Replies

1. 
   john7g | Dec 18, 2008 01:26am | #1

   The cheapest snap down floating looks-like-wood-but-aint seems to work well for me.  Initial impression to prosepcts and eventual renters is clean looking vs carpet that they wonder the history/cleanliness of.  Vinyl in the wet areas. 

2. 
   bc | Dec 18, 2008 02:30am | #2

   i went with carpet on the last rental. i was able to get it for a fraction of the cost of floating hardwoods. you can also decpreciate flooring.

3. 
   MSA1 | Dec 18, 2008 02:34am | #3

   If its in good enough shape, hardwood. I have six units and only one has carpet.

    

   Family.....They're always there when they need you.

4. 
   Ted W. | Dec 18, 2008 04:52am | #4

   Hardwood.

   The problem with laminate is if damage occures it's practically impossible to repair. Can it be repaired? Hardwood flooring is durable, but repairs are relatively simple.

   See my work at TedsCarpentry.com
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   If you haven't already done so, please update your profile. Since many issues are dependant on the region in which you work, we often look at your profile to see where you are writing from.

5. 
   alwaysoverbudget | Dec 18, 2008 05:37am | #5

   i've been through it all i think.

   used to be i carpeted evrything,i could buy carpet and have it layed in the $12 yd range. usally got 8- 12 years out of it. not anymore,that same carpet would run me in the $25 yd range layed with new pad.

   so then i switched to sheet goods in kit and bath,have had good luck in the baths,but the kitchens are not working out. renters tear it moving stove and refrigs in and out.cost on this is running probably $15 a yd with my labor for free

    i have one house with some laminite in the dining,it may last but i don't care for it. cost if i remember right was about a 1.75 a ft=$16 a yd,again my labor was free.

   i have just started laying tile in the kitchens and baths. i don't know how they will hold up,but using a 3/8 thick porcelean tile. got it in 4 kitchens and 2 baths. cost on this is running about 5. a foot=$45 a yd including backer board , tile and mud/grout. so it is the highest cost and way more labor than any other. but i figure i have another 20 years  before i'm slobbering on myself and won't care and i think this tile should be there then.

   living areas and bedrooms ,it's kind of a mixture. if they have orig oak floors i'm trying to pull the carpet and refinish and leave them bare. people seem to love this.

   but when theres no hardwood or they are bad i'm still carpeting. i use what i would call a pretty nice homeowners carpet. i usally get a little more time out of them than cheapys, and my carpet guy charges the same to lay it no matter.

   now with all that said,the first thing i should of asked was, what price range rental [high,med low end]you talking about,because that makes a lot of difference.also the amount of deposit/how many people will have a lot of bearing on how all these last.  larry

   if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?

1. 
   catfish | Dec 18, 2008 07:21am | #6

   If I had a lot of lower-end rentals,(the kind you rent tocarpenters)  I'd use Mexican tile and seal it with the best sealer I could

   Unbreakable, untearable, and no problems matching colors.

6. 
   ponytl | Dec 18, 2008 07:34am | #7

   low end? VCT 

    i know a lady who rents at the very bottom of the rental food chain.. and she puts vct front to back... she  buys it by the pallet of whatever color they can't sell to anyone else...  costs about 50cents a sf with her labor... easy to pull up a tile and replace... they make some that is pretty nice looking for about $1sf  kinda retro and i don't think it'd offend anyone

   p

    

1. 
   rasher | Dec 19, 2008 12:12am | #8

   There's two ways to look at it and I use both techniques:1. Cheap material, lowest labor to replace. I do my own work, so easy and fast is the name of the game. In bathrooms and kitchens, I use the vinyl peel&stick tile and I replace that every tenant. The only tools needed is a utility knife. Stuff comes up and goes down fast, I keep a few extra tiles at the house in case all it needs is a quick repair. If tenant destroys, I don't shed any tears.2. Expensive material, highest durability, ease of repair. The rest of the rooms in my SFR have solid oak floors. Those are easy enough to fix and are pretty bulletproof. I screen sand and add a coat or two of poly every 3-5 years and then advertise as "refinished" floors. Eventually, I'll have to sand down bare and redo, but not any time soon.It's all up to you how you feel you should go about. There are tradeoffs with each approach.

1. 
   ponytl | Dec 19, 2008 03:52am | #10

   Eventually, I'll have to sand down bare and redo, but not any time soon.

   I'd be surprised if you ever did...  i have had great results... use'n a buffer with the scotchbrite type pads... green... red...tan... and good cleaners... zep  409type stuff... scrub & clean... wipe it down a ton until rags are clean... and recoat with a poly... very rare that i've felt a need to remove wood by sanding... i guess if you had cupping... but on a sound level floor...   i just strip & clean and recoat...  and they look good:) since everything i have is old anyway if there are a few stains... thats just character people pay more for :)

   p

2. 
   bc | Dec 19, 2008 05:24am | #11

   my experience with the tiles is they are difficult to remove. how do you get them up quickly?

1. 
   caseyr | Dec 19, 2008 07:22am | #12

   Just a couple of comments from my experience in renting out my own house when I had to move to a job some 600 miles away. The house was an older, mid value 1960 vintage california ranch style house. The house had oak hardwood floors throughout. Most of it was in good condition, with a small area of stained wood.I first rented to an acquaintance for five years who had a large german shepard. No problems with floor damage. When I went deaf, I signed with a rental management place to manage the house. They insisted on having all areas carpeted. I had a lady with a small yippy dog rent for several years. When she left I thought I would fix the place up and sell it (unfortunately, I missed the "bubble" and the prices of nearly identical houses went from $525,000 to about $220,000 over the year or so) so I pulled up the carpet to find fairly large brown spots about every couple of feet. I had the floor refinished but the spots remained large and ugly. Some moderate sized sections of the oak flooring strips had buckled and had to be replaced.The lesson, after all of this, is that if you put down carpet over hardwood in a rental and expect to have pets, fish tanks, or children going through their water phase, be sure you put down water proof underlayment for the carpet. I am planning on renting the place out again with just the bare, if stained, hardwood with no carpets.

2. 
   mrfixitusa | Dec 19, 2008 12:56am | #9

   When I was married and in college we lived in the married housing on campusThis was 25 years agoThese were old dormitories and they had vct in every room and it was finepeople could add area rugs in liv room and bedroom if they so choose

7. 
   oldblue | Dec 19, 2008 05:13pm | #13

   Thanks for all the info. I put tile in kitchen and bath ,would like to use hardwood in bedroom and living area mainly because I could do it myself,but was not sure how it will hold up. This is a one bedroom apt with no pets allowed so it might not be to bad al though carpet would keep the noise down. I am trying to keep the apt. on the high end hoping for a better renter since the apt, is attached to my house.

     Thanks Joe

1. 
   rasher | Dec 19, 2008 08:23pm | #14

   I don't think anybody would consider carpet "high end". Personally, I think WTW carpet is nasty. It never gets clean.