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Thoughts on laminate wood flooring??


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I am thinking about having this layed from the entrance of my house, up the hallway, kitchen, dining room and my great room. Basically the whole lower level.

What are the benefits and downfalls? I'm looking a either 7 or 8mm pieces arounf $1.50sq ft. I have been told this will work fine in high traffic areas if I get a good underlayment to stop echo as much as possible. I was also told to stay away from laminate. That said...there's no way I will foot the bill for solid wood. Here are the 3 color choices I am considering..

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/IMAG0457.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/IMAG0455.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/IMAG0454.jpg

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We used Dupont laminate in the kitchen of our last house and it was extremely durable. It was a very high traffic area and it held up quite well. We were very good about not letting water lay on it for any period of time, though. It was more expensive than most other laminates, but we though it looked a bit nicer. It did have the underlayment pre-glued to the back, which was nice.
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We used Dupont laminate in the kitchen of our last house and it was extremely durable. It was a very high traffic area and it held up quite well. We were very good about not letting water lay on it for any period of time, though. It was more expensive than most other laminates, but we though it looked a bit nicer. It did have the underlayment pre-glued to the back, which was nice.

 

Good to know...I wouldn't be able to deal with an echo or clop clop from shoes, so the underlayment I am looking at is $100 for 90sq ft..pretty thick shit.

 

 

I had something similar to number 2 in my condo. It seemed to hold up well and i thought it looked nice.

 

 

Thanks...I am leaning more towards the first one.

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The brighter the better. I have dark "engineered" in my entire house. It shows EVERY scuff and scratch, also when it rains/ snows out it looks like trash after one person walks in. Do you have a basement/slab/crawlspace? If slab/basement then a good baseboard is all you'll need. If a crawlspace make sure you insulate the hell out of the crawlspace because the floor will be FREEZING in the winter. I know because I don't have insulation in the crawlspace.
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The brighter the better. I have dark "engineered" in my entire house. It shows EVERY scuff and scratch, also when it rains/ snows out it looks like trash after one person walks in. Do you have a basement/slab/crawlspace? If slab/basement then a good baseboard is all you'll need. If a crawlspace make sure you insulate the hell out of the crawlspace because the floor will be FREEZING in the winter. I know because I don't have insulation in the crawlspace.

 

I have a slab basement. Is yours darker than the 1st one I posted? My mom has been telling me about scuffs. Only thing she hates about it. I kinda want to keep carpet in my great room cause I lay on the floor playing with my daughter and shit, but the room is so big it would look nice as hell with wood.

 

Thanks!!

 

I've got laminate in the downstairs of our house and it has held up very well. I have heard people say bad things about laminate before, but I almost never hear it from people who actually have it.

 

Exactly!

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Chuck and Josh...are there different levels of quality with Pergo or is it priced close to that I showed?

 

 

I sell flooring supply when you need the adhesive let me know ill hook ya up... just pm me when your ready..

 

 

Thanks!!!!

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As a former owner of both (and presently wood again), there is good and bad to both.

 

I put down pergo in my old house (my rental) when I lived there and it held up great. I have 2 large boxers and frequently dog sat for my neighbors and my parents. They could run, slide, fight, you name it and it would not show one scuff. They really put it to the test. 3 different sets of renters later, and it still looks pretty good. A few nicks here and there. The down side to it, is when I was thinking about selling, alot of people had a negative reaction to it. It was true, you could tell it was not real wood, but it looked pretty good. My realtor told me people think of laminate as you "cheeping out" on your upgrades and makes some people wonder what else you could have skimped on too. She also said some people prefer it to wood for reasons like mine - dogs. I ended up taking it off the market to rent out as I found a way to manage both mortgages.

 

In my new house I had Brazilian cherry wood put down in my "formal" living room and "formal" dining room and left the Oak hard wood in my foyer. It looks way better then my pergo did, but I can not allow my dogs in those two rooms at all. It scratches very easily. I was completely thinking future resale on this project though.

 

Long story short - some buyers prefer hardwood to laminate and will spook them enough to not buy. True story - I saw it. You may not be thinking about selling anytime soon, but you never know. Always plan ahead, but still do what keeps you happy and fits your needs/lifestyle.

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What adhesive are you planning on doing?

 

I have no idea..I have a person in mind to pay for the work.

 

As a former owner of both (and presently wood again), there is good and bad to both.

 

I put down pergo in my old house (my rental) when I lived there and it held up great. I have 2 large boxers and frequently dog sat for my neighbors and my parents. They could run, slide, fight, you name it and it would not show one scuff. They really put it to the test. 3 different sets of renters later, and it still looks pretty good. A few nicks here and there. The down side to it, is when I was thinking about selling, alot of people had a negative reaction to it. It was true, you could tell it was not real wood, but it looked pretty good. My realtor told me people think of laminate as you "cheeping out" on your upgrades and makes some people wonder what else you could have skimped on too. She also said some people prefer it to wood for reasons like mine - dogs. I ended up taking it off the market to rent out as I found a way to manage both mortgages.

 

In my new house I had Brazilian cherry wood put down in my "formal" living room and "formal" dining room and left the Oak hard wood in my foyer. It looks way better then my pergo did, but I can not allow my dogs in those two rooms at all. It scratches very easily. I was completely thinking future resale on this project though.

 

Long story short - some buyers prefer hardwood to laminate and will spook them enough to not buy. True story - I saw it. You may not be thinking about selling anytime soon, but you never know. Always plan ahead, but still do what keeps you happy and fits your needs/lifestyle.

 

Thanks for that info. That's just it...I don't want to worry with scratching and shit like that. I have a not even two year old that I am sure will test it in every way...ie toys, spills, etc. You are correct...You can tell it's not wood, but it looks damn close enough. Reason you mentioned are reasons I kind of have second thoughts. My current tile and carpet is doing just fine.

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Save yourself the money, both solid wood and laminate are super easy to install.

 

Maybe i'll rip up my dining room, complete square, and try it myself in there. I am uncertain how to handle pieces too long, edges, vents and what not. Do you just saw it? As far as adhesive...is that used to 'glue' the pieces together?

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I am also confused on this part if I were to do myself. Here are my base boards...how do you get the wood under it like you see here??

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/IMAG0471.jpg

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Thanks for that info. That's just it...I don't want to worry with scratching and shit like that. I have a not even two year old that I am sure will test it in every way...ie toys, spills, etc. You are correct...You can tell it's not wood, but it looks damn close enough. Reason you mentioned are reasons I kind of have second thoughts. My current tile and carpet is doing just fine.

 

No problem. I don't mean to talk you out of it, I loved it and prefer it to my wood floors. Just alot of buyers out there don't feel the same. I did real wood in this house as I don't plan on staying here real real long and want it to sell better. My next house will be out a little with some land for my toys and I will be there probably until I retire. If it needs upgraded, I will do laminate. You can do it, it really isn't hard. I did mine at the old house. Came out great. I'm sure there are some on here that would lend a hand, myself included.

 

Also, if it makes any difference, my 17 month old son does play on my wood floors and pushes his large riding cars on them without problems or scratches. It will hold up to him fine, it's just my rowdy dogs.

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There are several different ways to do your edges. The thickness of the laminate will be deducted from the overall reveal your baseboard will have once done. My original baseboard was very narrow(older home). With only 3" of baseboard I dint want to deduct 1/2" from that so I removed mine and raised them up so the floor was under them. You can also get away with removing just the 1/4 round stock and replacing after the floor is down. Most 1/4 rounds will cover the gap the floors manufacturer suggests you leave for climate change the floor will endure. I literally do 90% of the floors I install with just a battery powered dewalt circular saw. Its lightweight and I can just cut the pieces right where I am at without having to go out to a seperately setup miter saw. Although I always have to go out to the miter saw for very precise cuts around weird angles. You would also need a $5 flush undercut saw to saw under your door frames so the floor is hidden beneath them as well. This is simple, take a scrap piece of floor with no padunder it, lay it down next to the frame and lay the flat handheld saw on the scrap piece and saw away until the small piece of frame is gone. I personally suggest using a transition piece that matches when going in between rooms, especially a bathroom. Theres nothing worse that to have to remove an entire room of flooring because your toilet had a leak. You could cut along the seams of pieces if you need to make a repair and pop out just the bad stuff, but then you would have to try to glue in a piece without either a tongue or groove and its hard to make it look right again. After 5mins of doing either laminate or wood yourself, you will tell yourself, you couldnt believe you were actually going to pay someone for this. Solid wood is a little trickier due to cost and layout. Without the proper planning on a solid floor you can easily add alot of cost when you realize you screwed up using some boards here when they would have been better used over there. While this is also true with laminate, the material is alot cheaper and you can run to the store to pickup an extra box. Alos think ahead and consider buying an extra box or 2. It sucks to scrap an entire floor because a few pieces were ruined a year after install and the laminate or wood you have is no longer available. If you need help with either one, let me know and as long as my foot is good I will come help/lend support.
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its easy to lay charles...i just did a bedroom at my g/fs moms...you can see a couple cell pics on my FB page... as for under the baseboards, at my house and her moms, i just pulled the baseboards and quarter round (without breaking them), lay laminate, and reinstall. if you have an air nailer, it goes much quicker...

 

but you can find some laminates with a coating, i cant remember what it is exactly, but it makes them scratch resistant. when i was at lowes, the guy showed me laminate that looked like stone tiles, and held out a piece and told me to take my keys and try to scratch it...i really tried hard, and couldnt get a scratch on it. its now in my kitchen and i love it.

 

if you need some help knocking it all out, let me know. ive got nothing but free time lately

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I got some clearance stuff for my Reynoldsburg house; $.88 a sq/ft (with the foam underlayment). Seems to be holding up fine for the tenant there, at least last time I saw it. Looked far more expensive than what I paid - had they had enough, I would have purchased some for my house as well.

 

Don't pay someone to lay the laminate - it isn't all that hard to do yourself, and is a pretty satisfying project.

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Many of the pergo planks already come with foam underlay attached. I just installed pergo throughout my living room and kitchen and it was a lot of work but it was not difficult. Once you "get in the groove" you will see quite a bit of progress very quickly. I did a lot of research of laminate vs wood and I choose laminate because of my dogs and the cost of upkeep of real wood.
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