General discussion and questions about flooring

[secondcor521]

Hi all,

I own my home.  It was built in 2004 and has average contractor-grade finishes.

The carpet is worn out and I am getting to the point where I need to replace it.

I have a cat who occasionally coughs up (that's a euphemistic phrase for vomits) hair balls.  He's healthy, could live another 5-10 years, and no, I'm not getting rid of him even though I want to sometimes.

Probably 90% of the house is carpet.  The rest is linoleum (bathrooms, laundry, kitchen) with a small entryway of hardwood.

I'm considering replacing the carpet with LVP.  I'm also considering going LVP throughout - meaning that I would replace the hardwood and linoleum with LVP as well.

I'd like the LVP to last 10 years or so at least.

I really am content with the lower cabinets in the bathrooms and kitchen, so I don't want to rip those out just to put in new flooring.

Questions for now:

1.  Can I get decent LVP for $3-$4 a sqft?

2.  Can I install it myself?

3.  Is going LVP throughout going to look OK?

4.  How do I deal with my existing baseboard trim?  The Lowe's guy said I could get some sort of horizontal cutting tool that would trim underneath to a consistent height above the underlayment.

5.  I have a crawlspace entrance in the middle of my master closet floor.  How would you suggest putting down LVP over this area?

Any other thoughts welcome.  I'll probably keep this thread going as I change my mind about what I want, and with additional questions that I have.

[sonofsven]

1) Not sure. The last house I built I put in Korlock LVP, excellent flooring, but don't remember the price.

2) Yes. I use a standard miter saw and table saw and jig saw. It will ruin the blades, if they get dull enough during the job replace them as a dull blade is very dangerous. You also need the block they make for smacking them into place (the "click") and the little pry bar they make for pulling the last piece into position against the wall.
Follow the manufacturer instructions so you're covered by their warranty.

3) I think so. I ran it in the entire house, including kitchen and bathrooms

4) The undercut saw (I use an oscillating saw sitting on a scrap of the flooring as a height gauge) is for cutting the door jambs and trim for sliding the flooring under. You'll want to remove all your baseboards.

5) I've done this by installing a thin piece of trim that has a rabbet cut out to go over the loose ends of flooring that is solidly attached to the hatch so when the hatch is shut it covers the cut ends, it's basically a T molding so the flooring on the hatch is covered as well.

[vand]

LVP is ideal for DIYers. I just covered 35sqm of my house in the stuff. You just score it with a blade and snap it to length. The trick when fitting it is to make sure each row is completely perfectly snapped in before moving onto the next row.

The tricky bit, as always is working around doorframes. I've heard that if you have an oscillating tool you can cut underneath doorframes and the like. I managed without one, and just did jigsaw cuts.

I was fitting new room, so didn't have the skirting board problem. If it were me I'd either build up right to the existing board and then finish it with quarter-round, or just rip the old boards out and replace them also.

$3-4sqft sounds about right.

All that said, I think laminate is also a great choice, and very cost effective.

[chemistk]

Funny, I'm about to start my own LVP related thread.

I've been deep in the rabbit hole, and you want to consider a few things that will impact price and consequently your available options. You will get this info from the flooring specialist, but I'll also just barf it here:

1) Wear layer - this is my top concern with the LVP I've looked at. Wear layers are the very top coat on the LVP that actually withstand daily use - they range from 4mil (super thin, but cheapest) to 20+mil (very sturdy).

2) Underlayment - many LVP options seem to include an attached underlayment now. If you have very level floors, you can avoid having to put down a separate underlayment. Chances are in a builder grade home, your subfloor isn't very even. The attached underlayment adds cushion, moisture resistance, and sound deadening but also cost. Cork is probably the most expensive, rubber(ish) is mid, and straight foam is the cheapest. If you know you're going to put down underlayment, you can choose LVP that doesn't have it already attached, reducing your cost a little bit (but the added effort of laying down an additional material).

3) Core - LVP (apart from peel and stick) is either wood dust composite or stone dust composite core. Stone dust is sturdier but less comfortable and louder - most commonly used in commercial applications, but also used in some residential. Stone dust is probably a bit more.

4) Plank width - Wider planks give you (in my opinion) less flexibility to make errors even if you order a few extra cases but take less time to install because there are just fewer boards to put down.

5) Installation - LVP is primarily click lock but there's also glue down. Glue down is going to stay in place longer and is good for kind of uneven surfaces but not that easy to take back up.

6) Warranty - kind of obvious - you'll want to consider the warranty as you may find yourself needing to replace boards and you'll want a manufacturer that honors their product long after installation.

6) How you want it to look - this should honestly be your last consideration. Don't go shopping for a style and ignore the function of the boards.

I'd say most LVP I've seen falls in your range. You might even be able to get away with between $2.50-$3.00/sqft. if you choose not to go super popular name brand or can find a deal.

With as much as you're looking to do, I'd budget for as high as 20% extra to keep around - LVP is made by the batch which means that lot-to-lot will have a bit of variation that could be very noticeable on replacement sections.

As for the cabinets - I'd do what vand said and finish it with trim, most LVP has accompanying quarter-round and other transition pieces to tie it into existing flooring/trim. You also can do the oscillating tool - that's what I'm going to do since the trim in the area I'm installing is pretty complex and would be a lot of time to re-cut.

For the crawlspace access - I'd glue it down in that area, and that way you can glue the LVP right to the top of the access door. Then do as sonofsven does and put trim around it to keep people from catching on the gap.

[AerynLee]

I installed LVP throughout my last house, ~950sqft.

1. I got it on super sale at Lumber Liquidators at something like $1.29/sqft (in 2015). I thought it looked great and got lots of compliments on it. Granted, this was in a builders grade townhome in an alright part of town.

2. I installed it almost entirely by myself, with DH helping run the table saw on more complicated cuts. It's actually very easy. Mine was a click lock. My advice is to take your time and make sure you get very tight locks on every single inch. I ended up with two spots that didn't click tightly enough, one was under the couch so I never saw it, the other was in the kitchen and in the winter would gap a small amount, maybe 1/8 inch (house was on a slab)

3. I installed it through the entire house, including kitchen and bathroom, and as I said, it thought it looked great. We even ran it as a single run with no transitions. It took planning to get through doorways nicely and carefully watching to make sure we didn't repeat patterns right next to each other. We did get lucky and had a very level slab. Our current house has LVP in the kitchen and you can tell the floor underneath isn't level so we'll be pulling it out at some point and doing something different

4. We replaced our trim and so we didn't have to worry about this. If you don't want to replace I would just use quarter round. We used the horizontal cutting tool to get under door frames and under a piece of the closet shelving that went down nearly to the slab. Ours was just a hand held/powered one but I'm sure you can get electric ones

5. Sorry, no help with this one

[RWD]

Personally I wouldn't touch the stuff. But at least try to find some that is phthalate-free.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/vinyl-floors-expose-children-to-harmful-chemicals

[secondcor521]

Thanks all for the feedback.  I've taken it all in.

Additional questions:

6.  What to do with the old carpet / pad?  I guess I could check with the local pounds to see if they want it for dog beds.  I've seen DIY crafty project uses, but that's a no go for me.  Other ideas besides the dump?

7.  My ground floor is basically a 25x50 rectangle.  I'll be running the boards parallel to the short side.  Do I need any transitions or can I run the whole thing as one?

8.  My existing linoleum areas have a little metal strip between them and the existing carpet.  I'm assuming I can just abut the new LVP to this metal strip while trying to match the height.  Correct?  Or do I need some sort of transition strip on the LVP side of things too?

Decisions:

Will probably go with a medium priced darker LVP and an underlayment to get the right height.

Still inclined to avoid tearing off the baseboards.  That's a lot of fiddly work.

Won't do quarter round.  I think it looks dorky.

I may just leave it if the gaps are small.  I noticed today - today, after living here for 15 years - that there are small gaps in the bathroom between the baseboards and the floor.

I could also caulk and paint the gap(s).

[chemistk]

-How's the condition of the carpet? I'm sure you could find a new home for it. One clever thing if it's low pile is to keep some of it and cut out floor pads to adhere to the bottom of furniture - a lot more durable than those stick-on felt pads. Another great use is to cut it into ~2;x10+' strips to use as floor protection for painting (if you have a place to store it). I didn't keep mine because it was 40 years old and some spots had residual mold from people spilling stuff into it.

-Most of the time, you want to run your floors across the longest span, but that also depends on the surrounding areas and other flooring/design choices will dictate what's going to look best.

-Nearly all LVP brands have transition strips specifically for that purpose. You could reuse the one that's there if it's the right height, but otherwise just pick up one or two length of transition to match the floor.

-If you're not going to do quarter round and you don't want to pull up baseboards, it's going to look a lot better if you trim the baseboards so that the planks can slide underneath - otherwise you're going to have to be really precise with your cuts at the ends. Hiding it under trim lets you have a little wiggle room for those end cuts.

I'd personally recommend doing what you can to avoid having the edges of the planks exposed, as you would be more prone to having your boards accidentally get pulled up.

[secondcor521]

Well, the carpet is 17 years old and is in what I would call mediocre shape.  I don't clean it and vacuum it as often as I know I should.  There are traffic wear patterns, and various moderate stains (which have not come out even with professional carpet cleaning).

I'm planning on painting the interior before doing the flooring project.  It needs it, and I figure painting before flooring means I can not worry about drips as much (although I'll probably be somewhat careful).

The reason I'm doing front to back is threefold:  (1) the only hallway in the house runs front to back, (2) the living room is where the front door opens into and is deeper front to back than it is wide left to right (so the "longest span" is really the 25 feet front to back in the living room, because the living room is only maybe 12 feet wide), and (3) there is a bonus room above the garage which has the long side going from front to back.

I'm 99.9% certain that the existing baseboards are already about 1/4" to 1/2" above the subfloor to allow for the carpet edge to go underneath.  My idea is to pull up the carpet, measure that gap in several places in the living room, and then buy LVP + underlayment so the LVP can fit underneath.  I'll definitely slide the LVP underneath regardless, so if there is zero gap then I'll undercut it.  If the gap is inconsistent (and it may well be), then I'll probably trim underneath to a consistent height based on the LVP + underlayment height.

At this point I intend to leave 1/4" gap between the LVP and the walls as recommended by several places online.  That should work OK as the existing baseboards are about 1/2" thick at the bottom.

[sonofsven]

First off, I would run the boards along the longest wall, not the shortest: more cuts equals more waste. Transitions are not necessary, just run through doorways, etc, cutting to fit as needed. Save all your cut ends; the cut off for one end is the starter for the other end.

You need to leave a gap of approx 1/4" from the flooring to the wall, this is for expansion and is important or your floor could buckle. The baseboards cover this gap. It is easy to remove them, remove the nails, and re install them. When you are installing the last piece of flooring up to the wall is when you use the special pry bar because there is not physically room to yap them together with a block and a hammer. You won't be able to do this with the baseboards installed unless they are about 3/4" above the flooring

You don't want to nail, glue, or otherwise affix the flooring to the subfloor; it is supposed to float. Follow the manufacturer instructions on this or they will not honor the warranty.

Any transition to carpet or linoleum can be covered by a T style molding (I make them out of hardwood decking). You want to cover the ends of the flooring to hold them down without fasteners so you affix the molding down (I use screws countersunk) and the T molding holds the flooring down. In this case you can rabbet out for the thickness of the LVP on one side of the T and the linoleum on the other side.

[Metalcat]

-How's the condition of the carpet? I'm sure you could find a new home for it. One clever thing if it's low pile is to keep some of it and cut out floor pads to adhere to the bottom of furniture - a lot more durable than those stick-on felt pads. Another great use is to cut it into ~2;x10+' strips to use as floor protection for painting (if you have a place to store it). I didn't keep mine because it was 40 years old and some spots had residual mold from people spilling stuff into it.

-Most of the time, you want to run your floors across the longest span, but that also depends on the surrounding areas and other flooring/design choices will dictate what's going to look best.

-Nearly all LVP brands have transition strips specifically for that purpose. You could reuse the one that's there if it's the right height, but otherwise just pick up one or two length of transition to match the floor.

-If you're not going to do quarter round and you don't want to pull up baseboards, it's going to look a lot better if you trim the baseboards so that the planks can slide underneath - otherwise you're going to have to be really precise with your cuts at the ends. Hiding it under trim lets you have a little wiggle room for those end cuts.

I'd personally recommend doing what you can to avoid having the edges of the planks exposed, as you would be more prone to having your boards accidentally get pulled up.

Not only this, but LVP actually CAN'T be installed flush against the existing baseboards. It's must be installed with spacers from the walls to account for expansion and contraction.

So the *only* options are to raise the baseboards, cut the bottom of the baseboards, or add quarter round. It's literally not an option just to cut them to fit perfectly, even if it was doable.

ETA: I see pp before me already mentioned this

ETA 2: I haven't read all of the replies in detail, so I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but one of the biggest concerns with LVP, especially dark colours, is UV fading.

[secondcor521]

@sonofsven:

The longest, most visible wall is the right hand wall in the living room which is about 25 feet from front to back.

The reason I ask about transitions is that the left-to-right distance in my house on the first floor is about 50 feet.  I've read that you don't want more than 30 feet worth of it...presumably because then the linear expansion in that dimension might exceed the 1/4" expansion gap.

I agree I might have to remove the baseboard on the last wall to install the last piece, although I've seen videos on ways around even that which look like they should work.

Correct, I plan to leave the floor floating.

Understood about the T-style molding.  If the product I want doesn't have transition strips (I'd prefer it does, but we'll see), then I could do that.

@Malcat:

Right - I won't be abutting the LVP to the baseboards.  I'll be going under them approximately 1/4" in all directions (existing baseboards are 1/2" thick at the base, so 1/4" gap and 1/4" overlap).

As mentioned before, I'm fairly certain there is already a gap underneath the floorboards which I can slide the LVP under.

Thanks for the comment about UV fading, had not heard that before.

[sonofsven]

@sonofsven:

The longest, most visible wall is the right hand wall in the living room which is about 25 feet from front to back.

The reason I ask about transitions is that the left-to-right distance in my house on the first floor is about 50 feet.  I've read that you don't want more than 30 feet worth of it...presumably because then the linear expansion in that dimension might exceed the 1/4" expansion gap.

I agree I might have to remove the baseboard on the last wall to install the last piece, although I've seen videos on ways around even that which look like they should work.

Correct, I plan to leave the floor floating.

Understood about the T-style molding.  If the product I want doesn't have transition strips (I'd prefer it does, but we'll see), then I could do that.

@Malcat:

Right - I won't be abutting the LVP to the baseboards.  I'll be going under them approximately 1/4" in all directions (existing baseboards are 1/2" thick at the base, so 1/4" gap and 1/4" overlap).

As mentioned before, I'm fairly certain there is already a gap underneath the floorboards which I can slide the LVP under.

Thanks for the comment about UV fading, had not heard that before.

It sounds like you've put some research into it, that's good.
I've run the flooring lengthwise farther than fifty feet, I'm not sure what you're asking though. I run it from one end of the house to the other, building into and out of each room as I go.
 I use a control line (chalk) down the longest run, like a hallway, and measure from there to build from the wall back to the control line. You can move a bedrooms worth of flooring to line up perfectly to the line, as needed.
Then from that point you build past the line into the next room and build to the wall, then work your way through all the rooms.
Once you build to the line, the more you build the better it stays lined up. As long as you place your line well, planning out how much plank is cut out at each wall, etc.
As far as the baseboards, I believe it is best to work through each stage of construction in the proper order. So if I am laying a floor in new construction I want all the doors in, casings on, baseboards not on. So in remodeling I try to follow the same order, this has given me the best results, that's all. Often the baseboards need to be pushed down  with some force and nailed (to the wall) to create a tight fit to the floor. I wouldn't want big or inconsistent gaps there; especially with floating floors you want to snug them down with the baseboards, just not so much you impede the "floatiness".
In carpenter lingo "When in doubt, rip it out".
Around here I think they call it the "sunk cost fallacy".
Good luck with your project. I found installing LVP to be incredibly easy, fast, and satisfying. Much better than laminates.

[Just Joe]

If you want the tool to cut door frames just search for "oscillating tool". I bought the:

Genesis GMT15A 1.5 Amp Multi-Purpose Oscillating Tool and 19-Piece Universal Hook-And-Loop Accessory Kit with Storage Box

The storage box is just a tiny plastic box for the blades. The 19 piece kit just meant a few blades, a wrench, and 12 sheets of stick on sandpaper... ;)

It has worked fine. We've found tons of ways to use a tool like this. We put down the peel and stick planks at our last house when we prepped it for sale. Easy peasy. DW even grouted it. Looked nice. We didn't live with it so no idea if it was durable or if the new home owner immediately ripped everything out for something different.

As others have detailed: measure, score, snap to cut the planks.

[TrMama]

@sonofsven:

The longest, most visible wall is the right hand wall in the living room which is about 25 feet from front to back.

The reason I ask about transitions is that the left-to-right distance in my house on the first floor is about 50 feet.  I've read that you don't want more than 30 feet worth of it...presumably because then the linear expansion in that dimension might exceed the 1/4" expansion gap.

I agree I might have to remove the baseboard on the last wall to install the last piece, although I've seen videos on ways around even that which look like they should work.

Correct, I plan to leave the floor floating.

Understood about the T-style molding.  If the product I want doesn't have transition strips (I'd prefer it does, but we'll see), then I could do that.

@Malcat:

Right - I won't be abutting the LVP to the baseboards.  I'll be going under them approximately 1/4" in all directions (existing baseboards are 1/2" thick at the base, so 1/4" gap and 1/4" overlap).

As mentioned before, I'm fairly certain there is already a gap underneath the floorboards which I can slide the LVP under.

Thanks for the comment about UV fading, had not heard that before.

I put 836sq ft of stone core LVP in our basement this winter. It replaced worn out, cat pee stained carpet and ugly sheet lino. I don't understand how your plan to slide the planks under the baseboards will work. When you're installing it you need to maintain an even 1/4" gap between the plank and the wall. To do this you place spacers against the wall (or baseboard) and then the planks basically get hammered repeatedly against the spacers as you built out the floor. At the other end of the room you lay the last plank in place and then use the z-shaped install tool to pull the last row against the rest of the floor. If that last row is somehow under the baseboard (I don't understand how you'd do that anyway) you won't have room to stick the tool in the right spot. The only way I can think of to install the floor flush against the existing baseboards is to use glue down planks that don't use the click lock system. Those planks are just flush cut and don't have the tongue and groove edges that necessitate installing the planks at a specific angle.

If you want to use floating floor, you'll need to either remove and then reinstall the existing baseboards (which I'd recommend) or use some kind of 1/4 round to cover the gap. If you opt to remove the existing baseboards, make sure you can buy more of the same pattern before you start. It can be hard to remove them all cleanly without breaking any.

The longest possible run depends on the make and model of the flooring you buy. Commercial grades likely allow for longer runs, plus they should last longer and have better wear layers and warranties.

Other important things I learned that weren't covered on YouTube:

1. You can only score and snap boards if the cut line is more than 8" in (may depend on the exact flooring you buy). For shorter cuts I had to use my mitre saw. For rounded cuts or fiddly cuts, use a jigsaw. Buy lots of jigsaw blades because they wear out fast.

2. The boards are basically plastic so when you cut them with a saw you generate a ton of plastic sawdust. Put a tarp down so you can reduce the amount of this crap that ends up in the environment.

3. I wish I'd rented a table saw. I had to rip more boards than anticipated.

4. Removing the carpet was easy. Removing the lino was hard because you have to scrape the glue off the concrete floor before putting the new floor down. The only tool that worked for this was a 4" razor blade floor scraper. That part took days because I'm a wimpy office worker and scraping 4" strips takes forever.

5. If you want to put LVP in the bathroom, think about how you'll treat where it abuts the tub. Our basement bathroom is tiny so I was able to cheat a bit on the 1/4" gap rule. I installed it flush against the side of the tub, but left the normal 1/4" gap against the other 2 walls and also put a transition in the doorway (the 4th wall in this bathroom). The transition allows the floor enough room to expand so it won't buckle and the room is small enough that expansion should be minimal.

6. We had to remove and then reinstall the kitchen appliances so we could run the new floor under them.

7. The weird L-shaped closet in our basement bedroom was built on hangover Monday. It's not even remotely square.

[Halfsees]

Personally I wouldn't touch the stuff. But at least try to find some that is phthalate-free.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/vinyl-floors-expose-children-to-harmful-chemicals

What would you do? I'm trying to figure out what would be best hard surface for our place, which would be around 2000 sq feet including one staircase. Bonus if we could do it ourselves.

[RWD]

Personally I wouldn't touch the stuff. But at least try to find some that is phthalate-free.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/vinyl-floors-expose-children-to-harmful-chemicals

What would you do? I'm trying to figure out what would be best hard surface for our place, which would be around 2000 sq feet including one staircase. Bonus if we could do it ourselves.

I haven't had to make a decision on this myself. But I was looking into cork flooring as a sustainable option. Improves room acoustics too. Though it is soft (nicer to walk on but easier to damage).

[Hadilly]

We had LV tiles put down in our kitchen. I love them. They do require a smooth subfloor. If one gets damaged, it can be heat gunned, pulled up and replaced.

[Halfsees]

Personally I wouldn't touch the stuff. But at least try to find some that is phthalate-free.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/vinyl-floors-expose-children-to-harmful-chemicals

What would you do? I'm trying to figure out what would be best hard surface for our place, which would be around 2000 sq feet including one staircase. Bonus if we could do it ourselves.

I haven't had to make a decision on this myself. But I was looking into cork flooring as a sustainable option. Improves room acoustics too. Though it is soft (nicer to walk on but easier to damage).

We have cork (along with three other types of flooring: bamboo, carpet, and about 200 SQ ft of the original hardwood)  and we are  looking to replace it. It scratches easily and deeply and we can't refinish. Also, it is easily bleached by the sun. It is nice to walk on but I would never recommend it.

[RWD]

Personally I wouldn't touch the stuff. But at least try to find some that is phthalate-free.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/vinyl-floors-expose-children-to-harmful-chemicals

What would you do? I'm trying to figure out what would be best hard surface for our place, which would be around 2000 sq feet including one staircase. Bonus if we could do it ourselves.

I haven't had to make a decision on this myself. But I was looking into cork flooring as a sustainable option. Improves room acoustics too. Though it is soft (nicer to walk on but easier to damage).

We have cork (along with three other types of flooring: bamboo, carpet, and about 200 SQ ft of the original hardwood)  and we are  looking to replace it. It scratches easily and deeply and we can't refinish. Also, it is easily bleached by the sun. It is nice to walk on but I would never recommend it.

Good to know. How's the bamboo?

[uniwelder]

We have cork (along with three other types of flooring: bamboo, carpet, and about 200 SQ ft of the original hardwood)  and we are  looking to replace it. It scratches easily and deeply and we can't refinish. Also, it is easily bleached by the sun. It is nice to walk on but I would never recommend it.

Good to know. How's the bamboo?

Not who you were asking, but I've put solid stranded bamboo in the house we're living in now.  It is incredible!  There's a difference between bamboo construction for floors--- vertical, horizontal, and stranded, as well as engineered (veneer layer on top of plywood) click together or solid (bamboo all the way) tongue and groove.  Stranded is heavily compressed and harder than about any other hardwood, plus it has a factory applied polyurethane.  Our two big dogs (110 and 65 lbs) have yet to put a scratch in the floors in the last 6 months.  No scratches from the tenants that were living here the previous 12 months either.  Its also 9/16 thick and can be sanded and refinished if necessary.

I didn't want a floating floor, so we got tongue and groove and I learned how to install.  It required a thinner gauge nail than standard (18 vs 16) to prevent splitting, and no place around me even had one, so I bought a nailgun for about $300.  The flooring was from BuildDirect.com for $2/sqft.  We got samples and compared against Cali Bamboo, and it seemed equivalent.  A dull key wouldn't noticeably scratch it, but a sharp one could.

We're about to close on another house that needs new flooring (it has 30 year old carpet and linoleum now) and the best/cheapest I've found recently is from Floor + Decor--- https://www.flooranddecor.com/bamboo/patina-ii-solid-stranded-bamboo-100598531.html  We've already tried out a sample, so once the purchase goes through we'll be ordering a whole bunch.

[ToTheMoon]

We have two different types of cork - one on our main floor and one in our basement.

Like any flooring product, it's durability really depends on the top layer.  The cork on the main floor is much higher quality, and after 12 years, two boys, and many big dogs, I am shocked at what good excellent condition it is in. The only areas that show wear are at the (heavily used) back door where the dogs go in/out a million times a day and under our kitchen table where after a dozen years of the chairs sliding back/forth.

The cork we laid in the basement is another beast. It was cheaper and it shows. It chips/scratches more readily and I wish we had paid more for a better product.

Also, narrower planks are much better to use if your floors are uneven at all. We used wider planks in the basement and that was a major mistake!

All that said,  I adore the cork floors and would absolutely put them in again. I would just acknowledge the cost of the good quality stuff and find savings elsewhere.

[ToTheMoon]

We have two different types of cork - one on our main floor and one in our basement.

Like any flooring product, it's durability really depends on the top layer.  The cork on the main floor is much higher quality, and after 12 years, two boys, and many big dogs, I am shocked at what good excellent condition it is in. The only areas that show wear are at the (heavily used) back door where the dogs go in/out a million times a day and under our kitchen table where after a dozen years of the chairs sliding back/forth.

The cork we laid in the basement is another beast. It was cheaper and it shows. It chips/scratches more readily and I wish we had paid more for a better product.

Also, narrower planks are much better to use if your floors are uneven at all. We used wider planks in the basement and that was a major mistake!

All that said,  I adore the cork floors and would absolutely put them in again. I would just acknowledge the cost of the good quality stuff and find savings elsewhere.

[uniwelder]

We have cork (along with three other types of flooring: bamboo, carpet, and about 200 SQ ft of the original hardwood)  and we are  looking to replace it. It scratches easily and deeply and we can't refinish. Also, it is easily bleached by the sun. It is nice to walk on but I would never recommend it.

Good to know. How's the bamboo?

Not who you were asking, but I've put solid stranded bamboo in the house we're living in now.  It is incredible!  There's a difference between bamboo construction for floors--- vertical, horizontal, and stranded, as well as engineered (veneer layer on top of plywood) click together or solid (bamboo all the way) tongue and groove.  Stranded is heavily compressed and harder than about any other hardwood, plus it has a factory applied polyurethane.  Our two big dogs (110 and 65 lbs) have yet to put a scratch in the floors in the last 6 months.  No scratches from the tenants that were living here the previous 12 months either.  Its also 9/16 thick and can be sanded and refinished if necessary.

I didn't want a floating floor, so we got tongue and groove and I learned how to install.  It required a thinner gauge nail than standard (18 vs 16) to prevent splitting, and no place around me even had one, so I bought a nailgun for about $300.  The flooring was from BuildDirect.com for $2/sqft.  We got samples and compared against Cali Bamboo, and it seemed equivalent.  A dull key wouldn't noticeably scratch it, but a sharp one could.

We're about to close on another house that needs new flooring (it has 30 year old carpet and linoleum now) and the best/cheapest I've found recently is from Floor + Decor--- https://www.flooranddecor.com/bamboo/patina-ii-solid-stranded-bamboo-100598531.html  We've already tried out a sample, so once the purchase goes through we'll be ordering a whole bunch.

The shipment of bamboo flooring came in yesterday.  It got delivered ahead of schedule-- we only ordered it last week.  I was afraid with all the shipping delays and being an online purchase, that it would take a month or more.  It'll be a while before I'm ready to install, as all the other work needs to get done first--- cleaning, painting, various fixits, etc.  The truck driver was impressed--- he's currently looking to replace his flooring and asked a whole slew of questions regarding it.