Hardwood / Laminate flooring: Thoughts?

[Clay]

When we moved into our current house, the carpet was decent at best. I knew it would need replaced, but we also knew we would be having kids and thought it would be best to wait a while.

well, that while is close, and my wife thinks its here!! Hence, this thread.

We are trying to decide between a good deal on some good actual solid wood laminate, but its still the thin stuff @ 2 sq/ft (Mohawk Oak Golden to be exact). The other stuff is what I really want to put down, but its 2x the money @ 4 sq/ft. Its solid wood as well, but 3/4" thick, and is a 'twist lock' style. Im on a slab so its either glue or floating floor for me.

Does anyone have opinions or thoughts on this?

thanks!
clay

 

[Fenway]

In on the suggestions. Need new floors

 

[! twitty]

You definitely get what you pay for. I can tell you that I used the cheap stuff and it shows. Also, on the other hand my father in law used the expensive stuff and there are spots with it that look bad too. In the end, I will never use the laminate wood stuff again.

 

[mcolford]

Wood laminate is horrible to deal with. Install isnt boo bad, but you cant mop it, gets dirty looking really easily, and I think it wears quickly. I havent been impressed with it other than the easy install. We have had ours for 5 years, and Ive got a few dents in it from things falling (nothing big either, just stupid small stuff), and a couple spots that have swollen up. We didnt go cheap on ours either, before that gets mentioned. If I were you, I would spend the money on REAL hardwood flooring, or a good carpet. Just my .02

-MColford

 

[lovemachine]

Real hardwood is "softer" than laminate. It's easier to scratch. And you can't let it get wet for very long.

Laminate is harder to scratch. And it's much harder than hardwood. (for example, if you jump up and down on laminate and real hardwood, your knees are going to be in more pain from the laminate.)
Laminate is easier to take care of. There are cleaners and mops that are made just for laminate. And laminate is easier, and cheaper, to install. It's easier to replace a broken/cracked section.

But hardwood looks a lot better.

 

[Rookie]

Come pull up my hard wood floors and you can have it.

 

[CindyE]

We have "middle of the road" laminate in most of our house. I hate carpet.
I'd really like to have real hardwood or tile. I have heard that hardwood is softer and scraches more easily, so i wasn't sure about that, with our dog's nails, even though i try to keep them trimmed. But it can be refinished. I like our laminate, but it is hard to keep it looking nice, and you do have to be careful of moisture. Our old fridge leaked, and water ended up standing on the floor all day. Then when summer arrived, the floor swelled and warped, so we had to replace a few boards.
I don't miss the carpet at all, and would still take the laminate over that.

 

[jeremy]

How old are your Children?!
Do you have indoor pets?!

I have laminate flooring (cheapest crap Sam's Club had) that is going on 6 years old I have 2 GSDs and a lab/pit mix that are inside/outside dogs. Sweep the Floor and run a Swiffer across it and bam it is back to looking good. The upstairs that is Hardwood Flooring, well that **** is ready to be stripped, sanded and refinished again. Especially the Stairs...

LAMINATE if you have dogs or small children that like to play with toys on the floor...

 

[Clay]

kids are 5, 2 , and 1, and yes we have dogs inside. We are down to 1 boxer right now, but intend to get another smaller dog in the future. Oh, there is a cat to, but Ill probably dig a hole, drop it in, and put flooring over the top of it.

 

[jeremy]

kids are 5, 2 , and 1, and yes we have dogs inside. We are down to 1 boxer right now, but intend to get another smaller dog in the future. Oh, there is a cat to, but Ill probably dig a hole, drop it in, and put flooring over the top of it.

If you go Hardwood it will look like you have been using it for a Shop Floor inside of a Year...

 

[IndianaSigma]

I was a flooring installer for about 4 years (now in the concrete business). There are positives and negatives to each one:

Durability: Laminate floors are less susceptible to scratching, scuffing, and damage upon impact. Wood floors are also prone to warping when exposed to moisture, making laminate a better choice for bathrooms and kitchens.

Installation: Wood floors are heavier and considerably more difficult to install than laminate floors. Wood floors usually require the assistance of a professional to install, while laminate floors can be done without outside help.

Longetivity: Wood floors can last the lifetime of the home if cared for properly while laminate typically lasts 15-30 years.

Cost: Real wood floors are much more costly as they use real wood and laminate uses a synthetic blend which is a fraction of the cost.

Both are good choices, but I prefer laminate because it cleans up easier, doesn't warp, and takes impacts better.

You could also look into vinyl plank flooring or ceramic.

 

[sbsg2005]

My house has the thin laminate it the kitchen and the laundy room, I would not consider puttimg it in either room again. Since it was installed we have pulled up a 2 ft band in front of the counter and laid ceramic tile and pulled a good but up in the laundry room and did the same thing infont of the washer. The two areas are prone to excessive moister and swelled the flooring within a year. In the front room, hallways, and bedrooms I would not hesitate to install it and will be here in the next couple months to cover the way beat up hard wood underneath.

 

[rockhopper46038]

I had laminate (I think it was Pergo) in another house, and it was fine; although after 5 years or so I thought I could detect the edges starting to rise a bit. In our newer house I used hardwood and went with a Swedish finish my architect suggested called Glitsa, which I guess is really nasty stuff to apply, but it wears like iron. Since you're on a slab, have you considered large format floor tiles?

 

[Clay]

If you go Hardwood it will look like you have been using it for a Shop Floor inside of a Year...

lol good point.

I grew up in a house with wall to wall solid hardwood. Thank God we had some good touch up stuff to put down

 

[geronimojoe85]

I tell you what, I just refinished the hardwood in my childhood home.
As a child my sister and I were NOT kind to the floors, that plus 20 years of at least two barely housebroken dogs, the floors looked NASTY.

A few months ago I rented a sander for the day, three gallons of stain, and two THICK coats of verithane later it's a brand new floor. It has so far held up to moving furniture, and an 80lb rott-husky with no sign of wear or scratches.

I say, if you plan on keeping the house for a while, and have the scratch, go for the hardwood.

 

[Clay]

My house has the thin laminate it the kitchen and the laundy room, I would not consider puttimg it in either room again. Since it was installed we have pulled up a 2 ft band in front of the counter and laid ceramic tile and pulled a good but up in the laundry room and did the same thing infont of the washer. The two areas are prone to excessive moister and swelled the flooring within a year. In the front room, hallways, and bedrooms I would not hesitate to install it and will be here in the next couple months to cover the way beat up hard wood underneath.

This is in the front room of the house and the hall way that leads to the bedrooms and bath. Ive put tile down at the front door, in the kitchen, and in the back room / laundry room already so no worries there.

thanks!

 

[mainjet]

I have put in a number of laminate floors for myself and others. I have also refinished my own solid wood floors years ago in my first house. I do tile as well.

My first thought was always that I wanted real hardwood floors. They look great at first and they are expensive. But they do "scratch" pretty darn easily with pets and such. I say "scratch" because my golden retriever never really scratched through the polly surface to the wood but you can see the depressed scratches in the poly. So when the sun would hit it, there were scratches everywhere just from running through the house.

Now, in my new house I laid tile in the kitchen. It's nice but the grout stains over time and it you drop a can then you chip ot break a tile.

So I took out the tile and put laminate in. It looks good and wears very well. It's very hard. So if you drop a can or something it really does not hurt it (it can, but it is very difficult). I have two dogs running through the house and they cannot scratch this floor.

My wife really love it because she has a swiffer and a steam mop that she uses on it which works really well. The only real problem I have had is if something like water gets spilled and you don't know about it. It can bubble the edges of the laminate. But if you clean it up pretty quickly then there is no problem.

So all floors have some draw backs to them. I guess I have been most happy with the laminate even though there is this thing in me that just likes real wood the best. But in reality real wood takes more damage than laminate but some times that just adds character to it.

I just laid a laminate floor for my sister-in-law on her slab foundation. It was very easy and came out beautiful. NOTE - Be sure to leave proper spacing around the walls for expansion/contraction and consider a plastic vapor/moisture barrier along with the foam padding over the concrete.

good luck.

 

[Clay]

I say, if you plan on keeping the house for a while, and have the scratch, go for the hardwood.

and this may be the key right here. I've been in this house for 11 years now, and would like to be out in 5 -> 10 years or so.

 

[evsnova74]

I'm a little biased being a hardwood flooring contractor for going on 10years now. I'm not against laminate believe it or not, I have some pretty high dollar stuff in my bathroom right now actually, and it holds up ok. I didn't put it in there because of its resistance to moisture though, I've seen Pergo floors buckle and cup, it's still wood, it's just like a particle board substrate. I'd argue that if you were to nail down a click floor that it would perform -worse- than hardwood in a high moisture situation. The fact that it's a full floating floor is its only saving grace in most cases.

My recommendation for the OP would be to call out a few professionals and get some quotes. We do free estimates and so do a lot of the other companies around here. I'm a DIY'er in most aspects of home repair (the only think I've hired out on my house so far was tree work), but wood flooring (sanding specifically) is NOT something I would advise the DIY'er to attempt themselves. I can't tell you how many hack jobs I've had to fix, and I just know that whoever did it thought they did the most amazing job. Anyway, here's my website: Virtuoso Hardwoods, wood flooring contractors, sand and finish, repair, installation, Indianapolis

No type of flooring lasts forever, flooring is probably one of the most abused surfaces in a home. What we recommend to all our customers is to think in terms of maintenance. Every 5-10 years depending on wear and cleaning products used, have us come in and put 1 or 2 coats down. If you keep up on this you should never need to sand your wood floors again. Your floors are going to get scratched, eventually it all blends in and pretty much goes unnoticed. Of course there have been advances in finish tech in the last 10 years too, 2 component epoxy-like waterborne finishes designed specifically for commercial settings, so that's something to consider as well.

I just now noticed the part about the slab. I'd probably go with a laminate if I were you.

 

[PAMom]

I have rental property and have laminate(5 years old) in some and hardwood in others. The laminate is in dining room and kitchen - not sure I would put in kitchen again due to all of the sources of moisture there. So far they look nice, but have not had kid and animal traffic continuously.

I currently have a Bruce hardwood floor in my dining room. It has been there 31 years. At this point it does need some work (though it's not bad), but an area rug under the table has really helped to preserve the floor.

I do have experience with refinishing hardwood floors. Have done 5 so far. It is work and takes time. The newer finishes available make a nice hard floor. (Not sure what the cost would be to hire them done. I stripped the old stain and finish off, then sanded (rented a floor sander), then four coats of floor finish sanded between coats. They turned out beautiful!)

Go with what you like and can currently afford. Obviously, neither is completely maintenance-free. When that stuff comes out will someone please let me know?

Just like any floor immediate clean up is the key. I suspect either will work well if cared for properly.