Half the price, and what that buys
LVP is genuinely waterproof, which no wood floor is. In a Des Moines basement, a laundry or a bathroom that is not a preference. It is the only sensible answer.
Above grade it is a different conversation. LVP cannot be refinished. It does not add to what an appraiser puts on the house, and a good hardwood floor does both.
- How it is done
- LVP installs for roughly half of solid hardwood
- What goes on the floor
- n/a
- Ready to use
- n/a
- Typical cost
- $4 – $7 per sq ft installed against $7 – $12 per sq ft installed
- Service life
- n/a
Room by room, with numbers
On a 500 square foot basement family room, LVP is around $2,000 to $3,500 installed and engineered wood is $3,000 to $5,000. Both work down there if the slab is prepared, and the LVP survives a water event that would end the wood floor.
On a main floor the arithmetic reverses over time. LVP with a 12 mil wear layer in a family kitchen shows traffic lanes in a few years and gets replaced. An oak floor gets recoated for $2 to $4 a foot and carries on.
The resale question is real in Des Moines. Original hardwood is something buyers here ask about by name, and vinyl in a 1925 bungalow's living room reads as a compromise.
Wear layer is the whole question
The wear layer in mils is the number that decides whether LVP is cheap or expensive. Six mil builder-grade is a replacement in a few years, twenty mil is a floor.
LVP over a good hardwood floor
The worst version of this decision is LVP over an original hardwood floor that was still good. It costs money, it covers the thing the house is valued for, and the floor underneath usually gets damaged coming back up.
Where these prices apply
We cover Des Moines, the western suburbs, the Ankeny corridor and the older neighbourhoods inside the city, including and 18 more areas.
Questions we get asked about lvp vs hardwood cost
Is LVP cheaper than hardwood?
About half installed. Over twenty years on a main floor, hardwood is usually cheaper because it is refinished rather than replaced.
Which for a basement?
LVP, unless you are sure the basement has never taken water and never will.
Does LVP hurt resale?
In a house whose selling point is original hardwood, yes. In a basement, no.
Get a free estimate
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Get a real number for your floor
Call and we will come out, measure, and leave you a written quote. There is no charge for the visit and no obligation afterwards.