Laminate Flooring

[SoonerTexan]

Who has laminate?

We have tile and carpet in our house. The carpet is in the living room in the front and the hallway to all the bedrooms and the bedrooms themselves. The carpet was new when we moved in almost 6 years ago and I think it is going to need to go before we sell this place in 2-3 years. It isn't really stained, but the hallway carpet is horribly worn and it wasn't stretched properly when it was installed, so it bunches up. I tried to have it stretched, but because of the way it is cut to go into the bedrooms, it isn't possible.

I figured we would just put in some cheap carpet a few months before selling, but in a fit of "OMG I cannot stand this nasty carpet in the hallway anymore" today, I thought of laminate. On it's face, it doesn't look like it would be *too* much more expensive than carpet, but I'm not sure. It would definitely look nicer. If we did that, I'd like to do it before we go and enjoy it a little. How well does it wear? Remember, we're talking high traffic areas (but not areas with any water)

There is a small chance we might keep the house as a rental--would that change your opinion?

[Thirteen]

We have vinyl plank, and we love it. Doesn’t scratch or gouge like hand scraped hardwood, and cheaper.


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[alotofyarn]

We took out all the vinyl in our house when we moved in, but I've seen some that looked better than others. It's popular around here.

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[scrub-jay]

We have vinyl plank in our kitchen (we installed it) and we love it. It’s worn so well.

[SoonerTexan]

We have vinyl plank in our kitchen (we installed it) and we love it. It’s worn so well.

I thought that was tile?

This is what I'm talking about:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficM...4089/204135461

I'm not sure we could do vinyl without it looking horrible. We have a slab foundation that is not level at all.

[scrub-jay]

I thought that was tile?

This is what I'm talking about:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficM...4089/204135461

I'm not sure we could do vinyl without it looking horrible. We have a slab foundation that is not level at all.

Often mistaken for tile, but nope. DH put that in himself during intern year. It has it’s own underlayment and floats over uneven flooring. Very very resilient.

[MrsK]

How about the laminate that is supposed to look like wood? Have you seen any that are convincing? I’ve been dying to rip all the carpet out of my house and put down wood but it’s so expensive that I’d never do it.


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[SoonerTexan]

How about the laminate that is supposed to look like wood? Have you seen any that are convincing? I’ve been dying to rip all the carpet out of my house and put down wood but it’s so expensive that I’d never do it.

Yeah, that is exactly what I'm talking about. It looks okay in pics and in person--just concerned about how it would wear.

[JDAZ11]

I actually have a friend here that is selling her house now. They put in laminate that looked like wood 13 years ago, and the only parts that didn’t wear well were near the hot water heater, where there was a leak last year, and by the back door where water came in during a really bad flood four years ago. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t wood - and I’m like a crazy engineered wood spotter when I look at houses to buy (But I mean, I also don’t walk into other people’s houses and look at them the way I look at a house I’m potentially buying, so maybe it was more noticeable than I give it credit for, but I was impressed).


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[medpedspouse]

We did laminate while in training and loved it. I hate carpet, I feel like it is never reeeeeally clean...especially when you have dogs. The floors held up well even though we have big dogs that hate to have their nails trimmed. This was also 10+ years ago. Those materials have evolved well and I am impressed at all the new options now. Fast forward to our 2nd house post training and we actually went with the vinyl plank for the low cost because I could not decide what to do and the carpet had to go. We get compliments on it all the time and it has held up well so much so that we've kept it longer than anticipated. We did hire someone to install it and glad we did because he did have to redo one area. After a week, it was "bubbling" and it needed some concrete underneath.

[spotty_dog]

When I think laminate, I think Pergo, so it's kind of synonymous with wood-look to me. I've heard that it can be a little picky to take care of, because using too much steam or moisture can delaminate the surface layer from the MDF core? But the product has been popular in houses for decades now, so it seems like it has certainly stood the test of time. That said, I feel like vinyl has really come a long way, and whether it's wood-look or tile-look, planks or tiles, it seems like the modern stuff is really nice to look at and easy to care for. I've also heard about wood-look porcelain recently, which intrigues me. Can you walk through a stand-alone flooring store to get a feel for the options?

I recently learned that restretching a carpet is also a thing, and in fact a pretty common thing in humid climates, FWIW. Won't fix the worn parts, but between a professional cleaning and a restretching, maybe it will give it enough new life for you to live with it a while longer?

(BTW, [MENTION=3775]JDAZ11[/MENTION], engineered hardwoods and laminates are kinda related but kinda really NOT the same. The former is wood all the way through, with a thinner or thicker veneer, while the latter is MDF pressed fiberboard with a printed layer on top.)

[SoonerTexan]

I recently learned that restretching a carpet is also a thing, and in fact a pretty common thing in humid climates, FWIW. Won't fix the worn parts, but between a professional cleaning and a restretching, maybe it will give it enough new life for you to live with it a while longer?

I tried to have it done a few years ago. Because it is one piece of carpet going down a hallway with bedrooms off it, they guy said there was no way to stretch it without making it look worse due to the cuts. It wasn't installed correctly to begin with.

I've also heard about wood-look porcelain recently, which intrigues me

We have this in our master bath and I love it, but I wouldn't put it through the rest of the house. Mostly because we have a slab in a climate where slabs move. It's super cold and hard on a slab. Unfortunately are already dealing with cracking in the existing tile too. :/ I don't think it would be cost effective either.

[spotty_dog]

Gotcha. Unfortunately I have no idea about the relative costs of materials, because every time we go to the flooring store and ask about price, they just say "Oh, it's too hard to calculate without knowing the % for waste, and they're all within the same range anyway, so pick what you like." Um, thanks anyway? Glad we're a rich dawkter family so we can handle a few hundred bucks either way from the budget, but that's not the way I'd prefer to work!

[JDAZ11]

(BTW, [MENTION=3775]JDAZ11[/MENTION], engineered hardwoods and laminates are kinda related but kinda really NOT the same. The former is wood all the way through, with a thinner or thicker veneer, while the latter is MDF pressed fiberboard with a printed layer on top.)

Oh no, I know they aren’t the same. We haven’t run into in laminate. But I usually walk into a house, my face drops and I’m like “oh engineered wood floors.” And then I try to walk out. My realtor and builders have spent an excessive amount of time trying to convince me they are now as good - and in some ways better than wood, but I’m really partial to real wood. I like it to have a little give too. Anyway. My point was that I’m usually good at spotting fake (or engineered) woods, and I never noticed her’s (but again, I don’t look at other people’s houses the way I look at houses to buy, but I jut thought I’d mention that I was fooled by the look).


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[spotty_dog]

Oh no, I know they aren’t the same. We haven’t run into in laminate. But I usually walk into a house, my face drops and I’m like “oh engineered wood floors.” And then I try to walk out. My realtor and builders have spent an excessive amount of time trying to convince me they are now as good - and in some ways better than wood, but I’m really partial to real wood. I like it to have a little give too. Anyway. My point was that I’m usually good at spotting fake (or engineered) woods, and I never noticed her’s (but again, I don’t look at other people’s houses the way I look at houses to buy, but I jut thought I’d mention that I was fooled by the look).

Oh that makes perfect sense now! I read it as using the two terms interchangeably and I was like...but...��