SewingSenior

I have seen the wood look tile and they are beautiful. However, I have ceramic tile in my kitchen and family room and they are always cracking because our subsoil has so much clay in it and it expands and contracts as the weather changes. So this time I want a 'floating' floor product that will not be affected when the slab starts moving.

SewingSenior

Yes, water is a big issue which is what started this whole project in the first place. Our formal living/dining room is next to my sewing room but we use the space as our business office space and will be getting new flooring also. I had chair mats in front of our desks and when I took the mats up to shampoo the carpet it was wet. We thought we had a water leak but it turns out that the moisture is seeping up through the concrete slab. So whatever we put down this time must have a moisture barrier under it. That's why I'm researching vinyl or laminate flooring that can be installed without attaching it to the slab, in other words a floating floor. My goodness how I just luv home ownership.

Doggramma

My sewing room is in the basement. The floor is painted, epoxy with sprinkles to look grantite-like. It's really easy to clean with a Swiffer.

zozee

We had wood laminate in our kitchen for years. It was okay .Durable, Easy to clean. But word of warning--if you drop something, it makes a loud noise. When someone in my family would drop a fork, a set of keys, an empty can, a pen, a pair of scissors, a cup, a coin--my nerves tensed up.

When my DH and I flipped a house, our realtor recommended Allure vinyl flooring. It was very inexpensive and looked great. We used a wood-plank look. The house sold in a month

selm

Whatever you decide on for new flooring you might want to paint the floor first with a water inhibitor paint. We once replaced some carpeting and, as the basement didn't get noticeable water in it, it was in a place with higher humidity and did get musty, we painted it with the water inhibitor paint before installing the new carpeting. It really seemed to help the moisture situation for the several years we were there.

Jingle

I have real oak flooring throughout except for kitchen, utility room and bathroom. Much easier to clean than carpet.

QuiltnLady1

Check Costco, too. They get the plank flooring in and it is inexpensive if you can find something you like. I have vinyl plank that looks like wood and I love it.

SewingSenior

I am so jealous, I would love to have real solid wood floors but with a concrete slab that moves with the changing climate not to mention the concrete leaching moisture, I'm stuck with something that is not attached to the slab and can be installed over a moisture barrier. My daughter and SIL moved into his great grandparents 100+ year old farm house and when they ripped out the old carpet and sheet vinyl they found solid oak flooring throughout the entire house. My daughter is still doing the happy dance.

quiltingshorttimer

moisture barrier and vinyl planks--love our new floor with them. I did elect for laminate over moisture barrier in the basement long arm room--worried that the extreme weight of the LA and other furniture down there would be hard on the vinyl--probably not a problem but didn't want to find out!