Luxury vinyl plank has become the default choice for kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, and living areas, and for good reason. It's waterproof, handles pets and mud, cleans easily, and today's products look convincingly like wood. For rental properties, it's hard to beat.
Carpet still wins in bedrooms and some family rooms. It's warmer underfoot, quieter, and softer for kids playing on the floor. Paired with a good pad, it also takes noise out of upstairs rooms.
Many homes end up with both: vinyl plank in the high-traffic and wet areas, carpet in the bedrooms. The key is clean transitions at each doorway, so the floors look planned rather than patched together.
Whatever you choose, the subfloor matters more than the product. Squeaks, dips, and soft spots need to be fixed before new flooring goes down, and that's the first thing we check on every flooring estimate.