Suggestion for Rental Property Flooring

[lavenchy]

Need your opinion on ideal flooring (Kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms) for a rental property between Ceramic Tiles and Sheet Vinyl. Pros vs. Cons; Long-term vs. Short-term.

Any and all ideas are welcome.

[travellight]

NO carpet!!! I favor laminate hard wood flooring with variable texture that looks real, not like the old fake stuff, or tile. Laminate is much cheaper so that is all I am doing these days.

[travellight]

Well, except for kitchens and bathrooms; I still do tile there.

[scone]

Take a look at commercial solid vinyl tiles. It's called "VCT Flooring" at Home Depot. They run about .69 - .79 cents per square foot, and they wear very well. If you get two different colors, the speckled checkerboard effect can be pretty cute, especially if the colors harmonize and are fairly quiet, like off-white and beige.

[LadyGeek]

This thread is now in the Personal Consumer Issues forum (home maintenance - regardless if rental or owned).

[btenny]

Use ceramic tile with epoxy based grout for the bathrooms and kitchen and heavy traffic hall areas. Make sure you use large tiles in a lighter color that is hard glazed. Not the softer stuff and not too expensive. So then the grout never gets dirty and the tile is almost bullet proof. And for an up to date look maybe use tile that looks like wood. Then use cheaper plush dark colored carpet (dark blue, green, brown, etc. ) for the bedrooms and the main living area. This will look great when new and last for several years. Yes the carpet will get dirty over time but then you buy new stuff. But with good tenents this combo will last more than 10 years. Plus in rentals carpet and drapes need to be lower cost so they can be replaced over time to make the unit newer style. And if you are not building in some sinking fund to cover these expenses you are pricing the rent too low.

Good Luck
Bill

[fareastwarriors]

Use titles or vinyl. Pretty cheap and pretty sturdy.