@Pat D. What if I want to refinance and try to get the most out of it. Will having the LVP decrease the appraisal?

Admittedly I don't have a great answer for you on that one -- but @Alice Huang   mentions above that her appraisal will come in 15K higher due to the refinish, so you may want to do what she did and reach out to someone in your area to get an estimate! 

@Karl Dela Cruz I would do the planks in the numbers work. You can only refinish floors so many times. You can change out planks every 5-10 years if you need to so they are more "tenant proof." If it comes time to exit... refinishing the floors THEN could add appeal to the sale and maximize your profits.

@Karl Dela Cruz refinish them

If you're using it as a rental I'd do vinyl planks. It'll protect it from pets, furniture being moved and other nonsense that goes on to the rental. If its a flip then just refinish and move on.

@Mark Faustrum

Totally agree with your thoughts! Vinyl is durable for renters especially if they have pets. Always by excess product (box or 2 or minimum 5% extra) for IF/When damage occurs. Putting vinyl over wood floor will actually protect wood for when you decide to sell down the road. However, if you refinish floors now the 1st person with a dog will trash floors and possibly prevent you from refinishing again down road since floors can only be refinished a couple times.

I have wood floors in my primary house that we refinished about a year ago. Even without dogs my kids have already done some wear and tear on floors. My experience is most renters are pretty hard on rentals since it isn't their house.

@Karl Dela Cruz

No i would do vinyl throughout. Or maybe do tile in bathroom. I had similar dilemma at rental house 2 months ago and went with vinyl throughout. Looks great and its nice not having a bunch of different floors.

The floor looks like in good shape. Just refinish them. 

This point has been made earlier in the thread but I want to reiterate it. If this is a rental and you plan on holding onto it for a while, I'd put LVP over the entire floor and save refinishing it for when you sell down the line. LVP in a residential setting will last forever when properly installed, looks nice, and will save you from refinishing the original wood as tenants damage the floor. You are limited in how many times you can refinish wood flooring, so you'd want to keep those numbers down. 

A common misconception with LVP is that you can just pull up one piece and replace it when damaged. Due to the interlocking joints, you cannot do this (assuming a floating floor). You have to remove pieces from the closest wall back to the problem area to replace one piece, but that just isn't going to be a common scenario with a good LVP product.

@Karl Dela Cruz

Original hardwood floors are Priceless! I would suggest finishing them.

When doing vinyl planks to get a better quality you will pay higher cost for a thicker grade. If your doing a rental you probably would need to go that direction for long term use.

A machine sander...which you can rent will be your best friend with the refinishing.

Best wishes and Happy Flooring!😊

@Karl Dela Cruz

Bathrooms and kitchens are common for having different flooring. You could do those two spaces in the same kind of flooring. I would suggest a vinyl square flooring. That way if you ever have damaged squares you can just remove square with a heat gun and install more

@Karl Dela Cruz Vinyl Plank Floors aren’t always as great as they seem. Many people have noted the durability of them but I have not found that to be the case. I have them in one of my rentals and they have separated, scratched and are a pain to replace. We had some water damage and had to rip up the whole floor because the water was trapped under the planks and vinyl doesn’t breathe. We had the peel and stick planks so we couldn’t just replace a small section. There are better quality vinyl planks out there than the ones I used but I’m inclined to used other products in similar price points that feel better under the foot and also look better (i.e. engineered hardwood).

You should 100% refinish your hardwoods.

If you are renting to Class A refinish. Class B tough choice but I'd go with vinyl due to durability and mitigating water damage. If you renting to class C install vinyl.

Hardwood maintenance will cost more over a longer period but if you are in a class A or B you will attract better tenants that will care for them.

Class C tenants- give them vinyl as the planks are almost indestructible and water resistant.

@Michael Deering Great! My property is in a class B neighbour hood. Since the living room and 2 bedrooms on the main floor is hardwood, bathroom and kitchen are different flooring I’m deciding to just put LVP on the kitchen and bathroom.

I am now hoping these class b tenants will somewhat take care of the refinished floors.

I just want to say thank you to @Karl Dela Cruz for posting this question and to everyone who contributed to this post that I happily stumbled upon at just the right time.   After reading the several different perspectives, I was able to decide upon the right course of action for my Section 8 house with formerly beautiful hardwood floors, and I feel confident in the decision.    Thanks!!!

I would most definitely recommend refinishing @Karl Dela Cruz , They are more durable and essentially look way nicer as well.  I love when I pull flooring and find an untouched (Or gently touched) natural wood flooring.

@Karl Dela Cruz

I may have missed this detail in middle posts - but are you doing them yourself or having someone else do it? Those look like DIY prices.

First, know that both are fine options. Below are some things to consider:

-Is the hardwood on its last sanding or is it nice and thick? If they're thin, advantage LVP, if thick, advantage refinish.

-Do you have bad patch jobs? Sometimes it's easier and even looks nicer to cover in LVP if you have existing bad patch jobs.

If you're DIYing, I'd say refinishing is easier. LVP seems easy when you have long stretches but getting under/around door jambs etc can be frustratingly slow. Also, don't underestimate getting a level subfloor, otherwise you'll end up pulling them all out and doing it again.

If you're going refinishing, do 3+ coats of polyurethane especially if it's a rental. There are plenty of youtube videos on refinishing hardwood floors.

@Karl Dela Cruz

I just started a BRRRR and am in the exact same boat, found hardwood under tile in the main living area and hallway. There will be 100s of nail holes where they attached the hardie board so I'm not sure how it will look refinished.

@Karl Dela Cruz I totally get where so many of the poster's are coming from when they say to refinish, but they are wrong. 

Personally myself, I am referencing from managing hundreds upon hundreds of doors, having renovated thousands of units and 1st hand experience of this exact situation many, many times. 

Hands down the best route is to install a quality LVP; water-proof and installed by a professional who knows the intent from day 1 is to later remove the lvp and refinish hardwoods for property sale (years down the road). 

Refinishing is NOT as easy as simply sanding ad popping a finish coat over it, not if you want it done correctly and get the correct value. There will be stain removal from the wood (peroxide method) and addressing nail pop's, crack & hole filling, and PROPER top coat. It's a process and done on the cheap, well you get what you pay for. 

LVP is #1 for tenant wear, looks just as good BUT it protects that hardwood for future use to maximize property sale. Which eventually you WILL sell the property. 

Like I said, I have dealt with this A LOT, hardwoods will take damage and require regular maintenance from tenants or else they will get water damage and grey out. Hardwoods are great, LVP is better for rentals. 

@Brock Hoffman

I totally second this. 💯!!

Only can refinish flooring so many times and it just seems like the smarter move unless they plan on selling. For rentals, that's what I would do. The lpv looks great also.

Originally posted by @Maria Bakaj :

@Karl Dela Cruz Vinyl Plank Floors aren’t always as great as they seem. Many people have noted the durability of them but I have not found that to be the case. I have them in one of my rentals and they have separated, scratched and are a pain to replace. We had some water damage and had to rip up the whole floor because the water was trapped under the planks and vinyl doesn’t breathe. We had the peel and stick planks so we couldn’t just replace a small section. There are better quality vinyl planks out there than the ones I used but I’m inclined to used other products in similar price points that feel better under the foot and also look better (i.e. engineered hardwood).

You should 100% refinish your hardwoods.

 Maria,

If you think the damage on your LVP was a pain, better be thankful it wasn't hardwood.  With hardwood and enough water to get under your vinyl you likely would have had enough warping to require tearing up the entire floor. Scratches are a bigger problem on hardwood as they require deeper sanding and wear the floor out. I recommend floating interlocking LVP, not glue down. I have it in dozens of homes and at least 3 commercial buildings with no issues.

Respectfully,

Gary 

@Gary L Wallman Thanks for your input, but the way the water damaged happened I would have had no issues with hardwoods. I was in the property when it happened and would have been able to mop it up or shopvac it. The water seeped under a threshold between tile and floating LVP. Unfortunately, I have had scratches show in the LVP. Again, it may have been the quality of the product I used, but if I need to pay more for LVP, I’d personally rather use other flooring products that are better for property value. I have 100 year old hardwoods in my home that are in amazing condition and 4 year old vinyl plank in a rental that needs replacement.

@Karl Dela Cruz those floors look like the same ones in all of my properties here in the Chicago area. You would be insane to put vinyl over those. Hardwood will hold up fine. Don't stain them a dark color, but instead just put 3 coats of polyurethane on them. When one tenant wears on them a bit, just buff and put another coat of poly on. I think where people get into trouble is they put fancy stains on in rental properties, and then it costs a fortune to upkeep them. 

@Karl Dela Cruz

Hello from NYC!

Definitely cover them. I recently renovated and I’m kicking myself for not covering the floors. I’m currently house hacking a duplex. I uncovered beautiful hardwood and decided to refinish them because it went with the charm of the house.

Since I live on the first floor...

1. I can hear everything

and

2. They’re constantly moving things around. I cringe every time I hear something dragging.

Consider preserving your rentals keeping your exit strategy. As many people have pointed out, they are worth a whole lot if and when you decide to sell.

Hope that helps!

@Karl Dela Cruz I would definitely refinish.  Maybe go a slightly darker stain to mask imperfections.  Refinished hardwoods often times look better than brand new. Although, @Mark Faustrum makes a very good point.  If you plan to use it as a rental, laying LVP over top of the hardwood is a good plan.