Luxury vinyl is great. My sister went for that and adjoining unit engineered floors have not held up as well and she is really happy with her choice. Both units have had some water leaks and she has a dog running around.

What’s your priority? Looks, price, durability or ease of cleaning. I’ve come from real floorboards to newly installed vinyl planks. The real wood is a clear winner for looks and feel, with longevity way up if you’re prepared to live with dings and a refinish every 15years or so. Engineered will give you the look and feel but has limited options for re-finishing. I went for vinyl for pricing, durability and the ability to have throughout wet areas as well.

We’ve had both luxury vinyl and water resistant laminate and both have been fantastic for ease of care. kids, dogs and messy husbands who can’t seem to remember to wipe their feet are not a problem. Would love to use engineered oak in our new extension renovation for the fabulous real wood look, but can’t justify the huge extra cost when it means I’ll have to constantly worry about them getting damaged.

Thanks guys. very revealing and useful.

I have 4 dogs, a tradie husband and lots of visitors, we installed Quickstep Majestic (Valley Oak) 6 years ago. We are currently building another house and will use the same as its simply fabulous!