I received good feedback to my "Living With Tile Floors" thread, so I thought I would get some feedback on Laminate floors. We are also considering using a laminate floor in our dining, entry, hall, and perhaps the kitchen. Naturally, all will be fairly high traffic areas.
I'm interested in hearing from people who have laminate floors in their own homes, preferably something that was installed in the last couple of years.
I've heard there are issues with "smudges", sensitivity to water sitting on the floor, "hollow" sounds as you walk on them, and that they are easily scratched. What are your real world experiences? Are newer products any better than the older ones?
I like the appearance of the laminate floor samples I have seen at the home centers, and the ease of installation would be a real advantage. But, some of the concerns I have read worry me.
By laminate, do you mean the fake stuff or engineered wood? I have and like both. The WilsonArt is about 5 or 6 years old and look perfect. No wear marks, no scratches, no problems. This is a very high traffic area.
The Mannington engineered wood is only 6 month sold. Still looks good. Looks more real than the Wilson Art, but only time will tell the real story.
We had Mannington laminate put in my parents house. They love it. The new click stuff is much more water resistent than the old glued stuff which depended on the skill of the installer. The only negative is I find it slightly slipperier (if there is such a word) when I wear socks (as opposed to shoes) than on the factory finished hardwood floors in my house. It has to be installed right with a vapor/sound barrier. I like the sound it makes when you walk on it. Read warranties. They vary by brand and definitely go glueless.
Yes, I also installed laminate flooring in my house, about 500 square feet of it. I have had trouble cleaning it with a damp mop--it leaves streaks. You certainly can't use the Swiffer mop on it. I understand there is other ways of cleaning it, but it's all a pain in my opinion.
My wife wanted the wide plank design of cherry, but I wish we had got the narrow stripw within the wide planks. The edges and seams are more noticeable with the wide plank look. After a few months of installation, some of the end-to-end connections have separated a bit. I will have to pull the shoe moulding off to pull the planks back together. I suppose the wood has contracted or something. Maybe my installation was sloppy at that point, I don't know.
Since you are building your own house and have put a lot of effort and time into it, you might consider just going the whole way and installing real wood floors. There really is a difference in the looks and you will appreciate it more. If I had the money and more time (I had a little baby in the house), I would have gone that way.
We put down al-lock in the kitchen and dining room couple of years ago. It has been fine. I vaccuum it like the rest of the house and use the special cleaner on a cloth to get anything that is a spot. It is a bad idea to let water set on it, but that's kind of stupid to let water set on any floor, it is a hazard at the very least. It hasn't scratched and looks the same way it did when it was put down over two years ago.
Laminate is never the same as wood, but the stuff is very practical and tough as nails. We have two large does that hate to have their nails trimmed---they haven't put a scratch in our formica laminate. Very easy to clean. Also have had water sit on it from shoes in the entraceway without a dent.
Installation varies. We have Formica---awful install, not a do-it-yourself job. The locking mechanism is too precise. Others are better. With the tile-style we have, you can see some lines and gaps---but only if you look very, very hard. Numerous folks, including one carpenter, walk in and say "nice tile floor."
Very easy on the feet. Very slippery---out dogs slide all over the place, which isn't bad, cause it's taught them to slow down!
In the end, I say it's super practical and a good compromise for someone who may not be able to afford high-end wood flooring or can't do the install themselves.
I've had laminate in the family room/dining room for about 9 mos. It's been great with young kids and a dog. A couple of things we didn't expect: If you have any furniture that doesn't go up against a wall, it will move when you use it. Our ottoman and chair that are placed at an angle are always having to be reset. The dog likes to sit on the back of the couch looking out the window, and frequently has a hard time getting up to the couch. The flor is slippery enough that he can't get a good footing to jump. A rug would solve that. The floor is slippery enough that you can expect the kids to go sliding, especially if they like to run in the house. If you have a dog, you will never be surprised when he enters the room, the clickity clickity of every step is equally annoying and endearing to hear. If you have a playful dog, it's fun to throw something from another room for them to retrieve, then see them skid as they try to get the item while sliding past it. Also, when they spin tires trying to get going fast after a toy thrown from the laminate room. :) Put the plastic sliding disks under any heavy furniture and leave them there, you'll really appreciate it later, my
500 lb entertainment center can now be moved with just a slight push. We use a broom then use swiffer pads, not the mop. Occasionally smudges don't come up with the swiffer, I just use a wet wash cloth and rub hard there. If installing it yourself, make sure you don't overlap the padding, it will make it more noisy in that spot. Our planks have seperated at their ends in a few spots, should be easy enough to fix with a pull bar and hammer. FWIW, we used Shaw Prevail in Alpine Maple, looks really great, purchased online at floorshop.com.
I have 2500 sq. feet of Wilsonart laminate in my house. Approx. 200 sq. feet is about 4 years old and the remainder is about 18 months old. I like it a lot better than carpet. I have to say I do like real wood and I had maple in my previous house but I couldn't afford it this time around and I think it scratched much easier than the laminate. I have some scratches in a family room but that was my own fault for pulling big, heavy couches across the floor. The fridge doesn't even scratch the floor when I pull it out in the kitchen. I will probably replace the laminate in my laundry room and guest bath with tile since it doesn't hold up well to water leaks which I seem to have all too often. I had it professionally installed (glued). There are a few spots where the glue has come out of the seems in the laundry room but the rest of the house looks brand new. I have 3 kids and we have A LOT of activity in the house. It isn't the easiest to clean because it shows dirt a lot. I sweep and vacuum a lot. But at least it comes clean. If I had carpet, it would've been ruined a long time ago. All in all, I would choose it again.
My brother put a laminate floor through a house at the Jersey shore about five or six years ago. It's rented out from Memorial Day to Labor Day and he and his family use it on weekends the rest of the year. The renters have put holes in the sheetrock but to date there's been absolutely no damage to the laminate floor.
It doesn't attach to the slab at all. Laminate floors are floating floors and are held down by the baseboard trim. The trim is not nailed to the laminate....it's nailed to the walls.
I have installed Laminate (Pergo) in my living room, about 5 years ago. It has held up very nicely, but the installer screwed up alot. Mind you, I installed it, so I have only myself to blame. Even with some gaps here and there, it really has held up nicely. Since then, I have installed 22 floors of laminate over the years (I am not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, I just have alot of friends). And while I have gotten better, so has the laminate. I used to swear by the glued laminate, and now I just swear at it. The new stuff that I am installing in the house is here in Canada at Building Box - QuickStyle. Its glueless, waterproof (as found when I dumped a 2L bottle of coke, in the corner, and forgot about it for several hours. I pulled up the laminate to see that it didnt go through. Just a mop, and some cleaner, and looks great. I am going to put it in the bathroom - but I will be putting some glue within the tongue and groove to give it some more water resistance.
The original laminate floor has survived 3 kids, 5 dogs (Collies, and Labs, and yes it is a hoot to see them scurry into the room when you throw a toy, to see them skid across and into a wall. Works well with Guinnea pigs too.
If you are going to install it yourself, I did a 30 x 16 room, in one day, even sleeping in. The kits are cheap ($16.00) that include a pull bar, tap block, and spacers. My floor cost 99 cents / sq foot, (Canadian) Foam underlay was 400 sq feet - $18.00.
If you know someone with a compound sliding miter saw- become friends. I have a non sliding, and just had to flip the board over. Im not that hand with my table saw, but used it for the end cuts along the length of the wall.
I do have some straps used for glued laminates for sale - cheap :)
As for the hollow sounds - there is a material that you can put under the laminate - WhisperWalk, Quiet Walk, etc. It looks alot like ceiling tile. Whow knows - maybe it is. It will deaden the sound, but really, I havent noticed the thud too much. You tune it out.
Scratches are minimized with felt tabs on the furniture, and cleanup is a breeze.
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