[SallyC]

Have any of you had Laminate floors installed in your home? If so, have you installed it over old hardwood floors? How does it hold up? Will my scooter be alright on them?

I have old hardwood floor under my carpet. I'm thinking of removing the carpet and either refinishing the hardwood or installing laminate wood finish/like floors over the hardwood.

I'd appreciate pros, cons, pitfalls, if any and your advise and thoughts.

Thanks

[Jomar]

We have Laminate flooring in most rooms now.
Don't have a scooter but I do have dogs & move the furniture around couple times a year.
We used the Columbia clic lock type, just clicks together , no glue no nails.
limited lifetime guarantee
http://www.columbiaflooring.com/coll...fm?subcat_id=4

We used some lower cost laminate in a rental job and it was not nearly as good quality as ours.
the edges chipped easier and the joints didn't fit as well.

If you go with a laminate make sure to at least get a mid range product and not the cheap stuff.
If you have someone do the install make sure you check out the brand they are installing and it's what you wanted, they could do a switch and give you the cheap stuff while charging for the higher cost laminate.

The floors need to be level with no uneven spots or the joints won't fit well.

Soooo,
I would check to see what kind of shape the real wood is in first, before I would cover it with the faux stuff.

real wood is the in thing now -even if it is not perfect.
If it is still solid and no major damage I say go with the real stuff.

http://www.consumersearch.com/flooring
http://www.floorfacts.com/
http://ezinearticles.com/?Laminate-F...ion&id=2372070

[braingonebad]

I used to be in floor sales. A lot of new products since then though.

I would check costs first. I have no idea anymore how much to install laminate. It's not crazy expensive, even for the good stuff, if you have someone to put it in for you.And it is made for DIY.

They used to have VCR tapes to show you how to do it, we'd lend them out (our stores). You can look all that up online now.

My sis and bro have lams in high traffic areas - no scooters, but lots of kids and dogs. They are really happy with products, but bro says he got too dark a color. Would have gone lighter, to show less dirt/dust.


You know how that is, too light or too dark shows everything.

His floor over 10 yrs old - 4 kids, two dogs, parties 2x a month - does not seem to be showing any signs of wear. It was a 25 yr product (I think by Armstrong).

Sis's is a little older - 5 kids with spouses, parties all the time, one BIG dog - one seam came apart in the door a little - but that is installation, not product. Floor looks good where I can see it.

SIL had hardwood refinished about same time as sis's lam (12-13 yrs?) was installed and I could see just a bit of wear in the traffic zones. 2 grown kids, not a lot of company.

I have HW under carpets too. Personally, I'd go with lams or something other than HW in kitchen, bath, etc. I may re-do my wood now that the kids are grown - just because it's there and suits this old house. I'll be putting area rugs in the traffic zones if I do, though.

Pros of lam is that you can roll on it as soon as it's installed - HW, you have some curing time. do you have a couple days to wait?

Also, insulation factor, both heat/cool and noise.

Some are okay for exposure to wet areas, but most have a tougher surface than wood - less scratching, denting, staining. We used to take keys to the samples to demonstrate. One seminar, a lit cigarette was burned all the way down on a plank. The residue was easily removed with nail polish remover!

One thing, do not install above grade products below grade (basement areas). And always call ins and ask a lot of questions about what kind of water damage you have coverage for. Ask about floods, toilet and appliance leaks, whether first or second floor, if it covers your flooring, etc.


Also look at if you need someone to trim your door bottoms if the new flooring is higher.

[Jomar]

And the salesman let me hammer on the sample and try to scratch it with a quarter.
We took a spare piece of ours and put it in a bucket of water to see how it held up. The Columbia clic barely expanded even after days of being in the bucket. But the bargain basement stuff expanded within 20 minutes.

Also some of the problem with water damage can be from a particle board underlayment. That stuff swells fast and then causes the laminate or whatever flooring you have to get messed up from the warping and bumps under it.

We live in the country and have gravel and grit from the driveway.
So that seems to slowly affect the floor surface by the back door with tiny tiny scratches but you have to be down on the floor looking across it to see those.
And our floors are 13 yrs old & kitchen we did in 05.

Oh I just got an email from the place we bought our flooring from - wanted to post it for you- it has a lot of good info on it for all kinds of flooring choices.
http://www.ifloor.com/
&
http://www.ifloor.com/about-flooring/

[SallyC]

Thanks so so much for your replies and links. I am looking at them all.

My SSon & DIL were just here and told me, Wood/laminate would be cold, loud and slippery. They have hardwood throughout their home.

They said I would probably like Berber Carpet replacement better. Uhhhhhhhh, what do you think?

[Jomar]

I'll never go back to carpeting due to allergies, pet hair & dirt - just can't get it clean no matter how good your vacuum is.

They have various textures or smooth, and we heat with a wood stove only and don't have any problem with coldness.
When our Lam was new if we wore new socks then it was a little bit slippery, but real wood would be the same at first I think. The fresh polished finishes, etc..
Same with loudness not really a factor.

If you have drafts or doors that are leaky then you might notice a cooler area by the door.

Laminate floors float on a padded plastic pad , some brands have a felt type layer with plastic liner.{insulating}


*but if I already had real wood flooring that was in decent shape I would go with that and just clean it up or refinish it.*

my sis has real wood flooring and even a small dent or little scrape just adds character to it.

But it's really just what you prefer, they all have some pluses & minuses.

[SallyC]

I hear you Jo, I don't want more carpet either.. My Hunks are coming tomorrow to do a bit of repair on my Bathroom. I will get their ideas and expertise, to see which is the smartest, fastest and cheapest way to go.

I will let you all know my decision.

[braingonebad]

Well, if you HAVE to do carpet, berber is the way to go, if you ask me. Mine is about 12 yrs old, not the most expensive you can get, and it's not threadbare yet, lol.

It's basically made from recycled soda bottles . Pretty hard to stain.
It's what gets into the pad that gets you. - it'll keep *wicking* back up, you can clean over and over, and it'll come back up.

It holds the allergens down so they don't fluff all over in the air. If you don't sweep all the time, it actually can help by keeping stuff out of the air. That's most of the reason I had the carpets instead of the dusty wood I had to mop all the time - plus padding the kids' falls.

Now, I'm just kind of tired of the steaming carpet, you know? Now we can use a steam mop on wood, so that's easier. The kids still fall, lol.

I'm also going to look at other types of floors. Bamboo and cork sound interesting for certain areas and they look cool. I'm not sure they'd look good here, though.

[SallyC]

My hunks were here today and they decided that laminate is the way to go. The whole house...living rm, dining, hall and kitchen....and perhaps bedrooms. I'm going to look at samples, including bamboo.

I don't know what color, except, I don't want real light...and I don't want too dark either. All my furniture is on the dark side (mahogany, cherry..etc. What color would you go with?

[Jomar]

what color are your kitchen cabinets ??
- it's nice to have the same flooring /color through out the house

here is a site with an online design program.
you can choose the rooms & style and then select the color/style of the flooring to see what looks best for you.
http://www.armstrong.com/flooring/design-tools.html

other sites might have similar online designer too.