<p>Good info in #35. Climate makes a huge difference. Now that the weather is being brutally cold carpet is wonderful to have. Even here. </p>
<p>Going barefoot (we never wore shoes in the house up north as well as here in Florida) soft (not Berber) carpet is delightful. Area rugs won’t suffice. I can see how more maintenance is required for most wood tones- one reason for our choice in tile was the pattern that doesn’t show dirt as much while still being near white. btw- the dirt under carpet doesn’t count and that in carpet is below the surface you touch. Those hyper about dust mites et al- you need to wash your bedding daily- there are plenty of better things to do with your time. I shake my head at those commercials that were common a while back- getting rid of 99% of the germs only lasts until the kids and dog walk once…</p>
<p>I just talked to a home remodeler today who has done some jobs for me in the past. He is kinda OCD and really into cleanliness (don’t get the under-counter mount kitchen sink because gunk gets under the rim) and really does a nice, neat job. He suggested what he called a “rubber” floor meaning the vinyl planks that stick together. It is a floating floor that somehow glues to each other. They come in wood look and tile look and just about everything in between, he said. He said he put them in his new utility, mud room and bathroom. I have not seen these things in person (just on the internet) but I can’t get the old peel-and-stick squares out of my mind. Anyone know about this kind of floor? One brand is Allure.</p>
<p>I think they will off-gas. I am a fan of floating laminate click together floors. I have 15yera old pergo downstairs, and a much better quality realistically textured flooring upstairs. It’s not cold, no grooves so very easy to keep clean, picked a driftwood gray non-shiny style so its not slippery, durable as all get out, fun to install, cheaper than hardwood. LOVE IT!</p>
<p>@thumper1 our average customer purchases some flooring every 7 years, you are way overdue lol. Some move or repurpose rooms or buy 1 or 2 rooms at a time.</p>
<p>@musicmom1215 Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) are a big growth segment. There are a number of products in that segment the best products actually physically lock together. My favorite locking system is uniclic. Beware the stick together product because you have only one chance to fit them together perfectly ( unlikely ) which means you will be using lots of filler to fill gaps.</p>
<p>Peel and stick is a dying segment. Unreliable adhesion, tile shrinkage over time, delamination, better alternatives have changed the market.</p>
<p>I was certainly not promoting peel-and-stick. Back in my newlywed days, we lived in a mobile home that had carpet in the bathroom. We removed the nasty carpet and replaced it with do-it-yourself peel-and-stick and probably the cheapest one available. It was awful! That’s why I am having a hard time embracing this new LVT.</p>
<p>The floor has been installed on our sunporch floor. I’m really happy with it. I did choose a type that looks most like wood (has a little grooving like a real wood floor). Now the rest of my house is 1925 wood floor so no way this vinyl plank looks like that, but we are happy with it for the area it is. And as Singersdad said, our planks actually locked together. The cost is not cheap, but since our situation would not accommodate real wood floors, this was the best alternative. </p>
<p>Our kitchen floor is a plank laminate that very much looks like ceramic tile - not like hardwood. Circa 1925 hardwood everywhere else except the sunroom which I referred to above with new vinyl locking planks that look hardwood-ish. </p>
<p>But our home is not an open concept. The kitchen is the kitchen - that’s the way I like it! </p>
<p>We had laminate installed nine years ago in the kitchen. Wilsonart used to make a great product that is no longer available, but it looks like wood and is practically indestructible. Dogs, heels, dropped pans- nothing will dent or scratch it. When we remodeled our kitchen this year, we had the contractor lift up the individual planks of the laminate floor and re-install after the kitchen cabinets were put in, and it looks like a new floor. I do think other companies make similar products, and after having a hardwood floor in our previous home, I think that the laminate is a much more practical, and equally beautiful, choice.
For our dining/living area we were able to find a hardwood that blends very nicely with our kitchen laminate, so the passageway between the rooms looks good. Tile is popular for kitchens here, but I find it cold and hard.
We still have carpet in the bedrooms. If we were to stay in our home forever, I would replace it with hardwood at some point. I love the look and feel of wood, and it’s never cold enough in SoCal to find hardwood floors “too cold.”</p>
<p>One thing to consider if looking at a laminate–ask about warranties and experience by installer about delaminating, especially in very humid climates like HI. That was one of the reasons we stuck with hardwood instead of laminate when we got our floor. </p>
<p>Have seen lovely laminate floors that are very close to traditional hardwood in looks. </p>
<p>We have had hardwood in our kitchen for the past 17 years. As long as you don’t have a flood, or any situation in which water is not immediately cleaned up, they work just fine in the kitchen.</p>
<p>Our kitchen has maple hardwood floors. I use a rug by the sink, a carpet under the dining table, and Bona-mop it regularly. So far, 15 years after the install, the floors look great. If you get on your knees and take a closer look, you can see the marks my cats left in certain places when they run around insanely and have to use their claws as the breaks, but if you are not 5 inches from the floor, you can’t see them. </p>
<p>Wood in my kitchen which I have truly love but some areas are worn more than others. So…H wishes we had tiled it and I’m still happy with the wood because it makes me feel good. Close to 15 years.</p>
<p>We primarily have wood in the common areas (living, dining, family rooms, kitchen, hallways) and carpet in all the bedrooms and on the stairs. Tile on the bathroom floors. I find everyone’s comments so interesting as I’ve always thought bedrooms with wall to wall carpet are so much warmer and cozier. </p>
<p>Downstairs (3 bedrooms and a playroom) are all carpet on top of concrete. It needs to be replaced and this thread has made me realize that it would be much better to put something other than carpet in the play room as the dog goes through it many times a day to get to his dog door; we’ve had a tough time keeping the carpet in that room fresh looking. Will put ‘stopping at a flooring store to look at options’ on my list of things to do!</p>
<p>Singersdad, thanks for the recommendation for Mohawk’s Smartstrand. Just spent a bit of time online looking at it and it may be just the right thing for us. Will check it out locally. Appreciate the suggestion.</p>
<p>I have hardwood throughout my first floor, except for my living room which is carpeted. I really like the look and it’s perfectly fine in the kitchen - has worn very well. I do have my upstairs carpeted - I do prefer carpeting for bedrooms, esp in the wintertime. </p>
<p>There is nothing more gratifying than finding the right floor for a customer. In the industry we know replacing flooring is a big investment of time, energy, and money. All the more reason to do it right, buy what you love. Don’t get suckered into buying some bargain floor. You almost always get what you pay for.</p>