I will add some questions to ask for your flooring reps for those just starting out to one of my tabs a bit later... for now the nagging question is........ GAH, should we go ahead and change the floors? We're looking at upgrading from the basic laminate and resilient flooring (bathrooms) we've selected to either the next level of laminate and resilient (bathrooms) or to hardwood floors for the entire main floor.
Our current situation is I have older children (closer to out than in lol), no immediate plans to add to our family, we have 1 dog currently. The thing about planning is you can't really plan for life can you? So our situation immediately may not be our situation in a few years, know what I mean?
The Pros and Cons:
As far as pricing, I've included the difference in cost from our current selection to upgraded options below:
Laminate B: 1575
Wood A: 2125
Wood B: 3525
Resilient A: -1990
Resilient B: -1415
Resilient C: -920
Surprising there was a obvious difference in level A laminate to B. Not only in plank width but the photos used.
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| Current Laminate Selection - 8in planks - nonglossy |
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| Upgraded Laminate Selection - 4in planks - glossy |
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| Upgrade 2 wood - 3 1/4 in |
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| Upgrade 2 wood - 3 1/4 in |
I need help!! I can't decide.
We went with solid oak hardwood 3 1/4" planks on the whole main floor and it was the one thing we said we would upgrade if we couldn't upgrade anymore. My husband has allergies and I just hate carpet in high traffic areas, our cat sheds like a woolly mammoth. It is definitely a good investment and will increase the homes value, to put it in after the fact was more expensive we learned, with all that needed to be ripped out and the sub floor leveling, it would have been a mess. I live in an apt. with laminate flooring and it looks like laminate, I see the repeats and it just feels odd under foot, almost springy and it does sound hollow and is so noisy. However, it comes down to personal preference and also budget, if you can swing it, do it you won't regret it! Oh, and we went with a non-standard hardwood we found on the sales floor and they gave it too us for the same price as the level 3 hardwood we were looking at in the "ryan room" no hassle about it either!
ReplyDeleteWow - nice score on the non-standard! So many floor options but money is a big issue for us.
DeleteOkay, because I'm not the one paying for it.... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI really like the Upgrade 2 wood 3 1/4" plank, in both pictures of wood, I like the left side options.We are getting hardwood on our main floor too...It can also be done later, but totally depends on whether you will be up for a project any time soon?
Honestly, I think its a good investment. It will definitely add value. But everything said and done, it's all about the cost.
Thank you for your thoughts, I like to hear others that opted for the wood.
DeleteIf you can fit the cost into the budget I'd go with the hardwoods. We elected to go with the 2 1/4" strips instead of the 3 1/4" for the main floor (except for the ceramic in the kitchen and powder room - more for practical reasons, i.e., easier to clean). We would ahve went for the wider planks, but we also upgraded the staircase to oak stairs, so that was an expensive upgrade. We figured both were more cost effective to do now than to upgrade later, plus we didn't want to deal with the hassle of having contractors move furniture, rip out the flooring, and lay down the hardwood. Again, we knew we'd want hardwood at some point, so we bit the bullet and paid for the upgrade.
ReplyDeleteI think that's why I'm reconsidering as well. I already knew I wanted hardwood at some point. The expense to do it later and hassle seems like it's easier to just go with the price difference now. Thank you for your thoughts!
DeleteI have laminate in my house now (similar to your upgrade laminate option with the 4" planks) and it's indestructible. I have two boys (15 and 11), and a dog and cat, and the floor is years old and looks new. Now, having said that, the only complaint I have about it is that is it LOUD, like Rachael said, and it looks like laminate when you really look at it. We're getting hardwood through the entire downstairs in our new home, save for the family room. I am excited about that, but nervous about the durability. I would recommend laminate in limited areas: basement, bathroom, rec rooms, entry way, etc, but for a large expanse, go for the hardwood. Plus, looking at how much the upgrade will cost you, it would be so much more expensive to do later!
ReplyDeleteI think that the expense of doing it later is what might be our turning point into the wood.
DeleteLaminate is pretty, and my parents had it in their summer home for years and there wasn't a thing wrong with it. Other than the fact that it is loud - it gets a sort of echo to it, especially if you are on a crawl space instead of a slab. I'm not the most graceful of individuals, and whenever I would trip and step hard, the house would reverb. And hardwoord is hardwood - it's beautiful, expensive looking and buyer's are willing to pay more for a house that has it. You can't beat a beautiful hardwood floor. In our neighborhood, laminate wasn't even an option - it was all solid oak. If our choice would have been laminate or carpeting, we would have gone with carpeting and installed real hardwood later. If your children are older, they are more likely to undersand that you will chop their feet off if they damage your floor! haha ;) But...the dog is an issue. Dog claws will tear up hardwood, and they won't damage laminate. However, if you have a smaller dog that's not super active, it's not really an issue. But if you have a rambunkous Golden who will be running and playing, save the hardwood for later, IMHO. I also concur - either left side option in the 2 hardwood upgrade pictures would be beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your opinion. I agree, my kids now understand threats and what can happen when mom loses her temper cause they trashed something that was expensive and important! LOL.
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