Laminate in Woodburn, OR

Luxury vinyl plank, with the wear layer chosen for the traffic rather than the sticker price. It handles claws, spills and dragged furniture, it does not stain the way carpet does, and if a plank is ever badly damaged it can be swapped. We would keep carpet for bedrooms, where it is genuinely nicer to live with.

The opposite. Woodburn gets about 42 inches of rain a year, and that water walks in on shoes. A hard surface at the entry and through the traffic path is far easier to keep than carpet, which holds whatever comes in off the street. What actually matters in a wet climate is the installation — proper acclimation and expansion gaps, so seasonal movement never shows.

Neither, they are good at different things. Laminate has a harder wear surface and usually looks better for the money, so it wins in living rooms, bedrooms and hallways. LVP handles water, so it wins in kitchens, bathrooms, entries and laundries. Running both in one house, with a planned transition, is a common and sensible answer.

We would rather it did not. Kitchens have dishwashers, fridges with water lines and sinks, and the failure mode for a wood-cored floor is a leak that runs for a week behind a cabinet. Water-resistant laminates have improved a lot, but the honest recommendation for a kitchen is LVP or tile.

Almost always because it is floating over a subfloor that was not flattened, or over a missing or unsuitable underlayment. The plank is bridging a dip and drumming against the void underneath. Fix the subfloor and the sound goes away. It is a preparation issue rather than something inherent to the product.

Yes, with the right preparation. Concrete releases moisture, so the slab is tested first and a suitable vapour barrier goes down before the underlayment. Skipping that step is how a floating floor over a slab ends up cupping a year later, so it is not something we treat as optional.