We continue our material selection journey by looking at flooring options. So what is the best flooring for this house, given its age, the subfloor, the style and design theme we have chosen. If you have ever looked at flooring it is quite overwelhimg with all the different products that now exist. Gone are the days of just carpet, lino, hardwood or tile selections. Now? Well there is carpet, lino, hardwood, tile, engineered hardwood, cork, bamboo, laminate, vinyl tile, vinyl plank and other products in between. In addition, the quality varieties in each of these options is numerous and impossible to list. So many options spinning through my head. I am actually starting to dream about it. I think with the information overload I am getting from this reno and the amount my head has been spinning, I may be developing a case of vertigo! Information overload! How do we choose?

Well we have to start somewhere, so off to several flooring stores we go. As we look at all the options, we can easily weed out some of the flooring, leaving us with only a few options. Which is starting to make this somewhat manageable… thankfully. As mentionned in Demolition Day – The Acorn Mystery, you know we are not going to install carpet. After the 45 year dust storm we encountered with the carpet removal in this house, I will not go down the carpet path again. My skin is itching and crawling just remembering the experience. We also are not interested in lino, cork or bamboo, for no specific reason other than it is material that just does not interest us. We also eliminate tile, as we are not sure our skillsets are up to par for that install. Just a reminder from the post House CPR – Bringing it Back to Life, we plan to install the flooring ourselves, so ease of install and something that won’t overly tax our marriage is critical! So what are we left with? Hardwood, Vinyl, and Laminate. Each have their pros and cons. So let’s assess.

Hardwood:

PROS: Ok so there is no doubt that hardwood just looks beautiful. So the look and warmth it can add to a house is definitely a plus. It also adds value to your house, and you will typically recoup your costs upon resale. There are so many shades, colours, textures… your options are almost unlimited. Hardwood is easily maintained, with a quick dusting and wipe of the floors they are easily cleaned. Because of the ease of dusting the floors they are great for people with allergies. Hardwood can be refinished over time to repair damage or even just to change the look. With a sanding and a new colour of stain you can reinvent your house. Hardwood is also easy to repair if you have a damaged board. Cut out the board, reinsert a new one and you would never know there was an issue.

CONS: Yes hardwood is beautiful and probably the most desired flooring finish, but with that beauty comes cost. Hardwood is probably the most expensive flooring you can install. It is also less durable than other products, as it dents and scratches easily. So not necessarily a great product if you have pets, want to use in high traffic areas, or depending on your lifestyle. Hardwood is more difficult to install and probably best installed by a professional. It needs underlay and needs a good flat subfloor. It also cannot be installed on existing flooring or concrete, making it unsuitable for basement install. However, one of the biggest issues with hardwood is it is vulnerable to moisture and humidity, so not good for installation in areas like bathrooms or kitchens. It can also tend to be noisy.

Vinyl:

PROS: Now vinyl has come a long way. There is so much variety available now, and much higher quality than in the past. In many cases the options out there look just like wood and it is difficult to tell the difference. It is definitely a lot less expensive then hardwood as well. However its biggest positives are around durability. It is wear resistant and great for high traffic areas and pets. It is also moisture resistant and in many cases waterproof, making it a great choice for bathrooms and kitchens. It is easy to install and makes it good for DIY projects. It is typically a floating floor system with a snap and click installation and can be installed over existing flooring such as tile, lino, and concrete. So great for basement installation. It is also a more flexible product, making it a little more forgiving on less that perfect subfloors. Many vinyl floors also come with the underlay combined with the flooring, reducing additional underlay install and cost. Similar to hardwood it is easy to maintain and clean, with simple dusting and wipe ups. Also making it great for people with dust allergies. It tends to be warmer on the feet as it stays at room temperature, has more cushion, has good traction and is less noisy than hardwood floors.

CONS: As much as vinyl has some great looking products, there are also some less than great options. Where some look cheap and do not have a great quality rating. Even though vinyl is cheaper than hardwood, you still want to be a little cost conscious. As a cheaper price will typically result in cheaper quality. So you want to stay within a certain price range to get a decent quality. As a good rule of thumb, you probably don’t want to go cheaper than about $3 a SQ-FT regular price. Vinyl is also more prone to fading. Therefore consider where in the house the flooring will be installed and what the sunlight is like in those rooms. As durable as vinyl is, the one area it is susceptible to is puncture. So careful of sharp object falls such as knives. Definitely something to consider for kitchen installs. You cannot refinish vinyl if it starts to show its wear or you want to change flooring colour. It is also difficult to repair. With its snap and click install, replacing a single board is not really an option. And lastly as beautiful as some of the vinyl floors can be, it typically will not add value to your home, like hardwood would.

Laminate:

PROS: Laminate has very similar pros as vinyl. There is a lot of variety out there, and many options that look just like hardwood. It is cheaper than hardwood and easy to install with its floating floor system and snap and click mechanism. It is very durable and easy to maintain and clean, good again for high traffic areas, pets and allergies. Similar to vinyl it can be installed over existing flooring and in basements. However laminate would need underlay installed.

CONS: Similar to vinyl if you don’t invest enough money on laminate floors, you could land with a floor that looks cheaper, does not look like wood and does not hold up on the quality front. Laminate is also vulnerable to moisture and humidity, so not a great option for bathrooms. It is less forgiving than vinyl and needs a good flat subfloor for installation. It cannot be refinished and is difficult to repair. It also tends to be quite slippery.

Wow… a lot to consider. What a great learning experience. I definitely know more about flooring than ever before. Maybe even more than I ever wanted to know. The education journey continues. This renovation is definitely not letting us down on that front. Were you keeping note? Which one would you choose? Now there is no doubt that I would love to put in hardwood, just for its natural beauty and how it adds value to a home, but based on the pros and cons outlined above we have to consider what works best for our house and lifestyle. I wonder what the house thinks? I turn to the house for its opinion, as I outline its options. After careful consideration from ourselves and the house, we start to shift to another product. Vinyl. Why vinyl….?

Well… mostly for its durability, waterproofing, options, ease of install and cost. As mentioned, vinyl can handle a lot more wear and tear from people and pets than hardwood. It can be installed in bathrooms and kitchens based on its resistance to moisture. The ability to install ourselves and to install in the basement was definitely a big decision factor. By installing ourselves we save significantly on installation costs. Also by choosing a product with built-in underlay, reduces install cost and time. But you may ask why vinyl and not laminate as many of these factors relate back to laminate as well. Well first of all the moisture resistance is a big consideration, as we want to install in the kitchen and bathroom. Also given the age of the house, and even with us working on the subfloors, having a product with a little more flex will be beneficial.

We have found the vinyl flooring that we want, and have chosen vinyl plank for the living, dining, den, hall, and bedrooms. However for the kitchen and bathrooms we have opted for a vinyl tile. The vinyl plank is RONA’s UBERHAUS Storm Grey Deluxe Vinyl Flooring. It is a lighter colour with hints of grey. For the kitchen and bathrooms we are going with RONA’s True Grout Clay vinyl flooring. This tile is an interesting configuration as it is a snap and click, however the snap and click seams have grout lines, making it look like an actual tile grouted floor. Pretty cool!

Before you purchase, it is always recommended that you try a sample of the flooring in the places you are planning to install the flooring, as the way it looks in the store could be very different than in your space, considering lighting (natural and artificial) and wall colour. We purchased a box of the plank flooring so we could put it together and test in the house to ensure it was what we wanted. We sampled it in the entry, hallway and living room. We are happy with the look in all rooms, but did notice a significant difference, not only to what it looked like in the stores but also in the difference between rooms. In the hall it looks a lot more brown and warm, whereas in the living room it is definitely cooler with more grey tones. Either way it works with the colour schemes we are going with. So… SOLD! This is a crucial decision and I feel a weight being lifted off me as we speak. As this is the anchor for the rest of the design and allows us to continue moving forward.

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The flooring material has now been ordered. We are very excited as we were able to also get it on sale. Definitely a cost effective purchase! We are just waiting on delivery. Once the rest of the remediation and demo is completed, and windows are installed we can start some floor install.

I have to say I am a excited and apprehensive all at the same time. Excited by how this will transform the house. I think it will look amazing, and will be the starting point of the design coming together. Because after the flooring install, we can start to install cabinets and fixtures, truly transforming the house. The house and I are getting a little giddy at the thought. But I am also apprehensive, because let’s face it…. what the heck do we know about flooring install! This could turn out beautiful or a beautiful disaster. I am trying to stay positive and visualize this amazing finished product. But sadly my thoughts quickly go back to the memory of me standing in the middle of the house and having a melt down because of how hideous our past work had looked. That has me quickly going to an image of me and the house weeping at the mess and then the additional costs to have someone fix it. But I will try and stay positive until I can no longer. Oh my…. what are we getting ourselves into. Will we be testing ourselves beyond our ability? Will we rise to the occasion? The suspense is killing me… how about you? Stay tuned for the installation chapter of this story, as I am sure this one will hold a few twists and turns, frustrations and satisfaction, and potentially a few choice words! But hopefully you will continue to follow along and live vicariously through us and more probably continue shaking your head and thanking yourself it is not your journey!