Laminate Flooring

[Kate]

I am in the process of picking out wood laminate flooring for my entry way, and all the way down the hallway. This will replace carpet.

I have a small area of laminate flooring in the entry way right now, and it still looks like new after eleven years. Unfortunately, I cannot get the same thing any more. I really like it. It is light in color.

Can anyone give me tips as to what type of laminate I should get? I want something that really lasts. From what I understand there is an oiled laminate and a hard coated, but I don't know the terms.

Thanks everyone.

Kate

[Ed Pawlowski]

I don't know the difference but I have WilsonArt on my steps and landing for the past 15+ years and it looks as good as new. Stick with any of the brand names and you will be OK.

[HeyBub]

I THINK (but am not positive) that the durability of (reputable) laminate flooring is mostly the same. The laminate makers coat their products with something even stronger than the Lexan used in fighter jet windshields. It resists staining, wear, fire, abrasion, bullets, woodpeckers, and just about everything else. The difference in quality if found in the substrate material (wood, wallpaper, etc.) and the precision of the interlocking pieces.

As long as you're not putting down the dance floor of a disco club, durability is probably fairly low on the list of things to consider.

[clare]

MOST laminate finishes contain aluminum oxide.

[Kate]

Thank you Ed.

[Kate]

Great advice. Thanks.

[HeyBub]

Just to emphasize, I bought some relatively cheap laminate (79¢/sq ft from Lumber Liquidators) for a spare room and had some left over - you have to buy it in box quantities.

What the hell. I installed the left-overs on top of the icky, 60's era, Formica countertops in the kitchen, and, with suitable use of quarter-rounds and a miter saw, also put in splash guards. Looks like butcher-block at

1/10th the price.

Before I did that, I experimented. The stuff is impervious to liquids, scratching with a nail or rasp, and hard to drill through. (I was able to scorch it with a soldering iron.) The military ought to make bullet-proof vests out of the stuff.

[chaniarts]

what sized nail guns would you use to install that, or would you use glue?

[aemeijers]

What is under the carpet? Is the laminate original, or was entry hall tile or slate originally? I wouldn't use any sort of wood or wood-based product right next to a exterior weather door. If by some chance there is old wood under the carpet (unlikely if house is only 11 years old like the existing laminate), I'd refinish that, and put something harder by the door, like ceramic or slate. If it is particle board under the carpet and laminate, I'd still go with something harder by the door, and wood-surface laminate for the rest of it.

Personally, I'm not a fan of laminate, no matter how cheap/convenient/durable it is. The pattern of the seams just leaps out at me, making it impossible to think of it as a real wood floor, even if it is the wood-surface 'engineered' flooring. But that is just me- I grew up with real Bruce hardwood back in the stone age, and nothing else looks right to me. And I'd sooner have vinyl, or even w/w carpet, than fake woodgrain.

-- aem sends...

[Kate]

I have a small area of wood laminate flooring at my front door that is eleven years old. It still looks like new.

I would love to see that pic of your countertop. Clever!

[Kate]

I had new carpet installed when I bought the house. Of course, there is a carpet pad, but I am not sure what is underneath that. The original wood is under the carpet I would think.

The small patch of laminate right in front of the front door is the original. It still looks like new.

I know lots of folks don't like the look of laminate. One of the installers that did my tile work said he would not recommend real wood in my neck of the woods. He said real wood needs to be kept at a certain humidity level 24/7.

I am still debating.

Thanks for your feedback. I love this group.

[HeyBub]

Spray-on glue - from an aerosol can.

[HeyBub]

Here you go. Before and after:

[HeyBub]

Yep. But suitably placed throw-rugs break up the pattern.

I view floors much like store merchandise fixtures. If everything else is correct, the visitors should be looking at the merchandise, not the fixture.

[Kate]

That is amazing, and a very nice improvement. Like I said before, "clever". Thanks for posting the pics.

[Red Green]

[e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Which is used in automotive sandpaper to sand metal.