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There is good laminate, then there is cheap laminate. There is well installed laminate, and then there is bad.
We installed laminate in our home, 5 years ago. Most people that come to our house believe it is wood unless we tell them. We installed it ourselves, but with painstaking care. We purchased an armstrong brand line that had a 30 year warranty installed glueless, but lifetime if installed with glue. The planks are thicker than some real wood planks I have seen at the home improvement stores.
We have aquariums, cats and dogs. The floor has had water, pee, vomit, etc and not a hint of a problem. It wasn't inexpensive either, but back when we did it, we could not afford wood. Wood has come down tremendously in price, right to the pricepoint we paid for laminate back then.
I have been to houses though, where the laminate shows how cheap it is, just from looking at it. We even went to see a house where it was installed as if they where installing tile, corner to corner. I would not discount a house with laminate until I see the actual installation.
If you can't stand the carpet any more, you may want to cover it with a cheap area rug for a couple of years, so that whatever flooring you choose will be 'fresh' when the house goes on the market.... especially if you decide to put in new carpeting. This is what we did when we had our old dog.
I'm looking at a house next week that was recently re-done with wood "laminate" flooring. If I decide to make an offer, I am deducting what it would cost to rip it all out.
I am preparing to sell my house in a couple of years. My upstairs carpet needs to GO! Due to two adult children currently living at home, we live with 6 cats and 4 dogs. I need a pet-friendly floor on my stairs, upstairs hallway, and bedrooms. I love laminate but am afraid it might bring down the value of my home. Do you think it would turn off potential buyers?
Yes. And so will so many animals in the home. I do hope you plan to move them all out before you list!!
I like wood flooring as much as anyone but if I were to view your home, with laminate flooring, I'd walk away. I'd prefer you put in some cheap carpet so it looks clean, or do nothing. Having said that, some engineered flooring looks much better than others. The only one that would be acceptable to me would be the Bruce brand. That is, from floor options I've seen, and I'm not looking. And if that much is going to be spent for improvement I'd rather make the selection myself.
An aside, if you installed a somewhat cheap carpet and I decided to put in engineered flooring, I could cut up the cheap carpet to use as rugs, etc. Win/win.
Another possible alternative is to put down some super cheap, but clean, carpet, and then include a "flooring allowance" in your listing.
I find, and this thread seems to confirm, that there is a lot of personal preference when it comes to flooring. I would go crazy if my bedrooms were hard flooring. I don't even want my living space to be hard flooring. I like thick wall to wall carpet with plush pad. I don't want to deal with thin area rugs, as I find they always wrinkle or bunch up, even with "stay in place" pads under them.
I have hard surfaces in water areas (kitchen, laundry room, bathrooms and entry), but carpet everywhere else and that's how I like it.
If you do put in laminate now, it will be a "plus" for some buyers and a "minus" for others, just like many other things. However, I think CLEAN is very important to all buyers. If they can't see (or smell) past the pet problems, THAT will lower the value substantially.
it was surprising to see how many ppl here disliked the laminate flooring.. I've been in and out of market for a few years and i always thought that laminate was a plus factor.. I agree that real wood looks nicer but hate the fact that it gets old and scratched relatively quickly. I see how everyone see things differently. But I strongly agree that CLEANLINESS is the biggest factor.
I would second a "flooring allowance" since people have different opinions and tastes. The wood laminate flooring has been done so much now that I do wonder if this will now be a negative to many upcoming buyers.
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