Real wood vs Laminate Floors in Living Room and Tiles vs Vinyl in Bathroom

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

It is amazing that the marketers have gotten us to all say "luxury vinyl plank." I mean seriously, whoever came up with that needs to get a raise. It's a perfectly fine product, and it's practical, but it is by no means a luxury product.

Personally, I hate LVP in houses and would immediately budget in the cost to replace with real wood. It has nothing to do with the practicality. It's the feel and the warmth of it. Real wood wins by a mile for most applications for me. Part of this just boils down to how quickly the styles are changing on LVP. The colors and styles today are different than they were just 5-7 years ago. One perk of real wood is that it changes very little over time. 3" oak flooring can only be stained so many colors.

That doesn't mean it isn't the right product ot put in a houses at a certain price point, though.

[ChristieP]

We put LVP in our main living area in our former home. For people who have kids and pets, or in an area where there is plumbing that could leak, LVP is wonderful. No, it doesn't have the ambiance that wood does, but it is waterproof, practically zero maintenance, and is a LOT less expensive.

We currently have real wood in our kitchen, and I HATE IT. I am constantly mopping and polishing the wood in the kitchen because the area is high-traffic compared with the rest of the house and the floor just looks awful. If it wasn't so expensive and messy, I would have the wood in the kitchen removed and replaced with tile.

[Leonard123]

I would go with carpet and put tile in the wet areas no matter what price point. However, that's just my taste. I hate wood and anything that looks like wood.

Floors are always personal preference, and it should never be assumed a potential future buyer will like what you do. That's why we have so many choices. At least with carpet, it's typically a lot easier to replace for future resale than a hard surface product someone doesn't like.

You have to put in what you like and not worry about resale until it comes close to time.

[TheOverdog]

It is amazing that the marketers have gotten us to all say "luxury vinyl plank."

Well yes the marketers deserve lots of praise, but it actually is a designation within vinyl plank umbrella - in that luxury vinyl plank is thicker than regular vinyl plank with a thicker wear layer and less repetition of the printed pattern (which is a designation with tile too). So just because a person has vinyl plank floors doesn't mean they have 'luxury' vinyl plank.