"Penitentiary Gray" I moved to the USA from Europe, all I wanted was an apartment with wood/parquet floors and white walls. (standard in rentals in Europe). Every single place had "penitentiary gray" walls. So depressing. I ended up having to rent carpet + gray walls, but I painted them. Stuck with nasty carpet. The Gray trend never hit Europe, thankfully.
@@AudraLambert Too late! I put gray porcelain tile on the whole ground floor. It's fancy, not plain, with different shades, a hint of black and some white here and there. It is above the quality level of most homes in my area. My house needed an upgrade. I promise to do a more plain tile for the kitchen floor. I already looked at some.
My last house had engineered hardwood throughout the entire place including the kitchen and powder room. It was gorgeous and made it seem way more spacious! The only tile was in the upstairs bathrooms. The house I have now, I put LVP on the entire first floor except the bathroom which is yet to be remodeled. 9 inch wide and 6 feet long planks. It's beautiful and dog-proof in this hot, humid climate.
I had my entire home done in oak hardwood including the kitchen which now has grey water damaged areas in front of the sink. I will have that fixed and put down one of those floor cloth style runners. Still way better than any other material would have been for aesthetic and ease of cleaning reasons.
Wood floors in kitchen work best when it there is little divide/separation between the kitchen and common area. It looks silly and cheap when you have a cutoff of wood to ceramic to kitchen. I cook all the time and love my wood floors---rugs, people, rugs.
I always choose function over esthetics so I have LVT butting up against the wood floor. I have had several friends who have had dishwashers and sink pipes flood their wood floors so it does look good but there is more to consider especially if you can't find hardwood to replace in kitchen that is an exact match to the rest of the house. I am not a fan of gray but I had no choice in my LVT plank inter lock floor selections. Whites or creams all had a Carrara marble type pattern and that was just going to be too busy for my kitchen. And I couldn't find a beige or light brown solid color that would match my red oak small plank flooring. unless I wanted glue down.
There are huge variations in the quality of LVP. I ordered about 10 samples and did a "fork test." With some of them the top layer scratched right off with barely any pressure at all. Others I couldn't get to scratch no matter how hard I dug into them with a fork tine. Also there is a big difference between WPC, which contains wood pulp, and SPC, which has no wood. WPC is softer so it feels better underfoot, but SPC is virtually indestructible and waterproof, and it also does not warp whatsoever with moisture or temperature changes because there is no wood component. Wood floors are stunning, but they do scratch. Sure you can refinish them, but do you really want to live with the scratches until you get around to doing that? With the right LVP, your kids and your dogs can run around and skid across the floor all they want and there will be no damage. For me, it's LVP over wood all the way, as long as it's a good quality LVP.
Thank you. I'm researching LVP flooring options for my upcoming renos. Could you recommend a few good quality LVP's, the SPC kind. Is the Evoke Surge series one of them?
Yep. LVP is the modern version of "linoleum". Commonly known as vinyl. It's pretty indestructible compared to all other options. I've seen 40 year old vinyl that still looks good. I've seen five year old hardwood floors that look like someone sand papered them. Just from moving the chairs at a kitchen table in and out. And, for crying out loud, don't put anything susceptible to water damage in kitchens or bathrooms.
We went with good quality LVP, the Core brand in Old Dominion Walnut. It’s 8mm, thicker than most, it’s rich dark brown and wide and long. We had a lot of large foster dogs and I wanted to have the same surface through the whole home, no tile or transitions. Yes, some patterns do repeat. I was picky with the layout and made sure the 14 different plank patterns are not near each other. I don’t know what she means about the plastic sound, but I don’t walk on my fingernails and the dog’s nails don’t click like that, either. It might be that my thick underlay took care of it. It’s held up great over the past 10 years. I laid it myself, twice! We had a water leak that flooded much of the first floor 3 years ago. I carefully took it up, marked the pieces, cleaned them and was able to lay the floor again on new underlay. My husband and the contractor were so impressed. They were sure we would have to replace the entire floor. It’s sturdy, easy to keep clean, not as cold and hard underfoot as other options and I’m still happy with it because it’s a classic color. Originally I wanted cork but it was just too far out of budget at the time. I’m not sorry now.
The larger the tile, the more likely it will crack. Expect breakage even in shipping. Your floors must be perfectly level and smooth to support large tiles. If your house "settles," your tile will too. And, it won't be pretty.
@linhaton4957 part of that is that grout is never sealed .usually can't grout for 3 days after grout is done. Contractors don't want to wait 3 days to come back before getting paid.. and frankly clients don't want to pay the extra or wait the extra time.. There is acrylic grout with is waterproof from the start but it was rather expensive and once again few clients wanted to pay extra plus it's a bit finicky to work with. Or was. Haven't done tike in a few years.
Tile and grout won't crack if laid on a floated concrete floor over wire lath. This requires a solid subfloor but the subfloor can have some imperfections. 1/2 inch of concrete, at least. This technique was once common but has disappeared as it is very labor intensive. I would imagine it is still done in high end mansions. I once did these technique as a teenager working for my father but I am now 71.
Over the years I have torn out enough carpet to never want it in my home. Even in a well-kept home there is tons of dirt, crud, etc. under that carpet, it's just disgusting. No carpet for me. The top of my list in my next home is hardwood floors.
If you support the environment, you choose carpet. It adds a decent level of insulation to your home, and lowers energy bills. And lose those high ceilings.
I’m an older person and it’s all about what is the in thing at the moment. Grew up in a new home that had hardwood throughout, then 10 years later my parents and all our neighbors were putting in wall to wall carpet over the hardwood because that was the new thing, the new trend.
This is completely unrelated to the content of the video, but I recently discovered your channel while doing some research to prepare for putting our home on the market, and you are just such a gem! As a young SAHM from the middle-of-nowhere Iowa I'm sure we would have very little in common in real life, but I so appreciate your sense of humor and am grateful that you're willing to share your hard-won knowledge with the rest of us! By the way- I DO know who Gumby is. 🙂
@@AudraLambert She said she thought you and her would not have much in common. Wait a minute, I have stayed in Iowa for a whole season, in a very upscale neighborhood, except for the winter and devout Christianity, there is so much similar about nice homes in Iowa and in Huntington Beach CA. Where I almost bought a home. I lived south in Torrance near Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes, then 20 some years in Morgan Hill CA. I think you girls might have a great deal in common regarding homes and all things House related. imo
If you put a foundation layer of EPDM roofing (or cork) under laminate flooring it radically improves the sound quality of when you walk on it and is well worth the cost. I even use this underneath real hardwood floors, it makes the wood lay better and it eliminates squeaks that often occur with real wood floors.
@@AudraLambert Please let me know your experience with it after you try it--you can even experiment with it over a small trial area to judge the effect.
Incidentally, using EPDM underlayment over (under?) large areas of wood flooring makes a very noticeable, even remarkable improvement in sound deadening when you walk on the floor
Finding good flooring is not easy. It would be helpful if you would tell your viewers the name of the hardwood and vinyl flooring you are suggesting. I noticed you mentioned other brands but avoided flooring questions below. Why????
For some reason when I redid my kitchen, I thought I wanted a nice bright vibrant backsplash. Looked at so many different options. They were ridiculously expensive. Then I finally came to my senses and did 3 x 6 subway tile. 4 x 6 subway tile in the bathroom. I’m glad I did that. I think I would’ve gotten very sick of the wild tile.
The wide, light oak, engineered hardwood planks is exactly the floor I put in my house!! Its a coastal, on the water Florida home and I'm very happy how it turned out. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
I put in 18x18 porcelain tile in a subtle sand/cream pattern throughout my house. It looks so classy. Also it has been impervious to my many dogs over the years. As their numbers reduce by attrition, I am adding lovely area rugs. In a previous home I had beautiful natural hardwood planks everywhere except kitchen and bathrooms. It was beautiful but not the most practical, even with a polyurethane coating, for pets and an active household. Thanks for your suggestions!
LVP is a MUST in states where you get a SOLID 4 seasons. In Ohio, we have rain and snow for a solid 6 months of the year. I have engineered wood and HATE IT. It's terribly worn at every door where we enter the house. Salt from outside ruins the finish. We are replacing ALL of it with LVP and I CANNOT wait. The expense of refinishing real hardwood is a hard NO for me. In high end homes where folks have thousands at their disposal to replace or refinish floors....sure. But the rest of the folks here in Ohio are putting in LVP!
Very interesting. In toronto I put down maple hardwood, I hate it, the finish is chipping. Was thinking of going engineered until the company admitted a curing fault and would refinish / re stain at no cost, but that’s two weeks you’ll need to move out. I need to look into LVP
1st Audra Lambert you are awesome I wish I could find an agent like you! Thank you for so much good info. 2nd Sorry for the rant that follows I am just so fed up and frustrated. Totally exhausted. Finding an agent is a major pain. I have talked with 12-14 of them. Some I told to leave as soon as they got out of the car! Yes I have had referrals from here & other YT as well as a referral company. I have spent hours and hours talking questioning. Finally I figured out the main issue is they don't listen. My friend had the same problem. So we decided to split the interviewing process. To get in the door all we had to do was look at what they were wearing when they got out of the car. We tell them up front on the phone, we are a working farm & homestead. We have animals all over the place that means poop and mud. Do not wear nice business clothes. Jeans and boots to walk the grounds are in order. All but 2 showed up in fancy clothes & shoes. Sometimes open toed. They had no idea what they were looking at. Saw big trees and said "oh nice you have marketable timber" hahaha NO it's not if it was we would have sold it. They didn't even know trees let alone food. We have our own water source (3 of them) and septic along with wood and propane. Plus we are hooked up to the grid. This is just normal. Because we didn't have solar panels well according to them we are not off grid at all. HAHAHAH Then my fave one telling us, out buildings and fencing has no value nor does the greenhouse or orchards. Um sorry talk to anyone and ask them if they could have over 12,000+ pounds of free food forever if that has value. There will come a time where gardens & greenhouses will be much more important than flooring and paint colors. Nope we are not city. Yet we are only 5-10 minutes away from salmon fishing, boating, wildlife preserve & bird sanctuary with hiking trails. Less than an hour away from world famous windsurfing 2 hrs from skiing & snowmobiling. On top of all that it takes 20-30 min to get to international airport 30-45 minutes to get to the city if you want to go to dinner, play or opera. I know people who live here and work in CA. They fly in a few times a month and still make it home at the end of the day. It's all so frustrating when these agents don't listen or don't know what they are looking at. Just because they don't have a clue as how or where to market this. I had 1 agent that told me it would be best to sell in winter Jan or Feb. Then she wanted me to take out most of our fencing & plants. In the end she was nice and said she didn't want to sell this place she was too busy with other things and she felt this would take too much work to sell. Meaning there was too much work to be done to get this place market ready. Which was fine. Yet again she really didn't listen. The work she said we needed to do took us 2 weeks. Since it would take her husband several months to a year she wouldn't listen. DUH this is a homestead and not everyone wants acreage. Not everyone wants better than organic fruit from their own trees Many don't want to go to the green house for groceries when they can go to the store instead. Not everyone wants to look out their back door and not see another house. However there are a lot of people who do. Those people are my target market. The ones who want out of the cities & still have a short commute. For the record I don't know one true farm or homesteader that wants everything white hahahaha that is the craziest thing ever. No people that know what they want this lifestyle want hard wearing hard working flooring. I put in LVP when we put our house on the market a few yrs back. Bought a higher end stuff because it was popular. Never again. That stuff didn't last 2 months.
In December I delegated a remodel on my daddy’s rental. I had the handyman crew from our local lumber company put in a vinyl plank flooring because most tenants these days have pets. I did find out that rust spots on the floor could be removed by spraying the rust with white vinegar, let it sit for a few minutes, then sprinkle baking soda on the vinegar.Let mixture sit for a few more minutes, then scrub and wipe w clean cloth. It took me 3 times and took almost all rust off. I had a fresh coat of light tan paint on the whole house. In June we had to put a new roof on it. 10:25 My daddy’s Alzheimer’s journey ended at age 88, in March, so my siblings and I have the house up for sale. I hope it pleases buyers. 10:30
If you have dogs, get the hardest flooring you can get. Remember, everything can scratch. Even LVP flooring. Look for a thicker top layer on any of the floors.
💯I hate the broken flow of tile in the kitchen with beautiful hardwoods elsewhere. Plus tile is unforgiving as hell. Drop something and it breaks! Our hardwood flooring in the kitchen elevates the space and feels great under the feet.
The kitchen in our mid-mod was redone in 1995. We installed random-match slate from the front door, through the kitchen and the dining room. We still love it. And here’s a secret: even after 25 years with our family of five using it for very dinner, I have NEVER had to wash the dining room floor. Just a quick vacuum of the rug & we’re ready for company. Waterproof, scratch proof, maintenance-free natural stone. The next owners may not love it, but we sure do
I redid my house. The entire thing, it’s only 690 ft.². A craftsman built in 1900 in a lower middle-class neighborhood. Unfortunately, the hardwood floors were fur and they were in absolutely abysmal condition so could not save them. Tore out all the carpet and linoleum, etc. Put in LVP, that’s what I could afford.
Like a timeless wardrobe, neutrals and high-quality basics never go out of style. Keep the bones and fundamentals simple, classic & elegant, with continuity throughout the entire home. Avoid trends, but you can jazz it up with rotating accessories.
Purchased a new speck built house 1 years ago and had carpeting removed and had installed 3/4" thickness oak flooring for the entire first floor including the kitchen and powder room. I have loved it. It was installed by professionals. It was sanded in place and given polyurethane coating. It is easy to care for. May sell in a couple of years and will have clean floors buffed by a professional. The real full thickness hardwood with cost of labor to install actually cost me less the cost of DIY floor installation and it would have taken me forever to install. Real wood has a warmth that plastic lacks.
We just bought a 1990s house. We had to replace the once beautiful hardwood floor in kitchen. They were mildewed and warped by moisture around the sink and dishwasher. We opted for a porcelain brick tile from Spain. We left the Harwood in the dining and breakfast room. The tilers were able to install at the same level as the wood floors. The transition is perfectly smooth. We also put the same type of tile in the living room in a cross and star pattern with a brick tile boarder. Our home is mediterranean style and we couldn't be happier. We will put the brick pattern tile in the bathrooms and laundry room. Because there is no transition strip separating the rooms, the look is very intentional and classy.
My house which was built in 1959 has oak floors throughout, including the kitchen. The bathroom has ceramic tile. However, we have a TV room which was originally a sunroom. It has walls now, and is an actual room, but it is on a slab. Michigan winters are very cold, and that floor gets COLD. So that room is carpeted with a good pad. That way when several grandkids are here watching TV, they stretch out on the carpeted floor and are warm
I put 24” x 24” porcelain tiles in my beachfront condo. Absolutely gorgeous. Not true that you have to have wide grout lines. It is white with a whisper of gray. Fresh. Modern.
I don’t have any money to do what I’d like and so I think the best option for me is to go over my kitchen and downstairs area with the peel and stick floor pops. It would be a whole lot better! Now that I see your backsplash that you held up a lot of the floor pops look like that, but I’m sure I could find a more neutral.
Audra, I sold my 20-year-old tri level home with wide, long plank laminate on the main (entry) floor and carpet everywhere else, in Colorado, in the late fall in a matter of days for cash. Maybe it was because it was 15 years ago, maybe it was because I backed to a lake or maybe it was a God thing. This time I moved to a much warmer climate and had a very neutral large shiny ceramic tile installed diagonally and added an area rug. It has been bullet proof, and I think it looks amazing but it sure is hard on a bad back. Honestly, if I had it to do again, I would choose the lighter colored engineered hardwood like you did. That is stunning.
We love hardwood because we can refinish it and change the color. We recently bought a home with dark hardwood. It was red oak stained in a dark espresso brown. We refinished to a light almost white oak look (red oak can have a hint of a pink hue depending on the lighting). This completely changed the entire look of the home while staying under a $10k change. It’s not cheap, but not crazy expensive either
I hate carpet but I bought a house with carpet in the bedrooms and I've noticed that a lot of people like that for the comfort, warmth, and sound dampening qualities. I would never want it installed for myself though.
^^THIS. I like the uniform look of carpet in the bedrooms. When I had engineered hardwood in the bedrooms, we had to put little rugs at the side of the bed just to wipe feet on if not wearing slippers at all times. Then we eventually put an area rug under bed and a bit beyond, and area rugs just give you DOUBLE the surfaces to clean. I just bought a house with carpet in the bedrooms and we easily changed it out (and the padding) for about $2600.
Moved into new (7 yo) home at age 63 four years ago and decided to remove very dark engineered wood and carpet on 2k Sq ft home and replaced with 3.5" sand-in-place white oak, no stain, satin urethane. I love it! It changed the entire feel of house. Aside from this being a one- story home, I very much want to age in place here. Even though it took about a month before installed and finish walkable, I was very pleased with decision and while it was more expensive, it wasn't that much more. Ps, the wood I purchased was sealed on all sides at factory so after the top sanded, the final top seal and urethane left the board sealed all around and less susceptible to moisture. When I look at realty listings when I'm procrastinating, I see so much ugly flooring and assure myself I'm staying put.
I loved hardwood when we had it in the kitchen. It was so warm and inviting. Changing from wood to kitchen tile looks like an awkward mistake. I'm not a great housekeeper but didn't treat the hardwood any differently than any other flooring. We moved there when DD was three & had cream colored carpet in the living room and bedrooms. I prefer carpet in the bedrooms. Who wants to wake up and put one's feet on a cold floor?
Thank Audra, a million and one folks told me to never lay hardwood in Florida. Of course I did after saving for years. It’s very similar to yours . I saved for years. In addition to the flooring, I found an ace installer who is more OCD than I and he used the best glue. A client will be sorry if an inferior product is used under the flooring. Do you agree that’s the secret. Incidentally the flooring is applied on cement slab. The adhesive cost several thousand dollars but my beautiful flooring (European White WIDE, LONG plank) does not buckle and the natural, authentic wood has give and feels great. The years I saved was well worth it. Keep up the good work.
This is really good information but we hate the engineered wood. Ours dents very easily, which we didn’t know when we first moved in. It’s supposedly a high end product, but that’s questionable.
I love your videos. I own a very, very small condo so luxury vinyl flooring is my choice because our home gets lots of use since it’s small. We got the wood like kind. When we added laundry plumbing it was easy to remove and replace. It’s also super easy to clean. I have a grey tile floor in my business and I hate it. It’s some sort of stone porcelain or ceramic and it streaks when I mop…I’m going to change it out…ugh. Oh and the base is tile too…double yuk 😫 Unfortunately, I have to have carpet in most of our unit because we are upstairs but it is very neutral and light with a low pile. 😊😊😊 Thank you for all the tips I feel like I’m on the right track even though I’m not selling my home ❤❤❤
Since my house has so many sliding glass doors we put the tile in through the whole house. Fading from the sun was a problem with hardwood after just a few years. So far no fading with the tile after 9 years.
We live in a Northern state. Tile floors throughout is not common. We live on a farm, have several large dogs and having those tile floors has been a godsend. They look just like classic farmhouse floors, we love the look and functionality. The upper floors have hardwood. Not all wood look porcelain is short and grey. Ours are walnut with various tones , with 36-inch long pieces. Neither do we have wide grout lines. We bought rectified tiles and dark grout that blends right in. If you're flipping your home in a short time it might pay to be trendy but otherwise buy what you like. In even a few years styles will have changed and you've spent years with stuff you didn't love.
When the porcelain wood tile came out, I thought "Everyone will be ripping this out in 10 years and saying how dated it is." I feel the same way about LVP., but I'd still take either one of them over carpet in a home that I'm buying any day. I just wouldn't install them myself.
flooring is also semi dependent on your climate. I used to live in LA and almost every home had been in had hardwood flooring. In Florida and TX where it’s much more humid, tile flooring is a much better choice.
Dear Audra, echo the previous comment! Here's what I want to comment on the Kitchen as a person who cooks. I do not want hardwood in my kitchen in any home that I own. At the beach there is Hardwood looking Bamboo flooring all over 'cept the kit. laundry and both bathrms. In one of the Baths there's LVP. I am planning to put a matching very blonde collared LVP in the rest to go with the good quality and the same thickness. I do not like a transition where there is a half and inch elevation from one room to the next. All must be level and avoid a trip hazard. Great Video on an important and UNDERSTANDING topic!
I sell all types of flooring. There are great wood look porcelain tiles that are 5’ long and rectified (narrow grout). Any decent installer uses leveling clips to prevent any bowing or lippage from the finished floor. Engineered wood on concrete subfloor is every bit as hard and expensive to remove. It’s also going to be similarly priced to porcelain.
Best decision I ever made was taking out hardwoods in the kitchen and putting in Belgian bluestone. The kitchen is a super high traffic area and the finish would wear through every three years. Dirt then gets in the grain of the wood and the floor looks perpetually dirty. After my third refinish in 9 years I was done. The hardwoods were on screeds set in tar and were $$$ to remove.
You must be hard on floors. I have had wood floors in a kitchen for 25 years and never had to refinish like you are describing. Current floors are wide plank white oak hand scraped and installed about 8 years ago, still looks good as new. I have two teens and two dogs and we cook a lot.
I have an excellent grade of engineer hardwood floor in all my main areas of my home and in the master bedroom. We never wear shoes in my home including my family and friends. I found the only way to wash it is to go down on my hands and knees at 70 years old to make it clean. I find when my little 17-pound dog when coming outside from a wet environment it shows water spots. I used Bona as the manufacture recommended and it is cloudy. I do not like this type of hardwood. When you had your cleaning service come what type of flooring did you have? How was your outcome? Maybe I should call and see how they could bring back the shine. Thank you for all you do. I enjoy learning from you.
Hello there Janice, once a year I have a company come out and clean my floors. I literally have to take all of my furniture out of the house (royal pain), and they literally buff out my floors. They look brand new afterwards. If I get stain on my hardwood floors, I dilute hydrogen peroxide and wipe of the stain...it comes out immediately. You need to enjoy your home and your floors. I am surprised your floors are showing water marks. You may want to consult with a professional. Perhaps they can seal your floors someway. Engineered Hardwood floors should be that fussy. Thanks for the questions.
Audra, the best advice and great taste. I love the engineered hardwood you choose. Could you give me the exact manufacturer and color/style you choose. I want to do my own home and that color would be perfect. Thank, a million thanks, A
Hi there. My floors are Provenza. They don't make my floors anymore. Their website is: www.provenzafloors.com/hardwood?collection=Old%20World. The closest wood product they have on their site is: Aged Alabaster. Hope that helps.
Well deserved 50k Subs 🎉 I Subscribed since 5k and recommend sharing these videos with anyone buying or selling, all the remodels after Helene this will be helpful, in Florida tile still popular because if it's flooded there is no or minor damage.
When I installed my engineered hardwood it was highly recommended NOT to do the kitchen and foyer even though I wanted it. I so regret that cause now my house looks choppy. Love your videos Audra! ❤
Hi there...I am sure your home looks beautiful. There are things I have done in my own home that I do regret. I just try to focus on the things I do enjoy;)
We had hardwood floors in our old house and boy are they a bad choice if you have a big dirty dog and kids. Our next home will have a tile with enough pattern/patina to hide dirt. We replaced the carpet in our bedrooms with engineered hardwood and loved that product for areas that are not high traffic.
Love the 4' long, wood-look tile (multiple iterations in a medium brown tone) for my Florida home. I have 8 cats, and tile is FABULOUS for that. I've also got Jerusalem stone in a couple of rooms; is is gorgeous and elegant but a bit harder to take care of.
If you put hardwood floors in an older home, you better make sure your plumbing is in good shape. An unknown leak can destroy hardwood flooring. I’m sorry I have seen some beautiful porcelain tile that looks like driftwood in a home. For me it looked like LVP, but it was beautiful. I think tile is a good choice, everyone has their own taste. I’ve had carpet, solid hardwood, and will probably go with tile when I renovate. And you can install engineered wood flooring over tile, but you need to make sure your tile floor is in good shape, no cracks.
Thank you so much for your great advise. Love your humor. What is the name of the luxury vinyl flooring you purchased from Home Depot for your investment property?
FWIW: I tiled my entire first floor. I used 24"x24" Not only because it looks good, but also less work installing it. Beyond 24" x24" it become more difficult to install. For upstairs its engineer hardwood. I have radiant heated floors so only Engineered hardwood flooring is usable. That said the wider planks are easier to install since less work per sq foot to install. I used 6" wide boards as I could get wider boards at the time (2020 shortages). I when with Blond (Oak) for floor. Lighter wood color reflects more light. Dark flooring absorbs a lot of light make the rooms darker.
I hated my tile floor in between the laminate wood den and dining room. Oh, I also had the wacky grey mosaic backsplash with a brown granite counter that looked like someone threw up granite all over the kitchen! I live at the beach in Puerto Rico and think tile is probably the best option
What are your thoughts on bamboo flooring and what type of floor would you recommend for bathrooms and basements since wood isn’t great for those high moisture areas?
I love my porcelain plank tile, I get compliments on it all the time. I have it in a dark wood color and most think it it real wood! WE have very thin grout lines and it is in our kitchen and front room and also dining area. IT is great! Have had it for 8 years now. Way better then vinyl. And it it not cold and we live in the Midwest. I do have a large area rug on it in our front room. BTW, it does not look busy. I think it depends on the brand you get and quality.
There are different prices for LVP. I have it in my laundry room and it’s amazing. No one ever notices it’s LVP. My house is on a slab and I have in floor heat.
Get rectified porcelain wood looking tile with 1/8" chocolate color grout. I have that in the kitchen and bath. The rest of house of hardwood. Looks great. Rectified means all edges are straight and all tiles are same size.
Wider & longer planks for hardwood flooring really increases the price a lot. The more narrow plank hardwood floors are a lot cheaper and look almost as good IMHO.
The primary thing I look for is whether or not a house has too many floor types. I hate it when a house has different flooring room by room and I hate vinyl flooring of all types.
That is a great question. Wood stairs I do love...but its extremely expensive and can be slippery. I took a tumble on my own wood stairs. For resale, I would put a low pile durable carpet. The new owner can figure out if they want to replace it with a different material.
@AudraLambert Good advice. My brother went flying down his stairs all the way to the bottom. He's a big guy, and it could have been so much worse. I learned from that.
I love micro-cement in a well designed high end home! ( especially if the floor is heated). Even though the today's message sounds critical, you are actually doing everyone a favor by pointing out what buyers may not appreciate!
Hi there...thank you so very much. As you know, I am just trying to help homeowner make wise choices when selling their home. I appreciate you pointing that out. Thanks for the support.
The only place microcement belngs is in the garage. And paint it your choice of gray. Carpet is cozy. Everyone grows up with carpet. We kids placed on carpet in the living room or great room. Bedrooms have carpet. It's warm and cozy. And besides, when you buy a house, YOU have to live in it. I don't decorate with the thought of the next buyer. It's my place. And when I move they can do what they want after they sign the sales agreement. I don't go to a restaurant and order something trendy. It's my mouth, my diet, and what I like to eat.
When it comes to grey... I have a large dark grey wall in my 1950s ranch house. I chose it because it balances the warm tones of the oak floors, and the warmth of my furniture. I have Navajo rugs that my grandparents bought on their honeymoon to the Southwest in 1920, and there is dark grey, ivory, orange (or red) in each of them. One even has purple. But they all have the grey. My other walls are white except for one small wall that is a deep, blood orange in my dining room. If I hadn't owned these rugs, I wouldn't have painted the wall that grey, but there's lots of brown in the room so the white that I chose (for the other walls) and the grey cool that down. The colors are balanced (I am also a retired interior designer and former visual merchandiser). But I don't recommend that someone without a design background tries to do what I did.
I don’t agree regarding the porcelain tile. Out here in the California Desert we use a lot of it and it can be beautiful. Always select a more neutral tile, larger format, not too busy. Some environments are not good for wood. Way too hot and dry out here. 😉
Did I miss what color and brand you used for your floors? That's what I am wanting, but want to make sure it's not too yellow or gray depending on the light. What you showed is what I am looking for!
I agree! Why should a seller spend thousands of dollars. I don't have that kind of money, which I would not get back. I dropped the price of my home a lot!!!
@@angiew4544 - Most home improvements return less than a 100% increase in home value. If you spend $20,000 on new floors but that only increases the home price $15,000 - you should have just left the old floors in.
Our home is built on a slab. I have thought seriously about just going with the concrete, but I'm afraid it would seem cold. The previous owners put engineered wood in the dining and kitchen. I love the look, but because the house is on a slab and 50 years old, we had plumbing issues that damaged some areas. I would never put that back on. We have decided LVP is our best option, and I have seen some recently that I thought was very pretty. I have also decided to keep our original cabinets and just refinish them because they are so well made. I really appreciate your channel. Thank you!
I just installed porcelain tile that was made in Spain that's the size of the Engineered Wood plank you just showed. There are newer porcelain tiles that addressed the problems you outlined about them. The only problem is that because they are quite heavy per piece and surface preparation needed for them is very cumbersome, those bigger size immitation wood plank tiles would cost so much to install. If I'm a tile installer I'd probably charge $15/ square foot to install them if my customer wants perfection! But that's just me and I'm not really planning to go back in home remodelling business!😀
We have installed LVP in all 3 levels (wood tone). Love it with the dogs. Yes, I would have loved engineered wood but not in my budget. Added low pile area rugs in the living, dining and family rooms.
In 2015, we replaced almost all carpet with Coretec 18x24 antique vinyl tile. We have quite a bit of wood furniture in our home so finding wood or engineered wood or LVP in a lighter neutral tone was difficult at that time. I made a decision then (looks a lot like that marble looking tile you showed), because I wanted something that would not clash with our furniture. I've enjoyed the flooring over the years 1- because it is NOT hardwood (hard on feet), 2- it is NOT carpet, and 3- it wears well, is easy to clean and it also eliminated allergies due to carpet. I lived in a home that had hardwood and tile. The grout always looked dirty. The floor was hard and unforgiving. We refinished the hardwood. Yuck! Wouldn't wish that on anyone. Yes, now I look to be making changes based on the fact that we will likely sell in 15 years. Yes, my floors photograph "busy." I appreciate this video as I look to maybe replace our floors down the road. Thank you.
I hate the skinny long glass tiles for backsplashes too and I see them in nearly ever home for sale around here, especially those flippers are doing! 😖
Audra , what about the upstairs ? Carpet / hardwood /LVP. I hoped you would talk about this is the video about flooring ………….. Love your input on your videos ❤️
You are an absolute treasure! You’re doing a great service for all your viewers out there, Audra. We live in the SF Bay Area and are getting ready to sell our house and move to Vancouver WA. If you worked close by we’d hire you in a heartbeat. 😊. Thankfully we have identified some great realtors in both locations. Thank you so much for your wonderful and informative videos, and for your sense of humor. 😊
You should have gone into damage control in your analysis of flooring. Having degrees in Interior design and being in construction and renovating you need to discuss this. Personally I don't hate the large tiles that look like wood but you got to point out one mistake and you will have issues, an item dose not have to be heavy to crack a tile, just hit it right. The floors with the thin wood surface can have issues with water or other liquids especially those with engineered substrata. The substrata that the vinyl flooring has can make all the difference in installing and wear and also how they lock together, the last can bring up your install cost if a contractor knows his business. Last you need to discuss the fit and finish of the flooring job, cutting under door jams ect. takes time and skill.
Can you share the LVP you installed in your investment home? I believe you said it was from Homedepot. We are going to replace our cheap construction grade carpet with LVP before selling - and I loved the color you used! Thank you!
I remodeled my bathroom with grey luxury vinyl floor, grey vanity & silver walls! Should I replace with natural color flooring & vanity? I was going to replace all carpet with grey LVP throughout Condo???.
great video. watched to see what you had to say about LVP because I sell it, and I sell a lot! What I tell my customers is almost verbatim what you talk about. Wood is always beautiful. Longer & wider, usually can't refinish engineered, GO FOR COLOR FIRST! No one is going to buy ugly. Get what you love! It's always worth it. I sell and install here in Colorado for one of the top companies in the country and ship to other states as well. Everything you said was spot on. I'm going to follow you. Great advise
It seems that material trends are regional. It has seemed to me that recently in south FL, the trend is cooler, and tile is definitely preferred. But I agree on very neutral colors. If chosen well, a neutral floor can stay the same, and you can merely paint, and completely change the palette. I have another home in the PNW, and the choices that play well in Florida are not preferred here. Hardwood, Tile, and carpet combos are very common here. Hardwood, or tile, if everywhere, creates a bit of an echo chamber.
Relentless pursuit of helping us to succeed. You’re amazing and one-of-a-kind Ms. Audra. Thank you for your time in creating these amazing and informational videos. PS: I’m not that old 🤠❣️
my flooring is predominanty laminate i put in 20 years ago and tile in other locations. The laminate needs to be replaced but wouldn’t it be better to let new owner pick what they want and give them an allowance if needed vs. spending a lot and putting in flooring that they may not love.
That's a great question. In my experience, if a buyer has to do any improvements (especially flooring) they will expect a significant discount off the price. Buyers usually over estimate replacement. You will get more money out of your house the better condition it is in. Just something to consider.
Ugh if I hear neutral or cohesive one more time. It's boring and has no personality. I don't decorate my house for the next person who might wants to buy it. This is my house so I decorate it the way I like it. I hate subway tiles. Everyone has them. Boring!
You mentioned that you have someone come once a year to clean your engineered wood floors. What method is used? We have recently installed engineered wood floors and I am still not sure of the best way to clean and take care of them so they look good for years. Thank you for the video!
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thanks for saying "no gray"!!!! I'm so tired of boring, depressing gray!!
Laughing...I agree:)
I love gray
It was a phase that will hopefully never come back.
"Penitentiary Gray" I moved to the USA from Europe, all I wanted was an apartment with wood/parquet floors and white walls. (standard in rentals in Europe). Every single place had "penitentiary gray" walls. So depressing. I ended up having to rent carpet + gray walls, but I painted them. Stuck with nasty carpet. The Gray trend never hit Europe, thankfully.
@@AudraLambert Too late! I put gray porcelain tile on the whole ground floor. It's fancy, not plain, with different shades, a hint of black and some white here and there. It is above the quality level of most homes in my area. My house needed an upgrade. I promise to do a more plain tile for the kitchen floor. I already looked at some.
My last house had engineered hardwood throughout the entire place including the kitchen and powder room. It was gorgeous and made it seem way more spacious! The only tile was in the upstairs bathrooms. The house I have now, I put LVP on the entire first floor except the bathroom which is yet to be remodeled. 9 inch wide and 6 feet long planks. It's beautiful and dog-proof in this hot, humid climate.
Sounds lovely!!
I completely agree with LVPs. Im in South Orange County, CA and I love mine! My friends cant believe how nice it looks and feels
Is it floating or glued straight onto the subfloor. Wondering what the feel is like under your feet.
My husband is a hardwood floor pro consultant. Has done lots of famous individuals, floors. Does NOT recommend wood floors in kitchens, and bathrooms.
If someone does door dash every night, maybe hardwood floors in the kitchen would work, but there is a reason no one puts wood floors in the kitchen.
@gauloise6442 it works, though the finish makes a difference. And the right wood can help. Teak for example is used in boats.
I had my entire home done in oak hardwood including the kitchen which now has grey water damaged areas in front of the sink. I will have that fixed and put down one of those floor cloth style runners. Still way better than any other material would have been for aesthetic and ease of cleaning reasons.
Wood floors in kitchen work best when it there is little divide/separation between the kitchen and common area. It looks silly and cheap when you have a cutoff of wood to ceramic to kitchen. I cook all the time and love my wood floors---rugs, people, rugs.
I always choose function over esthetics so I have LVT butting up against the wood floor. I have had several friends who have had dishwashers and sink pipes flood their wood floors so it does look good but there is more to consider especially if you can't find hardwood to replace in kitchen that is an exact match to the rest of the house. I am not a fan of gray but I had no choice in my LVT plank inter lock floor selections. Whites or creams all had a Carrara marble type pattern and that was just going to be too busy for my kitchen. And I couldn't find a beige or light brown solid color that would match my red oak small plank flooring. unless I wanted glue down.
There are huge variations in the quality of LVP. I ordered about 10 samples and did a "fork test." With some of them the top layer scratched right off with barely any pressure at all. Others I couldn't get to scratch no matter how hard I dug into them with a fork tine. Also there is a big difference between WPC, which contains wood pulp, and SPC, which has no wood. WPC is softer so it feels better underfoot, but SPC is virtually indestructible and waterproof, and it also does not warp whatsoever with moisture or temperature changes because there is no wood component. Wood floors are stunning, but they do scratch. Sure you can refinish them, but do you really want to live with the scratches until you get around to doing that? With the right LVP, your kids and your dogs can run around and skid across the floor all they want and there will be no damage. For me, it's LVP over wood all the way, as long as it's a good quality LVP.
Thank you. I'm researching LVP flooring options for my upcoming renos. Could you recommend a few good quality LVP's, the SPC kind. Is the Evoke Surge series one of them?
Yep. LVP is the modern version of "linoleum". Commonly known as vinyl. It's pretty indestructible compared to all other options.
I've seen 40 year old vinyl that still looks good. I've seen five year old hardwood floors that look like someone sand papered them. Just from moving the chairs at a kitchen table in and out.
And, for crying out loud, don't put anything susceptible to water damage in kitchens or bathrooms.
Would appreciate recommendations on high quality LVP. It's hard to find honest reviews and testing.
We went with good quality LVP, the Core brand in Old Dominion Walnut. It’s 8mm, thicker than most, it’s rich dark brown and wide and long. We had a lot of large foster dogs and I wanted to have the same surface through the whole home, no tile or transitions. Yes, some patterns do repeat. I was picky with the layout and made sure the 14 different plank patterns are not near each other. I don’t know what she means about the plastic sound, but I don’t walk on my fingernails and the dog’s nails don’t click like that, either. It might be that my thick underlay took care of it.
It’s held up great over the past 10 years. I laid it myself, twice! We had a water leak that flooded much of the first floor 3 years ago. I carefully took it up, marked the pieces, cleaned them and was able to lay the floor again on new underlay. My husband and the contractor were so impressed. They were sure we would have to replace the entire floor.
It’s sturdy, easy to keep clean, not as cold and hard underfoot as other options and I’m still happy with it because it’s a classic color. Originally I wanted cork but it was just too far out of budget at the time. I’m not sorry now.
The larger the tile, the more likely it will crack. Expect breakage even in shipping. Your floors must be perfectly level and smooth to support large tiles. If your house "settles," your tile will too. And, it won't be pretty.
Very good point. Thanks for the comment.
Large tile should have ditra underneath to help with that
I hate the maintenance involved with tile. The grout is always dirty.
@linhaton4957 part of that is that grout is never sealed
.usually can't grout for 3 days after grout is done. Contractors don't want to wait 3 days to come back before getting paid.. and frankly clients don't want to pay the extra or wait the extra time..
There is acrylic grout with is waterproof from the start but it was rather expensive and once again few clients wanted to pay extra plus it's a bit finicky to work with.
Or was. Haven't done tike in a few years.
Tile and grout won't crack if laid on a floated concrete floor over wire lath. This requires a solid subfloor but the subfloor can have some imperfections. 1/2 inch of concrete, at least. This technique was once common but has disappeared as it is very labor intensive. I would imagine it is still done in high end mansions. I once did these technique as a teenager working for my father but I am now 71.
Over the years I have torn out enough carpet to never want it in my home. Even in a well-kept home there is tons of dirt, crud, etc. under that carpet, it's just disgusting. No carpet for me. The top of my list in my next home is hardwood floors.
Can't disagree with that.
Ditto. The only carpet going into my homes from this point forward is an area rug.
If you support the environment, you choose carpet. It adds a decent level of insulation to your home, and lowers energy bills. And lose those high ceilings.
I’m an older person and it’s all about what is the in thing at the moment. Grew up in a new home that had hardwood throughout, then 10 years later my parents and all our neighbors were putting in wall to wall carpet over the hardwood because that was the new thing, the new trend.
@@polyuniverse1908 If you're talking about literally carpet on the wall, I've seen this lol
I am so glad to hear you say no to gray. Gray was a fad for a while, but it's soooo drab and bland.
It was a boo boo. Someone just had to come up with it.
10 year fad
Agree. The color palate I like today is greys for cabinets, oyster colored walls with light natural wood floors and accents like shelves.
greige is the trending color this decade
This is completely unrelated to the content of the video, but I recently discovered your channel while doing some research to prepare for putting our home on the market, and you are just such a gem! As a young SAHM from the middle-of-nowhere Iowa I'm sure we would have very little in common in real life, but I so appreciate your sense of humor and am grateful that you're willing to share your hard-won knowledge with the rest of us! By the way- I DO know who Gumby is. 🙂
Laughing about the Gumby comment...and so glad you found my channel. Glad I can help. Really really appreciate the comment.
@@AudraLambert She said she thought you and her would not have much in common. Wait a minute, I have stayed in Iowa for a whole season, in a very upscale neighborhood, except for the winter and devout Christianity, there is so much similar about nice homes in Iowa and in Huntington Beach CA. Where I almost bought a home. I lived south in Torrance near Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes, then 20 some years in Morgan Hill CA. I think you girls might have a great deal in common regarding homes and all things House related. imo
LVP is warmer on ones bare feet than tile. I don't mind the sound at all. Love the easy care and no one has ever noticed any exact same pattern?
If you put a foundation layer of EPDM roofing (or cork) under laminate flooring it radically improves the sound quality of when you walk on it and is well worth the cost. I even use this underneath real hardwood floors, it makes the wood lay better and it eliminates squeaks that often occur with real wood floors.
Thanks for the comment...very helpful!!!
@@AudraLambert Please let me know your experience with it after you try it--you can even experiment with it over a small trial area to judge the effect.
Just put a floor in myself wish I knew this. Another one is on the list, will use cork next underlayment. Thank you.
Incidentally, using EPDM underlayment over (under?) large areas of wood flooring makes a very noticeable, even remarkable improvement in sound deadening when you walk on the floor
@@ChrisMalfaIIX-k9b cork underlayment comes in rolls and is usually available in stores such as home depot
Finding good flooring is not easy. It would be helpful if you would tell your viewers the name of the hardwood and vinyl flooring you are suggesting. I noticed you mentioned other brands but avoided flooring questions below. Why????
For some reason when I redid my kitchen, I thought I wanted a nice bright vibrant backsplash. Looked at so many different options. They were ridiculously expensive. Then I finally came to my senses and did 3 x 6 subway tile. 4 x 6 subway tile in the bathroom. I’m glad I did that. I think I would’ve gotten very sick of the wild tile.
That was a very good choice...you did well!!
Live in a village, got travertine tile throughout with underfloor heating. So clean and moppable. Love it.
The wide, light oak, engineered hardwood planks is exactly the floor I put in my house!! Its a coastal, on the water Florida home and I'm very happy how it turned out. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
I put in 18x18 porcelain tile in a subtle sand/cream pattern throughout my house. It looks so classy. Also it has been impervious to my many dogs over the years. As their numbers reduce by attrition, I am adding lovely area rugs. In a previous home I had beautiful natural hardwood planks everywhere except kitchen and bathrooms. It was beautiful but not the most practical, even with a polyurethane coating, for pets and an active household. Thanks for your suggestions!
What is the brand of the L you got at Home Depot. Also, do you have the details on the engineered hardwood in your home? Thank you! Robin
LVP is a MUST in states where you get a SOLID 4 seasons. In Ohio, we have rain and snow for a solid 6 months of the year. I have engineered wood and HATE IT. It's terribly worn at every door where we enter the house. Salt from outside ruins the finish.
We are replacing ALL of it with LVP and I CANNOT wait. The expense of refinishing real hardwood is a hard NO for me. In high end homes where folks have thousands at their disposal to replace or refinish floors....sure. But the rest of the folks here in Ohio are putting in LVP!
Agree. Lvp a must if you have dogs or cats or kids.
Very interesting. In toronto I put down maple hardwood, I hate it, the finish is chipping. Was thinking of going engineered until the company admitted a curing fault and would refinish / re stain at no cost, but that’s two weeks you’ll need to move out. I need to look into LVP
And you can lay LVP right on top of hardwood!
@@dealman3312go with LVP for sure
I have hardwood in my kitchen for many years. I love it. I also have it my first floor 1/2 bath. It looks nice and works well.
1st Audra Lambert you are awesome I wish I could find an agent like you! Thank you for so much good info.
2nd Sorry for the rant that follows I am just so fed up and frustrated. Totally exhausted.
Finding an agent is a major pain. I have talked with 12-14 of them. Some I told to leave as soon as they got out of the car! Yes I have had referrals from here & other YT as well as a referral company. I have spent hours and hours talking questioning. Finally I figured out the main issue is they don't listen. My friend had the same problem. So we decided to split the interviewing process. To get in the door all we had to do was look at what they were wearing when they got out of the car. We tell them up front on the phone, we are a working farm & homestead. We have animals all over the place that means poop and mud. Do not wear nice business clothes. Jeans and boots to walk the grounds are in order. All but 2 showed up in fancy clothes & shoes. Sometimes open toed. They had no idea what they were looking at. Saw big trees and said "oh nice you have marketable timber" hahaha NO it's not if it was we would have sold it. They didn't even know trees let alone food. We have our own water source (3 of them) and septic along with wood and propane. Plus we are hooked up to the grid. This is just normal. Because we didn't have solar panels well according to them we are not off grid at all. HAHAHAH Then my fave one telling us, out buildings and fencing has no value nor does the greenhouse or orchards. Um sorry talk to anyone and ask them if they could have over 12,000+ pounds of free food forever if that has value. There will come a time where gardens & greenhouses will be much more important than flooring and paint colors. Nope we are not city. Yet we are only 5-10 minutes away from salmon fishing, boating, wildlife preserve & bird sanctuary with hiking trails. Less than an hour away from world famous windsurfing 2 hrs from skiing & snowmobiling. On top of all that it takes 20-30 min to get to international airport 30-45 minutes to get to the city if you want to go to dinner, play or opera. I know people who live here and work in CA. They fly in a few times a month and still make it home at the end of the day.
It's all so frustrating when these agents don't listen or don't know what they are looking at. Just because they don't have a clue as how or where to market this. I had 1 agent that told me it would be best to sell in winter Jan or Feb. Then she wanted me to take out most of our fencing & plants. In the end she was nice and said she didn't want to sell this place she was too busy with other things and she felt this would take too much work to sell. Meaning there was too much work to be done to get this place market ready. Which was fine. Yet again she really didn't listen. The work she said we needed to do took us 2 weeks. Since it would take her husband several months to a year she wouldn't listen. DUH this is a homestead and not everyone wants acreage. Not everyone wants better than organic fruit from their own trees Many don't want to go to the green house for groceries when they can go to the store instead. Not everyone wants to look out their back door and not see another house. However there are a lot of people who do. Those people are my target market. The ones who want out of the cities & still have a short commute.
For the record I don't know one true farm or homesteader that wants everything white hahahaha that is the craziest thing ever. No people that know what they want this lifestyle want hard wearing hard working flooring. I put in LVP when we put our house on the market a few yrs back. Bought a higher end stuff because it was popular. Never again. That stuff didn't last 2 months.
I have removed a lot of carpet in my life and I would never want it my home. Always a blast to watch your videos!
Ahh...thanks so much!!! Not a fan of carpet either....but it does serve its purpose.
In December I delegated a remodel on my daddy’s rental.
I had the handyman crew from our local lumber company put in a vinyl plank flooring because most tenants these days have pets.
I did find out that rust spots on the floor could be removed by spraying the rust with white vinegar, let it sit for a few minutes, then sprinkle baking soda on the vinegar.Let mixture sit for a few more minutes, then scrub and wipe w clean cloth.
It took me 3 times and took almost all rust off.
I had a fresh coat of light tan paint on the whole house.
In June we had to put a new roof on it. 10:25
My daddy’s Alzheimer’s journey ended at age 88, in March, so my siblings and I have the house up for sale.
I hope it pleases buyers. 10:30
If you have dogs, get the hardest flooring you can get. Remember, everything can scratch. Even LVP flooring. Look for a thicker top layer on any of the floors.
My Rottweilers would destroy wood floors. I love my luxury vinyl floors. I have a mini farm so we don’t do unpractical stuff around here.
So funny. There is Nothing luxury about vinyl
Very good point.
💯I hate the broken flow of tile in the kitchen with beautiful hardwoods elsewhere. Plus tile is unforgiving as hell. Drop something and it breaks! Our hardwood flooring in the kitchen elevates the space and feels great under the feet.
The kitchen in our mid-mod was redone in 1995. We installed random-match slate from the front door, through the kitchen and the dining room. We still love it. And here’s a secret: even after 25 years with our family of five using it for very dinner, I have NEVER had to wash the dining room floor. Just a quick vacuum of the rug & we’re ready for company. Waterproof, scratch proof, maintenance-free natural stone. The next owners may not love it, but we sure do
Sounds like it works perfectly for you and your lifestyle. That's all that matters:)
I redid my house. The entire thing, it’s only 690 ft.². A craftsman built in 1900 in a lower middle-class neighborhood. Unfortunately, the hardwood floors were fur and they were in absolutely abysmal condition so could not save them. Tore out all the carpet and linoleum, etc. Put in LVP, that’s what I could afford.
Like a timeless wardrobe, neutrals and high-quality basics never go out of style. Keep the bones and fundamentals simple, classic & elegant, with continuity throughout the entire home. Avoid trends, but you can jazz it up with rotating accessories.
Couldn’t agree more!
Purchased a new speck built house 1 years ago and had carpeting removed and had installed 3/4" thickness oak flooring for the entire first floor including the kitchen and powder room. I have loved it. It was installed by professionals. It was sanded in place and given polyurethane coating. It is easy to care for. May sell in a couple of years and will have clean floors buffed by a professional. The real full thickness hardwood with cost of labor to install actually cost me less the cost of DIY floor installation and it would have taken me forever to install. Real wood has a warmth that plastic lacks.
We just bought a 1990s house. We had to replace the once beautiful hardwood floor in kitchen. They were mildewed and warped by moisture around the sink and dishwasher. We opted for a porcelain brick tile from Spain. We left the Harwood in the dining and breakfast room. The tilers were able to install at the same level as the wood floors. The transition is perfectly smooth. We also put the same type of tile in the living room in a cross and star pattern with a brick tile boarder. Our home is mediterranean style and we couldn't be happier. We will put the brick pattern tile in the bathrooms and laundry room. Because there is no transition strip separating the rooms, the look is very intentional and classy.
My house which was built in 1959 has oak floors throughout, including the kitchen. The bathroom has ceramic tile. However, we have a TV room which
was originally a sunroom. It has walls now, and is an actual room, but it is on a slab. Michigan winters are very cold, and that floor gets COLD. So that
room is carpeted with a good pad. That way when several grandkids are here watching TV, they stretch out on the carpeted floor and are warm
I put 24” x 24” porcelain tiles in my beachfront condo. Absolutely gorgeous. Not true that you have to have wide grout lines. It is white with a whisper of gray. Fresh. Modern.
She wasn't referring to all tile, just the fake wood tile. I'm sure your tile looks amazing.
I consider myself an interior design buff, and I completely agree with everything you said
I don’t have any money to do what I’d like and so I think the best option for me is to go over my kitchen and downstairs area with the peel and stick floor pops. It would be a whole lot better! Now that I see your backsplash that you held up a lot of the floor pops look like that, but I’m sure I could find a more neutral.
Audra, I sold my 20-year-old tri level home with wide, long plank laminate on the main (entry) floor and carpet everywhere else, in Colorado, in the late fall in a matter of days for cash. Maybe it was because it was 15 years ago, maybe it was because I backed to a lake or maybe it was a God thing. This time I moved to a much warmer climate and had a very neutral large shiny ceramic tile installed diagonally and added an area rug. It has been bullet proof, and I think it looks amazing but it sure is hard on a bad back. Honestly, if I had it to do again, I would choose the lighter colored engineered hardwood like you did. That is stunning.
We love hardwood because we can refinish it and change the color. We recently bought a home with dark hardwood. It was red oak stained in a dark espresso brown. We refinished to a light almost white oak look (red oak can have a hint of a pink hue depending on the lighting). This completely changed the entire look of the home while staying under a $10k change. It’s not cheap, but not crazy expensive either
Yes lady your content just keeps getting better 👏🏼👏🏼
Ahhh...I needed to hear that today. Thanks!!
idiot
What are the details of the engineered hardwood plank that you use in your home demonstrated? Brand and color because it is beautiful!
I hate carpet but I bought a house with carpet in the bedrooms and I've noticed that a lot of people like that for the comfort, warmth, and sound dampening qualities. I would never want it installed for myself though.
^^THIS. I like the uniform look of carpet in the bedrooms. When I had engineered hardwood in the bedrooms, we had to put little rugs at the side of the bed just to wipe feet on if not wearing slippers at all times. Then we eventually put an area rug under bed and a bit beyond, and area rugs just give you DOUBLE the surfaces to clean. I just bought a house with carpet in the bedrooms and we easily changed it out (and the padding) for about $2600.
Moved into new (7 yo) home at age 63 four years ago and decided to remove very dark engineered wood and carpet on 2k Sq ft home and replaced with 3.5" sand-in-place white oak, no stain, satin urethane. I love it! It changed the entire feel of house. Aside from this being a one- story home, I very much want to age in place here. Even though it took about a month before installed and finish walkable, I was very pleased with decision and while it was more expensive, it wasn't that much more. Ps, the wood I purchased was sealed on all sides at factory so after the top sanded, the final top seal and urethane left the board sealed all around and less susceptible to moisture. When I look at realty listings when I'm procrastinating, I see so much ugly flooring and assure myself I'm staying put.
I loved hardwood when we had it in the kitchen. It was so warm and inviting. Changing from wood to kitchen tile looks like an awkward mistake. I'm not a great housekeeper but didn't treat the hardwood any differently than any other flooring. We moved there when DD was three & had cream colored carpet in the living room and bedrooms.
I prefer carpet in the bedrooms. Who wants to wake up and put one's feet on a cold floor?
Thank Audra, a million and one folks told me to never lay hardwood in Florida. Of course I did after saving for years. It’s very similar to yours . I saved for years. In addition to the flooring, I found an ace installer who is more OCD than I and he used the best glue. A client will be sorry if an inferior product is used under the flooring. Do you agree that’s the secret. Incidentally the flooring is applied on cement slab. The adhesive cost several thousand dollars but my beautiful flooring (European White WIDE, LONG plank) does not buckle and the natural, authentic wood has give and feels great. The years I saved was well worth it. Keep up the good work.
I like high quality vinyl roll out fooring (Inlay).
Audra, love the engineered flooring you chose for your home! Was hoping to find a link for the one you showed that you used! ❤
This is really good information but we hate the engineered wood. Ours dents very easily, which we didn’t know when we first moved in. It’s supposedly a high end product, but that’s questionable.
Is it better to paint before you redo your floors.
Yes!
Yes, absolutely.
My rule of thumb is to avoid following trends when installing hardscape design elements
I love your videos. I own a very, very small condo so luxury vinyl flooring is my choice because our home gets lots of use since it’s small. We got the wood like kind. When we added laundry plumbing it was easy to remove and replace. It’s also super easy to clean. I have a grey tile floor in my business and I hate it. It’s some sort of stone porcelain or ceramic and it streaks when I mop…I’m going to change it out…ugh. Oh and the base is tile too…double yuk 😫 Unfortunately, I have to have carpet in most of our unit because we are upstairs but it is very neutral and light with a low pile. 😊😊😊 Thank you for all the tips I feel like I’m on the right track even though I’m not selling my home ❤❤❤
Since my house has so many sliding glass doors we put the tile in through the whole house. Fading from the sun was a problem with hardwood after just a few years. So far no fading with the tile after 9 years.
Sounds like a great choice....very good point too!!
We live in a Northern state. Tile floors throughout is not common. We live on a farm, have several large dogs and having those tile floors has been a godsend. They look just like classic farmhouse floors, we love the look and functionality. The upper floors have hardwood. Not all wood look porcelain is short and grey. Ours are walnut with various tones , with 36-inch long pieces. Neither do we have wide grout lines. We bought rectified tiles and dark grout that blends right in. If you're flipping your home in a short time it might pay to be trendy but otherwise buy what you like. In even a few years styles will have changed and you've spent years with stuff you didn't love.
Tile is plastered down for life. Exactly why it's the best. Big and long, wide and beautiful.
It is an investment that if you pick the right color can last a lifetime.
8:00 they make more wood toned porcelain tile. Also comes in large sizes just like the wood.
You just happen to show a Small cheap grey one
When the porcelain wood tile came out, I thought "Everyone will be ripping this out in 10 years and saying how dated it is." I feel the same way about LVP., but I'd still take either one of them over carpet in a home that I'm buying any day. I just wouldn't install them myself.
flooring is also semi dependent on your climate. I used to live in LA and almost every home had been in had hardwood flooring. In Florida and TX where it’s much more humid, tile flooring is a much better choice.
Dear Audra, echo the previous comment! Here's what I want to comment on the Kitchen as a person who cooks. I do not want hardwood in my kitchen in any home that I own. At the beach there is Hardwood looking Bamboo flooring all over 'cept the kit. laundry and both bathrms. In one of the Baths there's LVP. I am planning to put a matching very blonde collared LVP in the rest to go with the good quality and the same thickness. I do not like a transition where there is a half and inch elevation from one room to the next. All must be level and avoid a trip hazard. Great Video on an important and UNDERSTANDING topic!
Avoiding the trip hazard is a great comment. We are all about safety
@@marybusch6182 We are too!
I sell all types of flooring. There are great wood look porcelain tiles that are 5’ long and rectified (narrow grout). Any decent installer uses leveling clips to prevent any bowing or lippage from the finished floor. Engineered wood on concrete subfloor is every bit as hard and expensive to remove. It’s also going to be similarly priced to porcelain.
Best decision I ever made was taking out hardwoods in the kitchen and putting in Belgian bluestone. The kitchen is a super high traffic area and the finish would wear through every three years. Dirt then gets in the grain of the wood and the floor looks perpetually dirty. After my third refinish in 9 years I was done. The hardwoods were on screeds set in tar and were $$$ to remove.
You must be hard on floors. I have had wood floors in a kitchen for 25 years and never had to refinish like you are describing. Current floors are wide plank white oak hand scraped and installed about 8 years ago, still looks good as new. I have two teens and two dogs and we cook a lot.
Sounds like you made the right decision for your lifestyle. You need to enjoy your home:)
I have an excellent grade of engineer hardwood floor in all my main areas of my home and in the master bedroom. We never wear shoes in my home including my family and friends. I found the only way to wash it is to go down on my hands and knees at 70 years old to make it clean. I find when my little 17-pound dog when coming outside from a wet environment it shows water spots. I used Bona as the manufacture recommended and it is cloudy. I do not like this type of hardwood. When you had your cleaning service come what type of flooring did you have? How was your outcome? Maybe I should call and see how they could bring back the shine. Thank you for all you do. I enjoy learning from you.
Hello there Janice, once a year I have a company come out and clean my floors. I literally have to take all of my furniture out of the house (royal pain), and they literally buff out my floors. They look brand new afterwards. If I get stain on my hardwood floors, I dilute hydrogen peroxide and wipe of the stain...it comes out immediately. You need to enjoy your home and your floors. I am surprised your floors are showing water marks. You may want to consult with a professional. Perhaps they can seal your floors someway. Engineered Hardwood floors should be that fussy. Thanks for the questions.
I like a statement in the backsplash unless you’re selling your house. I do things I love and I know I won’t get tired of
Audra, the best advice and great taste. I love the engineered hardwood you choose. Could you give me the exact manufacturer and color/style you choose. I want to do my own home and that color would be perfect. Thank, a million thanks, A
Hi there. My floors are Provenza. They don't make my floors anymore. Their website is: www.provenzafloors.com/hardwood?collection=Old%20World. The closest wood product they have on their site is: Aged Alabaster. Hope that helps.
Excellent tips. Learned about what to lean into - timeless neutrals, simple elegance
Well deserved 50k Subs 🎉 I Subscribed since 5k and recommend sharing these videos with anyone buying or selling, all the remodels after Helene this will be helpful, in Florida tile still popular because if it's flooded there is no or minor damage.
When I installed my engineered hardwood it was highly recommended NOT to do the kitchen and foyer even though I wanted it. I so regret that cause now my house looks choppy. Love your videos Audra! ❤
Hi there...I am sure your home looks beautiful. There are things I have done in my own home that I do regret. I just try to focus on the things I do enjoy;)
We had hardwood floors in our old house and boy are they a bad choice if you have a big dirty dog and kids. Our next home will have a tile with enough pattern/patina to hide dirt. We replaced the carpet in our bedrooms with engineered hardwood and loved that product for areas that are not high traffic.
Love the 4' long, wood-look tile (multiple iterations in a medium brown tone) for my Florida home. I have 8 cats, and tile is FABULOUS for that. I've also got Jerusalem stone in a couple of rooms; is is gorgeous and elegant but a bit harder to take care of.
If you put hardwood floors in an older home, you better make sure your plumbing is in good shape. An unknown leak can destroy hardwood flooring.
I’m sorry I have seen some beautiful porcelain tile that looks like driftwood in a home. For me it looked like LVP, but it was beautiful.
I think tile is a good choice, everyone has their own taste. I’ve had carpet, solid hardwood, and will probably go with tile when I renovate. And you can install engineered wood flooring over tile, but you need to make sure your tile floor is in good shape, no cracks.
Thank you so much for your great advise. Love your humor. What is the name of the luxury vinyl flooring you purchased from Home Depot for your investment property?
FWIW: I tiled my entire first floor. I used 24"x24" Not only because it looks good, but also less work installing it. Beyond 24" x24" it become more difficult to install. For upstairs its engineer hardwood. I have radiant heated floors so only Engineered hardwood flooring is usable. That said the wider planks are easier to install since less work per sq foot to install. I used 6" wide boards as I could get wider boards at the time (2020 shortages). I when with Blond (Oak) for floor. Lighter wood color reflects more light. Dark flooring absorbs a lot of light make the rooms darker.
I hated my tile floor in between the laminate wood den and dining room. Oh, I also had the wacky grey mosaic backsplash with a brown granite counter that looked like someone threw up granite all over the kitchen! I live at the beach in Puerto Rico and think tile is probably the best option
What are your thoughts on bamboo flooring and what type of floor would you recommend for bathrooms and basements since wood isn’t great for those high moisture areas?
I love my porcelain plank tile, I get compliments on it all the time. I have it in a dark wood color and most think it it real wood! WE have very thin grout lines and it is in our kitchen and front room and also dining area. IT is great! Have had it for 8 years now. Way better then vinyl. And it it not cold and we live in the Midwest. I do have a large area rug on it in our front room. BTW, it does not look busy. I think it depends on the brand you get and quality.
I stayed in a hotel with LVP. The sound drove me crazy and I vowed I would never put it in my house, other than a laundry room or garage.
Stay away from it in a whole house. The plastic feel under the foot is annoying also.
There are different prices for LVP. I have it in my laundry room and it’s amazing. No one ever notices it’s LVP. My house is on a slab and I have in floor heat.
Get rectified porcelain wood looking tile with 1/8" chocolate color grout. I have that in the kitchen and bath. The rest of house of hardwood. Looks great. Rectified means all edges are straight and all tiles are same size.
Good comment...thank you for your opinon.
Wider & longer planks for hardwood flooring really increases the price a lot. The more narrow plank hardwood floors are a lot cheaper and look almost as good IMHO.
The primary thing I look for is whether or not a house has too many floor types. I hate it when a house has different flooring room by room and I hate vinyl flooring of all types.
The grey porcelain/wood tiles look great if you get long wide planks and you do the whole house with the same material.
There’s no such thing as real grey wood floors. Barnwood can’t go on floors.
Audra what do you recommend for steps going to second floor in the interior of the house?
That is a great question. Wood stairs I do love...but its extremely expensive and can be slippery. I took a tumble on my own wood stairs. For resale, I would put a low pile durable carpet. The new owner can figure out if they want to replace it with a different material.
@AudraLambert Good advice. My brother went flying down his stairs all the way to the bottom. He's a big guy, and it could have been so much worse. I learned from that.
Just listen to Audra . She's right ! (Great hair too 😊)
Ahh..thanks for the hair compliment. Its finally growing out. I lost 70% of it a few years back.
I love micro-cement in a well designed high end home! ( especially if the floor is heated).
Even though the today's message sounds critical, you are actually doing everyone a favor by pointing out what buyers may not appreciate!
Hi there...thank you so very much. As you know, I am just trying to help homeowner make wise choices when selling their home. I appreciate you pointing that out. Thanks for the support.
The only place microcement belngs is in the garage. And paint it your choice of gray. Carpet is cozy. Everyone grows up with carpet. We kids placed on carpet in the living room or great room. Bedrooms have carpet. It's warm and cozy. And besides, when you buy a house, YOU have to live in it. I don't decorate with the thought of the next buyer. It's my place. And when I move they can do what they want after they sign the sales agreement. I don't go to a restaurant and order something trendy. It's my mouth, my diet, and what I like to eat.
When it comes to grey... I have a large dark grey wall in my 1950s ranch house. I chose it because it balances the warm tones of the oak floors, and the warmth of my furniture. I have Navajo rugs that my grandparents bought on their honeymoon to the Southwest in 1920, and there is dark grey, ivory, orange (or red) in each of them. One even has purple. But they all have the grey. My other walls are white except for one small wall that is a deep, blood orange in my dining room. If I hadn't owned these rugs, I wouldn't have painted the wall that grey, but there's lots of brown in the room so the white that I chose (for the other walls) and the grey cool that down. The colors are balanced (I am also a retired interior designer and former visual merchandiser). But I don't recommend that someone without a design background tries to do what I did.
I don’t agree regarding the porcelain tile. Out here in the California Desert we use a lot of it and it can be beautiful. Always select a more neutral tile, larger format, not too busy. Some environments are not good for wood. Way too hot and dry out here. 😉
Did I miss what color and brand you used for your floors? That's what I am wanting, but want to make sure it's not too yellow or gray depending on the light. What you showed is what I am looking for!
I have no idea what kind of flooring, appliances, wall paint, etc., buyers want. Why not just sell as-is and price appropriately??
Depends on how much you want to get out of your house. Many buyers either don't want to or don't have the money to redo everything.
I agree! Why should a seller spend thousands of dollars. I don't have that kind of money, which I would not get back. I dropped the price of my home a lot!!!
You may be leaving money on the table by not improving your home.
@@angiew4544 - Most home improvements return less than a 100% increase in home value. If you spend $20,000 on new floors but that only increases the home price $15,000 - you should have just left the old floors in.
Gorgeous wide, long porcelain tile planks from Porcelanosa. Thin thin grout line. It’s beautiful in our Florida home.
Our home is built on a slab. I have thought seriously about just going with the concrete, but I'm afraid it would seem cold. The previous owners put engineered wood in the dining and kitchen. I love the look, but because the house is on a slab and 50 years old, we had plumbing issues that damaged some areas. I would never put that back on. We have decided LVP is our best option, and I have seen some recently that I thought was very pretty. I have also decided to keep our original cabinets and just refinish them because they are so well made. I really appreciate your channel. Thank you!
A friend of mine painted her concrete floors and it looked really cool. She was an artist though. Not sure if normal people would like it.
I just installed porcelain tile that was made in Spain that's the size of the Engineered Wood plank you just showed. There are newer porcelain tiles that addressed the problems you outlined about them. The only problem is that because they are quite heavy per piece and surface preparation needed for them is very cumbersome, those bigger size immitation wood plank tiles would cost so much to install. If I'm a tile installer I'd probably charge $15/ square foot to install them if my customer wants perfection! But that's just me and I'm not really planning to go back in home remodelling business!😀
Thank you so much! I am all over the place in my head about flooring, especially!
We have installed LVP in all 3 levels (wood tone). Love it with the dogs. Yes, I would have loved engineered wood but not in my budget. Added low pile area rugs in the living, dining and family rooms.
In 2015, we replaced almost all carpet with Coretec 18x24 antique vinyl tile. We have quite a bit of wood furniture in our home so finding wood or engineered wood or LVP in a lighter neutral tone was difficult at that time. I made a decision then (looks a lot like that marble looking tile you showed), because I wanted something that would not clash with our furniture. I've enjoyed the flooring over the years 1- because it is NOT hardwood (hard on feet), 2- it is NOT carpet, and 3- it wears well, is easy to clean and it also eliminated allergies due to carpet. I lived in a home that had hardwood and tile. The grout always looked dirty. The floor was hard and unforgiving. We refinished the hardwood. Yuck! Wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Yes, now I look to be making changes based on the fact that we will likely sell in 15 years. Yes, my floors photograph "busy."
I appreciate this video as I look to maybe replace our floors down the road. Thank you.
I hate the skinny long glass tiles for backsplashes too and I see them in nearly ever home for sale around here, especially those flippers are doing! 😖
Audra , what about the upstairs ? Carpet / hardwood /LVP. I hoped you would talk about this is the video about flooring ………….. Love your input on your videos ❤️
You are an absolute treasure! You’re doing a great service for all your viewers out there, Audra. We live in the SF Bay Area and are getting ready to sell our house and move to Vancouver WA. If you worked close by we’d hire you in a heartbeat. 😊. Thankfully we have identified some great realtors in both locations.
Thank you so much for your wonderful and informative videos, and for your sense of humor. 😊
So glad you are getting value out of watching my videos. Best of luck on your move. I know you will do great.
You should have gone into damage control in your analysis of flooring. Having degrees in Interior design and being in construction and renovating you need to discuss this. Personally I don't hate the large tiles that look like wood but you got to point out one mistake and you will have issues, an item dose not have to be heavy to crack a tile, just hit it right. The floors with the thin wood surface can have issues with water or other liquids especially those with engineered substrata. The substrata that the vinyl flooring has can make all the difference in installing and wear and also how they lock together, the last can bring up your install cost if a contractor knows his business. Last you need to discuss the fit and finish of the flooring job, cutting under door jams ect. takes time and skill.
With LVP, what happens if you damage it? Can one ‘panel’ be replaced?
Mine is gray and looks beautiful in my manufactured home.
If you love it, that's all that matters.
Can you share the LVP you installed in your investment home? I believe you said it was from Homedepot. We are going to replace our cheap construction grade carpet with LVP before selling - and I loved the color you used! Thank you!
Looks like Lifeproof Dusk Cherry, which is what we have too.
Could you share the name of the floor you just installed in your home? It is beautiful.
You didn’t talk about Marble Flooring? Any specific reason?
I remodeled my bathroom with grey luxury vinyl floor, grey vanity & silver walls! Should I replace with natural color flooring & vanity?
I was going to replace all carpet with grey LVP throughout Condo???.
great video. watched to see what you had to say about LVP because I sell it, and I sell a lot! What I tell my customers is almost verbatim what you talk about. Wood is always beautiful. Longer & wider, usually can't refinish engineered, GO FOR COLOR FIRST! No one is going to buy ugly. Get what you love! It's always worth it. I sell and install here in Colorado for one of the top companies in the country and ship to other states as well. Everything you said was spot on. I'm going to follow you. Great advise
It seems that material trends are regional. It has seemed to me that recently in south FL, the trend is cooler, and tile is definitely preferred. But I agree on very neutral colors. If chosen well, a neutral floor can stay the same, and you can merely paint, and completely change the palette.
I have another home in the PNW, and the choices that play well in Florida are not preferred here. Hardwood, Tile, and carpet combos are very common here.
Hardwood, or tile, if everywhere, creates a bit of an echo chamber.
Relentless pursuit of helping us to succeed.
You’re amazing and one-of-a-kind Ms. Audra.
Thank you for your time in creating these amazing and informational videos.
PS: I’m not that old 🤠❣️
Ahhh..thanks so much!!
my flooring is predominanty laminate i put in 20 years ago and tile in other locations. The laminate needs to be replaced but wouldn’t it be better to let new owner pick what they want and give them an allowance if needed vs. spending a lot and putting in flooring that they may not love.
That's a great question. In my experience, if a buyer has to do any improvements (especially flooring) they will expect a significant discount off the price. Buyers usually over estimate replacement. You will get more money out of your house the better condition it is in. Just something to consider.
Totally agree! Every house my husband and I sold we did that. Allowances for new paint and floors. Sold every house within a few weeks.
Ugh if I hear neutral or cohesive one more time. It's boring and has no personality. I don't decorate my house for the next person who might wants to buy it. This is my house so I decorate it the way I like it.
I hate subway tiles. Everyone has them. Boring!
You mentioned that you have someone come once a year to clean your engineered wood floors. What method is used? We have recently installed engineered wood floors and I am still not sure of the best way to clean and take care of them so they look good for years. Thank you for the video!