We have to replace old berber carpet in our family room. With 2 dogs now, I am worried about carpet getting snagged and worn easily. If we go with a non-carpet item we will have to also extend that product into the foyer, powder room and dining room, to avoid a chopped up mishmash of flooring. Currently we have the engineered wood in gunstock in the foyer/dining room and it looks fine because we rarely use those areas.
I am concerned about hardwood with the dogs. I have neighbors who have dogs and said they do scratch the floors. (I cannot do an area rugs on 100% of the floor!)
We saw some luxury vinyl tiles today and they are apparently getting very popular. They wear well, are cheaper than wood, and would be quieter and much less risk of scratching. I just can’t get past the idea that they are “cheap” looking, even though they looked pretty close to wood.
I honestly don’t care as much for resale because I am still living in the house. But I don’t want to put something down that will really stick out and not be in line with the rest of the house. We have porcelain tile in the kitchen and I like to think our style is comfortable and classic/slightly rustic.
Anyone have LVT in a large area of their home, as opposed to a basement or laundry room?
I would go with a good laminate - ranges from 2:50 -3.50$ a square foot, though cheaper options are available. Vinyl tile is not as durable and is softer and staticky.
I have two dogs and hardwood in whole house, They do get scratches but nothing too bad. I do get the dogs nails clipped about every 6 weeks which helps.
I’m not a fan of laminate so I wouidn’t do that and I know I wouidn’t like vinyl in my family room, but that’s me. My advice is to do what you like as you are the one who has to live with it.
I got hardwood about 4 years ago, and it does get scratched and dented. I still like it, though.
I would prefer porcelain wood-look tile to laminate. There are some amazing tiles (go to a tile store, not a big-box store). We got beautiful porcelain wood-look tile for our master bathroom. I love it!
I’m not a fan of any kind of vinyl tile in family room areas. But that’s me.
@walkinghome did you get LVT in your house? Or am I thinking of someone else??
Calibamboo. It is bomb-proof.
My opinion, if the areas are open to each other, is the most important thing is to match the same coloring of the existing wood. As close as you can get. If you put anything else down it will ‘chop up’ the space and make it look smaller.
In the end you should probably lay down the same engineered wood. It will be warmer and provide cohesiveness in the space.
The store we visited today said the vinyl plank products have now surpassed laminate in quality although laminate is a more affordable option.
@coralbrook we would have to replace the existing engineered gunstock. It would be too many patterns in too close proximity. So you think we should replace the family room carpet with a hardwood that is similar to what is already in the foyer etc?
I’d actually be good with that but H really loved a more wide-plank, handscraped type floor as opposed to the more polished traditional narrower strip.
@thumper , Yes that was me - we got LVT from Costco a couple of years ago and I still love it! It looks like tile, is not cold on my feet and things don’t break as easily. We visited several stores before making our decision and would choose it again tomorrow. We didn’t get it because it was less expensive. The cost was about the same as tile, but I wanted something nice looking, easy to clean and durable for my kitchen.
My parents just bought a brand-new house with pretty high-end finishes. The floor is LVT throughout, except bedrooms. It looks very, very nice. I would choose LVT for my house, if I had any money to replace flooring.
I am thinking I might look at LVT for my foyer, bathrooms and mudroom. But I’m not sure I’d want it in my living room or family room areas…or dining room. (we have hardwood…just had it refinished after 24 years. And it now looks brand new…again). Fine for a kitchen breakfast room too…
We need to replace flooring in our family room (currently carpet), kitchen & breakfast room (currently vinyl). We plan to move in the next couple years, so not looking to put alot of money into it. LVT is intriguing - I just wonder how that would appeal to buyers.
@surfcity
I know it’s not my money or my house and you are not worried about resale value at this time…but is the amount of flooring in the foyer enough to drive your decision for the rest of the house? Maybe you should replace it all to have a single flooring choice.
And just a side note…hand scraped style wood flooring is going to be out of style soon, unless you are going for the full ‘country’ style.
Our house has hardwood and we used LV in the bathrooms when I needed to replace them, and the wood-look LV in the kitchen. It cleans beautifully and is soft to walk on. Last fall, when it came time to pull up the carpet in the family room- the entrance from the back deck is there (and we have 4 dogs!), I bought top line, 12mm thick laminate and was able to almost match it to the hardwood in the rest of the house… The stuff is great- no scratches or nicks and it cleans like a dream!
There’s a new version of LVT now called EVT, engineered vinyl tile. The difference is it’s thicker and clicks together like old laminate. It’s water proof. Laminate can’t take water at the seams. I would either go with EVT or engineered hardwood. I have engineered hardwood that is 11 years old and has not one single scratch. I also like strand bamboo. It looks like engineered hardwood and it is priced cheaper.
Okay, I am learning a little more about all this. And I am apparently not explaining where exactly we are redoing the floooring. Even though the foyer/dining room is in good shape, I think we will have to replace those areas with the same product we use in the family room, just so the first floor is not chopped up with two different wood-type products adjacent to each other. We could also choose to just replace the existing berber with new carpet and leave the foyer/dining as is, but I am not sure I want carpet again.
My neighbor who renovates houses recommended engineered hardwood and said it is often more durable than sold hardwood, although of course you can only refinish it once perhaps. So now I am looking into that option. I just feel like the LVT in such a prominent area of the house is like putting plastic furniture in a nice living room!
LVT is increasing in popularity around here in very high end new construction. My D2 just put it in what will be their kids’ bathroom. It looks like wood! At her baby shower last weekend people were shocked that it wasn’t wood. Ha! Two of my friends got down on their hands and knees to make sure it wasn’t wood! 
Carpet is much cheaper and much more comfortable, and much easier to replace/update. You can often get new carpet several times over, which will effectively outlast any vinyl flooring, and still end up cheaper than luxury vinyl or hardwood.
Keeping the dog’s nails trimmed helps carpets last a lot longer.
DH does not like the wood look tile, which to me is good because it lasts forever and is indestructible, although can be expensive to install and it is cold.
There are some laminates that look nicer than LVT. I am kind of leaning toward engineered hardwood with area rugs. I know carpet is the quickest and easiest but I do get tired of carpet getting dirty and so forth. The look of wood is an appealing change to me.
Tile is really, really hard on the feet, so I agree with your wife. Cold - that can be remediated easily with in floor heating installation if you are redoing the floors. We have one in the master bath, and Mr. just installed a fancy controller that turns it on and off at programmed times.