Looking for some advice on new flooring

[Oldstick]

In the process of trying to get our small but very nice house back up to snuff after pretty much 21 years of neglect inside. Just finished new roofing outside, paint and new carpet inside. The next phase is new flooring for the kitchen, laundry room and two bathrooms, all on a cement slab floor.

Existing floors there are vinyl sheeting, but it is a nice well built house, with some nice features inside and nice lot in a beautiful subdivision that sprang up around it over the last 20 years. First house the developer built and lived in while doing some of the surrounding houses on the street. So worth keeping it nice, but too small compared to the others to spend a fortune on upgrades.

So my question is about waterproof flooring. I first thought of tile, because I have an experienced relative that is willing to help, but then I am hearing of all these newer "water proof vinyl planks" and such. We would prefer a tile look in the areas we are considering, but I see some of the vinyl planks have a tile or marble look.

So what are the pros and cons of tile vs. some of the others as far as cost for materials and ease for DIY'ers? I know my relative has done plenty of tile before, but I am not sure about planks or laminates. Can the vinyl planks be laid down right on top of the old sheet vinyl or not?

I am talking about ease and cost of installing the flooring itself. I can do the wood trim in my sleep after all these years.

 

[Toliver]

I doubt you have this company near you but 3 weeks ago I just had my entire house done in LPV. It looks like a hardwood or laminate but it's supposed to be 100% water proof. It looks really good I think.

https://flooringatlanta.com/vinyl/

 

[NE GA Pappy]

if the labor is going to be reasonable, I would go with the real stuff. It will outlast you and me if it is put down right.

Your grandkids will be saying, gee, I wish Pawpaw and Granny would have picked a different color.

 

[jammeri5]

I’m not talented by any means when it comes to carpentry work but the wife and I managed to get an lpv floor down. I’m sure I took much longer than a professional would have but it looks great. Floor needs to be level. Make sure you use your spacers for expansion at the walls. Cut your starting planks different lengths to avoid seems meeting. Door jams were challenging to me. I bought one of those vibrating trim tools to shape those pieces up. If you have to wrap around a wall, match the boards on both sides so when you get to the other end you’ll be on the same board width. Not sure what to do with the vinyl. Folks that sell lpv could probably help you out there. It’s sturdy stuff. On a side note, it is heavy. I mean like a full size truck needed for one pallet heavy.

 

[Oldstick]

if the labor is going to be reasonable, I would go with the real stuff. It will outlast you and me if it is put down right.

Your grandkids will be saying, gee, I wish Pawpaw and Granny would have picked a different color.

I am already thinking the same, Pappy, assuming you mean tile. Labor cost would be low in this situation, with me helping the close of kin expert. What can you tell me about the pros/cons of different types of tile, such as ceramic, marble, natural stone, porcelain, etc?

 

[oops1]

No expert here but have done 4 diffenrt kitchens in tile and my living room and den in wood..the floating kind from Sam’s. You’re looking at way more work laying tile as you are laying wood. Wood cuts easier..goes down easier..no grouting.which IMO..is the worst part of tile. It may be my skill set but..if I was a floor guy.. I would literally charge five times as much to put tile down.

 

[treemanjohn]

I've used the Home Depot lifeproof LVP 4 times now and never fails to impress me. Iy lays very easy and its tough as nails

 

[glynr329]

I did mine was not bad at all.

 

[Oldstick]

I really appreciate everyone's comments so far. Please keep them coming.

The one thing I am hesitant about as far as plank flooring is how do you check a cement slab floor for perfection and correct any high or low spots? That is because I already did one 15 x 15 room in the same house years ago using laminate planks that were 1' x 2' each. Worked fine except that some of the planks would not lock together perfectly in the middle of the room. I concluded that it must have been an almost undetectable dip in the middle causing the problem. So that room still looks decent, but really needs to be redone eventually to get it perfect.

So I want to avoid that happening again. I assume with tile, you can just get each one level with the last, one square at a time.

 

[Artfuldodger]

I would think ceramic tiles would be easier to adjust for height using the thin set. We put ceramic tile in our kitchen and never liked it. It was just standard 12x12. Most condos we stay in have ceramic tile through out except the bedrooms.
Anyways, we never liked the tile. It was hard to keep clean, was cold, and un-natural feeling. I eventually removed it and went with traditional oak wood flooring. We really like it.

Those vinyl planks sure look interesting. I'm not sure about how to get the floor level though or if you can put it over your existing laminate.

I did read this;
Putting vinyl planks over an uneven surface will mean this will telegraph through and you'll end up with an unprofessional, uneven look.

What vinyl squares I've put down, I have noticed spots that have "telegraphed" lol. Some took like a year before it showed up and I thought I had the floor underlay smooth and level.

Personally, I think I would remove the laminate before installing vinyl planks. I'm not sure how or what to use to get the floor level.

 

[b5fish]

Slide a 4ft level on the floor to check for low spots. Use a float to fill the void in with mortar.

 

[treemanjohn]

In my basement we want right over the top of ceramic tile that was installed by the previous owner. It was a mess. We pulled out Built-in cabinets that had been tiled around and filled in the low spots with self leveling mortar.

The key with imperfect floors is using thick planking. Nothing shows through because its rigud

 

[Buford_Dawg]

My wife and I have done pretty much the 2nd level with Vinyl flooring over the last year. We are starting on our bedroom next month when I youngest goes back off to college. It is a very SIMPLE process, at least on wood flooring after we pull up the carpet and remove the nails and staples that are sticking up. Honestly the hardest part is the prep work of removing the existing carpet and vacuuming up the dirt and crap that is under the carpet. It looks great and really enhances the look of the home flooring. No need to hire anyone IMO, it is a great DIY opportunity.

 

[grouper throat]

We had our whole house replaced in LVP around 1.5 years ago and it was a great decision. I was set on hardwood/tile mix until we visited several houses with it. It goes great in our bathrooms with young kids as clean up is easy. Laying the LVP is very easy. I did not lay my own this time but did several other houses in it, over slab and over existing wood.

 

[Rebel 3]

I have done four rooms in my house with porcelain tile and it looks great, but is time consuming. The hardest part is the preparation and making sure the first run is perfect. This fall I am doing the remainder in lvp or waterproof laminate. Does anyone know what the differences are between the lvp and waterproof laminate? Looking online the laminate is cheaper priced.

 

[Oldstick]

Are the LVP panels glue down, or are they tongue and groove interlocked and floating like some of the laminate wood panels?

 

[treemanjohn]

I have done four rooms in my house with porcelain tile and it looks great, but is time consuming. The hardest part is the preparation and making sure the first run is perfect. This fall I am doing the remainder in lvp or waterproof laminate. Does anyone know what the differences are between the lvp and waterproof laminate? Looking online the laminate is cheaper priced.

Laminate is a waterproof wood product. I have no use for that. Lvp is straight vinyl

 

[treemanjohn]

Are the LVP panels glue down, or are they tongue and groove interlocked and floating like some of the laminate wood panels?

You can get both. I only use click lock tongue and groove

 

[Twiggbuster]

I glued down engineered hardwood, that was a job but it lasted well but got outdated. Fast forward 20 years and I bought lvp because of the dog and hired somebody to lay it. I pulled the old flooring up and had enough so glad I hired installation. Although it looked easy and I will do it upstairs when time comes. Can take my time up there.
Impressed with this lvp . Low maintenance, cleans easy and looks great.

 

[Oldstick]

Ya'll might have me leaning toward the LVP now. That would be one of our biggest concerns, smooth and easy to clean with no grout lines etc. We don't want any brown wood looks, but I see they also have some tile-like patterns and also light wood colors too.

Time to go hit up some stoes' as check out some of this in person.