Home Flooring Installation Question

[?? fisherman]

When it rains it pours!!! I have way too many projects going on all at once, and here is another. I'm about to bite the bullet and commit & order some new flooring for the house.

Figured I'd do a quick drive by here with the BD boys n girls, so here goes....

I'ts funny I'm asking these questions since I use to work for a few different flooring companies many many years back installing and refinishing custom wood floors........ places like LaJolla, Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch just to name a few....... super high end stuff..... we even did Joan Krocs house in Fairbanks (for those who knew who she was). So anyways, here I am asking flooring questions lol

Even though I installed and refinished wood floors long ago, with the advances in technology and the overall look and durability of new products, I am finding myself going away from real wood flooring. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the stuff..... it's insanely beautiful, but it comes with its cons. For me those being water damage, scratches easy, and just over time (sometimes not that long of time), just showing lots of wear n tear.

So I told myself I would look at three options. One being laminate wood, the other tile that looks like wood, and the third would be vinyl wood look flooring. After lots of talk and research, as much as I never thought I would go this route, I am about to dive into Vinyl wood flooring...... I may even commit tonight (hence this thread).

So I met with a very cool guy today that not only lives right near me, but is a licensed wood installer and his family has been in the flooring business for a long time...... we had some good talks, and my gut instincts felt right about this guy.

So here the scoop. This guys had a mini showroom in his garage..... lots and lots of samples. What he mostly installs is laminate right now, and he told me (but didn't try to push it hard) was that he could do the laminate for much cheaper than the vinyl. The vinyl seems to be the new and upcoming thing (at least the pretty high end stuff). My delemma is this. The Vinyl flooring that I really like and want is the high end stuff ( of course right!). With that comes a pretty steep cost, or at least I think so compared to other flooring I could get. He told me the his high end vinyl would run $5.89 a sqft installed, or I could add another $1 and get it for $6.89 a sqft which would include all new 5 1/4" baseboard installed as well.

This all opposed to the Laminate which would cost $3.89 sqft. Any of you guys put in some quality Vinyl wood lately....... how do you like it? And if so, about how much did you pay? I'm about to commit so just putting out the BD feelers.

I'm trying to do lots of things to the house here right now, but trying not to go completely broke in the process.

The unknown fisherman

 

[Manbat]

I went with the waterproof laminate and am super happy, I have 2 big dogs that are pretty rough on it and the stuff is holding up great and the water proof part is awesome no worries about wet paws or boots and dries withough even a water mark.

 

[downtime]

Heard some really good things about bamboo flooring.

 

[?? fisherman]

I went with the waterproof laminate and am super happy, I have 2 big dogs that are pretty rough on it and the stuff is holding up great and the water proof part is awesome no worries about wet paws or boots and dries withough even a water mark.

View attachment 859196

I agree, the laminate seems like really good stuff for sure. The guy I am currently dealing with showed me the laminate he put in his own house.... it looks nice and like you said, very durable and waterproof.

For whatever reason, I am just a little more partial to the Vinyl..... it's pretty amazing stuff.

Heard some really good things about bamboo flooring.

Yeah, I think Bamboo might be one of the hardest of the true wood floors right now? It pretty tough stuff for sure, and they are now coming out with numerous different styles and looks in bamboo, whereas in the beginning, it was pretty much one style.

I am probably going with wide/long plank wood look Vinyl....... im digging how real the look is along with crazy durability and totally waterproof...... the stuff is just way tough!! Plus im really liking the 8.5" width and 48" length planks. It's just the price that's killing me a bit!!

The unknown fisherman

 

[jer dog]

I agree, the laminate seems like really good stuff for sure. The guy I am currently dealing with showed my the laminate he put in his own house.... it looks nice and like you said, very durable and waterproof.

For whatever reason, I am just a little more partial to the Vinyl..... it pretty amazing stuff.



Yeah, I think Bamboo might be one of the hardest of the true wood floors right now? It pretty tough stuff for sure, and they are now coming out with numerous different styles and looks in bamboo, whereas in the beginning, it was pretty much one style.

I am probably going with wide/long plank wood look Vinyl....... im digging how real the look is along with crazy durability and totally waterproof...... the stuff is just way tough!! Plus im really liking the 8.5" width and 48" length planks. It's just the price that's killing me a bit!!

The unknown fisherman

For Kitchens and Baths, you need too only put
Stuff that's 100 % water Proof
because my Niece and Brother Had Leaks from their ice
Maker Line and Ruined Their Floors
My Niece Removed it, then went
with Regular Tile, my brother was able to Just Fix
the Floor Under the Fridge , good luck.

 

[wils]

I just did a floor with that trendy vinyl laminate CRAP.
When "tapped" together it will have a tendency to do what vinyl does when it hits an "immovable" object - bow upwards.
Guaranteed waterproof? Do YOU want to find out if this is true? Whatever water gets on it and drains towards the wall, that water WILL get between the flooring and the wall and settle very nicely in unseen subfloor areas - think dishwasher and frig.
Guaranteed not to shrink and or expand? Don't believe it. Been there; done that; discovered reality
Vinyl-to-vinyl joints are going to squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.

Trendy bamboo is CLAIMED to be "hard". Not in a laminate flooring its not. I've done a couple of those in the past couple of years, too. Just the "knobs" on my knee pads left dimples. Think: women in spiked heels.

I would recommend either
1. pre-finished engineered laminate. But scratch it (or any laminate for that matter) and youre fucked. Its doable but a pain.
2. traditional oak hardwood. Scratch it and you already know how easily it will take stain and then refinish.
3. talk with those high-end guys you worked for years ago if they are still doing floors. They should/will know what the recall "problems" are for all floorings. and how to avoid them.

The hand-scraped laminate is a good choice IF you don't want a flat/smooth flooring. It will hide most any repairs due to minor scratching. Flat surface laminate? not so much.

You can get samples of all of these various products from any supplier. Do the "scratch & repair test" yourself, Mike.

 

[Brad I]

Think: women in spiked heels.

I do.

Frequently.

 

[plj46]

I work in a lot of high end homes.Most install engineered (wood) flooring.I see a lot of vinyl also,you know what ? it looks cheap.I've also seen it separate at the seams after it's only been a few months.Stay away from the floating floors.Have it glued down.Some of these engineered floors have such a strong finish on them it ruins your sawblades quickly.The stuff can be very durable.

 

[wils]

Think: women in spiked heels.

I do.

Frequently.

I heart Brad.

 

[Black-is-Back]

We had the solid red oak wood floors in our place from the mid 50s refinished about three years ago.

They still look amazing.

 

[?? fisherman]

I think the vinyl floors that some of you have looked at isn't the super high end stuff that is now coming out. There's lots of different wood vinyl floors, but the stuff I am talking about looks, feels and almost sounds insanely real. I'm a floor guy from the past, and pretty picky when it comes to looks on flooring...... this new stuff is hard to tell. The texture, feel, the grain (you can feel the grain).... it something else.

I do like some of the hand scraped laminate wood that Bill was referring to, but I guess it's all different opinions.... but for me the most real looking floor I could get without getting real wood (which I could have done) was this new high end Vinyl, which is actually called SPC Flooring.

The unknown fisherman

 

[wils]

I think the vinyl floors that some of you have looked at isn't the super high end stuff that is now coming out

I know that it was.

 

[Albiebac]

Hey Mike, so here is some first hand knowledge. I did it, and couldn't be happier! I put in Karndean vinyl plank. This is commercial grade stuff, if the others think it is crap, they did, or had a shitty installer. This is glue down stuff ($300 bucks for a bucket of glue!), and it's like painting a car, it's all in the prep work. I had to pull tile and 270 square feet of bamboo. That shit (bamboo) should be illegal! It took me 4 crowbars, every evening for a week, 7 sawzall scrapper blades and a concrete grinder, then many bags of expensive self-leveling concrete to get the floor mirror smooth and flat. The kicker is, the actual floor went down in a few hours! Mind you, this is concrete slab too, not sure how a subfloor would do. My friends know what I did and installed, but they still ask, "Is this wood, or what?"

Yes it is pricey and very time consuming if you have something attached to the slab, but bulletproof in the end.

Good luck, Eric

Let me reiterate, it's all in the long and painful prepwork....

 

[?? fisherman]

Looks good Eric.

Damn, that is some serious prep work....... did you do ALL the floor prep??

The unknown fisherman

 

[Albiebac]

ALL!!!!

 

[Kman]

Geez, your high end vinyl costs less than our Costco contractor quote for plain ol laminate. The good stuff (wide, long plank) Shaw Mt Everest was $8.50 plus baseboards.

I need 1800 sq ft of wood/tile/carpet. Anybody work up Diamond Bar ways?

 

[?? fisherman]

Geez, your high end vinyl costs less than our Costco contractor quote for plain ol laminate. The good stuff (wide, long plank) Shaw Mt Everest was $8.50 plus baseboards.

I need 1800 sq ft of wood/tile/carpet. Anybody work up Diamond Bar ways?

Oh I know. It's amazing when you shop around, the huge differences you can find in price. I spent one day looking at a few different flooring shops off Miramar Rd, which has tons. The first place I walked in was Metro Flooring..... holly shit were the prices sky high there!!

I'm getting a pretty solid deal on the stuff I am going with, as it was upwards of 8 elsewhere. The only bummer is when my guy called in the order for the product today, he was then told that the style/color I wanted was out of stock So I went with me & the girls second pick...... hope I like it because I really wanted the first pick. Dropped a deposit today.

We got the extra wide, extra long plank (9" wide 60" long)..... I'm digging that.

The unknown fisherman

 

[widgeon]

This is my opinion from 25 + years in the all around construction business. Mostly high end/ custom.
You get what you pay for. Laminate floors are ok for most. They hold up ok. Have not seen one that wouldn't buckle with a water leak.
I'm not too familiar with the vinyl, but I think I saw some in a hospital. Looked ok and probably wears well.
Real hardwood is expensive, but beautiful. Still will not do well with a flood.
Engineered wood, basically somewhere between real hardwood and laminate, but closer to real hardwood.
Tile... mostly bulletproof. No issues with water. If you have some cracks or issues down the road, it's no more difficult to patch than any of the others.
Best of luck. Nothing lasts forever.

 

[Kman]

Re: The flood thing. Our house is 30 years old with thin wall copper under the slab. Plenty of neighbors have had slab leaks.

Hard to bring myself to cough up $7K to preemptively repipe the house, but I know full well a leak will wreak havoc on our wood.

Also, the plan is to be outta Calif within 5 years, so I don't need the really good stuff.

HVAC replacement is next. Shit. It never ends.

 

[lynndeva]

Acacia hardwood flooring

 

[Brad I]

I know that I diverted things with a crack earlier in this thread, but there's good and useful information here. Thank you to all sharing your expertise and experience.

FWIW, my own limited experience is that the installation can make as much difference as what is installed; get recommendations, not just price quotes (actually, a good idea for all craftsman work).

 

[jer dog]

Long story short, have to replace some floor tile. 15+-year-old tile and no way I can match it. No extra boxes laying around. Sooooooo.......can I lay that high-end vinyl planking right over the existing tile? My co-worker says yes, and my realtor says no...gotta rip it all out and start fresh....ugh! Internet and YouTube search reveals a mixed bag. Any real-world experience with this method? Thanks. Yes, I’m trying to go cheap!

the only thing I see is if you have bedroom doors, will you have clearance on the bottom , to go on top , plus you will lose some reveal on your base .