Choice on flooring, need some input...

christalynn11

Hi there! I'm new here (just posted in the Intros forum) so go gentle on me okay!? Sorry for the length but I am hoping to give enough info to get some good responses.

My boyfriend and I own a 5 bedroom two story that was built a year ago without upgrades. We bought it knowing we would DIY them as he has been in construction a long while. The home is carpeted throughout and is already wearing horribly (cheapy carpet!!!) As dog lovers who plan to always have at least one doggy running around, we are planning to complete the entire downstairs of the home in real hardwood for looks as well as resale. However, I have the dilemma of choosing an inexpensive, durable solution to a damaged floor.

In one of our bedrooms at our house, we are going to need to replace the flooring. The bedroom is currently unused - the problem is our kitty went into the room and ruined the carpet/pad/possible subfloor without us knowing. We are unaware of how bad the damage is yet, but being that he is a carpenter by trade we are aware of the possibilities... yuck huh? The room is about 105 sq ft. This will eventually be a room for a baby/small child, and it has a mirror room as well (which will be the other child's room eventually.) The child would not spend a considerable amount of time there, other than sleeping, etc as we do have another room which will be the playroom (and will remain carpeted).

My idea was to put matching laminate in both of the child's rooms for these reasons:

Sound travel - The rooms lie directly over the kitchen and the dining area in our great room, where we spend a great deal of time. I've read/heard that putting laminate in will cause less sound issues than hardwood on a second floor. Is this true?

Cost - Obvious as to why... But I'm still very concerned about resale value. This is our "starter" home and won't be big enough once our children are a bit older and we expect to reside here for about 10 years total then sell for a larger place.

Easy clean up - With our dog, I am constantly cleaning the carpets which I DESPISE. I feel like I can keep hardwoods and laminate much cleaner that carpeting so that makes it a very attractive idea.

Input???

Thanks much for reading!

bc0604@yahoo.com

I am not really sure what you are asking here. But if you are looking for options for the bedrooms, why not get a cheap laminate with a good underlayment, then when you are ready to sell rip it up and lay hardwoods in the rooms. If you are looking for other options, I really like cork, but it is an aquired taste, however it will last a long time and hold up well to wear, and you can always push the green factor when you sell.

christalynn11

Okay fair enough. I get that later we can do hardwoods and replace the inexpensive laminate. However, I guess what I am asking for now is what could I do visually and cost-wise that will work for our kids in the future, etc.

We also are not getting rid of the offending kitty - but we are changing his lifestyle as well.

I mean it this way, truth be told, we are years away from selling the home. I am trying to find something good for our lives and that we may not have to change later.

Specifically, is it going to look horrible if I do all hardwoods downstairs, carpeted stairs and loft, with laminate floors - or do you uses think there is another solution?