Laminate Flooring, who here has done their own and how has it held up?

[Renob]

I going to buy some laminate flooring on Monday I have researched and come up with Quick Step as being the best bang for the buck and easy to install and it also has a water warranty.

Please let me know what brand you have, how easy it was to install and how its held up.

Thanks.

 

[Rogue]

I put in several hundred square feet of it when I bought my house to replace 20+ year old carpet that was there before. We used Trafficmaster from Home Depot which is rebranded Pergo I believe. All in all, we've been pretty happy with it so far. I did notice that as things settled a little bit, some areas where I joined the planks together came apart slightly, but other than that, it's been nice. Easy to keep clean and durable. I would have rather put in real wood floor just because I like real wood, but it wasn't in our budget or timeframe at the time.

Just a word of warning, DO NOT measure and pre-cut any pieces no matter how accurate you think your measurements are. Cut each plank for the length that it requires. Make sure your subfloor is secured down well and very clean also. If you have any floor squeaks, you might as well take care of those too while you can before laying the floor. If you have any more questions on it, feel free to PM and I can help you out.

 

[Renob]

Thanks for the info Rogue, we have a slab floor so no squeaks, also real wood was not in our budget too.

 

[Rogue]

I'd post pics, but I don't have a digicam. Remodeling the house has made me poor

 

[Renob]

Remodeling the house has made me poor

I know what your saying.


Anyone else have laminate flooring, I would love to have your input.

 

[SALvation]

I just put in Wytex real wood floors after comparing it to Pergo. Wytex wasn't much more expensive, the same installation method (no glue/tongue and groove) and it looks a ton better since it is real wood. They sell it at Lowe's and you may wanna take a lok. I was set on Pergo until I saw this stuff. It was pretty easy to install and I did about 400sq ft in a weekend and I've never done it before.

 

[TheToOTaLL]

Originally posted by: Renob
Remodeling the house has made me poor

I know what your saying.


Anyone else have laminate flooring, I would love to have your input.

I too am looking into getting laminate flooring once the tax refund comes in the first part of '04. We have this UGLY green carpet that has obviously been here since the house was built (the house is almost 9 years old, and we've been here since January), and when it comes down to easy of cleaning and keeping clean with our cats, especially with a baby on the way, we're definately going laminate.

Bump for curiousity

 

[Zebo]

It's junk. I put pergo in kitchen and water will stain and warp it and any impact will permanently dent it. Plus it loooks fake.

I wish I would have done real wood like in my old house but I bought into the marketing... One day when it gets to sh1tty I'll rip it ip and replace with the real thing.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: SALvation
I just put in Wytex real wood floors after comparing it to Pergo. Wytex wasn't much more expensive, the same installation method (no glue/tongue and groove) and it looks a ton better since it is real wood. They sell it at Lowe's and you may wanna take a lok. I was set on Pergo until I saw this stuff. It was pretty easy to install and I did about 400sq ft in a weekend and I've never done it before.

If you have a shaper you can tounge and groove anything you want. Freind of mine has honduas mohogany floors it's frecken sweet.

 

[KenGr]

You need to do your research on the options and look at your own situation.

I have some Pergo and it dents easily, is not water resistant and discolors easily when it gets wet.

I have some Formica brand which has water resistance, seems to resist dents better but wasn't as easy of a fit. Much harder to install.

Unfortunately I can't remember the brand my brother has but it is a real wood surface composite that snaps together. Installed in a kitchen it seems to be bulletproof. Based on that I would recommend snap together real wood floating floors.

 

[Renob]

You need to do your research on the options and look at your own situation.

Been doing that for two weeks, I was just curious as to what others have done and how its held up.

I will be going with the Quick Snap "Living Space" it has a 25 year warranty with a warter Warranty.

 

[PlatinumGold]

laminate flooring is good as long as the laminate is, basically it's Formica on the ground.

If at all possible, i would save up and put in real wood. i put in real wood in our house, about 1200 sq ft (entire first floor). cost me about $5000.00. i did all the labor, back breaking stuff, took me a week to do, but it would've cost me double at least to have someone else do it, and i also got a miter saw out of the whole thing.

 

[alkemyst]

They have some very nice vinyl types now...with some approaching the cost of tile ...however sheet laminate is a ton easier to lay.

One benefit is alot of laminates are easier on the feet than tile...tile is one of the most uncomfortable floor choices for the kitchen. Looks nice though

I was going to do solid maple to match my cabinents....went out instead and returned it when I decided to divorce and sell the place....

Got some cheap 'squares' on sale at Home Depot....easy installation and during my last month or so there moving boxes and furniture across them, no problems. These were about the cheapest you can get without having the floor look like a supermarket or school

 

[Ernieb]

Originally posted by: Renob
Remodeling the house has made me poor

I know what your saying.


Anyone else have laminate flooring, I would love to have your input.

yes got laminate floor early of this year, they are great stuff.
afforable and easy to clean looks nice
real wood is even better..but not afforable to us
i didn't do the work myself...

Tips:just buy the laminate floor a bit more than you need
cuz you don't want to find out that you run out of them the last minute
and go back to the store and get some more..you would rather
reutrn the extra later on once you have finished the whole thing
cuz you bring them home..they have to sit there at a room tempature
for about 48 hrs the best..
if you run out and needed more..then you will have to head to the store
buy some more..and wait 48 hours..so that's kind of wasting time

 

[T2T III]

Renob,

Since you are putting this down over a slab, it would be pretty hard to use real wood anyway. Probably, the best you could do is some variation of laminates that you could glue down. Bruce has some options in this area. I'm not to thrilled with Pergo - and you should have more than a few options at that price point.

Whenever I get the chance, I try to steer my friends into purchasing real 3/4" Oak flooring - if it can be installed in their situation. Currently, Home Depot has 3/4" Oak flooring by Bruce - limited to one color: "Marsh" which is kind of like Gunstock and it's running $2.99 a sq. ft. - which isn't too bad. However, the warranty is only 10 years and not 15 years like the rest of the solid Oak Bruce flooring that sells for $3.98 a sq. ft. Then again, I'm paired with a wholesaler and tend to get my flooring at better prices than Home Depot sells theirs for.

 

[Wingznut]

About six months ago, I installed Pergo in my kitchen, dining room, and family room. We have two boys and a 60lb dog... And thus far, not a single dent, scratch, or water damage anywhere.

 

[T2T III]

Renob,

Here's a good site to check some prices. Not sure if they have a location close to your or not. Lumber Liquidators

 

[Sundog]

We installed over 400 sq. feet of Wilsonart, but we also used the commercial grade.

As mentioned before make sure you subfloor is clean and fix the squeeks. Also make darn sure the subfloor is level...it needs to be something like 1/8" runout over 8' or something like that.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: SALvation
I just put in Wytex real wood floors after comparing it to Pergo. Wytex wasn't much more expensive, the same installation method (no glue/tongue and groove) and it looks a ton better since it is real wood. They sell it at Lowe's and you may wanna take a lok. I was set on Pergo until I saw this stuff. It was pretty easy to install and I did about 400sq ft in a weekend and I've never done it before.

If you have a shaper you can tounge and groove anything you want. Freind of mine has honduas mohogany floors it's frecken sweet.

Honduran mahogany is probably being used incorrectly here....1) it's only about half as hard as oak and 2) while great for fine furniture and cabinentry, a terrible wood for anything but light floor traffic (the average woman can dent it with her heels usually). He is probably using Mahogany, however, it's probably Royal Mahogany which looks similar.

 

[Doggiedog]

I had Pergo in my old apartment.

The contractors did a real nice job of installing it but because there were some beams that made the floor uneven, the Pergo started coming apart a bit. They would stay in place but slide up and down a little.

My baby once dropped my speaker off its stand and broke a bit of the floor. I was kind of surprised that it would do that much damage but when I looked at the speaker, it landed on a corner and dented the corner. I think the floor gave more damage than it took.

All in all, I was satisfied with it.