anyone have any experiences with harmonics laminate flooring

[zixxer]

I plan to live in my house maybe 4-5 years. I've been here about 4 months, and the carpet is dark near the baseboards.. indicating it's about time for replacement (original carpet when house was built in 99)

I'm considering hardwood floors... mainly because I can install it myself.. I'd need to rent a floor nail gun (about $20) but I have a compressor and miter saw, and everything else I'd need. I will probably tile the bathrooms and kitchen, due to the worry of water issues.

now.. everything I read is saying laminate is much more durable, easier to install, and cheaper. downside is... well.. it's fake. supposedly it also is easily destroyed if it gets wet.

I have no kids, and no pets. doesn't mean that won't change down the road. Not anytime soon though...

mainly.. I'm 21. I make decent enough money, but definetely don't have any extra. The carpet could probably last.. maybe.. 1-2 years more.

costco has this harmonics laminate flooring for cheap..


yay or nay?

 

[dquan97]

I have a $5 off coupon, so instead of paying $24.99/box of 17.18sq ft, you'd pay $19.99.
Valid 2/13-3/3

And you'll need a mallet, prybar, a really long clamp (to hold the planks together)

 

[Iron Woode]

You can buy laminate flooring that can deal with water. Just as long as you clean up the water fairly quickly.

Check out other flooring places and see what they offer.

This place has a decent selection: http://www.kingoffloors.com/

They are in BC.

 

[KarenMarie]

I am in the process of putting laminate in my living room.

i wanted hard wood, but ... well, thing is... wood floors are easily damaged but they can be sanded and varnished up to 5 times. laminate is really hard to damage, but if it does get damaged it is a bitch to fix. keep a spare boxin the garage, or you will have to buy an expensive kit. the laminate i ended up getting is only $80 less than wood flooring because i got the top one. it is gluess, and no nails. it is tongue in groove.

you will need 1/4 inch rounds for the corners. dont buy them from the laminate store. they are killers in price. go to home depot or lowes and get their 1/4 round for like 10% of the cost and stain them yourself.

 

[KarenMarie]

oh yea... another thing... you will have to choose whether to get the kind that has the lining attached to the slats or to get the lining separately. they come in huge rolls. i talked to a lot of ppl who install it for a living and they tell me that while the lined slats are easier to install, they are easier to crack.

if you get the lining separate... dont skimp on the price or you will feel like the floor is floating. we were over someone's house who did wood floors on the cheap and it was like walking on moving sponge.

 

[zixxer]

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
oh yea... another thing... you will have to choose whether to get the kind that has the lining attached to the slats or to get the lining separately. they come in huge rolls. i talked to a lot of ppl who install it for a living and they tell me that while the lined slats are easier to install, they are easier to crack.

if you get the lining separate... dont skimp on the price or you will feel like the floor is floating. we were over someone's house who did wood floors on the cheap and it was like walking on moving sponge.

hmm... for right now I want to do a bathroom that is about 30 sq ft of flooring.. any idea if I need to pull up the vinyl floor?

 

[Scarpozzi]

I've installed both. If you can get a nailgun for the job, you might as well put the real stuff down. The only benefit I can think of on Laminate flooring aside from price is that it's easy to interlock the tongue and groove stuff. Installation time is quick.

Your arm would hurt if you were having to nail down the real hard wood floors. Just remember that hard wood is more resistant to water, can be sealed, and is overall the best value in the long run.

If you ever move and sell your home, it will increase the value. Laminate flooring doesn't really increase the value of your home. Only hardwood and tile.

 

[mrrman]

if you are putting down laminate,tear up the vinyl, put down some underlay and install the laminate. Its quite simple and all you will need is a tablesaw. My plave is all laminate and I will be installing about 600 sqft of flooring in the bedrooms next year. At $1 per sq ft thats pretty cheap and my time.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I would suggest tile for a bathroom. It's not a good place to install wood or laminate. I've seen bathroom floors that were rotted through due to water issues over a 5 year period of time. You can also see water marks where bathroom rugs sit, etc...

You can lay tile over your vinyl....I recommend looking into Ditra. It's a new material that cuts a lot of the work out of the project. It's just a little pricey. It is a plastic replacement for backerboard. I put it in my bathroom last March and it's done great.


hmm... for right now I want to do a bathroom that is about 30 sq ft of flooring.. any idea if I need to pull up the vinyl floor?

 

[JulesMaximus]

You don't nail down laminates.

Also, laminates are no worse than real wood if it gets wet. If you spill water on them though you won't have any problem so long as you wipe it up right away.

One thing I would consider is how many different patterns they have on their laminates. You don't want to see the same pattern repeating over and over again.

Personally, I'd go with real wood.

My .02

 

[Rage187]

I did hardwood flooring for a couple years back in the day.

And in december I put down 1500 feet of laminate.


The laminate was easier and it looks like it will hold up just fine with general wear and tear.
It was easy for me but I had done hardwoods before so I still had my jamb saws and tools for getting through and around doors.

If you lived close I would be glad to help you get started in a room, you can probably knock out 400-500 feet a day w/ a square room, but once you get near closets/doors/walls thing slow down tremendosly.

 

[Codewiz]

I was looking at laminate but to get a decent quality laminate, I was able to afford bamboo flooring for around the same price point.

 

[zixxer]

ok so does anyone know if it's ok to lay on top of vinyl floor?

 

[Gand1]

I did laminate in my kitchen and ran it into the downstairs bathroom as well (connects to the kitchen). I used Pergo from Lowes with a 30 year warrantee. It's supposedly thier high traffic stuff. It's very easy to do as long as there are no tough angles or radiators to go under. I pulled up the old flooring because I didn't want the height change but you should be fine laying right on top as long as you get the transition pieces.

One cavate to remember is Pergo is a floating flooring system and if you put something on top of it that moves (washing machine) you will need to secure the pergo othewrwise the machine will salsa all over your floor!

Most people come in to my kitchen and can't even tell it's fake. It came out that good. It took me and my brother only one day to do the kitchen, but that was also most of the day wasted yanking up the old floor.

I do have animals and have dropped many things on the floor and this stuff holds up like no other. YEs you do need to wipe up spills quickly but who the hell spills something and goes, "Hmmm, I'll clean that up tomorrow."

Good luck. (Butternut from Pergo is the best color I could find)

 

[Bryophyte]

Yes, you can lay it on top of vinyl. Don't put it in a bathroom, lay tile instead. Tile is easy, a bit messier than laminate, but still really easy.

Costco's laminate is easy to install. You just need a saw and a hammer. We replaced carpet in 3 rooms over two weekday evenings (four hours one evening to remove carpet and clean up, four hours the next evening to install the laminate.) We could have done it even faster than that, but we have kids who were interrupting us all the time. We found the easiest way to do it was to assemble a whole row, then lock it in all at once. This works if you have a room that's not over about 12 feet wide and there are two of you.

 

[Krazefinn]

If its going on wood subfloor, use the real stuff, although sanding and finishing costs are higher, overall better job. However if its over concrete subfloor, I'd lean towars the lam. I have put noth types down, on booth concrete and wood subs...drilling, nailing the concrete was a chore...but I didnt want to trust the solid real wood to just adhesive.

 

[Jeraden]

I'm in the process of installing Costco laminate right now. Picked up 15 boxes a couple weeks ago for the upstairs hallway and bedroom. I'm also incredibly bad at home improvement projects, so we'll see how it goes. I ripped the carpets out a week ago and just finally started installing the laminate last night in the bedroom. Not too bad so far, kind of a pain in certain parts though. Didn't get too far yet, just laid 3 rows so far. Even bought a table saw specifically for the occasion (which took me 3 hours to put together).

 

[Bryophyte]

The only thing you need to remember when you're working with laminate...ALL cuts go against a wall. You can't butt two pieces together unless they are both uncut. So you take the piece you cut at a wall and use it as the first piece you lay against the other wall on the next row.