Carpet alternative flooring for upstairs house?

Blank11

I know the consensus is carpets for stairs and upstairs but I really dislike carpets. I would like hard flooring for both downstairs and upstairs. I don’t mind it being cold for the foot because I wear slippers in the house. I was thinking laminate because it is cheapest but my concern is the potential noise from upstairs. LVT is expensive to get for the whole house. I’ve read online vinyl flooring is awful. Anyone recommend the best flooring for the whole house that doesn’t break the bank?

housebuyer143

My whole house is laminate and yes, you don't have that cushioning to stop sounds traveling, so it is noisier than carpet. I did carpet the stairs though so I don't get woken by people stomping up and down them.

Blank11

housebuyer143 said:

My whole house is laminate and yes, you don't have that cushioning to stop sounds traveling, so it is noisier than carpet. I did carpet the stairs though so I don't get woken by people stomping up and down them.

Is it really noisy or bother you at all with the noise upstairs? 

Ditzy_Mitzy

Another thing to watch out for with hard floor coverings upstairs is movement of floorboards and joists.  The upper floors of a building are usually wooden and, resultingly, are less stable than the ground floor.  Such instability can lead to hard floor coverings, particularly tiles, cracking.  

Carpet is a superior floor covering for all sorts of reasons including being a sonic and thermal barrier.  

theoretica

How about cork tiles?

housebuyer143

Blank11 said:

housebuyer143 said:

My whole house is laminate and yes, you don't have that cushioning to stop sounds traveling, so it is noisier than carpet. I did carpet the stairs though so I don't get woken by people stomping up and down them.

Is it really noisy or bother you at all with the noise upstairs? 

Nah it's not too bad. My son sounds like a heard of elephants though as he jumps on the floor so would be good to cushion that. Adults just walking around is not a problem.

Mama_H

Laminate underlay varies in quality + the better, the more expensive. I’d go with a more expensive highly noise impacting/cushioned underlay to help absorb noise i’m the same - I have laminate flooring all throughout as I also dislike carpet. Hard floors feel easier to keep clean. However i’m in a flat, so i don’t have an upstairs!

katkatmachine

We have LVT (amtico) all throughout the house except in the cloackroom, kitchen, and bathroom where we have tiles. No carpet at all. Yes, LVT is expensive especially on the stairs but in the long run it’s cheaper since they last longer and cleaning them is super easy. I don’t like carpets because they create furniture dents/imprints, hard to remove the dust too. LVT is also waterproof so we chose it over laminate. 

TripleH

You are supposed to have a barrier / membrane between the tile flooring and the (wooden under floor) to counter movement so it shouldn't be an issue (wish someone had told our developer).

We replaced the carpet on the middle floor of our house with wood flooring and it actually made the floor warmer on bare feet.

We had Cork tiles in our bathroom and kitchen when growing up. The original colour can look 'dated' but you can stain / paint it and when I put it in my first home it wasn't expensive (this was 20 years ago), also easy to clean.

Martico

I've taken my upstairs back to the original wooden boards and love it. Lots of work sanding, filling any gaps with slivers, resanding and oiling, but it's great