Do you have dogs? If not, do hardwood. Was told by our realtor that hardwood was one of best selling points. Box stores have 3/4 engineered hardwood that can be refinished and is easy to install, I did it. 650 sqft you can do in a weekend. We tore out our laminate to put in wood, even with 2 german shorthairs.
Here's a cabin with the laminate One with refinished hardwood ... and one with the original finished wood flooring Sorry I don't have more pics of the laminate. It's been wearing great. If you are worried about "lots of wood", go with a different shade like we did with our bedroom. The walls were dark, but we knew we were going to whitewash them, so we chose a dark floor. If we have kept the darker walls, we would have gone with a whitewashed floor to complement it.
Don't get me wrong. Woods floors are nice, and if my budget was limitless, that's what I'd do. In your case however, I'm go laminate hands down.
If say it all depends on the wear you're gonna put on it. Problem with laminate is moisture. And sadly, any floor is gonna need a scrubbing to make it nice for a sale. I've also seen laminate get nasty scratches that contrast with their finish in high wear areas. Personally, I wouldn't touch the stuff for just these couple of reasons. With real wood you can also refinish if there's scuff marks for cheap (if you DIY). If you do go laminate, put floor rugs in the high wear areas, and I'd avoid it (go with tile) in the kitchen completely. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had laminate and pulled it out for hardwood, the whole first floor of our house. Getting ready to pull the carpet on stairs, hallway and master and replace with hardwood. The laminate just did not feel or look right.
I argued with my father for about 2 months about putting laminate in his kitchen. He told me I didn't know what I was talking about... He is now ripping it up and putting hardwood down. In any room where water damage could be a issue, I would advise not putting it in.
We went with a 12 mm distressed pecan laminate from builddirect.com We were able to buy it and have it shipped for about a 1/3 the cost of local stores. I love the looks of hardwood but realistically with kids and pets, a quality thick laminate is the way to go. For a flipping a few years down the road. You may see more of a return from hardwood. Check out the build direct website. They will send you samples.
I tested the laminate we put down by soaking it in water. It never soaked the water into the laminate. Never swelled and really never appeared to let water in. It's in my kitchen with zero issues to date and it's been 3 or 4 years. I also tested the scratch resistance and it was impossible for me to scratch. My 116# lab hasn't been able to scratch it either.
I installed about 500 SF of laminate just a couple months ago. It was $2.99 a SF and worth every penny. It was the thick 12mil and came with the foam backer. It has the hand scraped texture to it that gives it that real wood look and feel under foot.
I realize the debate on this thread is over, but for those of you with dogs who want a wood look without scratches - go with strand bamboo. 2x harder than oak, and you can definitely tell. It looks great, doesn't feel cheap, and my 90# Tasmanian Devil Giant Schnauzer mix has not made a single scratch in it; and he is NUTS. We got the nail down vs. click...It wasn't cheap (more $$ than oak) but was less than the exotics and looks and feels just as good or better. People often ask us if we have the handscraped Acacia wood. Some of the more simple patterns can be found at Lumber Liquidators for way cheaper than hardwood. The click together is very price friendly. You can find quite a selection for less than $3/sqft.
