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FlooringDesigndilemma
alwayslisa

First floor flooring - manufactured wood or replace vinyl and carpet?

Lisa S.
4 år siden
sidst ændret:4 år siden

Our house is 19 years old and has original carpet and vinyl downstairs, about 1100 square feet, that includes an office, living/dining room, family room, kitchen, 1/2 bath, and laundry room. The vinyl runs through the kitchen into the laundry room. (First photo is near the front door, second photo is to show the place where the different floorings all come together.) We've recently replaced the carpet on the stairs and in all of the rooms upstairs with Shaw Anso nylon carpet. While I'm happy with that choice, I don't want it downstairs for a bunch of reasons. We recently got an estimate from one of the most reputable flooring places in town to put Abode Maple Harvest Moon manufactured wood flooring all downstairs. It's a color that we felt contrasts just enough with the maple cabinetry and goes nicely with the darker countertops, but isn't *too* dark (3rd picture is from the computer generated room you can create on Abode's website - wish I could throw an area rug down in the photo!)

Because of some bathroom updates along with the new carpet upstairs we've done the past year, we don't have an unlimited budget, about $10K is what we can spend, and the estimate is $16K, which includes all of the demo, a new subfloor (curious what people think about this part), the cost of the flooring, and moving of appliances. We'd have to put the baseboards back ourselves or find a handyman to do it, so that's potentially another cost (my husband is handy but his knees are bad so I don't want him doing this. Maybe I could though?)

I'm curious what others here would do?

1) Keep on with the hardwood plan but get more bids to see if the price will come down?

2) Or look at carpet and vinyl options and keep the wood entryway and flooring as it is now? And if you choose this, what would you go with in that regard?

Thanks for any help with this!







Fremhævet svar
  • SJ McCarthy
    4 år siden

    What I'm hearing about the husband wanting something different = different colour. That's easy enough to do. When lacing in a new wood floor, the ENTIRE wood floor will be sanded and refinished. The colour you have NOW will change (as per your hubby's wish) by the end of the project. Excellent. Win-win.


    If you leave the existing hardwood IN PLACE you will save the cost of material + cost of labour to remove it. So part of your $16K budget will be minimized by $1K - $2K. So far so good.


    Currently the vinyl sits LOWER and the carpet sits HIGHER than the hardwood. That's GOOD! That tells me your floors could all be sitting on the SAME subfloor. That's could mean a cost savings (no one will know until the vinyl comes up and the carpet comes up). Or it could mean nothing at all.


    Subfloors under 'sheet' goods can be horrible. Especially under carpet. Carpets hide HORRIBLE subfloors (that's why builders like to use it...it saves them TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars during a build).


    If you choose to remove EVERYTHING you will most likely be looking at subfloor repair/replacement. Again, NO ONE will know until everything is down to a continuous layer of subfloor. At that time, the HIGH-END flooring professionals (who deal with hardwood day in and day out....no "guy with a hammer" need apply) will evaluate the subfloor and decide (at the time) what is required to install a hardwood floor.


    At that time you will be given the ACCURATE quote for the subfloor and labour costs for that portion. Until then you are flying blind re: costs for subfloors. In my neck of the woods (Vancouver BC Canada...just a little north of you), subfloor prep runs $2-$3/sf when dealing with carpet/vinyl removal. Sometimes it is less...sometimes it is more. But that's the normal ball park.


    I vote for keeping the existing hardwood and adding to it. It will be the cheapest option by far. To give you an idea of costs for refinishing what you have = $5/sf for a full sand/stain/refinish. You can do a quick calculation of the square footage of what you have and then multiply it by $5/sf.


    It is CHEAPER to refinish hardwood than it is to rip it out and replace it with a factory finished product.


    Try to convince hubby that he can get the "new" that he wants even if you keep the old. At 19 years of age, your hardwoods are looking for a sand/refinish in the next 3-5 years anyways. Now is a GREAT time to lace in some of the SAME wood (same species/cut/width) and redo everything all at once. Your timing couldn't be better!

    (13) kommentarer

    • PRO
      Select Hardwood Floor Co.
      4 år siden

      Hi Lisa...

      I have no idea what part of the country you're in. It always helps if people on Houzz would at least give a hint... haha... the numbers vary from one region to the next.

      That said, if one breaks down the numbers... the 16 grand you mention breaks down to around

      $ 14.50 sq. ft., which IMHO isn't that outlandish if there's installation & pep included.

      If you consider a budget (which I understand & respect) of around 10 G... that equates to a little over 9 bucks a foot, and in all honesty, there has to be some serious thought put into what one can obtain as far as quality of material AND labor in that range. However, you'd be well served to consider the fact that, in making a good choice on hardwood flooring presently, it would far outlast anything else in the carpet or vinyl market.

      You'd be back at square one in a few years because most of the products on the carpet/vinyl/ (& cheap wood, for that matter)… will wear out, become out of style, or BOTH within that time frame.

      Just saying.

      Lisa S. thanked Select Hardwood Floor Co.
    • PRO
      Tessa Rose Design
      4 år siden

      I recommend gutting everything and redoing with French Oak Point Loma Engineered Hardwood from Home Depot. Order a sample and sit with it for a few weeks to see how it feels. https://thd.co/2oNz0KI They offer financing too. This all depends on the style decor you are aiming for? What is your style? Take the free quiz here...https://www.dsasociety.org/resources/interior-design-style-quiz/

      Lisa S. thanked Tessa Rose Design
    • latifolia
      4 år siden

      Is that real hardwood in your entry/hall? Is it in decent shape? How about adding more of that, say to replace the carpet? It can be feathered in and all finished the same.


      Do as much as your budget allows. More can be done at a later date, as finances permit. The advantage is that you can always match white oak. That is not the case with manufactured products.

    • Lisa S.
      Forfatter
      4 år siden

      Thanks, Select, we're in the Portland, OR area. And yes, it is real hardwood, @latifolia I suggested that to my husband but he's not a huge fan and his preference is for something different. But it's been a while since we talked about it, so I think I'll bring it up again.... Thanks!

    • calidesign
      4 år siden

      I would continue the wood you have, or save until you can get all one type of wood for the first floor. Also get another estimate for the wood material and installation because they can vary quite a bit.

      Lisa S. thanked calidesign
    • katinparadise
      4 år siden
      Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}4 år siden

      If you can convince your husband to continue the hardwoods, I think that it would not only make the space feel more cohesive, but it will also add the most value to your home. It's a beautiful floor and it doesn't make too much sense to tear it out and replace it with an inferior product.

      Lisa S. thanked katinparadise
    • Lisa S.
      Forfatter
      4 år siden

      Thanks everyone, and for your detailed post, @SJ McCarthy. I contacted a company today who only deals with real hardwood. Apparently here in Oregon, real hardwood installation is way down, everyone is going with manufactured. The guy said he's doing more work in Washington than Oregon right now. He said stores can make a lot more money by going that route because of the markup so they are pushing people to go that way. That may be why I couldn't find hardly any samples in the showrooms we visited. Anyway, he's going to come out and see what we've got and we'll look at our options. He said about 2 out of 10 jobs require a new subfloor because it's faulty and that he wouldn't know until everything comes up (like you said). He told me the estimate I have is saying a new subfloor most likely because the product is thin and it works best with some extra reinforcement. It's probably going to cost more than our original budget, but I think we've decided it's worth it to wait and go with the best choice for the long run even if we have to save like crazy and wait 6-9 months until we do it.

    • katinparadise
      4 år siden

      I think you're making a wise decision. You'll be so much better off in the long run.

      Lisa S. thanked katinparadise
    • Connie Stackhouse
      4 år siden

      We have installed both hardwood in the main living area and manufactured hardwood in our below grade bar. I find both to be preferable to vinyl. You would be amazed how easy it is to diy hardwood with a good quality floor nailer. Hubs wanted to rent a mailer when we started, but the dealer said if he bought it and then wanted to return it next month, they would taken it back at a discount . He kept it and has used it with several jobs at our friends’ houses. The point is that you can find a quality wood at a discount if you shop around. Then educate yourself and add a little sweat equity, and you can have a beautiful floor for $100’s less. We are a teacher (me) and a business CEO (hubs) and still did a pretty good job while saving


      thousands on our home projects.

      Lisa S. thanked Connie Stackhouse
    • latifolia
      4 år siden

      If budget becomes an issue, you could do the hardwood, then just replace the sheet vinyl in the kitchen.


      Ask the flooring guy to bring some stain samples. That will give your husband a chance to think about what color he might like. We have done oak floors with no stain, but with water-based poly, which doesn't turn orange like traditional poly. You can also choose your sheen.

    • jhmarie
      4 år siden

      I noticed that sometimes on HGTV design shows, traditional hardwood is not given the regard it deserves. I think this is because many of these shows take down walls and it is easier to replace the hardwood ( usually with LVP) then repair the areas were the walls came down. This Old House is the exception - they always try to save traditional hardwood floors.


      The hardwood in your entry has been around over a 100 years and is in many elegant homes. Unlike LVP and engineered, it does not get discontinued after a couple of years. Because it is not "trendy" (more timeless) it is often more affordable then many expect.

    • Kelle Finochio
      2 år siden

      Oh my gosh this was just The conversation I was looking for. Our home was built in 2000 and it has both carpet and hardwood on the main floor, as well as tile in the laundry room. I really want the new modern, all one floor look ! I love the manufactured woods. I am torn between tearing out the hardwood and replacing with manufactured wood everywhere or extending the hardwood !! I wasn’t sure how much it would cost. All of your comments have made me believe it would be better to extend the hardwood in the long run ? So thank you very much. I will also look into a darker stain just to change things up a bit because I hate… the yellow Oak . Unfortunately I don’t like the thin boards either ( like the wide board look).. However I have a very small budget so I’ll need to just keep it.
      I’m in Denver suburbs , any flooring company recommendations?

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