I'm going to quote your other post here so people don't have to go back and forth:
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NOTE: Whatever we do *must* be affordable. Buying this house was a big mistake and we need to fix it and move it.

The entire house was carpeted, except for kitchen, baths and a small office. Under the carpet was old vinyl tile put down with black mastic. We've taken everything up except the sheet vinyl which has been glued down with something that does not want to give up. It will take a machine, I think, to remove that.

We - the DH and I - are having a here-we-go-round-the-mulberry-bush time trying to decide which way to go with new flooring. Here are some of the things we've discussed:

1) Take up all the mastic, prep and stain the concrete. It's a look we both love and the floor seems to be in good shape. But is it really an economical option? And is it a popular look?

2) Leave the mastic alone and put down vinyl plank in living and kitchen areas. I've found the click-together planks that are thicker than Pergo and have an underlayment, making the floor easier on feet and legs. I've priced it at a discount warehouse at $1.49 psf, including underlayment.

3) Carpet the bedrooms. We plan to sell this house and I think people expect carpet in bedrooms. Yes or No?

4) Other options include rectified porcelain, Pergo (his partiality), large-format tile and who knows what else is out there.

All comments, suggestions and how-to's most welcome. We have to decide soon.

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It's a little buried in your post I think, but you're asking this for resale. It sounds like you want to improve the house enough to get out of it. That will make a difference, I'm sure.

We went with vinyl plank (LVT) in the LR/DR/Entry/Hallway in December. We bought enough for two officey-bedrooms, but didn't have them layed at that time. We had one of them layed Saturday. We've opted to also put it into the other two bedrooms as well. I've taken up so much carpet that was so disgusting that I hope to never have carpet again. Anywhere. (I think my asthma and allergies are better as well.)

It hasn't been perfect. We put felt on the bottom of the DR chairs too late and one big contractor put some scratches in it. We then put pads on those chairs, but brought out some folding chairs for a poker game and...yep, more scratches. But...we'll just have them pull up the three or four scratched planks. So it could have been much worse with some other flooring. It looks great. And it's really easy to clean.

We'd planned to put vinyl and or vinyl plank in the kitchen but we're going to go with porcelain tile. It'll be a first for me.

If you're not trying to sell a high end house, I'd go with the least expensive option that gives the best appearance. I'd think you can find inexpensive carpet for the bedrooms and go with that inexpensive flooring you found for the rest. I love the look of stained concrete, but not everyone does. So for resale, I'd not choose that (plus it seems like a lot of work).

Thanks, cal_quail. I also hate carpet; won't have a scrap in my house. When looking at renovations, though, it seems everyone puts down carpet. I'm going to price some berber to see how it compares with the vinyl and/or porcelain.

The DH is a big problem; he thinks he can do everything himself while working a 40 hr/wk as an RN. I somehow have to convince him to give up the stained concrete idea and 'settle' for another option.

On the flooring forum, there's a long discussion about vinyl planks that's gone on for years. It is very confusing; people both hate and love the stuff. Does yours have texture or is it smooth? I wonder if that makes a difference.

Ours does not have texture. I fell in love with the stuff with texture (a local supermarket has some that's awesome), but our house is a bit on the MCM side and we needed something sleeker. I think it looks like Maple, but it's called Walnut. MIL has some with the beveled edges and a little texture. It works with her look. I like them both.

Are you talking about selling in months? Or years? If ASAP, don't overthink. Make it nice as nice as possible with as little money as possible. If people are on a budget, it'll be fine for them. If not, they'll replace it anyway.

Signed,
Queen of Analysis Paralysis.

This post was edited by cal_quail on Tue, Jun 3, 14 at 8:45

"Queen of Analysis Paralysis"! OMG, we must be twins from different mothers; that has been a fave description of mine for years!

Yes, selling asap is the goal; that's why I'm trying to rein in some of DH's illogical ideas. They always take more time and money than he has. I am spending so much time trying to make the house look good on a shoestring budget and then trying to get a decision, I'm pulling my hair out.

Your floor is beautiful with that diagonal pattern. Did you have an installer for that?

Thanks. Yes. I thought it would be crazy expensive, but IIRC they didn't charge us any more to lay it, just had to order X% more.

I considered laying it myself, but we needed the skim coat (same black mastic) so that helped push me over to having it installed. Plus we were doing such a large expanse. I layed laminate over the old tile in my office about 6 years ago. It was really fun and easy to do, but I never finished the edges. Its one of the many projects that made me think that, particularly for 'public' areas of the house, just have someone come do it (even if I have to wait longer for it). It's one of the rooms we're going to have done in the vinyl in this next go-round. Then we'll deal with all the edging.

Leave the mastic. Not worth the time, energy, or expense if you're just looking for a quick sale.

I'm hesitant to say yes to carpet in bedrooms. Maybe something other than berber would sway my opinion. Maybe berber is more popular elsewhere, but to me, it's definitely not a selling point. I'd go with vinyl plank over berber. It's pretty easy and cheap for a potential buyer to buy an area rug, not so easy/cheap to rip out and replace carpet you don't like or if it gets stained/worn.

Disclaimer: We don't have any carpet in our house.

We installed the pergo stuff right over the existing nasty flooring. I smiled when I read cal_quail's comment about not finishing the edges. Our quarter rounds have been MIA for 20 yrs. I never would have thought I'd have a new kitchen before the quarter rounds got installed!

If you are looking to unload ASAP, and depending on price point, I think nice finishes are important. That doesn't mean the highest priced and most complex items. It just means that it should 'look' pulled together. Quality of work is key; if crappy work, crappy return. Simple and clean look always sell.

I think if you can convince DH to put those many creative thoughts on hold till your next house, he may get on board. At least he would get to enjoy them in the next house.

I'll check out different carpeting for bedrooms, although I hate going into carpet stores. The outgassing from all those chemicals have me holding my nose or running for the door.

The DH found a smoking deal on vinyl at .40 sq.ft.. No wonder; it's 2 mm thick. Isn't that a little too thin? Plus, I think you have to glue it down. I want the floating floor if it's at all possible.

A warehouse here has the porcelain tile at pretty good prices, too. Would you do a LR, FR and kitchen that all run together in this tile?

Well we just bought a house, and they put brand new carpet through out..cheap a$$ carpet though.. but it'll have to do a few years..if we get 5 out of it I'll be surprised.
The kitchen/entry and bathrooms are cheap sheet vinyl.
But while we were looking..most places had carpet that needed to be pulled before moving in, or horribly worn, wood or laminate..

I was happy to take the wall to wall same carpet..because it was new.
We will replace it in the dining room and family room first..and maybe hallway.

I prefer a mid-high range cushy sheet vinyl for the kitchen and baths..
So when I redo the kitchen, that will be replaced too.

So I'd say go for carpet in the bedrooms and formal space. Then laminate or vinyl planks in the kitchen, eating and most used places.

I want to do this house in shades of gray, charcoal and white. The kitchen cabinets will be all white. Do you think vinyl plank in a warm color - cherry, rustic oak or the like - will clash? I found a textured VP that I like in a medium gray. Would it be to monochromatic to stick with gray throughout? I really liked the hand-scraped stuff in the red family. What do you think?

If I didn't think vinyl plank would decrease the value of my house, I'd put it down. I really like how it feels to walk on it. I've never "lived with it" so I don't know the downsides.

But compared to tile, it doesn't crack and it's lots softer.
Compared to wood, it's a lot more water resistant.

It looks like you see two separate ways to go with the floor. One is to get down to the joists/slab, and the other is to cover everything over. The first should be cheaper in money and dearer in labor, the second should be the flip of that.

We have no carpet as it's an allergy thing. We moved into this place twenty years ago and the previous owner had NO talent for proper repairs. There were several different tiles in the entryway and they were held down with thinset, silicone, liquid nails, caulking, and perhaps even superglue. Each room had a different super-cheap carpet in it.

So we scraped it all clean. If I had it to do all over again, I'd tile the entire place all at one time with one non-slip neutral-color unglazed color-body porcelain tile, with same tile baseboard.

Nothing survives a fall to the stuff but it's dead easy to clean, is safe in the shower areas, can (with almost any adhesion break material) span structural faults in the slab like cracks, shows dirt reluctantly, and lasts forever. No maintenance other than mopping. Color and pattern relief can come from area rugs as needed.

Vinyl plank at that price must be tempting, but it's more delicate than I could bear. Porcelain color body doesn't scratch, peel or warp, and the first cost could be right around that vinyl price.