The various floors are one of the most frequent conversations the CFO and I have. Like you, we're currently on a cement slab. And, like you, we don't like the hollow sound of the laminate floating floors. But, we sure like the ease of installing them!
Here's a synopsis of what we've decided, so far. Like everything, your mileage may vary.
Laminates -- easy to install, relatively inexpensive, good wear, great casual appearance (won't stand up to close examination), lousy clacking sound when walking on it; be sure to get a brand which licenses "quicklip" technology to snap them together. I have seen one style at Lowes where each board is separate rather than having 3 or 4 boards printed on a rectangle; this looks more realistic but probably doesn't sound better. Home Depot has 2 grades of backing -- one with 2 layers, and one with an added "silent step" layer. I've used the cheaper one and it's OK for a bedroom; I haven't tried the more expensive one, yet (almost 3 X as much $$). I have this in one room, now, and am planning to expand it through most of the house in the next few months. However, we are planning to sell this house within the next two years...
Engineered -- I don't know as much, but I think main difference is that the surface is a veneer of real wood vs. the plasitc photo finish of the laminates. If so, I'd have the same concern as for real wood. From what I've seen, the appearance is better than most laminates.
Real Wood, pre-finished -- I have this at my mountain cabin and my kids have it in their living room, but both are nailed over wood subfloors. Sounds great. I think it can be glued to concrete, and I think there are some models that can be installed as a floating floor. Best looking. My real problem with it (and possibly the engineered floors) is that here in South Florida we track in lots of the main ingredient in sand paper -- sand! Even if we took off our shoes all the time, our dogs would track in the sand and it would wear the floor quickly.
Real wood, unfinished -- I installed this in the lower level of my mountain cabin. Two layers of 5/8" plywood glued and screwed, a layer of 30 lb. felt roofing paper as anti-squeak, and 2-1/2" wide X 3/4" thick oak tongue & groove, blind nailed. Fantastic floor in looks, sound, or by any standard. Lots of work. But, not for me in S. Florida. To install it on cement slab, would probably have to be furred out and sub-floored with plywood, which would raise the floors in your house over 2" by the time you're done.
Vinyl wood grain, sheet or plank -- This is the one that intrigues me the most. About the same price as laminate, maybe a bit more. No problems with sound on any surface. Easy to install. Some of it has as good a warranty as laminate, which is better than wood. Some of it looks a lot better than laminate -- there is more wood grain texture in the vinyl, and some models have "grooves" between the simulated planks. The stuff that is installed as planks is great looking. I think the Congoleum is slightly more real looking than Armstrong. Walmart has been using a commercial version in some of their departments that is so real looking that it defies description, except that it probably costs more than Persian carpets.
We're putting the laminate in our present house because (a) around here it is most desired, so will raise the value the highest, and (b) it's easy for me to do. I have to do it myself because all the professional installers are too busy after the hurricanes to get to our work (we lost 4 rooms of carpet tothe storms). I think we will be using the Congoleum vinyl sheet wood grain on all of the floors of our new house in Okeechobee.
About the greyhounds -- we have two of them, a 9 year old female and a 2-1/2 year old male. They don't like to walk on anything hard or slippery. The older dog (Grandy) will avoid a laminate floor and tolerate a cermamic tile floor because she has to. She prefers carpet. The younger guy (Rocky) is bolder and not as skittish, but he, too, prefers carpet. I think they'll both appreciate the vinyl more than laminate. They are both diggers, which is why they bring in sand, and is one of the main reasons why we're never going to have carpet again -- we can't keep it clean with the dogs.
If we don't get the vinyl sheet for the new house, our close second choice will be the laminates that install as separate planks. The new house will have a wood subfloor rather than a slab, so I'm hoping the laminates sound better. I'll also be talking to the manufacturers to see if I can glue them or float them direct to the subfloor rather than floating them on the foam -- that will produce the best sound.
{Edit} Like kokopelli2 said, ceramic tile is a good solution for cement slab floors. Folks with wood subfloors are envious when it comes to installing ceramic tile. It's not as expensive as other materials unless you go nuts with the best tile; there is lots of extremely acceptable tile out there for less than $2/sq ft. It's pretty easy to learn how to install it, although it's easiest for fuss-bucket detail-oriented geeks like me. I have it in the kitchen, 3 baths, a laundry room and an entrance foyer. In my current house, I'd probably do the rest of the house in tile, excpet that we have all antique furniture and it just doesn't fit the style. Besides, like I mentioned above, the laminates are driving the "hot & trendy" market around here, right now, so I'm actually going to rip up the tile in my kitchen and flow the laminate through it. But, it's a great suggestion.
