in gold. You never see home ads touting the vinyl flooring...

My current house is on a concrete slab. Lumber Liquidators has a snap together solid wood flooring the floats like an engineered wood but in 5/8 inch thick solid wood. I laid them myself. Took a couple days to do about 1,000 square feet. That was 5 years ago. I had 2 Labrador Retrievers until a year ago when one passed. The floors have held up amazingly despite their rambunctious running around. The floors have a distressed look and the stain pen fixes every scratch.

Do not scrimp on the vapor barrier. I know you cant see it, but it makes all the difference.

Does your wife (or you) love to mop, with a wet mop, and have cleaning issues that require nuclear volume levels of clorox or some cleaning agent, if so, go vinyl or wood look tile,

Hardwood doesn't respond well to water even from a mob, over the years it will have issues
if you have kitchen and bathrooms in the plan, go tile.

JMO the vinyl looks a bit commercial to me, more for high traffic areas, if you don't want to do real wood, consider the wood look tiles, we put them in my daughters new home, the whole house, looks great, will never wear out and require replacement or sanding, in addition, no issues from expansion and contraction etc.