Real Estate Investing News

Tile Floor vs. Laminate Floor in Rentals

It costs more up front to do tile, but make-ready's require at most a mopping and sweeping. No stupid truck to come clean carpets. I have 2 condos that have laminate wood, 1 from Lumber Liquidators, the other from Floor and Decor. They have done fine. But again, I do not recommend it because unless you get the stuff rated for kitchen and bath of which the cost-effective stuff isn't, you can have a very expensive problem with water.

I had a near mishap when a tenant was thawing a frozen chicken package by running water onto it, then left the unit. The package sealed to the sink drain and there was about 30 gallons of water on the floor when maintenance noticed something wrong and called me. Fortunately I own a wet vac, went home and got it and immediately vacuumed it all up with no problems with the floor so far. I would rather not have the anxiety of wondering if the $1500 I spent on the floor could be ruined so easily because of a goof like that. I will not be installing laminate again in any of my units in the future.

Ceramic tile is the way to go because it is extremely durable, make readies are a snap and broken tile is relatively easy to replace. Carpet wears out, gets nasty and requires a guy in a truck to come clean which costs money.

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