Which floors are suitable for single-family homes? What does the home-building elite recommend?

I didn’t mean a "softness" at all. More like a roughness, which I associate with wood as opposed to, for example, laminate.

We also thought back and forth for a long time. Tiles are not really to our liking for living spaces and can chip and last too long (appearance).

Parquet, laminate, design flooring – these are ultimately always carrier materials with a minimal wear layer on top.

We have partially installed design flooring in the current house. The feel underfoot is pleasant, but the floor is too sensitive for us (once you drag a fingernail across it, there is already a white scratch). Installing the glued variant requires a very even floor; otherwise, every unevenness is visible. More expensive.

Parquet is too expensive for us, at least if you want an underlayer that differs from vinyl or laminate.

Laminate has a colder feel underfoot and is somewhat louder, a better underlayer than design flooring, and significantly harder and more scratch-resistant. Our floor has been in the house for 20 years and still looks good for that.

We have therefore decided on the cheaper laminate, and if we do not like it in five years, we will replace it without having invested large sums.

Wow, what a mudslinging battle between vinyl and parquet. I don't have many emotions about it, whether we will be satisfied with the vinyl remains to be seen. It's just flooring, if we don't like it, we'll just put in a different one after a few years. But that parquet is easy to care for, as some claim here, I really can't agree with that. I've had parquet here for 10 years. It already looked terrible from the previous tenant when I moved in, and you can't get it nicely maintained (without significant costs) anymore. If you get water damage there, those spots are simply ruined. For the previous tenant, it was the aquarium, but even if you don't close the window quickly enough during a downpour, it can go wrong. So the parquet in this rental place was the reason for us to categorically exclude that flooring.

Really good parquet (thick wear layer or even solid wood) is certainly more expensive than 50 EUR/m², but then it’s really good and will probably last your entire life whether with or without care.

What characterizes "really good parquet"? Who in life will sand their parquet twice – probably no one. And oak is oak. The price differences come a) from the name (like with Apple) or b) from special surfaces (well-aged, smoked, and treated with 5,000-year-old Inca oil) or dimensions. Otherwise, you can get really good parquet for 25-35€.

Wow, what a mudslinging match between vinyl and parquet.

Just a "battle" between plastic and wood

If water damage happens to you there, it’s just ruined in those spots. For the previous tenant, it was the aquarium, but even if you don’t close the window quickly enough during a downpour, things can go wrong.

Whereas a tipped-over bucket or an open window is absolutely no problem, provided the parquet is glued down and not submerged in water for hours.

I have not read all the posts. We have laid tiles everywhere in the new house because durability is the most important to me. Downstairs we have wood look, which is really very close to parquet. I want flooring that does not get scratched and on which water cannot cause damage.

I'll just throw carpet into the mix...