I'm assuming that this is an entry level home?

If that's what you like, sure you can do it. :)

Laminate or vinyl tile would also be a good choice to explore in your situation. You could have a nice wood look or tile look in any of that. Vinyl tile is DIY friendlier and if you got the sub floor flat enough with the proper prep, you could save money by installing it yourself. Sheet vinyl is typically more difficult to install by the homeowner. In any case, the floor has to be flat and smooth or it will show through.

At the price I just paid, I don't feel it is an entry level home, but it is one of the more affordable ones in this neighborhood. A lot of the houses around me are many times the price of what I paid (not that I got a super great deal, just they are McMansions).

I am in the military so will likely only be in this house for about 3-4 years. I want to keep this house since it is in a great location within a reasonable commute to DC and will likely want to rent it out to a middle class (military or professional) family. I will probably end up moving back into this house after retirement and living there for many more years.

I was trying to avoid carpet because I think there is a lot of maintence and if there is a bad stain that won't come out, it looks bad or will be costly to replace. We have a cat and may get a dog in the future and know accidents can happen and I know that urine/puke can get absorbed into the carpet padding. I also know that renters/families can be rough with carpet so I wanted something extremely durable. I have also had tile before and didn't enjoy the hard coldness of it. I didn't want to do wood or wood look because parts of the wall had the knotty pine paneling so that would be too much wood. So, that is why I was thinking of the sheet vinyl. I am on a tight timeline, trying to get the flooring redone before we move in (2 weeks) and live out of state so DIY is not an option this time.

Was thinking about Congoleum's Airstep Advantage in Pecan Pie: http://www.congoleum.com/product_detail.php?id=88003

I am not sure if you are implying that if there is sheet vinyl throughout the lower level, it will be seen as "cheap" or a turn off to many people.

This post was edited by brownnugen on Mon, May 27, 13 at 10:24

Do vinyl sheets scream entry level-builder grade? Even the nicer/pricier lines?

Vinyl is entry level only. If you want a midgrade look would be a basic domestic wood like an oak or hickory, and/or a tile in the entry, laundry area, and kitchen. However, location determines what price an entry level home is. In DC, 500K is an entry level home inside the beltway, unless it's in Southeast.

This house is a split foyer, the foyer having some sort of slate, the upper level is all hardwoods, which we just got refinished.

The lower level currently is all carpet that is old, nasty, and wrinkled in certain areas so it needs to go.

As I mentioned earlier, I am trying to be carpet-free. I don't want to do a wood look because the family room has knotty pine in the walls and don't want to overdo the wood look. I am also trying to keep the cost down because I had to refinish the hardwoods on the upper level. My wife does not want the look of tile either.

With slate entry, hardwood in the upper level and all stairs, does the vinyl sheet still make the house entry level? Honestly, my house may be considered entry level compared to the rest of the neighborhood, but I just don't want it to "feel" entry level when I or anybody else lives there.

So, is there a better option out there for me?

Vinyl is not necessarily "entry grade" any more. Mannington Armstrong and others make "luxury" vinyl floors which are quite pricey, beautiful and durable. For a home to be rented out, I would certainly consider vinyl plank flooring, we used it in our home and have had extremely positive remarks on it.

We had engineered walnut in our previous home, it was $$$ and a good brand and we had to walk on eggshells because it dented and scratched so easily. A small amount of water (a stray ice cube melted) could do major aesthetic damage.

We'd had real hardwood in many homes and I love it but it's not cheap considering installation costs, and it can be ruined by renters who don't know how to take care of it. Vinyl is pretty bullet proof, and when you move back in for retirement you can put another floor over the top or pull it out and replace with your choice.

"Luxury" vinyl is certainly much nicer than the sheet vinyl of old. It will NEVER be a luxury material though. (That was a stroke of marketing genius, using "luxury" to describe it.) You can find it in mid range homes in difficult application locations like a basement, but that's going to pretty much be it for a mid range home, unless the owner doesn't care about resale at all because they will be living there for the next 20 years. It doesn't have the "name" cachet of even some laminates if you ask the average person about vinyl. Any mid to upper end home will only have real wood, tile, or stone, for flooring.

Rentals do have a bit different quality level than an owner occupied home, but not if you want to attract good tenants. Better materials, with a more substantial deposit, and a slightly below market rent for someone with good recommendations is usually the best bet for a rental that you eventually want to re-occupy at some point. You don't get good tenants by putting in cheap materials. That only encourages people to treat the home as a poor quality temporary residence instead of their home that they take care of.

In many areas, location is all that really matters. Many renters would prefer any hard floor over carpet. I don't know anyone in the SF bay area who would pay to install new hardwood in a house they intended to rent out - perhaps that is a regional thing.