Please don't use that cheap, fake wood for your floor replacement if you're selling.

[disneybound31]

Maybe you could install new countertops and hardware and call it a day? I would like a new countertop but something reasonable. Does such a thing exist?

Actually, we are good with the current countertops and we had replaced the hardware upon move-in... I would be terrified to beging to price out counters. What he (and to be honest, I as well) wants is new flooring. We both agree that would do wonders for the cosmetics of the house. We otherwise love our home. Just glad to be able to afford the mortgage! Know what I mean?!

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I LOVE my laminate. Sorry it offends you...
Didn't want to care for hardwood floors.

Me too. I have 2 kids and a dog. I needed something durable. And it was not cheap. I love it.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

As long as the price of the house is reflective on the flooring, I don't have an issue.

However don't try and squeak top dollar out of me, claiming you have new flooring with a subpar laminate.

And yes Pergo is a laminate, however it is considered a "high end" laminate.

It is one thing not to like something however it is quite another thing to overpay for a house and get ripped off.

We have Pergo and I have never had a complaint about it. Our whole house is pretty high traffic and I have yet to see a scratch or dent. I do agree with the PP who mentioned restoring and old Victorian home....you have to use hardwood.

 

[Disney Doll]

I thought what I underlined in red what interesting...

How do you know that the actual homeowners thought their changes should add value? How do you know it isn't the realtor selling the property that knows for a fact that it adds value?

If I would sell my home today with it's "cheap laminate flooring" and the realtor I chose TOLD ME it adds value, why wouldn't I believe them?

You make it sound like every house you went through had pushy sellers that thought their cheap floors were worth something. Honestly, have you ever thought maybe it was the realtors?

Here's an article I thought you'd enjoy reading...

http://ezinearticles.com/?Laminate-Flooring-Can-Add-Value-For-Less&id=1939506

No because my husband is a realtor and believe me, everyone thinks their house is extra super special. A good realtor won't tell a homeowner that cheap laminate floors will increase the value of their home. A good realtor will tell a homeowner that a cheap laminate floor will make the home look a little nicer and perhaps make it more saleable, but not for more money.

And a homeowner will hear "You'll get more money for your house".

 

[Halbleib1]

I am honestly very surprised by the amount of laminate supporters on here. I am with the OP in that I would absolutely walk away from a house with laminate floors much in the same way I would walk from a home with bright lime green carpet. Sure you can replace it, but let's face it, with the current market buyers can absolutely be picky. And you should be picky with such a big purchase!

Having wood floors through most of my lower level, I also don't understand the upkeep concerns. Like the pp said, a little vinegar and water and it's clean.

Most new homes today at least where I live have linolium flooring in them. We bought a brand new home in 2006 and it has carpet and linolium through out. It is not the cheap vinyl. That right there makes a huge difference in quality. Gasp! I also do not have granite counter tops in my home or stainless steel appliances. Granite is not wanted everywhere anymore like it once was anyhow and stainless can be a pain with fingerprints esp. with kids. Matter of fact most people that upgrade to granite today are not getting their money back out of it. Trends change so quickly it is not worth doing something just to keep up with a trend. So if you are looking for resale value it is not a good investment. You should only do it for your own benefit and not for someone elses.

All that being said I grew up in a home that is over 150 years old and it has hard wood floors throughout except in the kitchen and baths. They do need refinished every so many years to keep them looking good. IMO they are also harder to keep clean. You have to be careful what you use on them etc. They do look nice though. Everyone is different and has different needs/wants.

 

[Halbleib1]

you do know that could have been repaired and you would have never known it???

Yes my parents had a section going into their kitchen that needed replaced and even though they did not know what type of wood was already there exactly being that the house is so old they got some hard cherry wood to replace the bad section and now you can not tell the difference between the new and the old. At first you could see the difference between the new and old but they refinished the old floor and now it all looks the same.

 

[Halbleib1]

Is Pergo a type of Laminate? We bought a condo in 2006 which was a flip job. It had Pergo all throughout...what a bunch of crap! Dining room chairs scratched it, dropping canned goods on the floor dented it, my kids rolling toys tore it up. Laminate is NOT the same as hardwood.

BTW, the buyer CAN ask for anything in an offer. Whether or not you give it too them is another matter!

Even hardwood will scratch and over time wear off the poly and splinter. My parents put soft pads on the bottoms of all their furniture so it will not scratch the floor. Also they will not let the kids play on the floors with certain toys because they also will scratch it. You have good and bad with everything though.

 

[Halbleib1]

You may not want to hear this, but I'll throw it out there anyway....

The flooring is something a buyer notices right away, and if it is perceived that they or the builder cut some corners on this, some may think it is indicative of the quality of the home. I would get the idea that corners were cut in other areas too, which is why I would keep looking.

Obviously there are going to be different opinions on here, that's what keeps it interesting. I just have to say that I appreciate that the people on this board are still respectful regardless (for the most part)

I agree with you. The first thing I noticed walking into my entry was the flooring. Even though it is linolium I actually thought it was tile. It looked just like tile. It is all one piece though but it has grout lines like tile in it.

In the apt. we lived in before buying our home we had really really cheap vinyl that was in seperate "tile" sections that was only 5 years old at the time we moved out. It was peeling up and looked really bad already.

So even though some houses might have laminate in them instead of hardwood it does not mean it was done on the cheap. Some laminate can be quite expensive as well. Just take a close look at it to be sure it is a good quality laminate and not the cheap stuff. Providing laminate can be an option for you. I understand completely that some people want hardwood. It is all a matter of preferance.

 

[Halbleib1]

i clean it myself with my carpet as well-while we get periodic professional cleanings we have a carpet cleaner which we use regularly in addition to vacuuming.

neither laminate or hardwoods are very popular where we live probably in large part due to the snow. unless a person is fanatical about getting the mositure up hardwoods can warp, and with the laminates while you don't get the warping i've known people to not notice where some snows melted (on the type that has a high gloss finish) and take a nasty fall (and i'm not sure what it does to the laminate flooring but the hardwoods can get horribly damaged from the de-icer that gets tracked in on shoes).

seems like the popular thing is to have a tile or slate entry, kitchen, bathroom and laundry rooms-then carpet the rest (and it's definatly the norm to kick off your shoes before you ever set foot on someones carpet-for all i know it may be written into state law).

My inlaws actually think I am weird for making them take their shoes off at the front door. Go figure. Keeps my carpets and other floors much much cleaner and cuts down on the dusting as well.

 

[bicker]

What happened to people's imagination where they can't see past your furniture or choice of wall color?

Nothing. Staging is marketing. If you suck at marketing, you're going to lose business to sellers who are better at marketing.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We have Pergo and I have never had a complaint about it. Our whole house is pretty high traffic and I have yet to see a scratch or dent. I do agree with the PP who mentioned restoring and old Victorian home....you have to use hardwood.

But what about the water issue with Pergo? Have you had any trouble with water on the floor from doing dishes, your fridge ice maker/water dispenser or the dog's water bowl?

I see you are in NC and I do not know anything about your climate. We have high humidity here. Acutally really bad because I am on a bluff 1 mile from the river.

 

[Lucky4me]

In my area, a house over $300,000 is considered higher end. High end hardwoods and tile would be a given. If I walked in a $350,000 house and saw laminate, I most definitely would walk right out.
Now my house is worth less than half that. Unless I wanted to put it in for my own enjoyment, $10,000 on wood floors would be a bad investment. We'd never see a nickel out of it.

We just put new flooring in, I'm trying to figure out how to post pics. We searched high and low for a product that looked good and would stay looking good with little maintenance and worry. Even the $5 and up laminates and engineered wood would scratch and gouge. We didn't like the plastic, echo feel of the cheaper laminates. It took 3 years of trying out samples until we found the right one.
It's gorgeous, looks like wood and wears like iron. And it was cheap cheap cheap. Everyone who comes in says- oh I love your new wood floors!
Then they walk on it and realize it's not wood. It's not laminate either.
It's vinyl peel and stick planking made by Novalis, sold at Lowe's. We still can't believe we got this look from a peel and stick, but it's really nice!

If people come in here when we sell in a few years and stick their nose up at it, oh well.
What do they expect in a $130,000 house?

The best part about this floor is, if one plank gets scratched, you take a blow dryer, heat up the plank, pull it up and lay down another one. Easiest thing in the world. You can't do that with laminate or wood. We've had ours in for six months and so far, so good. We've had dogs, cats and kids running and playing all over it. There was only one time it got scratched and that's when dh slid a very heavy tool over to me when we were installing it. I was so mad, I had to replace six planks. It was only a very light surface scratch, hardly noticeable, but it bothered me. No scratches since.
It cleans like any other no wax vinyl, a little dish soap and water. Done.
I swiffer every couple of days for the pet hair.

Here's a link with other people's photos- we used the same kind-golden oak-and got the same results. This is a very long thread and the pics are down the page a bit. It's full of advice and reviews of the product.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/flooring/msg0911023312366.html

 

[mhsjax]

Most new homes today at least where I live have linolium flooring in them. We bought a brand new home in 2006 and it has carpet and linolium through out. It is not the cheap vinyl. That right there makes a huge difference in quality. Gasp! I also do not have granite counter tops in my home or stainless steel appliances. Granite is not wanted everywhere anymore like it once was anyhow and stainless can be a pain with fingerprints esp. with kids. Matter of fact most people that upgrade to granite today are not getting their money back out of it. Trends change so quickly it is not worth doing something just to keep up with a trend. So if you are looking for resale value it is not a good investment. You should only do it for your own benefit and not for someone elses.

All that being said I grew up in a home that is over 150 years old and it has hard wood floors throughout except in the kitchen and baths. They do need refinished every so many years to keep them looking good. IMO they are also harder to keep clean. You have to be careful what you use on them etc. They do look nice though. Everyone is different and has different needs/wants.

It is my understanding the granite and stainless steel are on the way out anyway, and yes I do have those, but I wanted them, I don't try to keep up with the Jonses. You are 100% correct about stainless steel being difficult with kids, even with adults it is hard to keep nice looking.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

If you have to have hardwood floors then I would suggest upping your budget to make sure you are looking at higher end houses. You can't have it all at a budget price (not saying you are spending budget prices). It is like wanting to live in a certain neighborhood. We payed more for our home because we wanted to live in a certain school district. We do have hardwood floors though.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Nothing. Staging is marketing. If you suck at marketing, you're going to lose business to sellers who are better at marketing.

Yep!

This is why a good realtor will tell you to "declutter" and "tone down" your decor. If you opt to not do that, it is up to you, but don't be surprised when folks cannot look past your tastes.

We saw one house that we called "the bunny house". Cute little house--but with those craft bunnies EVERYWHERE! The bunnies weren't staying--so there was no need to keep them all out. In the market at the time, I'm sure the house sold. But when you have destractions such as that, it isn't on the burden of the buyer to "look past it". The house was immaculate--but those bunnies!

That's far different than the condition of the home and its features.

And here--where the market is totally in the buyer's favor--if folks don't like your choices, they will move on. (which is why someone will redo the home in neutral as it is easier for folks to visualze with a clean pallette.)

 

[luvmy3]

Yep!

This is why a good realtor will tell you to "declutter" and "tone down" your decor. If you opt to not do that, it is up to you, but don't be surprised when folks cannot look past your tastes.

We saw one house that we called "the bunny house". Cute little house--but with those craft bunnies EVERYWHERE! The bunnies weren't staying--so there was no need to keep them all out. In the market at the time, I'm sure the house sold. But when you have destractions such as that, it isn't on the burden of the buyer to "look past it". The house was immaculate--but those bunnies!

That's far different than the condition of the home and its features.

And here--where the market is totally in the buyer's favor--if folks don't like your choices, they will move on. (which is why someone will redo the home in neutral as it is easier for folks to visualze with a clean pallette.)

The *burden*
I have no plans to move in the near future but I'm betting when I do I'll be finding some diamonds in the rough out there because I'm willing to look past bunnies and cheap laminate and see what the house itself has to offer my family.

 

[littlele]

Most new homes today at least where I live have linolium flooring in them. We bought a brand new home in 2006 and it has carpet and linolium through out. It is not the cheap vinyl. That right there makes a huge difference in quality. Gasp! I also do not have granite counter tops in my home or stainless steel appliances. Granite is not wanted everywhere anymore like it once was anyhow and stainless can be a pain with fingerprints esp. with kids. Matter of fact most people that upgrade to granite today are not getting their money back out of it. Trends change so quickly it is not worth doing something just to keep up with a trend. So if you are looking for resale value it is not a good investment. You should only do it for your own benefit and not for someone elses.

All that being said I grew up in a home that is over 150 years old and it has hard wood floors throughout except in the kitchen and baths. They do need refinished every so many years to keep them looking good. IMO they are also harder to keep clean. You have to be careful what you use on them etc. They do look nice though. Everyone is different and has different needs/wants.

In my original statement, I said I was surprised at the amount of laminate supporters, and now that I have read your post it is making more sense to me. For whatever reason, I wasn't thinking much past my own neighborhood where laminate is not done much, forgetting that different areas are going to differ. Thanks for the 'heads up'.

That being said, now you all have me wondering when I should expect to have work done on my wood floors I've been a vinegar/water cleaner since the beginning, but the house is now 9yo. Looks great, but seriously, now I am wondering what kind of upkeep is in the future...

 

[fairestoneofall]

We have been in our house for 11 years and are the original owners. The carpet needed to go (it was the lowest available--all we could afford at the time our house was built). When we replaced it last year, DH put in the fake wood.

Because we are the original owners and bought when we did, we can get away with pricing our house a little lower than other homes in our neighborhood (that aren't selling). If we did hardwood, then we'd have to price our home higher (we're hoping to list it within the year).

But ours is a starter home in a small neighborhood--to me a little different than a large house in an upscale area.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The *burden*
I have no plans to move in the near future but I'm betting when I do I'll be finding some diamonds in the rough out there because I'm willing to look past bunnies and cheap laminate and see what the house itself has to offer my family.

That's fine for you.

I was simply saying that some people have a mental block and are unable to do that.

One house we visited--the homeowners were removing wallpaper. While I can look past wallpaper, apparently many buyers could not and at the urging of their listing agent, they were busy getting rid of all of it.

I can't remember how long they were on the market at that point.

It was a contender for us--but a bit high in our price range (a little bit beyond.) It was a great house, but we didn't want to overextend ourselves.

We were not the first people who couldn't look past the bunnies.

p.s. my only issue with laminate--as I really have none--is an overinflation of price that doesn't reflect the true "added value" at all.

 

[MrsPete]

If people come in here when we sell in a few years and stick their nose up at it, oh well.
What do they expect in a $130,000 house?

Exactly. We're making some changes in our house with the probable intention of selling in about two years. We'll probably put the house on the market for about $175,000, which is an average, middle class house for this area. For that price you do not expect high-end upgrades. You expect a middle-class house with a mixture of laminate, carpet, etc. You don't expect to see granite and stainless steel in the kitchen. You don't expect to see a media room, multiple fire places, a wet bar, or a pool. This is middle class. This is where most of us live. We can't have it all.