What's the best type of flooring for a rental property?

[speedy]

just wondering about this. more in regards to living areas than the bedrooms. thanks

 

[delgirl]

We put tiles in the hall and kitchen and laminate flooring in the living room - best thing we ever did.

Costs a bit initially, but durability is key when it's a rental property.

 

[liteweight]

We put in solid oak flooring. Bit pricey but can be sanded down, more often than laminate,if it gets grotty. Tiles in kitchens and bathrooms.

 

[laurajayne]

laminate flooring is ideal ..very hard to mark and scratch and is so cheap.. Semi solid and solid can be sanded but are very expensive to lay and to resand.. They are marked so easily and if its rented they wont be minding what they do, everything marks it... walkin on it in heels kids toys buggies.. mine was recently destroyed by the ironing board and that was a semi solid am replacing it with laminate... I did my hole upstairs in laminate oak for 600 euro four bedrooms and its gorgeous.. Tiles may crack if something falls on it and again are very expensive... Youd be mad not to go for the laminate even in the bedrooms

 

[Superman]

Try tiling as much as you can - and keep some of the tiles to spare.
One bedroom in one of our places is tiled (it's on the ground floor and opens onto a garden) and that is very successful. Buy a fluffy rug for €20.

In some living rooms, we've been using Kaehrs flooring - a rather expensive semi solid with 30 year guarantee and used in semi commercial settings a lot. However you should see what concave 6mm diam. steel stilletoes do to it.
So laminate is probably the best option - the lifespan of even really good quality products is just too low.
Solid flooring which one can sand is also far too much work to be practical in real terms.

Slightly off topic:
Regarding furniture: I dislike using timber furniture - as there are all sorts of "in between states" between good condition and bad condition, (cuts, water stains, cigarette burns, dents etc.) which makes things difficult when tenants move out and you have to say whether it constitutes reasonable wear and tear.
I recommend stone,tile or glass tables, metal framed beds, and leather/ette sofas. Also all metal lamps and glass lampshades.