Laminate Flooring?

[coobie]

A few questions for you good folks who have installed Laminate flooring,how well does it hold up?What name brand did you buy?My wife and I are looking at installing the quick-step brand name,any thoughts good or bad?Thanks,coobie.

 

[forgeblast]

have it in place for about ten years now. not sure of the brands, but one section of it is in our basement over a sub floor and it still looks great.
hints
1. get the tool kit, helps with the install.
2. order any baseboards/molding at the same time so that the color styles match
3. if installing over a concrete floor take a piece of plastic on the floor if there is condensation then it will buckle your floor.
4. take your time on your first row its the hardest, also make sure the groove is always clean, the smallest amount of sawdust will keep it from locking.
5. plan where your first row will go, its easier to make it fit under a baseboard instead of trying to snap it under a baseboard.
just remember its a floating floor leave a gap all along, if its in a kitchen or bathroom you may have to silicone your edges.

 

[Kays Supply]

I'm a plumber. I HATE it. I have had small mishaps that cost me thousands. If it had been any other type flooring, it would have been a mop and go.

 

[keegs]

Everything forgeblast said.....I'd add I used the manufacturer's (Pergo) foam underlayment.

Pergo has a particle board base. If it gets wet it will be ruined. Replacing sections that get wet for me is not an option since my floor is glued together.

I installed mine about 10 years ago and it looks as good as it did the day I installed it.

I ordered my floor through DIYflooring.com

 

[/pine]

not familiar with that brand but I have installed thousands of sf of different brands...and the one thing I will say is stay away from the cheaper brands...

also...if you have a lot of (door) openings to install through/around...it will pay you to rent a jamb saw...

 

[czechsonofagun]

I put it over the floor electrical heating cable in our living room. It is there for 5 years and holds up great.

Not sure of a brand, it was coupon at Costco, they have a nice selection of finishes.

 

[Storm56]

Built a new home 3 years ago. I put hardwood and tile in all of the home except for the finsished room over garage. Used some pergo brand and carpet in that room.

Bottom line is we much prefer the hardwood. We do not care for the hollow sound of the pergo, holding up well though.

They make several qualities of the foam pad that goes under the pergo. We were advised to spend the extra for the better pad so we did. I also got the installation kit and it did make the job easier.

 

[rtimgray]

We put down our laminate flooring about 4 years ago. We got a bunch of cheap stuff at HD (I think it was a Shaw brand, but I'm not sure). We figured that we could use it for now and upgrade the flooring later.

Install was not too bad - I'm definately with the crowd that saws get the install tool kit. Also, ours was advertised as "snap together" but it worked alot better as "hammer together"!

It has held up very well, with the exception of a few places where the kids spilled something on it, didn't clean it up, and it sat there and soaked in. Now there are little swollen areas at the joints. However, these are just a few spots, and it has otherwise held up well daily wear and sweeping/mopping.

Of course, neither I nor my wife like to sweep or mop, so it's probably only been mopped about twice a year!

I would definately use laminate again. However, I've seen expensive laminate that rivals the cost of hardwood, so I'm not sure I would spend as much or more on laminate as opposed to hardwood.

Kays Suppy Plumber Man (Reed? maybe) - what happened with laminate that has caused you such trouble? Is it moisture related?

Good luck and take care.

 

[clemsonfor]

We put down our laminate flooring about 4 years ago. We got a bunch of cheap stuff at HD (I think it was a Shaw brand, but I'm not sure). We figured that we could use it for now and upgrade the flooring later.

Install was not too bad - I'm definately with the crowd that saws get the install tool kit. Also, ours was advertised as "snap together" but it worked alot better as "hammer together"!

It has held up very well, with the exception of a few places where the kids spilled something on it, didn't clean it up, and it sat there and soaked in. Now there are little swollen areas at the joints. However, these are just a few spots, and it has otherwise held up well daily wear and sweeping/mopping.

Of course, neither I nor my wife like to sweep or mop, so it's probably only been mopped about twice a year!

I would definately use laminate again. However, I've seen expensive laminate that rivals the cost of hardwood, so I'm not sure I would spend as much or more on laminate as opposed to hardwood.

Kays Suppy Plumber Man (Reed? maybe) - what happened with laminate that has caused you such trouble? Is it moisture related?

Good luck and take care.

I am fixing to lay real 3/4 " read oak, i am buying 3 1/4 boards for less than $2ft, this is not a deal or contractor price but the everyday price. My brother in law used it in his whole down stairs (about 1700ft) so i know what the product looks like, its not filled with knots or cracks. Anyway in looking over the last year at everywhere from online to lumber liquadators to lowes this is as cheap as you can find it. I have also seen some of the american woods, not rain forest exotics, for around $6 sq/ft uninstalled!!! NOw i will put my unfinished wood in myself and then finish it my self (we dont like the grooves in the prefinished wood) and can finish it with 7 coats of poly for around or less than a $1ft so i will have less than $3ft in it. Even if i paid to have it done i figure it would still be $5 ft i have no idea why some one will buy an engineered oak laminite for $4-5 ft. They say you can refinish it once for the good stuff but its still thin and i know when i refinished the other 1000 feet or so of Hardwood in my house that sometimes you go deeper unintentionally and sometimes on purpose to get out an inperfection, id had to sand down to the MDF on that stuff.

But back on topic, my cousin put it in his house with the help of his dad, they are not really handy and it looks good, there are a few details like they did not vary the boards so you have a consistant pattern of boards in the floor but most will not notice it. They have 2 kids one 7 and the other 9. It looks almost as good as the day they put it in 3 yrs or so ago. It has a few scratches from there dogs ( have 3, 2 yippies and a big bird dog) but not as bad as real wood at my house. No visible swell and im sure the kids spilled on it, they may have wiped it up fast though?

For the money i still would go to lowes and buy the solid 3/4 prefinished oak that they sell on sale for $2.78 sq/ft and use a 10% off coupon and have real wood with the benefit (so they say) of that factory UV cooked coating that they say is harder than your onsite floors. That said i took a few things at lowes and slowly dragged them with little pressure on those 3/4 oak gunstock or whatever prefinished wood samples they had out and they seemed to scratch just as easy as my on site floors.

 

[Trkrd]

I put laminate from Sam's Club in my house about 6-7 years ago and love it. The stuff seems indestructible. I threw the scrap in the back of my truck when finished and decided to just leave it there and see what happened to it. After about 2 months of being exposed to the elements it was still good as new. Can't recall the brand, but it was a breeze to install with no special tools.