Floor Plan Optimization | Semi-Detached House on a Slope with 192m² Living Area

So I can't speak for all vinyl floors on the market, but the specialist I spoke to said about his product that it is completely made of plastic. So there is no HDF carrier board inside like with laminate, that could swell. He recommended sealing the expansion joints in wet rooms with silicone, because water could get under the panels through them and eventually lead to mold (simply due to moisture). But you wouldn't see anything then, at most eventually smell it.
The vinyl floor from the specialist dealer is phthalate-free but still contains plasticizers, so I would have chosen cork flooring for the bedroom and children's rooms.

His cork floors also come with decorative layers. Nowadays, you can also get wood or stone patterns. The natural cork pattern wouldn't be for me either.
By the way, unless you use solid hardwood planks, parquet also contains adhesives, solvents, and possibly pesticides.

Easier to care for in the sense that you don't have to immediately wipe up moisture and dirt. Also, it doesn't have to be oiled regularly. More durable in the sense that the protective layer is simply harder than a wood surface. The disadvantage of not being able to sand it down is true, but again, many prefinished parquets have such a thin wear layer that, firstly, they can't be sanded down often, and secondly, many dents (not scratches) caused by dropped objects can't be sanded out anymore.

But yes, if laying (good) parquet were as easy as click vinyl and it was as cheap as that, I might go back to parquet. However, according to my research, that is not the case.

Regarding sanding, has just written an interesting experience report: https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/wie-habt-ihr-eure-fussbodenfarbe-gewaehlt.35445/post-412812

My parquet floor in the condominium is lacquered (I had no idea back then, otherwise I would have insisted on oiled, I had the choice from the builder) and also in the cooking area. After 4 years, I still see no difference between the boards in front of the stove (grease splatters) and elsewhere.
Yes, if something falls down, there are immediately dents. But that can happen anywhere. Funny enough, most of the dents I have are not in the cooking area but in the living area or the hallway.
In some places you can feel trapped moisture, the joints are then palpable, but I don’t see anything.
The parquet also withstands cat vomit that had several hours to take effect. I see no stains there.

As a slight contradiction to my comparatively positive experiences, I am now planning in the building project rather with vinyl design flooring on the ground floor and cork upstairs.
The reasons are durability and ease of maintenance and also the easy DIY installation, or in the case of cork additionally the absence of plasticizers.

So you have had good experience with lacquered wood. We also definitely wanted oiled here (somehow sounds healthier....) but then decided on "matte lacquered" from MEISTER, since we have large areas and not all products were available for our second choice.
I finally had MEISTER explain it to me directly; according to that, the described version "matte lacquered" is almost identical to oiled and practically does not differ in appearance. I don’t remember the explanation exactly but after that we decided on this UV-based matte lacquer and it really doesn’t shine. Looks like oiled, but never needs to be re-oiled, which with large areas and age can be annoying.
We were very skeptical because we had actually been set on "oiled," now we are really happy and it is installed everywhere except in the bathroom, and next time I might even lay it there.
Generally, I often find wooden floors in the bathroom chic and do not understand the argument about regular flooding, which never really happens; rather it happens in the kitchen.
We have already used almost everything and ultimately for us, real wood is really the best both visually and to the touch.

So I can't speak for all vinyl floors on the market, but the specialist I talked to said about his product that it is completely made of plastic. So there is no HDF carrier board like in laminate that could swell. He recommended sealing the expansion joints in wet rooms with silicone, because water that might get under the boards through these could eventually cause mold (simply because of the moisture). But you wouldn’t see anything, maybe just smell it eventually. The vinyl flooring from the specialist dealer is phthalate-free but still contains plasticizers, so I would have chosen cork flooring in the bedroom and children's rooms.

His cork floors also come with decorative layers. Nowadays you can get wood or stone patterns. The natural cork pattern would not be for me either. By the way, unless you take solid hardwood planks, glue, solvents and possibly pesticides are also in parquet.

More low-maintenance in the sense that you don’t have to immediately wipe up moisture and dirt. It also doesn’t have to be regularly oiled. More resistant in the sense that the protective layer is simply harder than a wood surface. The disadvantage, that you can’t sand it down, is true, but again, many engineered parquet floors have a top layer so thin that first, it can’t be sanded often, and second, many dents (not scratches) caused by dropped objects can’t be sanded out either.

But yes, if installing (good) parquet were as easy as click vinyl and as cheap as the latter, I might consider parquet again. But according to my research, that’s not the case.

Search for 2nd choice parquet from Meister, Haro, etc. and inquire carefully. Technically first class, visually flawless for us (and we like it fancy) at a price of 25-30€/sqm. Installation, for example Meister easy, great locking system. Or check out "Lindura," which is available in widths up to 32 cm and also B-grade. Depends on the required quantity, but we needed 200 sqm and that is of course a factor. As I said, flawless material!

but the specialist I spoke to said about his product that it is completely made of plastic

Which would already rule it out for me.

In our previous rental apartment, part of the laminate was replaced with vinyl due to water damage. The vinyl definitely had the same substrate as the laminate. Nevertheless, I admit that the vinyl felt much more pleasant to the touch than the laminate. There is apparently also special vinyl for wet areas (since such a floor was never an option for me, I admittedly do not know much about it), it must be handled differently.

Dark tiles: well, if someone does not realize that you see every speck of dust on them... sorry. That’s why we have different tiles in the entrance area and guest WC than upstairs in the bathroom. Upstairs it was allowed to be dark (we originally toyed with slate and now at least it's roughly that look), downstairs it became a plaster-friendly concrete-gray-beige-something-color.

Regularly oiling? Well, I think about every 2-3 years at most for us. We would then rent the special little machine and it’s a job of a few hours, probably spread over 2 days. I see that as relaxed. We also had our dining table treated with this oil and it is really used a lot – but so far the coat is still top. So I am quite relaxed about that. For us the deciding factor was that we still wanted to feel that we have a wooden floor. That is definitely given with the oil.

But this is certainly a very personal decision. A plastic floor, no matter how, would not come into our house. Rather genuine linoleum (a natural product!). But each person has to decide that for themselves.

Which would already rule it out for me. [...]
As a carrier plate, it definitely had the same substructure as the laminate. Still, I admit gladly, the vinyl was much more pleasant to the touch than the laminate.

Yes, as I said, I don’t know all the vinyls that exist, but I paid special attention to it, or rather the specialist dealer said that it is definitely not an HDF carrier plate.
You simply can’t have both, water resistance and pure nature. And as I said, if the parquet is not a solid wood plank, there is also plenty of plastic in it, of course not as much as in a PVC plank, but that it is pure nature is also not true.

Regular oiling?
Well, I think for us every 2-3 years at most. We would then rent the special machine and it is a matter of a few hours, probably spread over 2 days.

I’m just explaining the lower maintenance, which you doubted.
Whether it’s worth it for someone, or one accepts that depending on personal priorities and preferences, remains unaffected.

Linoleum was also on my checklist but was ruled out due to lack of design options and cost.

I can totally understand your aversion to plastic panels in the house. It’s always about weighing your preferences and priorities and, of course, the budgetary possibilities against each other. And when I found out during research that on the one hand most manufacturers have the plasticizer problem with vinyl somewhat under control, and on the other hand so-called natural materials are not pure nature, or the real natural materials are simply much more expensive, I somehow ended up sticking with vinyl. Actually, our decision is still not final. For example, I am still thinking about tiles. I don’t quite like the idea of falling children’s heads...

Phew, we’re hijacking the thread, damn.
Sorry to the OP, maybe we’ll continue via PM or in another thread, there are plenty of flooring threads...