Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 42 posts · 12 votes
Hello, I just evicted my tenants who stayed in my property for only 11 months. Unfortunately, they left my property with damaged carpet, holes on the walls, in additional to leaving behind their filthy belongings. Now, I'm torn between getting new carpeting or just refinish the existing beautiful woodfloor. I can save money on new carpeting compare to refinishing the woodfloor, but there's this possibility that my next tenants may do the same thing. So, it better not to install new carpeting and just refinish the woodfloor? Any thoughts you may share is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Investor · SE, MI · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 461 votes
9y
Hello Ed,
We've decided to never buy carpet for rentals. yes, it may be the cheaper option NOW, but it doesn't last long and costs more to clean properly. I have an Oreck Carpet scrubber that does a decent job on normal amounts of soil, and we rely on a local carpet cleaning company for anything beyond that, so either way we've got more time or money wrapped into clean carpets than we would in clean hard surface floors.
So far, we haven't removed carpet and found wood floors worth finishing, but if we did that is the route I would take. We've been putting in laminate floors and vinyl floors and have been very happy so far. They make turnover time much faster, and current and prospective tenants seem to really like them as well. Tile is great too, but for us in MI (and you in OH) it is generally only expected in bathrooms and kitchens.
Investor · Orange County, CA · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
9y
Tile the common areas, hallways, kitchens, and bathrooms while hardwood or laminate in the bedrooms would be my first choice. If hardwood is already down, though, I would not rip it up to tile. Tile is generally more expensive but lasts longer. Also, this way if you need to replace a bedroom but not the others, you can get away with it not matching 100%.
Real Estate Investor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2016 · 940 posts · 695 votes
9y
Hands down, refinish or screen and recoat (if possible). We only use carpet on our flips.
For those looking for options on a slab, I highly recommend stained concrete! We just did this for our own home and it looks awesome and is super durable and much cheaper than anything else. Plan on doing this on any future rental if it works for the house.
Real Estate Investor · Peabody, MA · Member since 2013 · 304 posts · 91 votes
9y
If it has real hardwood always refinish you should be able to get 3 + tenants out of it. Even if it gets a little worn out they have rejuvinators that make it look good enough to rent. Once they're in there and have all their stuff in they won't notice if floors lose some luster.
I also use floating floors that have the pad on the bottom and go over whatever is there as long as it's solid. Then use 1/4 round to trim out and you're done.
In one of my higher end units I installed prefinished real oak throughout, took me almost 3 months to do myself. Won't be doing that again haha. Looks awesome though!
Real Estate Broker · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
9y
One of my absolute favorite things about older homes is the original hardwood. You can often pick these houses up at rental prices where it would never make sense to put wood in. However, if it's there... USE it! Your tenants will love it, you can refinish it if need be, and it adds character/charm.
Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2014 · 389 posts · 250 votes
9y
Depends on your level of tenant. Higher $ rentals, do the wood floors. Lower $ rentals, some sort of hard/smooth surface. Carpet is just gross, IMHO. In one of mine, I was planning to remove the carpet and install vinyl plank, but my handyman suggested cleaning the carpet then laying the floating plank on top (using carpet as insulation and padding). 2.5 years in and so far so good -- definitely softer and warmer than the concrete underneath, and easier to clean. I'm thinking of doing similar for some rooms in a ranch-on-slab house I'm buying as a student rental.
Flipper · Huntington Beach, CA · Member since 2016 · 83 posts · 40 votes
9y
I would like to add that wood floors are the way to go or some sort of vinyl flooring, carpet just sucks. It gets run down quickly, you can start to get stains all over it fairly quickly, and as a vacation rental it will happen.
Investor · Portland, OR · Member since 2016 · 213 posts · 60 votes
9y
@Ed Perez I am not in Ohio so you might be dealing with different tenants and tenant charge back but if you put in the hardwoods you can take great pics and whenever someone moves out you can have your hardwood guy come fix anything doesn't to the floor and you can charge back to the tenant. Really straight forward carpet is always hard to recoupe especially for longer term tenants.
Investor · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2016 · 74 posts · 29 votes
9y
I'd give a shoutout to carpet in high traffic areas if you have a loud rental. I own an upper/lower and it can be loud for downstairs and been contemplating putting carpet in the bedrooms in the back just to deaden noise for privacy.
Rental Property Investor · Flagstaff AZ · Member since 2016 · 64 posts · 49 votes
9y
I refinish hardwood where available. I use laminate when not. So many good options and deals can always be found. I use sheet vinyl in kitchens and bath. I know some people feel that it damages too easily but, it also repairs easily, is very inexpensive, and installs VERY easily. I am also not dealing with luxury rentals either. My properties cost $40-65k and rent for $500-600 per month. I may not use the vinyl if I was dealing with a $200k 3-2-2 in an A neighborhood.
Investor · Utica, NY · Member since 2016 · 24 posts · 26 votes
9y
In my properties we do both it depends on if I have the time and energy to finish the floors. Hardwood will attract more tenants now you just have to pick the one you Like. Now If you are worried about how that tenant will treat your property, then visit where they live now!
How funny this post shows up today, we just finished a job about three hours ago that had oak floors that were previously carpeted. Go with oak floors, solid surface like vinyl plank, or vinyl, avoid carpet when you can, it always wears out, stains and smells after a year or two.
How funny this post shows up today, we just finished a job about three hours ago that had oak floors that were previously carpeted. Go with oak floors, solid surface like vinyl plank, or vinyl, avoid carpet when you can, it always wears out, stains and smells after a year or two.
How funny this post shows up today, we just finished a job about three hours ago that had oak floors that were previously carpeted. Go with oak floors, solid surface like vinyl plank, or vinyl, avoid carpet when you can, it always wears out, stains and smells after a year or two.
Investor · Jefferson City, MO · Member since 2013 · 309 posts · 100 votes
9y
All of my current rentals have hardwood floors that have been refinished. The look is awesome and it does attract a higher quality renter if the rest of the home is also done nicely. For the most part it holds up well but I have had one incident where tenants had heavy furniture with bun feet that gouged the floor all the way past the poly and into the wood. Extremely noticeable because the hardwood was stained a deep walnut. Very frustrating.
I think your choice of flooring may depend on the type of renter you are attracting. With these particular renters I wish I had used the vinyl plank (wood look) Allure-type flooring so that if a strip got scratched or damaged I could just replace the strip. I would then consider removing the flooring and possibly refinish the hardwood floor if I ever wanted to sell the home to a retail buyer.
I tile the floors of the bathroom and the kitchens as this has held up very well and tends to attract better quality of renters. This being said, I would not hesitate to install the vinyl flooring in these areas as they are durable, water proof, very popular and come in a wide variety of tile and wood look.