Hi All,
Hope you aren't too sick of my home renovation related questions? I am wondering your thoughts on the following bc apparently vinyl and laminate flooring have come a very very long way in quality. My husband has been against vinyl flooring and embarrassed to put it in our home, but then he visited a flooring place recently and was warming up to the idea after talking with salesman at Floorz. I have showed him more expensive samples at Lowes or HomeDepot and he was totally against it -go figure?
 
Anyhew, I am wondering:
 
1) What do you think of  the new vinyl wood flooring planks out there- we are specifically looking at a product by Burke that comes in strips and is glued to subfloor. Apparently it's durable and will stay looking new for a very long time. I have a Great Dane and a small child so I figure it's the easiest to care for option. We can't afford to move anytime soon and may not even want to- but do you think it affects resale value. I'm hoping the tides are turning in people's minds when it comes to these types products. I also read it is made of recycled materials but is not biodegradeable itself. Your thoughts?
 
2) Also looking at Shaw Luminiere collection bc apparently laminate has become extremely stong and durable (can't believe I"m saying this- you should see our current dinged up laminate flooring). This Floorz guy showed my husband this collection and said it has aluminum oxide product on it and then he rubbed it hard with quarter and no marks. I don't really how good a  quarter compares to a Great Dane's nails on the floor? Maybe I should bring her down there and find out- LOL. We are looking at putting this in main area of house-including kitchen. I can't even believe I'm considering a laminate after this last floor.
 
3) I've been told an engineered hardwood will never hold up to a Great Dane and child both. You only get one chance to sand it.
 
4) Cabin grade hardwood- has anyone put this down and stained it? How did it work out?  
 
6) Do you think painting hardwoods in our style of homes (for those of us with 1950-60s style) would look ok or out of place and ridiculous. My husband seems to think it would only look good in a farmhouse. I do see now where Harris Tarkett sells engineered flooring in prepainted colors (has distressed look) so I'm thinking this trend could be on the rise and we could save lots of mula just painting this old urine stained hardwoods we have under carpet.
 
Thanks for any help or opinions. I think if my child stays napping despite the Wed tornado drill I'll try to put up a poll on real wood verses vinyl. Yay, she's still napping...here is my related poll http://bluffparkal.org/bpforum/YaBB.pl?num=1267633351
 
Michele
 

We have real hardwoods and unless you put a good poly like Traffic ($$$) on top, they will never withstand a Great Dane...they have a hard time with shih tzus!  My parents have laminate and it is much more durable!

We have real hardwood downstairs that we had installed, and the crappiest laminate ever produced upstairs that we will replace soon.  It's probably 20 years old, though, and laminate has come a long way, but man, it looks terrible.  To answer one of your questions, no, I do not think installing nice laminate in lieu of real wood will turn potential buyers off whatsoever.  Some may prefer it, actually.  Also, I would not paint wood floors in a traditional 50's or 60's home.  I agree with your husband on that one.