Luxury Vinyl Plank or Refinished Hardwood Floors?

Rehabbing & House Flipping
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Luxury Vinyl Plank or Refinished Hardwood Floors?

Jason Zeiner
Bethlehem, PA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 9 votes

I have just begun on my first property renovation and my initial plan was to install LVP in the entire first floor and install new carpet on the stairs and second floor. That was until I pulled up a corner of the carpet to discover hardwood floors underneath. It seems like the entire house may have hardwood floors and now I have to decide if I want to refinish them instead.

Looking up rates for refinishing hardwood floors appears to be between $3.50-$5 per square foot where LVP starts at around ~$2.80 per square foot. The tradeoff is the refinishing rates are for someone else to do the job where the LVP numbers are materials only and I would install it myself.

The strategy for this property is to rehab then rent it out. So I'm not going to for maximum re-sale value like I would if it were a flip. Since this is a rental would you rather have the durability of LVP or is hardwood good enough? Those with hardwood floors, have you noticed any issues with your tenants damaging them, especially with pets?

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Joe P.
Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2017 · 824 posts · 1k+ votes
6y

I'm surprised people have said hardwoods, especially for a rental. Even if they're weren't old pine as described, I'd probably still put LVP down.

Hardwoods might net you some extra money for renting, but where you'll REALLY see the return is if you were selling.

Hardwoods would prevent you from renting to people with pets -- pets will destroy hardwood especially if its weak. As will moving around furniture and general wear and tear.

If its my property and its a buy-and-hold, I'm putting down the vinyl and getting 20+ years out of it while its rented. Then if I want to sell, I'm ripping it up (for free, not hard to do on your own), and having a professional refinish.

We're not talking astronomical differences in rents for hardwoods versus LVP -- its not like people pay $200 more a month because of a difference in flooring. I've seen LVP as durable and almost as nice as hardwoods these days, so most people don't even know the difference unless you specialize in high-end rentals. The market (for 90%+ of rentals) will dictate your rent, e.g. 1 bedroom nets $500, 2 bedroom nets $1000, etc. You adding hardwoods is not going to make those numbers 700 and 1200. 550 and 1050? Maybe. But refinishing them just to get ruined in 5 years by people who don't care about it...and it would be considered wear and tear...is not worth it.

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  • Jason Zeiner
    OP
    Bethlehem, PA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 9 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:
    Originally posted by @Jason Zeiner:

    I asked the contractor about refinishing the floors. He says the gaps between the boards is too large. I think for the sake of simplicity and speed I'll be going with LVP on this project. I'd like to get this place cash flowing as soon as possible and I don't want to source and schedule another contractor who's work might interrupt or delay all the other work going on.

    Thank you all for your input. I will keep it in mind for the next project.

     Lots of differing opinions right??? 

    That's because all flooring has pros and cons, and no perfect flooring exists.

    I love floating systems. The floor will need to be flat, some products are more forgiving on that score than others. Hardwood floors often make for a fantastic underlay. Your pine subfloor will probably be great, just look for any warped boards or nails popping up. I've been using Lifeproof from HD and like it's thickness, flexibility and soft feel when you walk on it. There are lots of options out there. The thinner and stiffer options need a really flat floor. The great thing about floating systems is how easy they go in AND how easy they come out. That makes a great option for landlords who replace flooring much more often than they care to. NEVER NEVER NEVER GLUE ANYTHING IF YOU CAN AVOID IT.

    As far as hardwood, refinishing it for a rental is a treacherous endeavor. I would only advise that after it is truly too far gone and only in markets that demand it. Marginal floors are often best left alone, just tell the renter to get a damn throw rug and call it a day - a little lemon oil works wonders too. Nothing wrong with a buff/spot stain and poly either. However, by accident/experiment, I've learned that it is ridiculously easy to give a horrible hardwood floor with a million coats of old finish on it a quick scuff sand and a paint. Then apply a couple good coats of poly and presto, the floor looks like new and will be just as durable as anything else (it's the poly that protects). I think this option is fantastic for many rental markets. After refinishing a duplex of floors myself, I will NEVER refinish a floor myself again. Sure, it turned out fantastic on my first try thank you very much, but I lost 20 pounds doing it - no joke - worst experience of my life and I actually enjoy physical labor (it's the damn edging sanders). Best to leave that task to the guys that do it everyday. Finally, bravo to those that have pointed out a pine sub-floor can be turned into a beautiful finished floor. 

    Sounds like I am late to the party, but maybe this helps for the next time or, maybe it helps make you feel better about the decision you've made.

    Happy rehabbing!

    Hi Merritt,

    Why do you not recommend gluing down the vinyl plank? Would that be because it's harder to replace pieces of it when damaged? 

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  • Account Closed
    Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Jason Zeiner:
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:
    Originally posted by @Jason Zeiner:

    I asked the contractor about refinishing the floors. He says the gaps between the boards is too large. I think for the sake of simplicity and speed I'll be going with LVP on this project. I'd like to get this place cash flowing as soon as possible and I don't want to source and schedule another contractor who's work might interrupt or delay all the other work going on.

    Thank you all for your input. I will keep it in mind for the next project.

     Lots of differing opinions right??? 

    That's because all flooring has pros and cons, and no perfect flooring exists.

    I love floating systems. The floor will need to be flat, some products are more forgiving on that score than others. Hardwood floors often make for a fantastic underlay. Your pine subfloor will probably be great, just look for any warped boards or nails popping up. I've been using Lifeproof from HD and like it's thickness, flexibility and soft feel when you walk on it. There are lots of options out there. The thinner and stiffer options need a really flat floor. The great thing about floating systems is how easy they go in AND how easy they come out. That makes a great option for landlords who replace flooring much more often than they care to. NEVER NEVER NEVER GLUE ANYTHING IF YOU CAN AVOID IT.

    As far as hardwood, refinishing it for a rental is a treacherous endeavor. I would only advise that after it is truly too far gone and only in markets that demand it. Marginal floors are often best left alone, just tell the renter to get a damn throw rug and call it a day - a little lemon oil works wonders too. Nothing wrong with a buff/spot stain and poly either. However, by accident/experiment, I've learned that it is ridiculously easy to give a horrible hardwood floor with a million coats of old finish on it a quick scuff sand and a paint. Then apply a couple good coats of poly and presto, the floor looks like new and will be just as durable as anything else (it's the poly that protects). I think this option is fantastic for many rental markets. After refinishing a duplex of floors myself, I will NEVER refinish a floor myself again. Sure, it turned out fantastic on my first try thank you very much, but I lost 20 pounds doing it - no joke - worst experience of my life and I actually enjoy physical labor (it's the damn edging sanders). Best to leave that task to the guys that do it everyday. Finally, bravo to those that have pointed out a pine sub-floor can be turned into a beautiful finished floor. 

    Sounds like I am late to the party, but maybe this helps for the next time or, maybe it helps make you feel better about the decision you've made.

    Happy rehabbing!

    Hi Merritt,

    Why do you not recommend gluing down the vinyl plank? Would that be because it's harder to replace pieces of it when damaged? 

    Simply because pulling up anything glued down later on is miserable AND there are just too many other options. It's a rare case when gluing is the only option. Gluing the ends of click-locks or whatever so they don't separate is entirely different, I'm talking about using glue as the thing that bonds the flooring to the sub-floor. For instance, if you want a commercial carpet over concrete and expect it to not move around when you shove furniture around, gluing it is the way to go. Maybe carpet on stairs for safety reasons (a million staples works too). In a residential application, I don't see how gluing makes sense.

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  • Jason Zeiner
    OP
    Bethlehem, PA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 9 votes
    6y

    Against the good advice of @Account Closed I ended up going with glue down vinyl plank. 

    From all the advice here and the research I did it sounds like there are some tradeoffs for each option. Hardwood floors look great but run the risk of being damaged by tenants (not an option for me, the planks were too far apart). Interlocking LVP is sturdy and easy to install but problematic when it comes to repair and runs the risk of cupping if something heavy is slid over it. Glue down vinyl is also sturdy but can be an even bigger pain to repair but it eliminates the cupping issue.

    Honestly I don't know what will happen with it in the future but I will be paying attention to how it holds up over the years and between tenants.

    3Reply
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