We are in the midst of selecting new flooring for our living room, stairs, den, and all three bedrooms. We started out looking at carpeting, which is what we have now, as well as bamboo flooring. A couple of salespeople have suggested we consider deluxe vinyl plank rather than bamboo. I’ve seen 18 x 24 inch samples, but never an entire floor (other than in photos.)
Does anyone have information that would help us in our decision? TIA!
No vinyl here, but here is something to consider.
Do you have pets? Ask the sales people how pet-resistant their vinyl is. Any beast with claws can damage softer flooring. My cats left a lot of claw skid marks on our maple wood floors… 
A coworker chose Calibamboo for his basement flooring because his dog likes to hang out there. He says the flooring is bomb-proof.
@BunsenBurner that is why we were looking at bamboo. We’ve been told that the vinyl is just as pet / claw resistant (and the vinyl part does look fairly thick and sturdy) plus it’s waterproof.
I think you would want to describe your house and define your budget and maybe your general location? This is in your full time home?. Why would you pick it? Are they suggesting it based on budget or lifestyle? For your whole house literally? But not the kitchen or bathroom LOL? Would you normally listen to a salesperson about such a thing?
Full-time home with two dogs, one cat, and and an aged parent with a walker. We need durability above all, plus something the walker will glide across. The kitchen and bathrooms are tile and are in good shape so we are not planning to replace those. The suggestions came from two different establishments as a cost-neutral alternative to bamboo, which was one of our initial selections.
I’ve selected Cali Bamboo (antique java fossilized) for my entire apartment except entry and bathroom as suggested by my contractor. I’ve heard from others that you just can’t damage the stuff, lets hope so. My other alternative was Mexican or Italian tiles. I will say that my contractor does not like working with tile that is more than 12" long, he said it tends to crack? so I’m still looking for a tile/pattern for the two areas.
We installed Audra Max Apex LVP in our downstairs including kitchen, dining area, family room and office in early June. We went with a longer and wider plank. I love it. We have both a dog and a cat and they run circles on it. It seems very durable and is waterproof. It really is hard to distinguish from engineered hardwood flooring.
We have wood-look vinyl plank flooring in our basement. Love it, but to me it just isn’t nice enough to put in our living room. It looks great from a distance, but up close it still looks like vinyl plank flooring.
We have had it for probably over 10 years in our kitchen. We liked it so much, we put it in the living room, den, hallway and entrance way. This is all one floor and each area flows into the next. It wears extremely well - we have two dogs (used to be three) and two cats. One of the dogs is a rescue with some past issues that results in puddles which is no problem for the floor. The occasional water mishap is no issue either. With a previous laminate wood floor, we had buckling in several places.
It is easy to clean, wears well, is somewhat cushiony under our feet, and looks great. We will put it in the main bathroom when we re-do that and also our bedroom. Again, all these rooms flow into each other, so it really looks nice. We have been very happy with it.
I asked a similar questions last year. Here is that thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/2026090-luxury-vinyl-flooring-vs-hardwood-p1.html
We put in vinyl planks in our basement by ourselves. It was easy and turned out great. Helps (for some definitions) that DH is a perfectionist because it might have been less tight and less straight if I had done it. … like hanging wallpaper, yet another marriage test we passed (barely, hahaha)
Anyway, DH loves the look and would have put it in the bedrooms if he had seen it first, instead of the cheaper hardwood we did put in.
It (basement) looks great, feels … not like wood, but fine. I use it mainly for my little yoga studio, and doing crafts. It sure is easy care!
We have had vinyl plank flooring in our sun porch (over a cement floor) for several years. Looks as good as the day it was laid. NO issues. Looks as good (IMO) as newer hardwood but yes, a little softer on the foot. We have a dog and besides him shedding on the floor no problems. We do have an area rug on it. I wanted something that would complement our other floors - all nearly 100 year old hardwood.
We put in the lower level of a raised ranch that we were rehabbing as an investment. We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on the flooring and its been easy to move the staging furniture around on the floor. No scratching or scuffing from moving things!