Hardwood vs Laminate

[Alison Swain]

I have a friend who is contimplating replacing her wood laminate floors with hardwood ---- maybe even bamboo. I realize hardwood is very expensive, but hardwood floors are prevalent in her neighborhood of 1930's and 1940's bungalow homes. Her realtor friend advised her not to make this investment unless she plans to stay in the home for a long time. I think that's reasonable advice, but would like the input from other appraisers. I have wood laminate floors and don't like them. Whenever the dogs run it sounds like they're tap dancing. One of the dogs is old and pees on the floor a lot. Easy clean up, yes, but now I'm noticing the laminate is no longer laying perfectly flat (a little buckling).

What is the professional appraisers' opinions on this issue?

 

[PropertyEconomics]

Alison,
As is true in most things in life .. real is almost always better than faux. I have just appraised a home with bamboo flooring that is beautiful, sounds like hard wood, and looks like hardwood with a little twist ...
I personally think there are always buyers for quality and if not then the sale could occur faster because of quality.
If you say average marketing time is say 6 months (may be soon) and you can sell your quality home in 3 .. havent you saved three months payments? I would think that a good chunk to offset the additional costs ... but thats not knowing the specifics.

Personally .. I always go for quality. My feelings are the next wave of BOOMER buys will be smaller homes which are the highest quality one can afford with all the gadgets one can afford. That is where I see the residential market going one day soon .... my vote .. REAL and QUALITY.... fwiw.

 

[Tom Barclay]

I have to agree, go for the quality. I see a lot of problems with laminate floors, and like everything else, there is quite a difference in various qualities of laminates. Buckling is generally caused by improper installation(not enough space for expansion, unleveled sub-floor, etc.); but I see de-lamination much more often. Curling and splitting at the seams. Spills, pet accidents, or just mopping the floor with too much water. Anybody with kids, pets, etc. just can't be there 24-7 to wipe up the spills immediately, and you can only damp mop them.
Much better to invest in a floor system that is going to last, rather than replacing the laminate a couple times at least in the same time span.

 

[Lobo Fan]

I think you need to target your typical buyer. If it is an older buyer with grown kids and potty trained pets then the hardwood floors would be the preference. If your typical buyer is a young family with lots of spills and undiciplined pets then a Pergo style floor would be the way to go.

I looked at the models of a community targeted to the 55+ crowd. All single story, low threshold showers. Little touches to make it easier to live unassisted. The floors were almost all carpet, and the tile was high traction. No slipping and sliding.

Anyway getting back on topic, hardwood would be the preference. I for one would not make much of an adjustment between hardwood and Pergo. I am not sure that the market makes much of a differentiation. I am sure those that know more will chastize me, but recovering the additional cost via market value would be difficult. Just my NSHO.

 

[murray stroupe]

Re; Hardwood vs laminate

Allison;
Put nice solid , thick red oak flooring in an entry hallway;
expensive, nice , but very time consuming to do it.

And while i was real satisfied with it;
would not call it an investment, but rather a cool looking first impression luxury.

Also i used/prefer plywood sub floor;
one section had the ''tap dancing sound'' Could have fixed/replaced it, but sold that home anyway, through REALTOR.

So yes, agree with REALTOR ;
but lets face it, most Americans like luxury's & i don't regret the solid hardware floor at all.Client gave me enough red oak flooring & used my labor;not financing.

Also may want to check with several hardwood or /tile floor professionals;
because persistant dog or cat waste was not a problem in my hardwood entry hall home.And did not want to imply otherwise.

 

[James Andreas]

Although the market may accept laminated wood floors, if your friend plans to live in the home any number of years, go hardwood. Prefinished 1/2' or 3/4" engineered floors are durable, easily installed in a few days, and properly installed will last a lifetime.

Like painting, preparation is key...don't skimp on underlayments if needed...have plywood rescrewed or screwed-and-glued to prevent creaks, monitor the work closely, and make sure floor is level before laying the planks.

A laminated floor looks...generic. You can't get past the appearance, from an angle, of several "planks" on one panel. The sound positively annoys me, and amny have a bouncey feel. They are typically floating systems and I seldom enter a home where th flooring is flat or doesn't have noticable gaps in the panels.

I have a buddy who has drastically overimproved his house/ He says "Its my home, and I'll live here for many years to come." If you friend isn't planning to move, has the funds, go for the quality and her quality of life will be rewarded. And i'm yet to see any home, in any of my local areas, with hardwood flooring which didn't return a premium vs. laminates or carpet.

Local liquidators sell laminated flooring as low as $0.79/SF. Prefinished flooring starts around $5-6/SF with some odd-lots for $3.50 to $4.50/SF.

If the home is older, let's say 1,000 SF, and difference in cost is $5,000 (incl. installation), in my areas, that could get a full return and may more importantly be the difference in selling the home versus a stale listing.

So.... selling? maybe laminated based upon your market
staying?... hardwood - more pleasent on ears, eyes, feet, and nothing beats natural materials!

 

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Get a cat. It will pee on your stereo, not on your floor.

http://appraisersforum.com/watercooler/124491-beware-cat.html

Filthy little bags of poison.

 

[Kevin Mc]

Bamboo.

very popular,eco-friendly,looks great and will be a big selling point. Laminate is ok but no comparison to HW.

 

[xm39hnu]

I just finished laying 600 sf of Bruce pre-finished 3/4" oak flooring. Cost me $3.61/sf standard price from the building supply store; they even loaned me the staple gun to install it with. Hired a guy to lay the floor for $2/sf, but I needed an expert to make sure the floor got level. We ripped out the old particle board underlayment that was under the carpet, and replaced it with 3/4" tongue and groove Advan-Tec. (Advan-Tec is water resistant). I'm not even going to live there; it's an ADU, and we're fixing it up for my wife's aunt to live in.

Here's something to think about: Pre-finished hardwood is less labor-intensive to install. But if a dog pees on it and it stands for a while, it can soak into the wood between the planks and stink like hell. OTOH, if you install bare unfinished hardwood, the finish (when you finally get it done) will be impervious to liquids.

Laminate sucks. I've yet to see an installation that I liked. If the subfloor/underlayment isn't optically flat, every darn joint in it will show. It has the same appeal as a fast and cheap appraisal.

 

[Caligirl]

You can have 'reclaimed' or 'recovered' hardwood installed as flooring. Looks great, costs less than new hardwood.