School me on flooring

[Smokey]

My wife has expressed a strong interest in having our main floor of our condo redone in hardwood…or more to my liking laminate faux-hardwood flooring. I know very little about this stuff and could use some guidance.

 

A little background on our place. It will be around 500-600 sq ft of floor to cover. Currently there is carpet there and there is cheap thin laminate flooring in the front entry way and kitchen. Underneath each of those areas there is additional sub-flooring to make the height similar to the carpeted areas. Unfortunately this sub-flooring goes UNDERNEATH the cabinetry/counters in the kitchen so it is not easily removed. Also the floors will be in high traffic areas being both entrances to the home. The shape is not very easy either as it will have to work around our kitchen (L-shape) and 2 stairways.

 

First up: the flooring material. I see different thicknesses offered. I see some come with a backing material, others don’t. All seem to require separate padding. What’s really worth the money here? Will too much padding cause the floor to creak/moan/mush? What about water proofing or resistance. The floor will definitely get wet during the winter/spring time when there’s rain and snow. Another consideration is that we have a spazmatic dog that will run around likely trying to scratch up everything we just put down. Where should I buy the materials? Any store/brand better to consider than others? Should I use a floor-specific place like Rite Rug or use a home improvement place like Home Depot?

 

Second: installation. My wife refuses to let me try to tackle this myself…likely for good reason…I’m not very good with working on home projects. I notice that Home Depot and the like have installation available, but will they be able to tackle the issues with the sub-flooring? I was hoping to be able to get away with using extra padding in the areas without the additional flooring in order to make the height even…am I dreaming there? Would I need to have someone lay additional floors so it matches the entry and kitchen? Should I hire a contractor to do this? If so, who can I trust and any idea on what it’d cost? If I do use a contractor should I buy the materials from them as well or is it better to separate those portions?

 

Sorry for the cluster bomb of questions, but thanks for any guidance you can offer.

[mrs.cos]

Well.. heres my two cents.

 

Creaky floors should be tackled while you are doing this. Fix the creaks before putting down the floor.

Home Depot and Lowes carrys shitty laminates IMHO.

Lumber Liquidators has good quality stuff. Im a fan of the thicker floor with backer on it already.

 

Installing it really is cake. I did our bedroom in a matter of a couple days. You just need to remember to measure 2x and cut Once. (it sounds so simple.. till you have to cut a peice 3x to make it fit) and have a table saw/circular saw.

As far as the kitchen subfloor.. you should be able to figure out the height of it and buy flooring in a size to accomodate the difference.

You will pay out the ass for someone else to do it.

Youtube videos were a godsend.

 

Good Luck!

[AWW$HEEET]

I would steer away from laminate flooring, especially if you anticipate it getting wet. It can work, but if you let water pool or stand for any amount of time, it will warp and bow, etc. Id go for straight hardwood, no laminate.

[Smokey]

I would steer away from laminate flooring, especially if you anticipate it getting wet. It can work, but if you let water pool or stand for any amount of time, it will warp and bow, etc. Id go for straight hardwood, no laminate.

 

you'll have to forgive my absolute lack of knowledge on the subject, but I thought that's what I WASN'T going with the hardwood. I thought the true wood would be more likely to warp and have water damage? Is the hardwood more likely to scratch from our dog as well? Is there a difference in care required?

 

I don't anticipate us dropping tons of water on the floor, but it will be in our kitchen, both entry ways, and our main dining area so crap happens.

[Hwilli1647545487]

you'll have to forgive my absolute lack of knowledge on the subject, but I thought that's what I WASN'T going with the hardwood. I thought the true wood would be more likely to warp and have water damage? Is the hardwood more likely to scratch from our dog as well? Is there a difference in care required?

 

I don't anticipate us dropping tons of water on the floor, but it will be in our kitchen, both entry ways, and our main dining area so crap happens.

 

Laminate is particle board with an aesthetic layer pressed on. It can look nice, but obviously compressed wood is less resilient to water damage than real wood.

[AWW$HEEET]

+1

 

The shit in my dads kitchen is loud, water seeps under it easily, it peels up on the edges, etc. Wood is more expensive, but I would choose hardwood over laminate/pergo/etc every single time.

[Smokey]

Thanks for the education on that. How about durability? Will hard wood hold up to my dog running around on it?

 

 

Also, does hard wood come in floating floor applications, or are we then talking nailed or glued floors?

[Sturg1647545502]

+1 on this thread...I've been wanting to redo my condo too, except i want to pull up kitchen wood, tear up the dining area carpet and haed straight into the mud room... Something to make the place stand out when i come to sell it

 

and ive heard good things about lumber liquidators

[Archie]

I would steer away from laminate flooring, especially if you anticipate it getting wet. It can work, but if you let water pool or stand for any amount of time, it will warp and bow, etc. Id go for straight hardwood, no laminate.

 

I thought the same thing. So I did a little scientific test myself: I laid several peices outside and let them get rained on for several days. I also left one fully submerged in a bucket of water.

 

Let's just say that they're waterproof enough if they are laid correctly.

[Sully]

I thought the same thing. So I did a little scientific test myself: I laid several peices outside and let them get rained on for several days. I also left one fully submerged in a bucket of water.

 

Let's just say that they're waterproof enough if they are laid correctly.

 

 

Which ones?

[AWW$HEEET]

Thanks for the education on that. How about durability? Will hard wood hold up to my dog running around on it?

 

 

Also, does hard wood come in floating floor applications, or are we then talking nailed or glued floors?

 

I think from my perception, the dog would do less damage on the laminate flooring than on the hard wood. I think this depends too on the hardness of whatever wood you pick.

 

I thought the same thing. So I did a little scientific test myself: I laid several peices outside and let them get rained on for several days. I also left one fully submerged in a bucket of water.

 

Let's just say that they're waterproof enough if they are laid correctly.

 

Testing is a good method. I bet the results varied, but after repeated exposure, it just starts to give way. For example, our dishwasher exploded a few times, and got wet a few times in between. It definitely shows after a few go arounds...

[Clifford Automotive]

Laminate will do you just fine. My fish tank was leaking, and water was trapped underneath the wood stand. Who knows for how long. When we moved the tank water flow, and I mean flowed out from under the stand. The floor was perfectly fine. If I had to guess how long is was trapped Id put 4 days on it.

 

Skip Lumber Liquidators, they "skip the middle man" and add the price right back in there. Look up Crown Flooring they are on the edge of Reynoldsburg and Pataskala on Rt40. Good people great prices.

 

We had an italian grey hound, these dogs run with their claws. There it not one scratch in the floor. The floor has had stuff dropped on it with no problems. Its tuff stuff.

 

I have seen many hardwood floors keep impression of impact, you wont find this in laminate.

 

I did our whole house myself. Its not hard, Im sure you and your wife could do it, and save big. You need basic tools, and good bladed mitersaw, or table saw.

[TurboRust]

We replaced our nasty Berber carpeting in our dining room and hallway with a really nice laminate flooring. We made the decision based on the fact that we have four dogs and needed something scratch resistant and easy to maintain. We have been extremely happy with it.

 

Ours is from Rite Rug and we paid 99 cents/square foot since we had a friend install it and we bought the thin under pad from Home Depot for cheap. We are on a concrete slab, so we don't have any squeaky floors, but the laminate does have a louder "faker" sound to it than real hardwood.

 

Our only problem has been when our utility closet leaked and we have one or two boards that warped on the edges since we did not catch the water for a couple of days. Other than that, we use a Swiffer Wetjet and a regular sweeper to clean it...easy!

[LJ]

You want engineered flooring. It's laminate per se, but the laminate is actually wood and you can refinish it sometimes up to 5 times.

[BigZach]

if you spend the money laminate is good stuff.....my girls dad has his own business doing flooring for 20 years and i have been helping him for the past 4. if you do decide to do it yourself let me know and i will come over and give you a hand and bring the jam saw over and cut around the doors which will make it alot easier. IMO ceramic is the way to go in the kitchen and i have a saw to cut the sub-floor out from underneith the cabinets and counters. lmk if you have any questions just dont let home depot install they are expensive and do half ass work.

[xlr8tn]

I put laminate flooring (dupont from Home Depot) in our kitchen ~5 years ago. Our kitchen is our main entry way and we have a dog and 2 kids and it looks exactly the same shape as the day we installed it. I suck at home improvement type stuff and was still able to do it. Check out one of those Lowes or Home Depot classes they have or you can learn a ton from the web. With our dog and kids there was no way I was going to spend the coin on regular wood and have them scratch it all to hell. One thing I did that wasn't required on the dupont flooring was I glued every seam to help act as a water barrier. Stuff has been spilled in the kitchen and the kids track in mud and snow on it and it still looks great. Just clean it up if water gets on there and you'll be fine.

[Smokey]

Thanks for the responses guys, that gives me some good direction. I'll have to look at some hardwood and see if the hardness will be enough to stand up to our dog and the beating we'll put on it.

 

 

As to my sub flooring question, is Zach's method best? Should I cut out the sub flooring in the main entrance and the kitchen? Could I get away with trying tp bring up the level on the rest of the floor with padding or am I dreaming because it'll never be right?

[smokinHawk1647545499]

i would do hardwood over laminate, laminate can scratch, once you off the laminate cover it is ruined, you will see particle board, also if your not careful installing it you will flick off the top section and it will look cheap.

hardwood if you scratch it will still be wood.

i have laid both and the hardwood obviously takes longer but isnt that difficult, but you have to nail it with a special nailer.

[LJ]

i would do hardwood over laminate, laminate can scratch, once you off the laminate cover it is ruined, you will see particle board, also if your not careful installing it you will flick off the top section and it will look cheap.

hardwood if you scratch it will still be wood.

i have laid both and the hardwood obviously takes longer but isnt that difficult, but you have to nail it with a special nailer.

 

This is why you should get engineered flooring. Has the benefits of hardwood of being able to refinish it and a layer of real wood, but also has the benefits of laminate with the ease of installation. It sounds like exactly what you want, and need.

 

http://homerenovations.about.com/od/floors/a/artengineerflr.htm

[Smokey]

I think you're probably right LJ. Thanks for the heads up.

[Nitrousbird]

Just did laminate in my Reynoldsburg house.

 

Got it as clearance laminate at Levi's. .95 sq/ft (including underlayment), and he knocked off 5% because I paid cash. It looks FAR better than anything Lumber Liquidators, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. had for $2 a sq/ft.

 

It isn't all that hard if you take your time; a table saw and a jig saw make it a lot easier. I don't agree with the 3/4" away from the wall (too much)...1/4" to 1/2" seems perfectly fine - I even let the house temp vary a LOT without any issue. We even had some really long runs (ran length of the house), and it worked out perfectly.

 

BTW, water + real wood = bad combo too. Our condo had real wood, and it warped badly in the kitchen.

[truckin]

Any hardsurface laminate or wood is going to scratch, it depends on how much you abuse it. Real wood will scratch much easier than any laminate will. As far as water on the floor the laminate will resist surface water better than a wood product, if an ample amount of water get under any floor and is trapped under it.....it won't matter what type of floor you have it's going to be problematic.

 

It comes down to you get what you pay for. If your planning on staying there awhile i'd spend the extra $ to get a better quality item. If not i wouldn't.

 

The difference in floor heights can be resolved 1 of 2 ways. 1. Leave the vinyl down in the kitchen and get some 1/4" subfloor to match it up in height with the rest of the floor, use a pad on top of the subfloor and not on the viynl (not needed on viynl). 2 remove the subfloor from kitchen so all the floor is same height and use pad throughout areas. If you do this only way to cut it out from under the cabinets is using a utlity knife, it's a bitch but best way.

 

Also when you get down to your subfloor it's a good idea to take the time to fix any squeeks in the floor using some 2-2.5" drywall screws. Also if you have had any pet issues that may have shown up on the subfloor buy some Kilz pet paint and paint the subfloor in the affected areas, this will also help with any mositure problems.

 

Remember the cleaner the floor the better! In addition if you have any high spots in your floor from swelling joints sand these down! Any height issues will show up in your floor as a soft or spongy feel.

 

As far as buying from Lowes/HD, or Wrong Rug, Lumber Liquidaters etc. all have cheep flooring and quality flooring, the big box stores usually don't stock the higher quality flooring, most don't.....they have to order it in. Alot of times i can beat there prices, sometimes i can't just depends.

 

Make sure you figure in 10% more than what your sq ft actually is! you will have waste on cut pieces and it never fails......dosen't matter who makes it your going to have defective pieces in both products.

 

Do not double you padding to compensate for the height difference!.

 

As far as the padding already on the back or using loose padding I've layed both and haven't noticed any gains from one over another. The laminate will chew up a blade or two so make sure you get good quality blades.

 

It's not bad to install, just takes time.

 

I've been doing flooring for over 15yrs and have installed many different types of both Laminate and wood as well as ceramic and carpet.

 

If you'd like me to come take a look and give ya price just PM me.

 

 

 

Goodluck