Flooring choices.

[Gingersnap]

One big project we are going to do this summer is pulling out the carpet in the living room and redoing the floor and pine plank foyer floor.

I like the vinyl plank flooring for it's robust nature in terms of standing up to dog vomit and dog claws.

My real estate friend is horrified but I won't sell this house in the foreseeable future so her arguments don't mean much. Others have pointed out that hardwood is "really" low maintenance when you think about it. That hasn't been my experience and I have hardwood.

It's too cold up here for tile in that space and I don't want more wall-to-wall carpet.

Thoughts?

[Adam]

Hardwood (of which pine technically is not a part) used to be fairly high maintenance, but nowadays, it can be as tough as vinyl or linoleum, if not tougher. Gone are the days of weekly scrubbings with mineral spirits and steel wool, and then waxing the floor, spending hours upon hours upon one's knees carefully wiping up wax.

When we re-did that kitchen that I mentioned before back in the '90s, we went with hardwood, which was unheard-of at the time. But the installer was able to cover the floors with a very tough urethane that did not in any way detract from the look of the floor itself. Wet mop only; stuff on the floor, be that spilled food or mud from boots, just wiped up with a damp cloth. Whatever the stuff was, it was almost like a Teflon skillet: nothing stuck to it. It was genuinely less trouble keeping that floor up than it was the vinyl floor that we had before. To give some idea of the confidence level that we had in it, we had that floor in the laundry room (directly off the kitchen), complete with lots of foot traffic.

I couldn't begin to give you a cost comparison, but I can definitely attest to the fact that if you go with real wood, you can definitely protect it from doggie toenails, muddy boots, etc.

[Gingersnap]

I couldn't begin to give you a cost comparison, but I can definitely attest to the fact that if you go with real wood, you can definitely protect it from doggie toenails, muddy boots, etc.

Was that some kind of engineered hardwood? Having lived through it more than once, I absolutely don't ever want to refinish a hardwood floor again.

[Adam]

Was that some kind of engineered hardwood? Having lived through it more than once, I absolutely don't ever want to refinish a hardwood floor again.

No, it was genuine hardwood. I know, because I carried that heavy shit into the house. That oak and ash was hard enough (and heavy enough) to drive railroad spikes.

It doesn't really matter, though. The urethane was put down after the floor was laid. This wasn't some flooring that was pre-finished; this was raw flooring, and the urethane was applied after the floor was stained.

Subfloor --> flooring --> sanding --> staining --> urethane

The urethane was not happy stuff. We had to vacate the house for 16 hours or so while guys who looked like they were from the CDC came and put down the urethane, because the mixture that was used at that time was based upon an isocyonate. It was becoming a popular auto paint at the time. My guess is that they have made that application more "green" since then, both in terms of outstandingly nasty shit like isocyonate in the environment and things like regular VOCs. Even still, a night in a Hampton Inn was a small price to pay for having indestructible kitchen floors.

[Frostbit]

Hardwood and plant people = disaster. I like tile with accent rugs.

[Gingersnap]

Okay, kind of not interested in that process at this point.

I'm trying to understand the appeal of hardwood. I have lived with hardwood floors off and on my entire life. The average person can't tell the difference between hardwood and engineered floors in a home (maybe on a basketball court they can).

It seems like one of those things people tell you is much better but in practice it's not; kind of like drinking from stream versus filtered, treated water.

[Frostbit]

The average person can't tell the difference between hardwood and engineered floors in a home (maybe on a basketball court they can).

The difference is down the road. Hardwood can be refinished.

[Adam]

The difference is down the road. Hardwood can be refinished.

Nailed it. No pun intended.

[scott]

Okay, kind of not interested in that process at this point.

I'm trying to understand the appeal of hardwood. I have lived with hardwood floors off and on my entire life. The average person can't tell the difference between hardwood and engineered floors in a home (maybe on a basketball court they can).

It seems like one of those things people tell you is much better but in practice it's not; kind of like drinking from stream versus filtered, treated water.

The difference is down the road. Hardwood can be refinished.

And treated water doesn't have giardia.

[Gingersnap]

The difference is down the road. Hardwood can be refinished.

And the fake stuff can be replaced in under a day. Meh.

[phillygirl]

I think what I have down in Maryland is a blend. It's real wood, but it's done in layers. Maybe that's the engineered hardwood? It's not the perko stuff. I like it. Very easy to care for.

[Michele]

My friend just put in an acacia wood floor last year and it's the nicest wood floor I've seen. It looks like thick planks but smooth. I have no idea what it's like to take care of but knowing her, it probably costs a fortune.

We have saltillo tile mostly because it goes well with our log home and it's easy to clean up with the snow, mud, and dirt around here.

[Gingersnap]

My friend just put in an acacia wood floor last year and it's the nicest wood floor I've seen. It looks like thick planks but smooth. I have no idea what it's like to take care of but knowing her, it probably costs a fortune.

We have saltillo tile mostly because it goes well with our log home and it's easy to clean up with the snow, mud, and dirt around here.

Is it a radiant floor? I don't see how you could live at elevation with a lot of tile without radiant heat. I have 2 tile rooms and I like them fine but without big rugs in the winter, they would be pretty chilly.

I wasn't planning on radiant heat.

[Adam]

Is it a radiant floor? I don't see how you could live at elevation with a lot of tile without radiant heat. I have 2 tile rooms and I like them fine but without big rugs in the winter, they would be pretty chilly.

I wasn't planning on radiant heat.

Well, that kinda knocks out my idea of something like this as a happy compromise.

[Frostbit]

I wasn't planning on radiant heat.

Never heard of insulation? Our sunroom is stilted, ten feet off the ground and tied to our second floor. No radiant heat and we can walk in there barefoot in the winter.