As you consider flooring options for your property investment, you’re probably trying to strike the right balance between competing needs. You want your flooring option to fit your renovation budget, be durable, and be practical for your type of rental property. Of course, the floor has to look good to be appealing to tenants. Fortunately, these three flooring options are well-suited to your needs.
Carpet
If you’re renovating a multi-unit property, carpet may be the best flooring option for your property investment. Carpet reduces noise between rental units. In addition to being inexpensive, carpet comes in an attractive variety of materials and colors. Nylon carpet is more durable than other carpet fibers and costs $10 to $45 per square yard.
Luxury Vinyl
Valued by landlords for durability, luxury vinyl can be purchased as planks or tiles. It’s not the same product as cheap vinyl tiles or sheets. Luxury vinyl has an attractive appearance. It’s made to mimic the look of wood or stone. Luxury vinyl has an affordable cost of $2.5 to $5 per square foot. Also, luxury vinyl is water-resistant. You may want to install it in the kitchen and bathroom if you’re carpeting the rest of the unit. For single-family homes, luxury vinyl is a good choice for the entire property. One type of luxury vinyl clicks together and floats over the subfloor or existing floor. The other kind of luxury vinyl glues on. The biggest drawback is luxury vinyl doesn’t muffle sound as well as carpet. However, thicker luxury vinyl (at least 3 mm) does provide some sound absorption.
Laminate
This very budget-friendly flooring option ($0.70 – $2.00 per square foot) is made to look like wood, stone, or tile. That makes laminate popular with tenants. It can be installed as a floating floor over an existing one. Laminate is extremely durable and is an excellent choice for bedrooms and living areas. Due to a lack of water resistance, you’ll need a different flooring option for the kitchen and bathroom of your property investment.