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I LOVE hardwood. Most of the house have it. We put slate tile in our bathroom and ceramic tile in our guest bathroom. (The downstairs bathroom isn't done yet-at the moment it has old linoleum in it that I HATE!!! We will probably put slate in there, too.) Some of our back rooms that don't get a lot of traffic have the cheapest laminate that we could find. For those rooms it is ok but I wouldn't want it in any room that I spend much time in. Not too sure how long that will last. Then there is our kitchen. I wanted hard wood but I was talked out of it by our contractor. He wanted us to go with engineered wood because of the thresholds into the other rooms. I relented and both my husband & I are sorry we did. We both HATE IT! It was more expensive than REAL hard wood would have been. I don't think it is going to last. We have only been living here for about a year & a half and I can already feel the floor is starting to give way. I keep telling my husband that in about 10 years or so (or when we win the lottery-which ever comes first) we ARE going to replace it with the floor that I REALLY wanted in the first place!
I think if you go with the "REAL" stuff, (wood, tile) you will not regret it. And you can find REAL stuff that isn't too expensive.
I've got porcelain tile in half my house, laminate in the other half. I'm replacing my 15 year old laminate (which still looks good). I bought a good quality and I think with laminate you get what you pay for). The new laminate is also high-end but in a darker color. I've got German shepherds and have loved the easy maintenance of the laminate. If I didn't have pets, I would have gone with hardwood flooring but for me, ease of care and durability are the most important.
Not a fan of tile...kinda hard of the legs and stuff breaks easily if dropped. They do have laminate (fake wood) that looks like tile. There's also vinyl planks that go together like laminate...the benefit is you don't have to worry about water damaging the floor.
Have Italian tile here and sure glad it is in the kitchen. I guess we are messier than others as the thought of wood there is just frightening. After having leaks in the ice maker and dishwasher, I shudder to think what it would have cost to have that replaced. Even messes from the range or sink. However, wood is nice but I worry about scratching and marks from high heels , dogs claws and such. I would have some sort of distressed pattern to try to mask some of that.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I would do vinyl planks. Waterproof, yet comfortable to walk on. I have a golden, too, and vinyl is holding up extremely well. maintenance is a breeze. Its beautiful, too. Definitely not laminate.
Tile is great especially if you have a dog, the only thing is the grout lines in between can get dirty real easy, but I think there is a way to get tile that does not have grout line. There is a lot of tile flooring in south Florida, but even if I lived in a cold area I always wear slippers or sandals in the house.
Laminate/fake wood can look cheap and can easily get warped if there is a spill or leak. It's also not that easy to care for unless you can always keep it clean and just sweep it, if you have to clean it you have to be careful not to get it too wet.
If you are going to have pets hardwood is a real maintenance headache. I would consider looking at alternatives to hardwood. It looks like they have some really interesting alternatives nowadays.
I'm in Florida. Last year, we put laminate wood in the den and the living room; I would prefer hardwood, but we have a dog and we wanted low maintenance (and lower cost). It looks good. We used a lighter wood in the den and I wish we'd used the same shade in the living room. I wanted a more formal feel in the LR, but the darker shade shows all of the dog hair. Blah. We have tile in the kitchen/bathrooms and at the moment, carpet in the bedrooms. We will be switching that flooring at some point. I hate carpet.
Ok, let's put this out there - "real wood" will also warp if there is a spill or leak. Moisture isn't wood's best friend, so unless there's some impervious wood that I don't know about, minding moisture isn't something particular to laminate.
Engineered wood is "real wood". It is composed of 100% real wood. The difference between it and "solid wood" is that solid wood is solid throughout, ie when you buy a cherry hardwood floor, it is 100% cherry; with engineered, the top/wear layer is cherry and the rest is plywood. I was also advised (by several people) to get engineered if the flooring was installed in a kitchen due to humidity. It seems to be working out fine.
When it comes to care, laminate doesn't really have any knocks against it that can't also be found with a wood floor. Wood floors - solid and engineered - are prone to denting, scratching, moisture issues, etc. I've owned both. The wood floor in particular I find to be a touchy flooring material. Meanwhile, you can abuse the heck out of a tile floor. The only caveat would be that it does get cold, so if you are in a colder climate then that quite possibly wouldn't work.
In the endless laminate vs. wood debate, it all comes down to budget and function. Are you into the "real" or "fake" thing. Real is nice and all, but it can be a PITA. Natural stone tiles are a PITA.
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