The quick answer
If you want a single recommendation, here it is for most Northern Nevada homes:
- Choose LVP (luxury vinyl plank) if you want one floor that does almost everything — waterproof, scratch-resistant, kid- and pet-proof, and stable through Carson City's dry winters. It's the floor we recommend most often for whole-home installs and busy households.
- Choose laminate if you love a crisp wood look and want it for less than hardwood in dry rooms — bedrooms, living rooms, hallways — where standing water isn't a daily risk. Laminate and LVP overlap on price, so choose between those two on how the room gets used, not on cost.
- Choose hardwood if you want genuine wood underfoot, the strongest long-term resale value, and a floor you can sand and refinish for decades — ideally engineered hardwood, which handles our low-humidity climate far better than solid planks.
Still torn between two of them? Keep reading — the table below and the "when to choose" sections will settle it. And when you're ready for an exact number on your home, our free estimate is the only quote that actually reflects your rooms and subfloor.
LVP vs. laminate vs. hardwood at a glance
Here is how the three floors stack up on the factors homeowners ask us about most. Cost figures are general industry ranges for material plus professional installation — estimates, not a Landmark quote.
| Factor | Luxury Vinyl (LVP) | Laminate | Hardwood |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waterproof | Yes — rigid-core is 100% waterproof | Water-resistant only; newer "waterproof" lines exist but seams stay vulnerable | No — water can stain, cup or gap it |
| Scratch & dent resistance | High (thick wear layer) | High surface hardness; can chip at edges | Moderate; softer species dent, but can be refinished |
| Look & feel | Very convincing wood/stone print; warm, slightly softer | Crisp printed wood look; harder, hollower underfoot | The real thing — natural grain, depth and warmth |
| Refinishable | No — replace when worn | No — replace when worn | Yes — sand & refinish multiple times |
| Typical lifespan | ~15–25 years | ~10–20 years | 30–100 years with refinishing |
| Best rooms | Whole home — kitchens, baths, basements, mudrooms | Dry living areas, bedrooms, hallways | Living/dining rooms, bedrooms, formal spaces |
| Resale value | Good | Modest | Strongest of the three |
| Installed cost (estimate) | ~$7–$15 / sq ft | ~$7–$15 / sq ft | ~$11–$25 / sq ft |
| Climate stability (high desert) | Excellent — minimal movement | Good in dry rooms; swells if it gets wet | Solid wood gaps in dry air; engineered is much more stable |
When to choose LVP (luxury vinyl plank)
Luxury vinyl is the most-requested floor in our Carson City showroom, and it's usually the right call when you want one durable, low-maintenance surface for most of the house. A quality rigid-core (SPC/WPC) LVP is genuinely waterproof, so it belongs in kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, basements and mudrooms where neither laminate nor hardwood is at home. The thick wear layer shrugs off claws, dropped toys and grit tracked in from the trail, and the plank barely moves as humidity swings from arid summer afternoons to freezing winter nights.
Pick LVP if you have pets or young kids, want a true whole-home floor, or are turning a rental and need durability without the upkeep. The main trade-offs: it can't be refinished (you replace it when it eventually wears), and purists may still prefer the feel of real wood. If that's you, hardwood is the better fit. Otherwise, see everything LVP offers on our luxury vinyl flooring page.
When to choose laminate
Laminate is the wood-look value pick: a crisp, printed wood look bonded to a dense fiberboard core, finished with a tough wear surface that handles daily foot traffic well. Its savings are against real wood — laminate and LVP sit in the same installed range, so laminate is not reliably the cheaper of those two, and which one costs less on your job depends on the grade you pick. That makes laminate a smart choice for bedrooms, living rooms, home offices and hallways — the dry rooms where you want the warmth of a wood look without a hardwood price tag.
The catch is water. Laminate's core is wood-based, so even on the newer "water-resistant" and "waterproof" lines, a flooded bathroom or a slow dishwasher leak can swell the planks at the seams. We steer customers who need true waterproofing toward LVP and keep laminate in the dry zones where it shines. If a budget-friendly wood look is your priority, compare options on our laminate flooring page.
When to choose hardwood
Nothing replicates the depth, grain and warmth of real wood, and nothing else can be sanded and refinished again and again — which is why hardwood still carries the strongest resale value of the three and can last generations. Choose it when you want a genuine, timeless floor for living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms and formal spaces, and you're prepared to keep water and grit in check.
In Northern Nevada there's an important wrinkle: our bone-dry air pulls moisture out of solid wood, which can leave gaps between boards by late winter. That's why we usually recommend engineered hardwood here — its cross-layered construction stays far more dimensionally stable in low humidity. Proper acclimation and install matter even more in this climate. Explore species and finishes on our hardwood flooring page, and if you already have wood floors, see whether refinishing them is the better move.
A note on Carson City's high-desert climate
Climate is the factor national comparison articles miss, and it's exactly where a local crew earns its keep. Carson City, Reno and the Carson Valley sit in a dry, high-desert basin with very low indoor humidity for much of the year and big temperature swings between day and night. That environment is hard on flooring that moves with moisture: solid hardwood shrinks and gaps, and wet laminate swells.
That's why our default recommendations here lean toward engineered hardwood and waterproof LVP — both stay stable when the air is dry, and LVP also handles the snowmelt and mud of a Tahoe-area mudroom. If your project is near the lake, where moisture and seasonal cabins change the math, the right answer can shift again. We dig into all of this in our best flooring for Northern Nevada's climate guide.
A simple way to decide
If you're still on the fence, walk through it in this order:
- Does the room get wet? Kitchens, baths, basements and mudrooms → LVP. Dry rooms keep all three options open.
- What's the budget? Wood look for less than wood → laminate or LVP, which share a price range. Between those two, water decides: dry rooms → laminate, anywhere water reaches → LVP. Premium and long-term value → hardwood.
- Do you want real wood and refinishability? Yes → engineered hardwood. No → LVP or laminate.
- Pets, kids or a rental? Lean LVP for its waterproof, scratch-tough surface — see our best flooring for pets and kids notes.
Most Northern Nevada homes land on LVP for the wet and high-traffic zones and engineered hardwood where they want the real thing — and we're happy to lay samples of all three side by side in the showroom so you can see and feel the difference before you choose.