Laminate vs. Carpet

You need to use what will survive your family's lifestyle. For couch potatoes, carpet is fine. For most adults and no pets, laminate looks nice. If you have active youngsters, pets, gravel driveway, it makes sense to use a commercial grade sheet vinyl flooring with a wood grain pattern ( for example) to soothe the psyche. Your call.

Joe

Kate wrote in news:hmhdkh$344$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal- september.org:

What's under it? Cement, crawlspace, unheated basement, heated room? Consideration for floor temp on feet and room warmth. Maybe moot in your area.

Hmm. Anything BUT carpet. If I have to choose between the two, laminate for sure.

Laminate:

1. Can be / is cheaper.
2. Doesn't absorb stains, spills, or dirt.
3. Doesn't absorb odors.
4. Is easier to clean and maintain.
5. Can be redecorated with a simple change of throw-rugs.
6. Installation is DIY.

=3D=3D All carpets should be banned. Home of huge reserves of lint, dust, mites, dung (of all descriptions), dog and cat flea eggs...not to mention the millions of bacteria and viruses waiting for a host. Ditto for animal skins.

The only carpets needed are small non-slip area rugs which can be easily cleaned at least every week or so.

Laminate or equivalent is the way to go.

=3D=3D

Carpets are dirty, hard to vacuum, impossible to clean, emit hazardous gases (cheap ones), burn really quickly in the event of fire. If you must have carpet then use an area rug.

Yep. When you combine all the above it equals "Cooties".

Engineered hardwood. Looks better than laminate because it is real wood, not plastic. Don't miss the carpet, but we do have two throw rugs in front of chairs.

With my lifestyle, I could go either way, but I will probably stick with carpet as it will be warmer in the winter. I rough house with my Yorkie quite a bit, and the laminate flooring would not be great for that. I do have a big throw rug I can put on the laminate, but think I will stay with carpet.

Thanks for taking the time to email your info.

It is a crawlspace.

Thanks for your feedback. I am still debating.

Good points, and I had already thought of that. I am still debating though. Thanks.

Neither- REAL wood is the best for a family room, IMHO. A good factory prefinished like Bruce or similar. And when the finish goes, you can refinish it. A properly installed hardwood floor will outlast the house, as long as you keep it dry and keep sand and grit off of it.

-- aem sends...

Good point. Still, you can replace the laminate for the cost of refinishing a wood floor.

My brother has real wood in his kitchen and family room. One time the refrigerator leaked, and what a mess. They hired someone to come in and sand/repair the floor. He said he would never have real wood again, at least in the kitchen.

Quite agree on that- kitchen, like the front hallway, should be stone/slate/vinyl, or something equally liquid-proof.

-- aem sends...

Engineered laminate IS liquid proof.

I tooks some strips and miked 'em.

Then I left them in a glass of water for a MONTH. They had swelled less than

Yup. Tile in the kitchen, bathrooms, in front of fireplaces, and all entryways with real hardwood used everywhere else. I use a few small, washable rugs in the bathrooms but that's it. Large carpets are just disgusting. You can never really clean them unless you send them out to be washed (real wool Persians, etc.). That "steemer" service is a joke. It just squirts toxic chemicals into the carpet and the padding and gets out surface stains. Wall-to-wall which is permanently installed and therefore not cleanable is a health hazard.

Not all of it. I saw the aftermath of a blowed up dishwasher in a friend's place where (at his landlady's request) he had installed Pergo in the kitchen. It was all buckled and had to be R&R'd.

nate

depends on the brand. I had some laminate when I lived in Houston that I had in a bucket of water for months with no problem. The Laminate I have now in my current house is awful. edges swell and curl up if it gets wet....

paul