Originally posted by @Roy N.:
@Sam Akif
A few questions to ask yourself which will help you decide:
- Who is your tenant population? {What type of rental - Class A, B, C, D ...}
- What is your competition doing?
- What is the integrity of the subfloor and structure - is there movement in the subfloor on the upper levels?
- How is your triplex divided - are they over/under units and/or adjacent (common wall)?
It's not so much a question of what is better - laminate or vinyl (plank or sheet), but what types of flooring are applicable to your situation.
While quality laminate (AC3 - AC5) offers a "good looking", functional floor for the price, it does not handle moisture well and can be noisy for tenants below (depending on the sound deadening measure taken in the floor/ceiling boundary).
Vinyl tends not to mimic wood as well as laminate {if that is the look you seek}, but it is non-organic, so a good fit for humid or wet areas (bathrooms, laundry rooms, basements, direct over slab, etc). A poor quality vinyl will have a thin finish layer and, most commonly, a black or white base - as a result, scrapes/knicks/cuts will be quite visible. A better quality vinyl will have a thicker finish/wear layer and will often have a base closer in colour to the finish (making cuts and deep scrapes less obvious).
In addition to laminate and vinyl, there are many other flooring options: tile (porcelain or ceramic); linoleum; hardwood (engineered or traditional plank); bamboo, etc. Knowing your clientele, your price point and your competition will help you narrow down the choices.
As a B@B flooring rep for the last 30 years I find it amusing to see someone pontificated the way Sam has in the above statement. He DOES have some of his facts straight however, the Ones he does is:
1) Yes you need to be aware of the structure and quality of the subfloor you are going over. ALL good installation start and end with good preparation of the subfloor.
2) Laminates do have problems with moisture, and sound hollow and can be very noisy for the people living below them. While an acoustical barrier can handle this you need to check with the local building codes for the sound deadening requirements, if any.
Now lets go over what he DOESN'T know:
Vinyl tends not to mimic wood as well as laminate. The newer LVT ans LVP products have films and textures that make them hard to distinguish from the real thing. BUT cheap price will give you a cheap look you; ie you get what you pay for.
A poor quality vinyl will have a thin finish layer ... a black or white base - as a result, scrapes/knicks/cuts will be quite visible.Obviously Sam doesn't know how luxury vinyl is made. You have the color and pattern layers and above that you have a WEARLAYER not a finish. The Finish which most cheap LVT's don't have a a scratch resistant layer using Aluminum Oxide or Ceramic. Wear layers are PVC and will scratch in time which is the reason a finish is applied to better products. As to the base material, any color that is NOT the color of the pattern film will look bad and they will be just as obvious. A bigger concern should be whether your product's backer is made out of recycled content or pure vinyl. Recycled content may have all kinds of nasty things including metals that cause outgassing over time. It can also have an effect on the the glue's ability to bond with the tile. You should also be aware of what plasticizers were uses to make the products as that has become an issue (CNN had a big article about Home Depot's removing a certain one by the end of 2015).
Finally yes there are other options but they all have their pros and cons; Ceramic has weight issues but is very durable, Wood in a rental (GOD FORBID, unless you're good at refinishing the stuff every time a tenant moves out, hiring it done is more money out of your pocket) is not something I'd recommend unless this is a high dollar real unit. Linoleum unfortunately is used interchangeably with sheet vinyl and they are not the same in looks or especially in cost. Sheet vinyl can be a less costly option but just be prepared to replace it with every move out. Linoleum is a wood product that is expensive and difficult to install and not many hard surface installers know how to do it now a days as you don't find it except in commercial installations that require something burn resistant(that's the reason they call it battleship linoleum cause that's one of the main areas you can find it; on a Navy ship.
Sorry this went on so long but hopefully this explains things for Bigger Pockets investors.
