Laminate Flooring Suggestions.....Please

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Guys,
I should have gone to my partime job today but instead I started ripping up my old carpet in the upstairs bedroom !
Im not sure I made the right decision by not going to work , I mean do you know how much stuff you have to move to rip up the old carpet !

Anyways, after I started taking up the carpet i realized that i had carpet board underneath, and that is nailed to the sub floor. I was going to originally put in regular hard wood flooring, but no way am I going to rip up the carpet board and then install another sheet of plywood to the sub floor, thats just not gonna happen !

So my question is,are there any suggestions on type of laminate flooring, and any install tips ? It sounds pretty basic but just throwing it out there. Do I need to install any cloth inbetween the carpet board and the laminate ? The prices i have looked at are averaging about $2 to $7 per sq ft. I found a nice lookin oak sample priced about $3 per sq ft.

Any suggestions are welcome ! Remember these rooms are low traffic areas !

 

[RobS]

Hi Scotty,

I did a laminate floor in our basement, it was pretty straightforward. One of those snap-lock joint, floating floors. I put it down over a layer of thin foam. I wouldn't think you'd have to pull up the carpetboard, as long as it is solid and free of voids. I don't remember the brand I used, likely one of the big names like Bruce. One thing I looked for was beveled edges and individual planks. Looks more natural to me. I think some of the patterns where they make a single piece of flooring look like multiple planks look kind of fake, especially where the ends meet. It's held up very well, much better than I would have guessed.

 

[Brokermike]

scott I bet you can get a decent real hardwood pre-finished floor for about the same price if you look around. I think it's 'engineered" flooring.

Try

Lumber Liquidators: Browse & Refine Products

 

[2manyrocks]

What is carpet board? Are we talking about OSB subflooring underneath the carpet?

 

[scott_vt]

What is carpet board? Are we talking about OSB subflooring underneath the carpet?

Good Afternoon 2manyrocks,
Yep thats probablly the right name for it ! Its the compressed particle board . Its solid and has no voids ! And it would be bear to pull up !

 

[scott_vt]

scott I bet you can get a decent real hardwood pre-finished floor for about the same price if you look around. I think it's 'engineered" flooring.

Try

Lumber Liquidators: Browse & Refine Products

Good Afternoon Mike,
Wow thats weird, thats the brand that I was looking at in the flyer I got a few days ago !

BTW thanks for your suggestions Rob !

 

[2manyrocks]

Seems like there was a thread here recently about using staples versus nails to install laminate flooring and some of the guys had some tips about that type of flooring.

Compressed particle board is not known for holding nails well, and I would think you would want a free floating floor that doesn't depend on being nailed (or stapled) to the subfloor.

 

[DUMBDOG]

Laminate flooring is a free floating floor covering. It can be installed over OSB. I would use a foam barrier between the OSB and the laminate, it should prevent squeaks.

I installed it about eight years ago in my house, it had a fifteen year warranty and it should hold up much longer than that. We have a few scratches, mainly from the two dogs. When I installed mine, it was the type that you glued together rather than the snap together that is available today.

As far as tips go, pull up the mop boards and make sure you leave a gap that will be covered by the mop board when you are done.

I could not see paying the high prices for the matching trim pieces so I made my own and it looks just fine.

 

[Lasgambler]

Hi Scott, Prices for laminate have really come down. Unless you want to buy an embossed finish you can now get good laminate for under a buck a foot. Laminate is always a floating floor designed to expand and contract. You would never use staples or nails to install. The underlayment is a vapor barrior and cushion, I would suggest using it to protect your warranty.

I have installed a good bit in Casino's in Las Vegas and did whole houses with it also. I have used the expensive and the cheap stuff from China. Now days it is all good.

Not real hard to do. The worst mistake I have seen made, Is not undercutting the door jams. I did some warranty work for Pergo in Las Vegas. I think I have almost seen it all if it has to do with Lam. Flooring. Good Luck. PM me if you want to talk about it.
Terry

 

[BungeeII]

Laminate is already known for a "ticking" or "tapping" sound when you walk on it. I would think that the thin particle board might only make that annoyance worse.

With that said...

I've installed 2 laminate floors, one from Lowes and the other was Witex. Both of these had the "padding" factory installed on the back of each piece. The Witex pad was much more substantial. Furthermore, the Witex surface has held up a lot better than the stuff from Lowes. (I'm having a hard time remembering the name, it was a Consumers Reports well-rated product, though. It was the only one with the pad attached to the flooring.)

Anyhow, if I were to install a new floor today and couldn't do with real wood, I'd probably not consider anything other than the Witex.