Hardwood vs Laminate

Tile (porcelain) is slippery when wet---Travertine ROCKS!!

Go with the laminates, I did since I have two young kids. Hardwood can stain if juice or even water is spilled on them. Dogs nails will also tear up the hardwood as well. I don't know about in TN, but in FL we also have to consider sand getting tracked into the house. It works like sand paper on the floor over time. They say you need to re-finish the hardwoods roughly every 5 years to keep that like new finish. Hardwood gives you better re-sell value, so if you're selling in the next couple of years, go the hardwood route. I figured wait until the kids are older or out of the house and replace with hardwood then. Keep in mind whatever route you take you will have concrete floors for about 3 days while the boarding is laid out to acclimate to your house (humidity, etc...) so they won't warp after install. Good Luck on whatever you choose, and post up some photos when they are done.

Laminate. I have hardwood, 2 kids, and a 6 pound poodle. The kids aren't that bad, but the poodle will pee in a corner somewhere and by the time we find it the finish is off the floor and nothing will fix it except refinishing. It's a shame to arrange your furniture to cover pee stains.

make sure it's the "good" laminate! I've got some cheap ass shit---it looks good but if something gets spilled and not noticed, the fake wood "sticker" gets funky :-0

get a price for both. Also, check out Bamboo hardwoord. I think that's going to be a real hard hardwood floor. If you go cheap on the hardwood and get soft you will regret it. I have both in my house. I refinished the hardwood downstairs (very easy DIY project) and put pergo upstairs in my bed room. My hardwood is Oak, so it's rock solid and stands up well to my boys and lab. The pergo is in my room, it's nice but not as nice as hardwood.

Assuming you aren't talking about your Kitchen or Bathroom, I'll second TKBosss. Kids and Pets in a Home that you will be in for many years will probably destroy or severely damaged Hardwood floors in high traffic areas. If you are going to try and sell your House 5 to 8 years latter you will (should) have to repair the floors for better resale value. Laminates have come a long way and are comparable to solid Hardwoods. Some can even be refinish a couple times for considerably less money then Hardwoods. One thing to consider though, Quality Hardwood floors can be recycled by Laminate producers, so if you use Hardwood now and years latter have to replace them you can sell the old planks to offset the new Hardwood. If you use laminate you will just throw them away when (if) they need to be replaced. You know your kids, pets and local, so if throw rugs and strategically placed inlays (that can be easier to replace the an entire area) at your door(s) and hallways is doable, you might want to go with Hardwoods and be done with it. Personally with my kids (when they were still at home) I did cheap carpet and replaced them before I sold. Hows that for "No clear answer?"

Tile is pretty much indestructible.