When you’re getting a home ready to list here in Central Oregon, it’s easy to obsess over kitchen backsplashes or staging the perfect living room. But while you’re looking at paint swatches, buyers are looking at something else entirely: your floors.
At Easton Flooring, we’ve seen firsthand how the right upgrade can yield a massive return on investment. We've also seen how the wrong choice can sit on the market.
Here is your guide to the best flooring for resale value in Bend for 2026, and a pre-sale checklist to get you ready.
Why Flooring Matters More Than You Think
Flooring is the foundation of how your home feels. When a home features three or four different types of flooring, it breaks up the visual flow, making the house feel smaller and chaotic. We see the impact of this firsthand: some of our most frequent calls come from new homeowners who just closed on a house and want to immediately rip out mismatched or impractical floors to unify the space.
A Recent Case Study: One of our clients recently purchased a home that actually had new flooring but it was dark. Despite being in great condition, the dark tones made the rooms feel smaller and showed every speck of dust and every scratch. She hired us to tear it all out and replace it with a warm, light wood laminate. The difference was night and day. The new floor hides pet hair, resists scratches, and makes the entire home feel brighter and more cohesive. This is the timeless look today’s buyers are looking for.
See images of this job below:
The Top 6 Flooring Options for Bend Resale
1. Hardwood: the "gold standard" for resale
Nothing beats the timeless look of real wood for that classic Northwest aesthetic. It is the flooring of choice in upscale neighborhoods like NorthWest Crossing or Tetherow.
- The Bend Reality: In Bend, Engineered Hardwood is often the smarter choice over Solid Hardwood. It provides the same premium look but is more stable and less prone to gapping or cupping when the humidity drops
- Where it Fits: Main living areas, open-concept great rooms, and kitchens. It is best reserved for the "showcase" spaces where it creates that high-end flow buyers expect in premium Bend homes.
- The Best ROI: If you have existing hardwood, refinishing it is almost always the highest ROI project you can do. Installation of new hardwood typically has a ROI of 70-80%.
2. Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP): The "Bend Lifestyle" Champion
Luxury Vinyl Plank is dominating the Central Oregon market right now because it’s waterproof, scratch-resistant, and looks incredible.
- Why Buyers Love It: If your buyer loves hiking, skiing, or has a dog (which is everyone in Bend), they don't want to stress about scratching the floors. LVP offers the "wood look" without the anxiety.
- Where it Fits: Anywhere and everywhere. It is the perfect solution for the entire main floor of an active family home, daylight basements (where moisture is a concern), or rental properties where durability is non-negotiable.
- ROI Factor: It’s quick to install and instantly modernizes a home, typically offering a 60-75% return on investment.
3. Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT): The "Warm" Stone Alternative
While LVP (Planks) mimics wood, LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) is designed to mimic stone, slate, or ceramic. It is becoming a massive hit in Central Oregon mudrooms and laundry areas.
- The Resale "Hack": In Bend, buyers love the look of natural slate or travertine, but they hate how cold and hard real stone feels in winter. LVT gives them that high-end "mountain lodge" stone aesthetic but is much warmer and softer underfoot.
- Where it Fits: It is perfect for entryways, laundry rooms, and guest baths.
- ROI Factor: Real stone tile is expensive to buy and labor-intensive to install. LVT costs a fraction of the price to install but still photographs like high-end stone, giving you a better margin when you sell.
4. Laminate: The Budget-Friendly Modernizer
Modern Laminate is tough, often water-resistant, and mimics wood grain beautifully.
- Where it Fits: Rental properties, ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units), or budget-conscious remodels in areas like Redmond or East Bend. It’s also a lifesaver for flipping a home where the margins are tight.
- The Appeal: It provides a cohesive, clean look at a fraction of the cost of hardwood, allowing you to present a "move-in ready" home without over-improving for the neighborhood.
- ROI Factor: This is your high-efficiency play. Because the upfront cost is low, you can often recover nearly 100% of the investment. It eliminates the "fixer-upper" stigma of old carpet or sheet vinyl for a fraction of the price of real wood.
5. Tile: The classic Mudroom Savior
If you're not using LVT, Tile is essential to install in "wet zones", specifically entryways, mudrooms, and bathrooms.
- Where it Fits: Anywhere snow boots and wet paws land. Porcelain or ceramic tile tells buyers, "This home was built to handle winter."
- Easton Pro-Tip: If you are installing new tile in a primary bathroom, add radiant floor heating. It is a relatively low-cost upgrade that adds a huge "wow" factor. There is nothing a buyer loves more than stepping onto a warm floor after a day on the mountain.
- ROI Factor: While tile is more expensive to install, it yields a solid 55% to 70% return. More importantly, it protects your home’s value; not having tile in wet areas often leads to water-damaged floors that scare buyers away entirely.
Important Note: We don't install tile flooring directly but we have trusted contractors that we partner with so we can deliver a complete solution for your flooring needs.
6. Carpet: Cozy, But Keep it Contained
The rule for carpet in Bend is simple: Bedrooms only.
- The Logic: We have cold nights, so buyers still appreciate the warmth of carpet in sleeping areas. However, carpet in the living room or dining room is a major "no" for resale. It traps allergens and dust.
- The Must-Do: If your bedroom carpet is matted or stained, replace it. Buyers might assume if the carpet is dirty, everything else are dirty too.
Important Note: We don't install residential carpet flooring directly but we have trusted contractors that we partner with so we can deliver a complete solution for your flooring needs.
Your Bend Pre-Sale Checklist
Don't wait for the inspector to find these issues. Run this check yourself.
1. The "Visual Flow" Test:
Stand at your front door. Do you see three different types of flooring (e.g., tile meeting carpet meeting wood)?
- The Fix: Visual clutter shrinks the home. Consider unifying the main living areas with one material (LVP is great for this). This can make the house feel much larger than it is.
2. The "Sniff" Test
You are "nose blind" to your own home. Invite an honest friend over and ask: "Does this room smell like dog or dampness?"
- The Fix: Steam cleaning rarely fixes deep odors. If it smells, replace the carpet and pad.
3. The "Rug Ghost" Check
Move your area rugs. Is there a dark rectangle where the sun faded the surrounding wood?
- The Fix: You likely need a screen-and-recoat or a full refinish. You cannot clean this away.
4. Squeaks & Damage assessment
Walk your hallways when it's silent. During an open house, these sounds are amplified. Also look at the floors in natural light, are there visible scratches, claw marks or urine stains?
- The Fix: A flooring pro can assess whether or not the entire floor needs replaced or if specific boards can be replaced instead.
5. The "Red Dust" Scan
Check the bottom of your white baseboards. Is there a faint red/brown tinge from our local soil?
- The Fix: Magic Erasers. Clean baseboards make the whole floor look 5 years newer.
6. The Grout Inspection
Look for hairline cracks in bathroom grout or peeling caulk.
- The Fix: Re-grouting and re-caulking is cheap (under $50 DIY) and prevents inspectors from flagging potential water leaks.
Ready to Maximize Your Home’s Value?
We know that getting a home ready to sell is stressful. You don't need a high-pressure sales pitch; you need honest advice on what is actually worth fixing.
At Easton Flooring, we pride ourselves on being clean, communicative, and local. We’ll tell you if a simple repair will do the trick, or if a new install will net you a higher sale price.
Thinking of listing soon? Contact us today for a free, no-obligation estimate. Let’s make sure your floors are the reason your home sells fast.
