Billy Daniel
Rental Property Investor · Russellville, AR · Member since 2014 · 688 posts · 509 votes
4y
Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Planks! 100% of the time!
14 Reply
Joe S.Pro Member
OP
Investor · San Antonio · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Billy Daniel:
Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Planks! 100% of the time!

The locking floating kind or the glue down?
3 Reply
Billy Daniel
Rental Property Investor · Russellville, AR · Member since 2014 · 688 posts · 509 votes
4y
Locking floating type because its easier to pull one or two damaged planks up to replace.
5 Reply
Joe S.Pro Member
OP
Investor · San Antonio · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Billy Daniel:
Locking floating type because its easier to pull one or two damaged planks up to replace.

We have used that kind on the last serval projects. Someone was telling me a while back that if one of the pieces was damaged you would have to pull up a whole section. I sure hope they were wrong.
2 Reply
Terrell Garren
Rental Property Investor · Concord, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
4y
12 years ago - wood laminate floating in dry areas and tile in wet areas.

Today - what @Billy Daniel said!
6 Reply
Jim K.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
4y
@Joe S.
Haven't we already done this one? Tile and wood, and I wouldn't recommend my approach to most people.
3 Reply
Max T.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
4y
I’m with @Jim K. I refinish /patch the existing wood whenever possible. Because it’s just labor - I already have the wood! And it looks great and can be refinished every few tenants. Tile in kitchens and baths. With that being said I have occasionally used vinyl plank when the wood floor was too patched up already and/or the existing subfloor was not good enough for tile and I wasn’t willing to do work required to tile properly. But even in those instances I am planning to do it right at a later date.
3 Reply
Bud Gaffney
Rental Property Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
@Joe S. Vinyl planks. I have used everything else.
There is truly no other answer !
3 Reply
Jim K.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Max T.:
I’m with @Jim K. I refinish /patch the existing wood whenever possible. Because it’s just labor - I already have the wood! And it looks great and can be refinished every few tenants. Tile in kitchens and baths. With that being said I have occasionally used vinyl plank when the wood floor was too patched up already and/or the existing subfloor was not good enough for tile and I wasn’t willing to do work required to tile properly. But even in those instances I am planning to do it right at a later date.

Absolutely nothing else is as tough as 3/4" American white oak after its been finished in three coats of oil-based polyurethane. The problem is that it costs $5 a square foot to buy the flooring and while it takes some skill and specialized tools to install it, it takes a good deal more to sand, seal, and finish it well, and even more to replace any parts that get visibly damaged. If you have the skills and tools you'll need in your pocket, it's worth using it on flooring. You will almost never do well paying a third party to do it.
You're in the same boat with the skill, tools, and patience to correctly install floor tile. The problem is that you simply cannot trust anyone else to do a floor tile job if you can't do it yourself, unless you're big enough to have a dedicated tile guy and somebody to constantly check up on him on your payroll. Paying someone on contract for durable tiling using modern methods never, ever, ever works out over the very long haul. But if you can do the sort of methodical, superb job I'm talking about, you end up with a floor that's extremely hard to damage and even easier to fix than a wood floor.

1 Reply
Patrick M.
Rental Property Investor · Red Bank, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
I have run the gamut. 1st couple rehabs I used .79 cent per sq.ft Home Depot laminate. Lakeshore pecan, I believe.
Then I did 2 units in the vinyl with adhesive strips.
Now I use beautiful Lifeproof sterling oak, used in 2 units so far. (I use this in our personal units as well. It just jumped .40 cents a sq.ft.!
The 6 year old lakeshore pecan still gets a lot of compliments and doesn't show any signs of wear- looks like it did day one. But it was a pain in the *** to work with compared with the others.
The adhesive, again, held up fine- but it is to thin for the upstairs units. I wouldn't use again.
I have about $5k of the lifeproof that I am shipping overseas for a project. I bought it before the price hike I figured was coming. That is how much I love the stuff.
When contractors in Europe see it they can't believe it- their best is quite thinner.
But again- lakeshore pecan has paid the best dividends 👍
3 Reply
Stewart Beal
Investor · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2013 · 178 posts · 225 votes
4y
I do vinyl plank in living room, hallway, kitchen, bathroom, and then carpet in the bedrooms.
2 Reply
Joe S.Pro Member
OP
Investor · San Antonio · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Patrick M.:
I have run the gamut. 1st couple rehabs I used .79 cent per sq.ft Home Depot laminate. Lakeshore pecan, I believe.
Then I did 2 units in the vinyl with adhesive strips.
Now I use beautiful Lifeproof sterling oak, used in 2 units so far. (I use this in our personal units as well. It just jumped .40 cents a sq.ft.!
The 6 year old lakeshore pecan still gets a lot of compliments and doesn't show any signs of wear- looks like it did day one. But it was a pain in the *** to work with compared with the others.
The adhesive, again, held up fine- but it is to thin for the upstairs units. I wouldn't use again.
I have about $5k of the lifeproof that I am shipping overseas for a project. I bought it before the price hike I figured was coming. That is how much I love the stuff.
When contractors in Europe see it they can't believe it- their best is quite thinner.
But again- lakeshore pecan has paid the best dividends 👍

Where are you buying your Lakeshore pecan flooring?
0 Reply
Donald Thomad
Investor · Providence, RI · Member since 2016 · 4 posts · 2 votes
4y
@Joe S.
If damage is in the middle of room half of the room will need to be removed in order to replace the damaged plank and then reinstall
2 Reply
PAUL SCHMADEKE
Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 3 votes
4y
@Billy DanielI do vinyl stick down because you do not have to and click it all the way to the middle of the room. You just use a hair dryer heat up the glue remove it and stick a new one down
3 Reply
Patrick M.
Rental Property Investor · Red Bank, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
@Joe S. Home Depot... I just did a search- very surprised to see it s still .79 cents a sq.ft.!
2 Reply
Patrick M.
Rental Property Investor · Red Bank, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y

Lakeshore Pecan

Adhesive backed - Traffick master Khaki Oak or Brushed Oak

This is the lifeproof that we installed in our place oversees. (it was still being worked on- hence the blue film ;)
One or rentals with the Lifeproof
4 Reply
Tiffany Youngren
Investor · Billings, MT · Member since 2012 · 77 posts · 23 votes
4y
@Joe S. We use LVP - the locking kind - all the time. We do pay a bit more to get mid-grade. The low end stuff ultimately costs more in time, replacing broken pieces, worker frustration, and perceived value (it looks better).
1 Reply
Jim K.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
4y
@Patrick M.
I get such a kick out of the hypocrisy of these names...how is the photographed wood grain of the a pecan tree planted on the shore of a lake different from the photographed wood grain of a pecan tree planted in a treated-sewage-fertilized field by a ditch? But when it comes times to sell flooring, the American consumer will still shell out for "Lakeshore Pecan" more readily than they would for "Mystery Pecan."
2 Reply
Michael Williams
Rental Property Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 82 votes
4y
@Joe S. Luxury waterproof vinyl planks, they look like hardwood in the kitchen. Basic black and white tiles in the bathrooms and dark colored carpets (Light Brown) in the bedroom and living rooms.
1 Reply
Joe S.Pro Member
OP
Investor · San Antonio · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Michael Williams:
@Joe S. Luxury waterproof vinyl planks, they look like hardwood in the kitchen. Basic black and white tiles in the bathrooms and dark colored carpets (Light Brown) in the bedroom and living rooms.

Do you use the locking floating floor or the glue down?
0 Reply
Doniel WinterPro Member
Asheville NC · Member since 2019 · 52 posts · 41 votes
4y
Just finished a kitchen with Home Decorators Collection Luxury VP on sale $1.60 sqft, with Eco Cork Foam underlayment $.79 sqft. This combo worked really well over an uneven floor, and the underlayment added a noticeable thermal break from the cold, uninsulated basement below.
3 Reply
Stacy McElroy
Member since 2021 · 9 posts · 5 votes
4y
Waterproof LVP. We are on the beach and it makes it so much easier for our cleaner to get the sand off of the floor. Plus the LVP doesn't hold water like carpet would.
1 Reply
Michael Williams
Rental Property Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 82 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Joe S.: Glue down
Originally posted by @Michael Williams:
@Joe S. Luxury waterproof vinyl planks, they look like hardwood in the kitchen. Basic black and white tiles in the bathrooms and dark colored carpets (Light Brown) in the bedroom and living rooms.

Do you use the locking floating floor or the glue down?

2 Reply
Kathy C.
Raleigh, NC · Member since 2014 · 54 posts · 17 votes
4y
Waterproof Luxury Vinyl planks are the best rental flooring. The only other option I like is the wood look tiles.
2 Reply
Patrick M.
Rental Property Investor · Red Bank, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
@Jim K. agreed.
I was fortunate- the buddy who was schooling me at the time told me to get the cheapest one. I could have wound up with turd pecan.
2 Reply

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