Wood plank look -Congoleum, Burke Mercer, ??

[irishboys3]

Just found this forum and looks like it will be a huge help!
My mission today was to shop for solid oak hardwood floors for my husband to put in a 2nd home near the beach.
Well, I came home with vinyl wood planks instead! He will be very surprised, maybe not pleased. But I love them, and based on the use /abuse with 3 kids, water, sand, a dog, etc, it seems this may be a good choice for us.
He had ruled out vinyl after looking at some less expensive planks at the big box stores.
Are we getting a lot more for our money if we look at the $4 sq/ft range stuff (vs the <$2 stuff at HD)?
The samples I ended up with are:
Burke -Mercer Vinyl Plank
Congoleum Connections Weather Pine

While I like the look of the Congoleum better, they said it is the "floating floor" type rather than the glue down of the Burke.
I don't think my DH will go for the floating at all.So I think glue down may be my best bet.

So... any advice on the very first samples I ended up with ? Any other brands (I see Mannington Adura mentioned here) that will sway my DH in towards vinyl. He will have a very hard time not going with real hardwood at this cost so I have to be very convincing! Thanks!

[Incognito]

"by the beach" throws up all kinds of red flags

Is this home built on a concrete slab foundation or is there a basement with joists and a wood subfloor such as plywood or OSB?

What's down there now and how clean, dry and structurally sound the substrate is could dramatically affect your cost/benefit analysis.

lets start there before we start picking our favorite products unless money is no object.

[irishboys3]

The house is raised on pilings and is located on a canal. We ripped out carpet and lineoleum and are looking to put new flooring on the first floor-kitchen/family rooms. It is a plywood subfloor with joists-dry and clean....BUT... we had to level a floor and that part of the room now has new particle board subfloor (which we just read may be a problem for vinyl!).
Initially my husband was going to put down oak floor and is still considering that as he feels that gives him the option to sand/refinish as needed. But I wondered if vinyl would be better due to humidity (eastern shore Maryland).
Primarily will be used in the summer.
We do not want ceramic tile (although we know that would be best).
And money is definitely a consideration.

[Incognito]

irishboys3 said The house is raised on pilings and is located on a canal. We ripped out carpet and lineoleum and are looking to put new flooring on the first floor-kitchen/family rooms. It is a plywood subfloor with joists-dry and clean....BUT... we had to level a floor and that part of the room now has new particle board subfloor (which we just read may be a problem for vinyl!). Initially my husband was going to put down oak floor and is still considering that as he feels that gives him the option to sand/refinish as needed. But I wondered if vinyl would be better due to humidity (eastern shore Maryland). Primarily will be used in the summer. We do not want ceramic tile (although we know that would be best). And money is definitely a consideration.

*
particle board!!!!!?

OH NOOOO

YouTube - Mr. Bill Safety

[irishboys3]

ok.. now he says it was tongue&groove OSB.
Any better??

[cproader]

irishboys3 said ok.. now he says it was tongue&groove OSB. Any better??

Much bettter. I am one of those naturalist Jim speaks of. But ya want ease of upkeep, then LVT is the ticket......

[Jim McClain]

cproader said Much bettter. I am one of those naturalist Jim speaks of. But ya want ease of upkeep, then LVT is the ticket......

I sure hope you're wearing clothes when you reply to these posts though.

[cproader]

Jim McClain said I sure hope you're wearing clothes when you reply to these posts though.

......

[Incognito]

There's some really attractive and functional vinyl products out there but for what they cost including prep and installation I personally would go with a "natural" material.

Wood is what I like. In many homes tile or stone is the better choice. A lot depends on taste, budget and what kind of long term plans you have for the property. I can't imagine that future potential buyers would prefer vinyl so that's something you need to consider if you think you might ever sell the beach house. You might also want to rent it out some day. In that case you might want to consider the cheap floor for now assuming an eventual upgrade when you want to market the home.

[irishboys3]

I think he wants to do the floor once rather than cheap now and improve later. Seems the nicer looking vinyl wood planks are going to cost as much as some of the oak floors we are looking at. Have not looked at the install aspect-he will be doing it either way, but not sure what the mat'l costs will be for the vinyl yet.He is comfortable doing the hardwood. Will have to read up on the vinyl.

Just seemed that when I mentioned hardwood to some floor stores and the house location.. they pointed me to the vinyls.

plan to keep the house for a long time.. kids are young and will enjoy summers there. no plans to rent at least in the near future. no plans to sell.

Definitely more of a naturalist, but he was impressed at the "rustic hardwood look" we could get with the vinyl. If we did hardwood it will just be basic white or red oak or something like that.. can't afford the rustic, handscraped looks.

So... it does at least sound like both wood and vinyl would be acceptable options in terms of install, subfloor, condition /location of home etc?

[cproader]

Acceptable indeed...

[Mike Sahli]

cproader said Acceptable indeed...

If the house is used only part of the year it will be important to keep the home from getting to cold or to hot while un occupied.

Hardwood more so than vinyl but still important.