View Full Version : Another lvp vs wood floor question
I know I asked this before, but now that we have actually settled on our new house, I wanted to see what everybody thought about luxury vinyl plank flooring vs. wood floors. This is in the kitchen, to replace a really ugly 70's vinyl floor--might be congoleum, actually/
When we did the bathroom floor here, my husband laid a pine floor out of pine boards and it turned out really nice. It's easy to work with, nice and green for ultimate disposal, and feels good underfoot.
But I am really drawn to this Smartcore floor pattern, Blue Ridge:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/30/e0/af/30e0afff782bd51a7b15cc0574c55e9d.jpg
It would be once and done, and sturdy and moisture proof for the kitchen, not that I spend a lot of time splashing water on the kitchen floor
What would you do?
iris lilies
12-7-20, 10:11am
Real wood all the way, That’s what I will do. And as unmanufactured as possible.
my condo has an acceptable floor but it is that prefinished stuff replacing original floor and it’s just not as nice as my Hermann house’s 1941 original oak floor. Funny you should bring up wood floors, we have a lot of wood floor decisions to make in Hermann.
In this little house we have so many wood floors already – the pretty oak floor in the big living room. A pine floor in the downstairs bedroom.Maple floor in the hallway.
I think that floor in the picture looks nice though.
I'm a hopelessly messy cook so it's vinyl plank for me. The rest of the downstairs is pre finished oak. Mine is made to look like a grey stone.
catherine
12-7-20, 10:48am
I'd be cautious about real wood unless it has a really good impervious finish. If it does, I think wood would be fine and no different than vinyl plank in terms of durability.
We have pine floors in our house, which includes the kitchen, and they are not well sealed, and I fight with my husband over a rug that I've put down to protect the kitchen area floors. He shuffles when he walks and gets frustrated when the rug buckles and crumples under his feet. I, OTOH, would rather wash a rug (this is a nice, no nap, dhurrie-style rug) than have to face refinishing the floor in a couple of years.
The picture is really pretty! I think IL has a good point that probably the fewer types of flooring throughout the better off you'll be.
I get the practicality of the LVP flooring but personally prefer real wood if it is in the budget. What I have noted with plastics-based flooring is they build up static so if you have pets, hair and dust "stick" to them. We spent way over budget to have oak floors installed on the main floor of this house but everyday I am so glad we did. The one in the picture is a nice shade though.
SteveinMN
12-7-20, 11:29am
Having three or four different-looking wood floors in a house would drive me crazy. Too much visual clutter. But that's me.
Our house has plywood or OSB or such subfloors. DW and I discuss replacing the current carpet (LVT in the kitchen) with a wood floor, but real wood would be expensive (materials and labor to move or trim millwork). "Engineered" wood is processed almost as much as LVT/LVP and about as difficult to recycle. So if it came to that choice ($$$), and because ours is not an upper-bracket home, I would not have much issue installing a high-quality LVP floor throughout. People with small kids or pets would be happy knowing the floor was almost indestructible. And most people seem to have no compunction about replacing stuff in a house they don't like or they're tired of. So if LVT/LVP worked for us and looked good, I'd go for it.
I'd be cautious about real wood unless it has a really good impervious finish. If it does, I think wood would be fine and no different than vinyl plank in terms of durability.
Oh, I don't know about the need for too much caution regarding real wood. This is our 25 year old oak floor with a simple stain finish. There may have been a polyurethane coating on it when new, I don't remember. It's held up very well with just an occasional damp mopping.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Qskm9vijWb4OZVwrEoVPaoO1jzJUdNgAaBlqedg7BiCZXtiajj ul9Y-pSry3qbxBo-b-bTkgobELXgtxSq6N8vPeU-NSbR2gpf7NKvI4BlJlDqZp62c1fjBam9H8rxl165R7guL1r8t1 W3UazwjExoqj9i5Ve-6ONgIL2tdqIAZmckqpVQ1waYvmtyLZ3gnQKezjn__Q-OZkrB2Lr6peD5zxf5P2k4lJw57OuP6wbEHNuGUHIl_poYMypeG AG0IY0kJyz8-btpnXhUajHyu40TWVosU0By9HXPF7eA0YZSSmMSKktE3qhpilE kP1Y5Xd2lczE76Np4fZVf5bw_OWxlNB-eqDPt1PJetXTR5308BPR5gDlsDugC2M3qYsXVvZSGRdER7g2rC N23JfW5UzmsABDIODJHdjNPNFljaWFV0ZVAHUMFeXuVDinR7HP g8k9D8U-ypTuqBSs4MB7QQN3aWAWSb92_nvxm2bGjT81nl4o1lgPHAhx3X DzL_oloVuYwsazY07FH7MNXqBaicV4AUB6d2cjxqXMKts67Kph PRQ1KKpY1AOrkE_XF_9EworRHXUZJIiv5GbaYZt9m1Qel8qDxP wagbbwQQtdWuEUmmrPUCblY5VAU1fio0aNwNmKy-7PSnNx4BtNXTn_gtComZ1cbSSa9e4xHHnifg1RbvvqbhqCDa5o XOnGEtkW04=w876-h657-no?authuser=0
I have a wood parquet floor in my kitchen; its one of the few things about this house I like. It's held up for more than thirty years, but I suppose it could stand refinishing.
Teacher Terry
12-7-20, 2:44pm
We put vinyl pergo in the kitchen and bathrooms for obvious reasons. Most of the house has the original hardwood.
iris lilies
12-7-20, 4:01pm
The next kitchens I’m doing will have wood floors. My condo will have a marble countertop. These are all materials that people think are higher care than others. Who knows maybe it will work for us maybe it won’t but I don’t care.
We put LVP in our kitchen about 3 years ago and really like it but it has started to develop buckling issues. Could be lots of factors: extra padding installed, wood subfloor over crawlspace, old house with movement, earthquake country, etc... Never had issues with the other flooring we have/had in other parts of the house: old sheet vinyl flooring we had, have no issues with the oak flooring we have, no issues with the pergo over concrete subfloor, tile flooring in bathrooms is fine.
So as much as I like it for low cost and ease of installation, I won't be using it again. We will probably have to take it out in the next couple of years. Not sure what will replace it. I'm tempted to just do vinyl sheet. I love the look of real linoleum but it's really expensive now.
Buckling might be a real deal breaker.
It's so pretty, and it has such good reviews. But if my husband puts in a simple pine wood floor, it won't go bad on us.
The rest of the house is old pine floors but they have been painted. We need to strip them, which is going to be a real chore. I'm tempted to just repaint them for a while, but the time to do them is before we move our stuff in.
rosarugosa
12-7-20, 7:29pm
Buckling might be a real deal breaker.
It's so pretty, and it has such good reviews. But if my husband puts in a simple pine wood floor, it won't go bad on us.
The rest of the house is old pine floors but they have been painted. We need to strip them, which is going to be a real chore. I'm tempted to just repaint them for a while, but the time to do them is before we move our stuff in.
Isn't it Terry who enjoys stripping wood? :devil:
Well on that note, how do you strip paint from a pumpkin pine floor?
Teacher Terry
12-7-20, 10:52pm
Funny Rosa. I actually stripped all the paint off the woodwork, steps and doors in our old house in Wisconsin. My husband did our floors here but no one had painted them.
rosarugosa
12-8-20, 6:34am
Funny Rosa. I actually stripped all the paint off the woodwork, steps and doors in our old house in Wisconsin. My husband did our floors here but no one had painted them.
Yes, I remember you had stripped paint from a lot of woodwork! :)
Teacher Terry
12-8-20, 11:20am
I was young, poor and motivated:)). The buyer luckily didn’t paint over it loving what I did. They also loved the expensive wallpaper that I had professionally hung and bought the house because of the decor. They still own the house 27 years later. It was a very cool house with 3 floors plus a basement. I would still live there if I hadn’t left the state. I would have quit using the 3rd floor after the kids left except for guests.
ToomuchStuff
12-8-20, 1:55pm
I like real wood in houses that already have them, or when your building new. In existing houses, I tend to go for LVP due in large part to some of the new ones out there. Several of the newer ones you can pull up and air out if you have a water leak or some sort of moisture issue. (icemaker, broken pipe, etc)
Does LVP have environmental concerns? Outgassing etc.
Gosh, that is a great question.
ToomuchStuff
12-8-20, 3:39pm
Does LVP have environmental concerns? Outgassing etc.
I would expect so. But even solid wood can have outgassing issues, as there are choices of finishes.
SteveinMN
12-8-20, 11:19pm
Does LVP have environmental concerns? Outgassing etc.
All floors do. Since vinyl is made from petroleum, off-gassing is a concern, but that does not last very long. And vinyl is difficult to recycle.
But engineered wood and laminate and carpet also are hard or impossible to recycle. Even "natural" materials like wood and ceramic and stone have environmental concerns; particularly stone, which often has to be transported thousands of miles from where it's quarried to where it is finished and installed and sometimes requires sealants which present their own environmental issues.
It's a matter of deciding which factors are most important to you in selecting a floor.
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