Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - flooring recs

We have a 100+ yr old house and we are beginning a few "face-lift" projects. One of them will include removing yucky cream colored carpet in the 2 front rooms and installing wood flooring (of some kind). The current carpet is overing original (we presume) painted wood flooring.

We have pets and kids. We are looking for a very durable product that we can install ourselves without spending a fortune. We only intend to live here for another 3-5 years, so we're keeping resale investment in mind. Can you share your recommendations of "higher-quality" but economical prodcuts? We're in WA state.

THANKS!

It sounds like laminate would be your best bet. It is easy to install, even for beginners, and has really improved since it was first introduced. I put some in a restaurant in Colorado a few years ago and it still looks good and is holding up well. One caution though. Laminate is not flex friendly. You can't have more than an eighth of an inch of deflection over a ten foot area. Old houses normally tend to have rolly polly floors ruling out the laminate option without addressing the problem. If the floor is too wavy, perhaps one of the new no glue vinyls would work. They are basically a huge vinyl throw rug and are also very easy to install, even for beginners. Vinyl flooring has also come a long way over the years and some of the wood grain patterns are hardly distinguishable from real wood without close examination. There are also several engineered hardwood manufacturers on the market. An engineered floor is often installed the same way laminate is, but is actually made of wood, can be refinished, and has the same maintenance characteristics of full thickness hard wood. Other than the paint, what shape is the existing floor in? In a place that old, the floors were often oak and, if they are in good enough shape, can be brought back to life by refinishing.

100 year old house + resale = real hardwood flooring.