My neighbor's kid convinced me to stop hating on click-lock laminate

I was helping him redo his bedroom floor last weekend and he picked out some cheap click-lock stuff from the big box store. I told him it was junk and wouldn't last a year. He just shrugged and said 'It's my first apartment, I just need it to look okay for now.' He was right. For a $2 per square foot floor a renter will walk on for maybe two years, the perfect permanent install isn't the point. Got me thinking about how we always push for the 'forever' solution when sometimes 'good enough for now' is actually the right call. When do you guys decide a simpler, less permanent install is actually the better choice for the client?

3 comments

3 Comments

davidkim2mo agoMost Upvoted

Tell you what, I've been that guy pushing the premium install on every job. Had a customer last month who just wanted to cover up an ugly concrete basement floor for a year or two until they could afford a full remodel. I talked them into glue-down vinyl plank, the whole nine yards. Felt like a genius until I saw the bill. They didn't need a ten-year floor, they needed a two-year band-aid. Sometimes the right tool for the job is the cheap one you don't mind throwing out later.

price.ben2mo ago

Man, that's a real good point, @davidkim. It makes me wonder how much of our sales talk is just protecting our own labor. Like, we push the permanent fix because the idea of coming back to redo our own work in two years feels like a failure, even if it's what the customer actually needs right now.

davidkim2mo agoMost Upvoted

Ever catch yourself doing that math in your head? Like, if I sell them the cheaper fix now, they might call someone else for the big job later. So you talk yourself into pushing the "right" way even when it's wrong for their wallet and their plan. It's a tough habit to break because it feels like you're leaving money on the table, but man, it feels worse to know you talked someone into something they didn't need.