I bought my first rental in 2019. A 1,200-square-foot ranch off Hope Valley Road, ugly carpet everywhere, the kind of place where you peel back a corner and start hoping for hardwood underneath. There wasn’t any. Particleboard subfloor, which is its own problem, but a different post.
I’ve done floors three times in three rentals since. Twice laminate, once LVP. I was also the tenant in a place where cheap LVP bubbled up after a dishwasher leak, so I have feelings about all of this.
Here’s what I actually spent, what held up, and what I’d do again.
The three properties
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Property A is the Hope Valley ranch. I put in laminate in 2020 — 12mm AquaGuard from Floor & Decor, $2.69 a foot at the time. Installed it myself over two weekends with my brother-in-law, who I am no longer on speaking terms with for unrelated reasons. All-in around $3.40 a foot including underlayment and trim. Two tenant turnovers in five years.
Property B is a 1,600-square-foot duplex near East Campus. Bought in 2021, laminate again, this time the 8mm stuff from Lowe’s because I was trying to save money on a duplex I knew would chew through floors. About $1.80 a foot for material. I hired a guy off Craigslist for the install at $1.50 a foot labor, which in retrospect explains a lot. Total roughly $3.30 a foot. Three tenant turnovers in four years, all college kids.
Property C is a small 1950s house in Old North Durham, 1,400 square feet, bought in 2022. By that point I was tired of laminate looking shabby after one rough tenant, so I went with LVP — 6mm rigid core click-lock, about $3.20 a foot in materials. Tried to install it myself for the first two rooms. Three full days, 400 square feet, and a moment in the kitchen where I considered selling the property mid-job. I gave up and called the crew that had been working at a neighbor’s house. They came in at $2 a foot for labor. All-in around $5.40 a foot. Two turnovers in three years, one tenant had a dog named Beans.
Five years of actual wear
Property A is the surprise. I expected the 12mm to look beat up by now and it doesn’t. A couple of dings near the back door where someone clearly dragged furniture, one spot in the kitchen where I think a tenant dropped something heavy. The planks have stayed locked, the seams haven’t opened, and it still looks like wood. Five years, two tenants, one couple with a Lab. I’d call that a win.
Property B is the warning. After three turnovers it looks tired. The seams in the kitchen have lifted where water has gotten on them — not from a flood, just normal cooking and mopping. The planks near the front door are dented. The last college kid moved out and there were three planks in the living room with chunks missing along the edges, which I’m pretty sure happened when his couch came in sideways. I’m going to have to replace it or take less rent. The cheap stuff was a false economy.
Property C is the real test. Three years and a dog later, it looks almost identical to the day it went in. There’s a deep scratch in the hallway from what I assume was a metal chair leg. No dents, no swelling around the sink, no problems where Beans’s water bowl sat. I had a small leak under the bathroom vanity I didn’t catch for maybe a week, and the planks are fine. Laminate would have swelled. That alone justified the price difference for me.
What it actually costs to do this in Durham right now
Prices have moved since 2020. What I’m seeing at local suppliers this spring, give or take:
Mid-grade laminate, 8 to 10mm: $2 to $3.50 a foot. Cheap stuff is still out there for $1.50 but I won’t use it again.
Better laminate, 12mm waterproof: $3 to $5 a foot. Worth it for a hold.
Mid-grade LVP, 5 to 6mm rigid core: $3 to $5 a foot. This is the sweet spot for rentals, in my opinion. Yours may differ.
Higher-end LVP, 7 to 8mm with thicker wear layer: $5 to $8 a foot. Probably more than a rental needs.
Labor in Durham is running $1.50 to $3 a foot installed for either material, depending on who you call and how much subfloor prep you need. The DIY savings are real but only if you actually finish. My Old North Durham attempt cost me three working days plus the cost of paying for labor on the rest. Not a discount.
If you don’t already have someone, the crew I use now is Vilchis. They did the LVP at Property C and a refinish on a fourth house I bought last year. They were the only contractor of the three I called who came back with an actual written quote and a fixed number. The team at Vilchis has pricing ranges for every material type on their site, which I bookmarked and refer back to whenever I’m running numbers on a new property — useful even if you end up calling someone else.
The math I wish I’d done in 2020
I ran the numbers backward last month. It’s not subtle.
Property A: $3.40 per foot, still holding up after 5 years. Effective cost so far is $0.68 a foot per year, and it’s probably good for another five.
Property B: $3.30 per foot, going to need replacement after 4 years. Effective cost is $0.83 a foot per year, before I count the rent reduction for the next tenant or the cost of pulling the floor up.
Property C: $5.40 per foot, no signs of needing replacement. Even if I assume only 10 years of life, which is conservative for a 6mm rigid-core LVP, that’s $0.54 a foot per year. The most expensive option turned out to be the cheapest by a clear margin.
This only becomes obvious in retrospect. Back in 2020 I was looking at a $1,000 gap between laminate and LVP on a 1,000-foot rental and it felt enormous. It was nothing. The gap would have paid for itself in one turnover.
What I’d tell someone buying their first Triangle rental
Don’t put cheap laminate in a college rental. I know, the math looks great at the SKU level, you can install it yourself in a weekend. The reason it looks great is you haven’t priced in the next replacement, the rent concession, and the weekend you’ll spend pulling it back up while questioning your life choices.
For a long-hold rental in Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, or anywhere in the Triangle, mid-grade rigid-core LVP is what I’d buy now. 5 to 6mm, click-lock, 12 mil minimum wear layer, installed by someone who’s done it more than three times. If you’re calling someone for a quote, ask them specifically about laminate installation in Durham versus LVP for your specific property — a contractor who’ll talk you out of laminate when LVP is the better call is a contractor you can trust on bigger questions later. The ones who’ll just sell you whatever you ask for are the ones who’ll find a way to charge you twice.
If the property is a flip or you’re selling within two or three years, the calculation flips back. Cheap laminate looks fine in a Zillow photo and the next owner inherits the consequences. I’m not going to pretend that’s not a real strategy. I’ve done it once. I won’t say which property.
Either way: written quote, underlayment included, and if a contractor won’t tell you the brand and thickness before they show up, call someone else. That one I’ll stand by.