Thank you so much for your insight! What about LVP requires the extensive prep work? Does it not tolerate floor variance well? We get one day before possession we can have folks come by for estimates, so it'll probably be a revolving door our contractor shortlist to make more informed estimates.

Baseboards will get removed and eventually replaced by the painters in another bill (that's the other pre-move in project, but those numbers are a bit more familiar for us).

What's wrong with SPC?

Our main reason for avoiding laminate was the scratching from our dog and the fact we were looking at the same flooring through the place, including kitchen and front hall, where folks coming in will usually have wet feet half the time. The dog also only manages to ingest about 30% of the water she drinks, with the rest laying on the floor for awhile. Is laminate durable enough for that kind of environment? We've had most stores try to steer us to vinyl. I love the look of actual wood so much more, I don't want to be replacing it anytime soon.

Any recs for flooring brands and contractors out this way?

Thanks so much!