Need help choosing flooring

[CamMcCarroll]

Hi folks,

Question for the renovated inclined..

I`m doing some reno`s on a townhouse we just bought. Our plan is to rent it and hold it for 5 years or so. Right now it has some UGLY carpets throughout the whole main and upstairs (3 bedrooms). I want to put some new flooring down. Keeping in mind we plan on selling it in the future, i`m thinking hardwood flooring would be a good choice for resale, as opposed to laminate. ( i have an improvement loan from firstline so the cost is going on the mortgage)

What do you think? good idea?

Any suggestions on type of hardwood?

 

[MonteDobson]

QUOTE (Cam @ Oct 10 2009, 08:01 PM) Hi folks,Question for the renovated inclined..

I`m doing some reno`s on a townhouse we just bought. Our plan is to rent it and hold it for 5 years or so. Right now it has some UGLY carpets throughout the whole main and upstairs (3 bedrooms). I want to put some new flooring down. Keeping in mind we plan on selling it in the future, i`m thinking hardwood flooring would be a good choice for resale, as opposed to laminate. ( i have an improvement loan from firstline so the cost is going on the mortgage)

What do you think? good idea?

Any suggestions on type of hardwood?
I would go for laminate vs hardwood for a number of reasons:
[list type=decimal][*]It much more durable vs hardwood - we have hardwood in our personal residence and with 2 kids and a dog, it takes a beating![*]It comes in many different color, style and quality combinations[*]Is less than 1/2 the cost!!Is more easily installed = less labour costCan easily be replaced/repaired[/list type=decimal]A great tip from one of my contractors is to install "transition strips" at each doorway, so that if you ever have to replace the flooring in one room, you can just start at the doorway (and don`t have to replace the flooring throughout the whole area) and it still looks fine.

 

[invst4profit]

Hardwood in a rental will require refinishing after 5 years to resell. Laminate is best depending on the value of the home or re carpet with inexpensive carpeting and replace with more expensive at resale.
What ever you use something will need to be done with it after having renters in order to prepare to sell unless it is being sold to someone else as a rental in which case laminate is again your best choice.

Laminate.

 

[manojsingh]

Go for laminate. I am using in all my townhouses. Buy from Home depot. They have very cheap stuff but looks very good.
QUOTE (invst4profit @ Oct 10 2009, 09:54 PM) Hardwood in a rental will require refinishing after 5 years to resell. Laminate is best depending on the value of the home or re carpet with inexpensive carpeting and replace with more expensive at resale.
What ever you use something will need to be done with it after having renters in order to prepare to sell unless it is being sold to someone else as a rental in which case laminate is again your best choice.

Laminate.

 

[CamMcCarroll]

Thanks for your advice!

 

[gregg]

I agree with all the above. Laminate is all we use in our units. Darker is better as long as you get the kind that doesn`t scratch easily and you can test it at the store. Home Depot really has great product at really good prices. I have picked up skids and stored them in my garage. The cost at the time was 87 cents per square foot. Normally, you can pick it up for 99 cents per square foot.

Gregg


QUOTE (manojsingh @ Oct 11 2009, 12:38 AM) Go for laminate. I am using in all my townhouses. Buy from Home depot. They have very cheap stuff but looks very good.

 

[larysa002]

QUOTE (gregg @ Oct 11 2009, 07:09 PM) I agree with all the above. Laminate is all we use in our units. Darker is better as long as you get the kind that doesn`t scratch easily and you can test it at the store. Home Depot really has great product at really good prices. I have picked up skids and stored them in my garage. The cost at the time was 87 cents per square foot. Normally, you can pick it up for 99 cents per square foot.

Gregg

We use quality underlayment to better protect the subfloor when istalling laminate. Rona has QuietWalk, pretty durable. But would never again use laminate in SFR, birch (needs 5+ coats of varnish) attracts much better. Sometimes there are sales around winter time. We do the work ourselves, so it`s just the material cost.