So I'm in the process of purchasing the house we are living in. I'm already starting to build a list of projects I'd like to complete so we can hopefully flip this place and make some money off it in a few years. After the roof gets replaced, project number two is to replace the flooring in the house. We want to replace the nasty linoleum in the kitchen and the carpet in the living room to a wood flooring. I only have experience refinishing existing hardwood floors, never owned a place that I installed hardwood in. I know laminate is cheaper, but is it worth it? Keep in mind, we will live in this place for 2-5 years at most. My #1 goal is to increase value of the house, #2 goal is to look great at the time of sale. I care less about what it's going to look like in 10 years as we won't own it then. Your thoughts?
I agree with this. Save money on flooring so you can make sure your bathroom and kitchen are in good shape. Thats what will sell your house.
I am a licensed broker & appraiser and I am not giving credible advice because I have not viewed the subject property and I am ignorant to your direct market. If you were in my market segment I would suggest going with a hand scraped hardwood because of its affiliation with new construction, buyers appeal and the reputation it features.
I'd go laminate. Or should I say, I went laminate. (Mohawk Tribute from Menards) We have a number of different floorings throughout the resort too. The laminate that we've put in has held up well.
Fitz - Can you share more pics of the inside of the resort and the flooring? The entire inside of our home is knotty pine with exposed beams, I think it's pretty similar to the resort from what pics I've seen in the past. My only concern with wood type flooring is how much wood will be inside the house. The linoleum in the kitchen needs to be replaced with something wood, but I'm not sure if I want to go carpet/wood for the rest of the place just due to the amount of wood already in the house.
I would not go with laminate. Esp in a bathroom or kitchen. Any bit of water on the floor with cause separation and begin to chop over time and this is even with a glue on the seems. I would go with a hardwood or a rubber/plastic version of the laminate. Just my 2 cents from experience.
I think Wood floors belong in the living room, hallways, and some bedrooms only. I think Tile is more attractive in Kitchens and Bathrooms. That being said, its hard to beat the look of true hardwood. In your case I would go with a higher end Laminate, it should fool the eyes of most potential buyers and I dont believe that would be a deal breaker if someone really likes the house anyway. In most cases someone is going to replace what you have down and make it there own style eventually anyway.
If your only keeping it for 2-5 years you need to think of how much money you will recoup. If your getting a steal on the house price and think that this will raise the price at time of sale then hardwood. But if you are getting a market price on the house I wouldn't invest the money. This house is a shorty term investment so it should be all about return of cost. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Couple questions, is this considered a starter home? How old of a neighborhood and how big of a house. Sometimes you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Expensive wood floors will not bring the best return in investment in a starter 2 3 bedroom 1 bath in a neighborhood or development from the 50'- 70's
650ish if I do the living room and kitchen. It is a short term investment for sure. I'd love to not spend a dime on it, but the linoleum in the kitchen is in rough shape and will have to be replaced unfortunately. It's got a couple of small damaged spots (pea sized) and it's very dated, I think it's the #1 thing we can update in the kitchen to make it look better right now.
Go laminate, Matt. I just don't think you're going to recoup the costs with hardwood. They've made a lot of strides in laminate flooring and some of the mid-higher end range (i.e, not box store) flooring will suffice in both durability and cost. Sure someone may not like that you used laminate instead of true hardwood, but I just feel that if you pick a quality flooring that ties in the rest of the home, they're likely to notice the rest of the house being "complete," rather than if you left older linoleum down, people might absolutely despise it.
We went handscraped hardwood for our kitchen and dining rooms...and couldn't be happier. Much more time to install (but I bought nail gun for $149 online and did it on my own with no help at all)..it also looks and feels great. Others I know that did majority of their house in laminate...I just can't get over the "feel" when I walk on it...feels and sounds like plastic. They also claim durability for laminate, but scratched laminate looks terrible...where as I think scratches in wood add character and look fine. Hardwood should last forever, laminate will need to be replaced. Good luck either way
Like DogFish said, I would NEVER put laminate in a kitchen or a bathroom, and I am speaking from experience on this matter. Laminate and water should not be used in the same sentence, they don't mix. Most laminate is a very fine particle board like backing with the laminate coating on top, but any seams on the planks will allow water to creep in and start bubbling the particle board substrate and after a while this will bubble and look terrible. I ripped all of my kitchen laminate and bathroom laminate out and put in a vinyl plank that locks in just like laminate, only it is solid vinyl, I have had it in for a few years not and it looks like the day I installed it. I think I got mine at Home Depot. The cost on this stuff was between laminate flooring and hardwood flooring, but I see the the pricing has lowered on this stuff throughout the years. You are able to wash it with water and not worry about it bubbling on the seams. It feels different than laminate, almost warmer, and I did not have to install the foam padding like you need to do with laminate. This is the only way I would go with any plank material in my house now, especially where there is water present. I just remembered the name of the vinyl I put in was by Trafficmaster, Allure - Ultra vinyl planking. They make several types, some has a glue edge, but the ultra has the click lock edge.
Yeah vinyl/composite is the best compromise, imho. Then again, you can get wood plank style tile now as well. Just ANOTHER option :D
I like knowing that there is real wood or real tile on the floor. But that's for a house that I would be living in for awhile. If I was flipping a house then maybe I would go with laminate depending on how much it effects the value.
