Flooring question

[krystee]

We have five different types of flooring on our 1,500-square-foot main level. Our eating area has one type of hardwood, our family room has another type of hardwood, our kitchen/hallway/entry is a third type (with a weird rectangle detail at the entry and a carpet pad that is velcroed onto it), our living and dining are carpet, and our laundry room is an ugly tile with grout that has chipped away and needs to be redone. Oh, and the stairs are yet a different wood with the same hideous carpet pattern as a runner. 

I would like to replace it all with one floor and have two questions:
1. Is LVP substantially cheaper than hardwood? I thought it was and was leaning that way, but then I saw some friends’ quotes and either it’s not much cheaper or the cost of hardwoods must be staggering! I am having trouble figuring out what the going rates are with installation. I can see price per square foot online, but that is just materials.  
 
2. Is it a home decor sin to replace hardwoods with LVP? None of my hardwoods are very attractive. (Note: the floors are recently mopped. I don’t know why the second photo looks like that is a big dirt stain, but it is just part of the wood, I promise!)

Attachments:

[expectantsteelerfan]

Someone just asked this in the local real estate page I'm currently following. The consensus for our area was that it depends on the size of the house and the finishes and the price point. Older, smaller houses in our area mostly have original hardwoods, and for those, people would want to keep as much of those as possible and try to match them in areas that they were too damaged (which seems insane). For houses built in the 80's-90's that aren't at a super high price point, nice LVP would be preferable to mismatched flooring, damaged hardwood, tile, carpet, etc. For really high price point houses and new builds, LVP is acceptable if it is a really high end one, but in that case the price is going to be very similar to hardwood.
We are looking to move and are looking at houses in the mid-high price point, and I'd be fine buying a house with LVP because I have 2 kids and 2 dogs and I favor durability and ease of cleaning over knowing it's 'real' hardwood.

[krystee]

We are probably in the upper 30% of home values in a 5-mile radius. LOTS are still very outdated, with original materials from when they were built in the mid-1980s, so I think new LVP would be an upgrade from most of the listings. We don’t intend to move for about 18-20 years, but you never know!

[k3am]

I was shocked at how much they were able to repair of our very very damaged hardwood floors. Our entry was new hardwood that they put into match, and it looked great. Even the holes they plugged (maybe coax sized? Not sure what they drilled thru for) seemed to disappear.

It may be worth having someone come out to take a look, let you know if they think they’re salvageable and if they could get them to be more uniform or not. Especially if they are older/thicker, they may have lots of life left.

[nicolewi]

Hard to answer without seeing all the flooring. I feel like hardwood is definitely preferable, but maybe not if you have a number of small spaces that don't match. Also not sure how old your home is/how quality the wood is. If you don't like the LOOK of your wood, you could have it refinished in matching stains..not sure if that's an option or how much that would cost compared to new flooring.

[libbygrl109]

Would you be taking out and doing it all at once? If you are, it may not hurt to have a hardwood flooring expert come in to see if you could take out the weird sections and feather in and finish everything at once.

[hbomdiggity]

I would get an estimate for refinishing so that it is all the same stain. I think that would do wonders and be a fraction of the cost for demo and install new.

As far as lvp vs anything else, the install cost is still likely to be the same. So the savings is mostly in material cost.

[SusanBAnthony]

I live in a neighborhood that is some 40's, and mostly 50's and 60's houses. The original (or more recently installed solid wood, finish in place) hardwood is definitely more desirable. In my area I would definitely consult a hardwood floor refinisher about repairing as needed, adding the same wood to the rooms that need it, and refinishing the whole thing to match.

We have similar hardwood (from your pics it all looks like standard oak) and to me that is the typical hardwood of all older houses and is desirable because it lasts for decades and is a neutral color (in the sense that it's just regular hardwood that been around for 100+ years and it isn't trendy, it just is).

[orval]

I agree with above posters who said to look into refinishing the hardwoods to all be the same stain. While the wood patterns are a bit different, a uniform color might mask that. Maybe see if they can fill in that little rug area with wood as well.  And possibly fix the transitions to be less noticeable.  It does look like good wood.
LVP for the laundry room would be great.

[penguingrrl]

Ditto PPs. It’s likely that your hardwood can be sanded down, stained (if you desire, depending on your look unstained can be beautiful too) and refinished for a fraction of the cost of new hardwoods. It will look nice and is the best option environmentally. I would absolutely do that before putting anything else in.

[divanerd]

I recc refinishing HW floors would be inexpensive! We recently did all floors in our house and labor is the hugest expense. We have a little over 2000 sqft and spent 10k. Not sure if that was a great deal or not.
Next up for me is replacing all the light fixtures and all the interior door handles.

[simpsongal]

Jan 24, 2021 0:42:48 GMT -5 hbomdiggity said:

I would get an estimate for refinishing so that it is all the same stain. I think that would do wonders and be a fraction of the cost for demo and install new.

As far as lvp vs anything else, the install cost is still likely to be the same. So the savings is mostly in material cost.

this
+1 for refinishing

[krystee]

Apparently I really want new flooring because I am experiencing crushing disappointment. LOL. The boards being in different directions kind of kills me! And then we need to put in flooring in the two carpeted rooms, so here’s hoping I could match the one in the kitchen and hallway, or it will be yet a fourth kind of wood.

Did I mention that the upstairs has SEVEN different floorings? Each bathroom (2) is different tile, each of the three bedrooms is different laminate, the loft is a weird hardwood frame around carpet, and the short hallway to the loft is a slightly different wood. (ETA: I can’t add. That is eight different kinds.)

[numbers]

Don't rip out hardwood for vinyl plank!

A good contractor can repair and refinish all the hardwood to match.

If the upstairs flooring also bothers you, I'd consider replacing the different laminates with hardwood to match the downstairs, then layer with area rugs.

[bittybomb]

I'd also recommend seeing if you can have the floors all refinished and repaired where needed. We redid our 1912 house, which had original oak throughout most of it. We were combining a small dining room that had hardwood with a tiled floor kitchen to make a large kitchen space. Our contractor was able to pull up the tile and put in new hardwood. You cannot tell where the old hardwood ends and the new hardwood starts. I'd try to salvage your hardwood for sure.

[lightbulbsun]

Another vote for refinishing. We had the floors in our house refinished right after we bought it, and it's like having new floors. We had about 1100sf and it cost $3300, but we didn't use a stain, just clear finish, so staining would have been a little more.

I just installed LVP floors in my basement, and even though I love how it turned out, there's no way I would replace wood with vinyl. No matter how fancy the LVP is you won't fool anyone into thinking it's wood.