Laminate flooring

[chh]

I put hardwood down in our house and am really very happy not to have carpet. Easy to clean and nice to look at. My sister had laminate put in their house and they really wish they had researched the brands further. Theirs is very "clicky" and they had a small water leak with has caused damage to a pretty large area of the floor.(they think the pad wicked the water across the room) They like the fact that it is easy to clean and care for otherwise. Theirs is of the lower end price range and was installed with a very thin roll pad. Shop and compare whats available and good luck.

 

[rtdiggr]

I put laminate in our old house, we loved it. Can water damage it yes, is it a different feel kinda, is it easy to install yes but there is a small learning curve.
Make sure the floor has no squeaks before you put the laminate over top get a good underlay, and i would recommend a medium quality floor. Pergo is $$$and in my opinion not that much better than a floor at half the price. get a 7 or 8mm floor not a 6mm.
My only complaint is with the dogs[2] everytime they would got across the floor you would hear a tick tick tick.
You need to buy a block and a special pull bar YOU WILL NEED THESE ITEMS i have had people tell me you can do the floor without them but i haven't been able to do it.

Shane

 

[HRSx2]

Well the last bedroom is up. I've got three words to say for carpet, filthy, filthy, filthy. This coming from someone who wasn't afraid to rent a steam cleaner and get to work. Actually, I was quite surprised to find loads of dirt along the base boards that was never cleaned before this carpet was installed. Looked to me like everything was just rolled out on anything on the floor at that time. This poor workmanship is exactly why I do everything I can myself.

Not sure if I'll actually go with laminate yet, but I'm sure I'd enjoy it much more than the carpet I'm pulling up if I did. I looked at the box I have. I bought 8 mm floor with a premium attached underlay. It even says it is water resistent. I might have to open a few boxes and lay it just to see if I like it. If I don't I'll call it a $200 lesson.

 

[Cottonhawk]

We have about 3,000 sf laminate floor installed in our house four years ago. It is the highest grade of the Wilsonard brand. We are very happy with the floor. There is no sign of wear and no pets or water problems. We have it in kitchen and baths rooms.
Btw, there are many grades of laminates out there with wide range of prices.

 

[Red55]

Personally I like the laminate flooring BUT I love 3/4 hardwood flooring and also the bamboo flooring that's out. I have installed the Pergo high end and the lower end stuff as well. All of the laminates I have seen are slippery with any kind of dirt especially the sawdust from the laminate. Also the laminates kill your sawblade so don't use that new $100 blade when cutting it. Also I strongly recommend that you don't use the blocks they sell to bang the laminate together. In fact the laminates are technic sensitive an will go together without banging. I have seen marks from the blocks and on the laminate from being banged together.

On the cheaper stuff (1.50psf) installed this time of year and it looks great this time of the year but come July or August with high humidity you can see every seam when looking at it at the right angle. The cheaper laminate was installed over expensive padding -not an issue of cutting corners on install. Read the manufacturer directions most recommend laminate to be at room temperature and at location for 24-48 hrs. Also do not open boxes or remove plastic wrapping until you're installing it.

If it was my home and I was doing the install I would get Hardwood Flooring. In fact that what I installed in my own home and I used different types of wood for different rooms. Hallways and living room same type of wood.
-Ed

 

[dmccarty]

I've got three words to say for carpet, filthy, filthy, filthy. This coming from someone who wasn't afraid to rent a steam cleaner and get to work. Actually, I was quite surprised to find loads of dirt along the base boards that was never cleaned before this carpet was installed.

Agree! One of our dogs got very sick at the old city house. The family has a carpet cleaner so we put it to use. We mixed 50% hot water with vineger or 50% hot water and Natures Miracle. The Natures Miracle really does kill bad smells.

I ran that machine for HOURS. We went through gallons of water and vineger as well as a couple gallons of Natures Miracle.

The water being sucked into the machine was no cleaner at the start than at the end.

Carpet is disgusting.

Our "new" house has finished concrete floors. People think we are nuts. Don't care. Easy to clean. No dirt and gunk buried in what looks to be clean carpet. One of the dogs just puked a few hours ago. Get some paper towels and sanitzer. Done.

With carpet you just don't know if you got it all....

Later,
Dan

 

[rtdiggr]

Personally I like the laminate flooring BUT I love 3/4 hardwood flooring and also the bamboo flooring that's out. I have installed the Pergo high end and the lower end stuff as well. All of the laminates I have seen are slippery with any kind of dirt especially the sawdust from the laminate. Also the laminates kill your sawblade so don't use that new $100 blade when cutting it. Also I strongly recommend that you don't use the blocks they sell to bang the laminate together. In fact the laminates are technic sensitive an will go together without banging. I have seen marks from the blocks and on the laminate from being banged together.

On the cheaper stuff (1.50psf) installed this time of year and it looks great this time of the year but come July or August with high humidity you can see every seam when looking at it at the right angle. The cheaper laminate was installed over expensive padding -not an issue of cutting corners on install. Read the manufacturer directions most recommend laminate to be at room temperature and at location for 24-48 hrs. Also do not open boxes or remove plastic wrapping until you're installing it.

If it was my home and I was doing the install I would get Hardwood Flooring. In fact that what I installed in my own home and I used different types of wood for different rooms. Hallways and living room same type of wood.
-Ed

Red55
just curious how you would click the floor together without a little love tap. I have done 3 laminate floors and there is no way they would just click together.
I will say yes the 3 foot section will click together, but how do you put the 1 foot section in? I have never been able to just slide it into the smaller section.

Shane

 

[Bird]

Our "new" house has finished concrete floors.

Dan, I think that's getting more popular all the time in this area and I think it's a good idea. We probably should have done either that, or ceramic tile instead of the laminate.

There's a rental house across the street from us and this year when the renters moved out, the owner stripped all the carpet out of the house and had the finished concrete done. I haven't seen it, but my wife was over there and saw it and said it really looked nice.

 

[dmccarty]

We first saw a finished concrete floor in a high end townhouse on a golf course. It was greenish in color and they had cut decrative designs in the floor. We picked a light brown/tan pigment to color the floor. Its a subdued color, we like it and it matches the dirt around the house.

The house our builder was working on when we found him had a RED concrete floor. Not sure if they went to NCSU. Not really to my liking.

You can get a decent range of colors including one that is close to UNC blue. But that pigment is from South Africa and for some reason its only slightly cheaper than diamonds.

Later,
Dan

 

[HRSx2]

dmccarty, nothing wrong with concrete floors.

When I was ten my dad had a new ranch built on the new piece of property he had purchased. Having eight kids at the time, he had contractors burn a nice clean finish on it and never bothered covering it with anything. Now that was a wise idea with so many tracking stuff in the house. One of my nightly chores was to dust mop the livingroom. I'd easily get a dustpan full off each night. Unlike kids today, we really played outside. Even when we were made to kick our shoes off at the door, we still tracked it in. Later he simply painted the floors. I'm not sure if coloring the concrete was even an option back then.