I've just got the new dining room ready to decorate. The question is whether to opt for laminate, some sort of "engineered" wood, carpet, or whatever else the group suggest (over a concrete floor). In the previous dining room we went for laminate (but the kids have grown-up so there's less food being thrown around), it was OK but hard to keep looking clean and it gives a "hard" sound and feel to the room; not very homely. Is "engineered" wood flooring any better?
Dave
Yes it is, and solid wood is even better still.
One of the many unfortunate characteristics of laminate is that it looks and sounds like what it is. Plastic.
NoSpam wrote: Is "engineered" wood flooring any better?
Definately. however, it takes a while to accept that it _is_ going to get dented, "scratched", knocked etc etc. If you have a medium to large dog this helps the ageing process no-end..... If you spend several ££££'s on the floor you have to be of the "well that's what it's supposed to do" mindset.
Worry about it and you'll go insane. Love it for what it is.
:¬)
We did the entire 46(ish) M sq. of the living level of our house with engineered Khars floor and yes, we do have a large dog.
:¬))
I'd vote for hardwood. Tiles are harder wearing and easier claen but not exactly cosy.
NT
We have wooden block floors in every room except the dinning room, which was Marley tiles. Decided to cover with laminate floor, a colour which blended with the existing ones. Big mistake, looks naff and if you drop anything on it sounds like a cannon going off, will carpet it eventually.
Thanks everyone, it sort of supports my preference. The costs are interesting and the differences are less than I expected. For a 16 sq.m room the laminate is 150-300, engineered is 450-600, solid wood is
800-1000 and carpet 250-600; do these look about right?Our existing laminate floor has been very practical and hard-wearing but I don't like the sound it makes and the plastic look; engineered flooring seems to be the same thickness so doesn't that have the same acoustic properties? And if it's epoxy coated then doesn't it have the same look (but with more variation)?
Dave
is the solid wood price fitted and finished?
No, everything is supply only. My time comes free :-( (although I refuse to lay carpet)
Dave
Depending on what the hardwood actually is, £50-60 may be a bit on the high side, maybe not. I would suggest some checking around, and certainly ask to see a sample of the actual material to be delivered.
Generally, hardwood floorboards should have machined slots on the underside - typically 2-3 on a board to relieve the stress and prevent cupping.
If you need to get the price down you can buy plank wood rather than 'flooring'. Its much cheaper.
NT
Me Too.
And Vinyl.
I cannot concieve of a more cussed class of inanimate object.
DG
During a major renovation Ca 1989 we had the kitchen and dining room floors replaced with genuine Canadian Maple. It has served us well and the difference in cost was not that much.
*But*It was finished in Rustin's 2 component resin which has now worn through in places, (under the dining chair legs, a patch in front of the cooker, and a patch in front of this computer under the wheels of my [Chinese] "executive" chair) and it appears it cannot be touched up.
All commercial floor finishing companies we have tried will not quote for a domestic living room/dining room/kitchen sized re-finishing job. I suspect the hardened plastic resin makes for a much harder sanding job than an application from new onto bare timber, so we are having to consider tiles for the kitchen and maybe carpet for the dining room.
Just a thought to conjour with. :-(
DG
These issues can be quite easily avoided by the use of an oil and wax finish. Small marks can easily be rubbed out and new finish added without having to address the whole floor.
It is, but then it needs to be machined to have tongues and grooves on the edges and grooves on the underside to avoid cupping.
If I were doing the job now, I would do this because I have the machinery (spindle moulder, dado cutter to do this quite easily and quickly.
However, it would be quite time consuming with a router table, for example.
I presume you don't mean treating the holes in the plastic resin with oil/wax, you mean re-doing the whole floor as if from day 1 ?
That's worth a thought for the dining room.
As regards the kitchen it's also water damaged from the dreaded rubbishy Maytag European size D/D Fridge, which despite being less than 6 years old appears to be life expired, (about 5 faults affecting performance/reliability).
As regards the kitchen it looks like "Tiles it is" :-(.
DG
There seem to be two varieties of 'engineered' some is ~7mm thick with a veneer of real wood, the other is ~15mm with a wear layer of real wood of about 3mm. The veneer will look more natural than laminate but is obviously closer to laminate in wear and acoustic quality. You also have the choice of a varnished or oiled surface.
Exactly.
Dining room, Living room certainly, probably not a kitchen - at least not in the cooking and sink areas. Water spots tend to show although they are instantly fixable.
Stone?
Is it really as thin as that?
The second might tolerate one sanding, but that's about it.
The choice seems to be settling between "engineered" and carpet. It looks like the "engineered" flooring needs the same expansion gaps as laminate so I'll need to delay fixing the skirting until the floor is down, if we go that way - or is there some smart/tidy way to deal with this if I get the skirting on first?
If the skirting is already off, I'd definitely recommend laying the floor first and putting the skirting on afterwards as it will look much neater. Coincidentally, I am going to lay some engineered flooring soon and that is what I plan to do. In cases where the skirting is already in place and the owner is reluctant to remove it, one can use beading to cover the gap but it looks a bit tacky IMHO.
Can anyone recommend a good make of engineering flooring? - we are going to shop around for some today. Does anyone have any tips for what to lay underneath? (The floor is concrete screed in my case)
thanks
Julian
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