Published February 18, 2026 · FINJ Flooring · 7 min read

This is the question we get asked most in the showroom: should I put in luxury vinyl or real hardwood? Both are good floors. They're good at different things.

The honest cost comparison

Installed prices in our market, including removal and disposal of the old floor:

Material	Installed $/sq ft	Lifespan
Luxury vinyl plank (LVP)	$4 – $9	15 – 25 years
Laminate	$4 – $8	10 – 20 years
Engineered hardwood	$8 – $14	25 – 40 years
Solid hardwood (site-finished)	$10 – $18	50+ years, refinishable

Those ranges are wide on purpose. Subfloor prep is often the single biggest variable, and it's also the thing cheap quotes leave out.

Where LVP genuinely wins

• Water. A rigid waterproof core shrugs off spills, pet accidents and damp basements. Solid hardwood does not.
• Concrete slabs. Basements and slab-on-grade homes are LVP territory.
• Pets and kids. Scratches and stains wipe away instead of becoming a refinishing job.
• Budget and speed. Typically about half the cost, installed in days rather than weeks.

Where hardwood genuinely wins

• Value and longevity. Real wood can be refinished repeatedly. A good solid floor can outlive the house's current owner.
• Feel and sound. There's a reason the phrase "real wood" exists.
• Repairability. One damaged board gets replaced. In LVP, a damaged plank in the middle of a glued floor is more involved.
• Resale. Buyers still pay a premium for hardwood in listing photos.

The recommendation we actually give

For most homes, the answer isn't either/or. We usually recommend hardwood for the main living areas — living room, dining room, hallways — where you want the value and the look, and waterproof LVP in the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry and basement, where water is a realistic threat.

Match the floor to the moisture and the traffic. Do that, and you'll never regret the material you picked.

Bring us your floor plan and we'll price it both ways so you can compare actual numbers instead of showroom impressions.