Refinish pine floors or install 'Pergo" or laminate?

[Just Don]

I am at odds with the guy helping me reno my reno. He says just buy carpet. He hasnt run rentals to see what happens to rental carpet. I am so tired of replacing carpet. Going to wood floor,,,they can buy a area carpet if they want.

Anyway I "thought" there was oak hardwood under carpet. Guess its only hard if you hit your head on it. Turns out its 'soft' wood,,,pine flooring which is pretty common back in day of build. Pine still looks good but not as luxery as oak and its softer and scratches more easily.

Other factor is it needs patched in a few places where wall/doorway was moved and heat registers moved.

Is a pergo laminate oak floor better than pine? Been told this house should rent from 6 to 700 a month,its small.

I wanted to put ceramic tile in kitchen and laundry/back entry. Linoleum is my helpers first choice. Had too many ripped ruined and burned to do that,,,plus it is slick with snow on your feet. Ceramic is colder on bare feet,,,thats why throw rugs were invented.

Pergo or pine??? vinyl or ceramic?

[Dumitru Anton]

Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:

We bought a SFR built in 1941 and we refinished the original pine floors. Our first tenant after the floor refinishing was a petite woman who loved stilettos. She lived there for less than a year. All of the pine wood floors now have pock marks from the heels of the stilettos. I was crushed.

@Marcia Maynard,

could you say, you have the "weathered" look? some pay big money in today world to have that...

[Marcia Maynard]

Originally posted by @Dumitru Anton:

Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:

We bought a SFR built in 1941 and we refinished the original pine floors. Our first tenant after the floor refinishing was a petite woman who loved stilettos. She lived there for less than a year. All of the pine wood floors now have pock marks from the heels of the stilettos. I was crushed.

@Marcia Maynard,

could you say, you have the "weathered" look? some pay big money in today world to have that...

Hmm... all about perspective isn't it? I guess I could, but that would mislead the tenants to "weather" them even more! I'm not a fan of weathered and torn jeans or distressed wood furniture either. :-)

[Kurt F.]

It was mentioned early on this thread by someone (then kind of ignored!), but generically stating "pine" isn't enough info.  Longleaf southern yellow pine is between two and three times the hardness of Eastern White Pine.  The former can be properly finished and used for flooring;  refinishing the latter for a rental is a complete waste of time.  It pays to find out what species you have. 

I still like @Joel Owens ceramic tile suggestion.  (Or porcelain if found on sale.) 

[Mark Bell]

This is an older thread, but anyone reading for answers about their own floors needs to check out Fabulous Floors in the Atlanta area. They do great work if you are considering refinishing or resurfacing! 

http://fabulousfloorsatlanta.com/

[Julie Thevenow]

old pine floor that I refinished.