Investor · Newfoundland, NJ · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 50 votes
Hi All,
Am in the middle of renovating my first flip property in NJ. I have 3 rental properties, but this one has become to expensive to rent out. I am ready to put the floors down. I am leaning towards vinyl flooring and wanted to ask the experts which is the best brand to use, best price, etc. Or have a better suggestion that they always use?
Rental Property Investor · Concord, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
What I've learned from 10 years and 20 SFHs -
NOOOO Carpet!
I used to lay cement board and ceramic tile in potential wet areas - kitchen, bath, laundry. Really hard work. Now I use Lowes grout-able vinyl tile. So easy it is almost fun. Almost.
I use low cost Home Depot vinyl laminate everywhere if sub-floors are smooth
I use low cost Lowes wood laminate in dry areas if sub-floors are not completely smooth.
Depends on the price range. If it was a rental, it also depends on the number of owners vs. renters in the area. If a home owner is most likely to be the buyer, vs. another investor, that will be a factor as well.
Most flips near me for homes under $400,000 tend to be laminate if the floors need replacing or if the property didn't originally have wood floors (just carpet or sub-flooring). If the house already has solid wood floors, most people will just refinish them, but sometimes they are too beat up to refinish and laminate is the cheaper option.
Investor · Newfoundland, NJ · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 50 votes
7y
@Christopher Phillips Thanks for responding. The house was purchased for $58 K. I will be all in around 170K once completed. It's ARV should fall between 229K and 249K. All working class home owners live in this small lake community. The property is worthy of granite countertops and a decent floor. Kitchen floors were tiled. I am installing plush carpeting into the 3 bedrooms. This is just for the living, dining, hallway and a bonus front room. There was some releveling of the floors that needed to get done so had to rip out half of the original wood floors. They are all plywood now...
This Lifeproof LVF by Home Depot looks good. Just wanted to see if someone uses a different brand that is less than $3 sq ft. and would recommend... Thanks again...
Rental Property Investor · Concord, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
What I've learned from 10 years and 20 SFHs -
NOOOO Carpet!
I used to lay cement board and ceramic tile in potential wet areas - kitchen, bath, laundry. Really hard work. Now I use Lowes grout-able vinyl tile. So easy it is almost fun. Almost.
I use low cost Home Depot vinyl laminate everywhere if sub-floors are smooth
I use low cost Lowes wood laminate in dry areas if sub-floors are not completely smooth.
@Terrell Garren is correct. Carpet in a rental is a tough one. You'll end up constantly replacing it due to foot traffic, spills, and potentially pets. Sometimes you can get away with really cheap carpet in the low traffic areas like bedrooms. I would go with cheap laminate before carpet.
I've done my last 4 houses (rentals) with LVP (5mm) that were under $2.25 sf from Lumber Liquidators. If you do multiple houses you can set up a pro account and get it even cheaper. If I were flipping however, the homeowner wants more of a lux look, I would go with the cheapest wood flooring I could find. Look at the "Floorbusters" on the Lumber Liq website, they have real wood under $3 a sf. give them a reason to maximize your sale price. Flooring, Kitchen, bath.
Flipper/Rehabber · Charleston SC · Member since 2019 · 78 posts · 43 votes
7y
I've done $2-3 laminate in living areas, carpet in rooms, and you can get really nice vinyl tile for bathrooms for under $2 sqft for bathrooms. Really depends on the price range. These are all right around the 200k price range.
Specialist · Member since 2019 · 19 posts · 4 votes
7y
This depends on many factors of course, but with the rise in popularity and consumer demand for Greys, more specifically SPC - click lock waterproof Vinyls I’d recommend this over a laminate any-day as I can guarantee you can get it the same or lower as most retail Laminates if you know where to look / who to ask :)