Southlake, TX · Member since 2018 · 27 posts · 2 votes
Hi,
I am in the process of replacing my living room and bedroom flooring in my rental house. One of the contractors showed me wood-look vinyl tile planks and said that people prefer these vs. laminate flooring in rental houses and apartments since vinyl is water resistant. This specific product is made by Mohwak. Does anyone have experience with Vinyl wood like flooring and would you recommend this over laminate wood flooring?
Southlake, TX · Member since 2018 · 27 posts · 2 votes
8y
Thanks for the response @Bruce Lynn. The house us worth about mid 200s. The vinyl that the contractor showed me is high quality textured vinyl that looked like distressed wood finish. The cost also is not a whole lot less than laminate wood flooring but the contractor mentioned that vinyl is more durable and water resistant compared to laminate. So, would this be something that you would consider vs going with laminate wood ?
Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 20 posts · 1 vote
8y
I don’t use laminate at all. I stick to vinyl composition tile or vinyl wood, depending on quality of the rental. The biggest expense for all of this is labor anyway, so the vinyl wood isn’t materially more expensive than the laminate, all things considered. I will footnote this by saying that I haven’t had the vinyl wood in my rentals long enough to really know how well it stands the tests of time.
Dallas, TX · Member since 2015 · 50 posts · 17 votes
8y
Great question. Personally, I love it! You can get it pretty affordably (usually under $1.20/sqft) and like you mention, it is water resistant. The other advantage is that if there is an area that is damaged, you just heat up the floor, remove the damaged planks and replace with new ones, very simple!
I have used them in high end rentals too ($1700/month rentals) and people really love it. Now, I use it on all my homes. The only caveat is that you may avoid using in the bathrooms (since there can be water spillage- tile would be better in the bathrooms). I've noticed that the planks can peel up, if not enough glue is used.
Finally, they have two types. Vinyl planks and Vinyl interlock (floating planks). The interlock ones have grooves and requires no glue, but the Vinyl planks need glue and is cheaper to purchase. This is the one I use in my properties.
Southlake, TX · Member since 2018 · 27 posts · 2 votes
8y
Thanks @James W., @Hiron Fernando. is $1.20 that you mentioned Hiron, installed price ? Also would you - James and Hiron be able to share the contractor that you have used for vinyl floor and tile work if this is someone that you would recommend ?
I have been a maintenance supervisor for 10 years and have installed in over 700 units on an A++ property. I also owned and operated three fitness centers and installed it in those as well. The stuff is bomb proof and it looks good. I installed laminate in a rental once for my mom. About 6 months later a leak from an icemaker line destroyed almost all of it. Never again.
Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2017 · 5 posts · 1 vote
8y
My wife and I used the vinyl planks in our personal home (used the Allure Ultra) and we love it. One tip however, the more highly textured product resist/hide and scrapes/scuffs better. I did my own stress testing with sample materials and a hammer before we made our final selection.
Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2017 · 5 posts · 1 vote
8y
As a point of clarification.... the vinyl planks we used were the type that lock together, not the glued type. There is a big difference between the two.
Investor · Coppell, TX · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 646 votes
8y
I would suggest a laminate installation that can be installed without glue. That way means that you can make repairs as opposed to replacing the entire floor with any damage. That depends how long you are going to own it or are you going to sale or rent out the space.
Rental Property Investor · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 257 posts · 130 votes
8y
Luxury vinyl plank (lvp) is the way to go especially over laminate. Its completely waterproof, easy to install, durable and looks good. I would never put laminate down.
Rental Property Investor · DFW, TX · Member since 2013 · 953 posts · 910 votes
8y
I have vinyl plank in 4 units of a 4-plex on the ground floor. This is the flexible, glue down type flooring and I love it for rentals. To damage it the tenants would pretty much have to burn it or take a razor blade to it to scrape off the picture of the wood (don't worry though, they will find a way) The rents range in the 800-1000 range and I would classify it as a B/C class building. The only thing to note about this is that it has to be installed with the correct glue and no moisture. If it is glued down correctly you could flood the floor and after you shop vac the water up you wouldn't be able to tell. I know because this has happened to several of the units over the past 7 years I have owned it. However, the day I had it installed in one of the units there was a big rainstorm and water leaked in from a window. All of it peeled up around the edges and it all had to be re-done. Now this is installed on a concrete slab and it will follow the contour of the floor so being Texas, when (not if, but when) you have foundation issues, you will be able to see and cracks or unevenness but I have never had any complaints from tenants about it. Also make sure you have several extra boxes because if they do get damaged it is really easy to pull them up and replace them but the manufacturer will discontinue the exact model and you have to replace it all.
I also have the luxury type vinyl in a SFR and that stuff is great too. This is the kind that is more rigid and can be glued or floated but looks and clicks together like laminate. This is a nicer place so we splurged and put it in. It is water/mold resistant and we had a slab leak a few months back the water just dried right up. The insurance adjuster even said that type of flooring wont react to water like wood or laminate will. I thought it was floated when installed but found out he had glued it down which makes it impossible to take out damaged ones without destroying it in the process.
So all in all, if it is a nice rental I will use the luxury type vinyl but float instead of glue down. I would use this in my own home it's that nice. If it is a little lower end rental but you want to make it nice without investing more than its worth, use the glue down flexible planks. Most of this is all installed over concrete. Only a little of the glue down type do I have upstairs on wooden subfloor but haven't had any problems yet.
I also just noticed after writing this that you posted this a month ago so you have probably already made your decision. Hope it works out for you.
Specialist · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 564 posts · 425 votes
8y
I love the vinyl click planks. One tip is to scratch the test piece in the store. See what colour the scratch is. I don’t go with darker vinyl for the reason that most scratches show up white. Medium tones are better. Something with a hint of grey is great because the scratches often show up grey, so they really hide scratches well.
And I use the vinyl in bathrooms too- no glue issues with the click vinyl.
Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2017 · 109 posts · 52 votes
8y
@Peter M. What brand do you put in your high end units? Our rental flooded today and I had to make an on the spot decision. I chose the Pergo TimberCraft. It currently rents for $2200, but we’re hoping to sell it in the near future for high $500k. I don’t want to put a ton of money into it, but I don’t want to put in cheap stuff if we end up selling it.
Rental Property Investor · DFW, TX · Member since 2013 · 953 posts · 910 votes
8y
@Michele G. It was called the Flooring Works but unfortunately I can't use it again. The contractor I used had about 25,000 sq ft off the stuff left over from a commercial job and was selling it for 1.50/sqft which was half of retail price. The commercial client bought it and let him keep the excess. When I was looking to replace some of it, the same contractor couldn't get it anymore. As I said in the earlier post if you plan on doing any repairs you should buy extra boxes of it because the manufacturer will probably discontinue that exact product. Same thing happened with the Asterik brand of the glue down type-Had to replace the whole floor because they stopped making it. I'm sure they do it on purpose for that reason.
Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2017 · 109 posts · 52 votes
8y
Thanks Peter Moser My contractor is recommending Republic Flooring. He said he feels it is a better product than what Home Depot or Lowe’s sells. Good point on buying extra at the time of purchase. I didn’t think of that.