Laminate vs. Carpet..

[MINE!!]

Ok... We are going to redo the living room in the new house... we are thinking laminate for that hardwood floor look (without the scratches and refinishing) or carpet. What does everyone think? Pros, Cons? We do not have pets but we do have kids.. what do you think?

Anyone with experince with laminate such as pergo or wilson art?

 

[Momoftwo]

I had Formica Laminate in my last house in the kitchen only. It looked like stone. It was great for the kitchen. You cannot damage it. We have wood all over our home now. I guess it depends on how much you use the room. If you use it a lot, I''d go with good laminate or wood with an area rug. I''d say if you go with laminate, do a lot of looking around and find one that you cannot tell from wood.

 

[Sundial]

We used Mohawk laminate flooring in a cherry finish for our recent kitchen remodel and it gives the look of hard wood without all of the maintenance issues. However for a living room I just like the warmth, softness, and quiet of carpet.

 

[Kaleigh]

My friend has the laminate in her kitchen and she loves it. Very easy to maintain and it''s gorgeous.

 

[Mara]

laminate!!

i DETEST carpet!! i mean i love the way it looks and all, we have beautiful creamy colored sand berber carpet...but the maintenance on it with a dog and 2 adults is just ridiculous. and she''s an inside dog. i can imagine with kids it would be similar, aka stains you just can''t get out of the carpet and once it''s soiled, it just never looks new again.

dirty carpet drives me nuts so i bought a steam cleaner which just makes it look clean for a week or two, so now i have it professionally cleaned every 3-4months or so which keeps it as clean as can be i suppose...

BUT there are just some areas that still get filthy. i use area rugs on top of the carpet too, aka I got a great deal on a $800 PB rug for $200 on eBay in brand new shape but basically we are going to get either real wood or laminate in the middle of this year for the family and dining rooms where all the ''traffic'' is...and i can''t WAIT. i had laminate in a previous house and it''s much easier to care for, is VERY durable (more durable than wood, aka if you drop something it rarely cracks or chips) and other than the dust bunnies, always looked clean.

so my experienced tiredofdealingwithcarpet attitude is LAMINATE or tile or something other than the pita carpet!

 

[hlmr]

My vote is for laminate too! Especially after this afternoon when my dog threw up all over my carpet!!

Heather

 

[sunkist]

Date: 2/17/2006 5:57:05 PM
Author: Mara
and other than the dust bunnies, always looked clean.

Yes I love hardwood flooring and area rugs. My BF recently got laminate flooring in his house too and he hated the "dust bunnies". So a couple weeks ago he got one of those Roombas - the little vacuum cleaner robots. It goes around and cleans his floors and he loves it! No more dust bunnies!

 

[Mara]

oh and i think we used mannington in my last place...i did a bunch of research online to find the best brands for durability, warranty, etc.

huge tip here...use a local general contractor that you trust and who is experienced to lay the laminate for you....buy it online or through a discounted place and it''s much cheaper than going to the local carpet/laminate store and paying their retail pricing and having it done by their installers. many times their own installers freelance as well so you can just use them directly.

i got my laminate online after doing TONS of research on what the best brands were and paid probably 1/2 price over retail and we did it ourselves in my old place which looked fine, but my friend had hers done a year ago and paid $500 for installation to her local gen contractor guy who did a FABULOUS job esp under the baseboards (hard for an amateur) and the local carpet place wanted double to install it! since our house is fairly new we want a very professional job so it looks great, so we don''t want to do it ourselves.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 2/17/2006 7:00:00 PM
Author: Mara
oh and i think we used mannington in my last place...i did a bunch of research online to find the best brands for durability, warranty, etc.


huge tip here...use a local general contractor that you trust and who is experienced to lay the laminate for you....buy it online or through a discounted place and it''s much cheaper than going to the local carpet/laminate store and paying their retail pricing and having it done by their installers. many times their own installers freelance as well so you can just use them directly.


i got my laminate online after doing TONS of research on what the best brands were and paid probably 1/2 price over retail and we did it ourselves in my old place which looked fine, but my friend had hers done a year ago and paid $500 for installation to her local gen contractor guy who did a FABULOUS job esp under the baseboards (hard for an amateur) and the local carpet place wanted double to install it! since our house is fairly new we want a very professional job so it looks great, so we don''t want to do it ourselves.

Laminate is pretty simple to install yourself. FI installed ours. My parents installed theirs. You could save money that way. Just make sure you read the directions

 

[mrs jam]

Go with anything BUT carpet. The best decision we ever made was to rip out the carpet in the ENTIRE house and tile the floors. I just don''t get the idea of carpet in the first place. You can never get carpet 100% clean and having it in my house just gave me the heebie jeebies.

 

[movie zombie]

like mrs jam, we pulled out all the carpet and tiled every where but the stair case which we did in wood.

i looked into both products you mentioned, mine, and decided against them. do some online research for the negatives. it may be necessary to replace the flooring much more frequently than desired....which gets costly.

i''d also suggest bamboo flooring [not the laminate] for ease of installation and cleaning. its not a laminate and won''t show traffic wear and/or scratches as easily.

have fun with your new home!

movie zombie

 

[MINE!!]

Wow.. thanks everyone for your advice!! I love the look of laminate!! My mother has Pergo and she is in LOVE with it and swears by it.

Mara~ Thanks for the advice, I have looked at Worthington too. I HATE how nasty carpet looks over time as well. It just does not seem to matter what you do.... it is never as nice as when it was put in.

MOM~ You have hardwood floors now? How is that with the kiddies? We were thinking about hardwood too.. but we thought with the kids that we were asking for too much trouble.

For laminate in kitchen... I was told that it was not good to get laminate too wet.. It this true... it is not supposed to be mopped.. only damp mopped?

I am defintely going to do the throw rug if we get laminate.

Tacori~ I heard this as well. My mother and her husband installed their own floors and said it was cake.. it i defeintely something to take into consideration.

Mrs Jam and MZ~ Did you use cermaic tile? If so.. how does it do in the cold weather. Did you ceramic tile the entire house.. including the bedrooms? Does it get extra cold in the winter? Does it effect your heating bills?

MZ~ Bamboo huh? Does it feel like hardwood then? What about the durability an cleaning? Easier to install then? HMMMM... will definitely have to check into that.

The house has alminate already in the kitchen and the dinig room. but the house has carpet. We are going to look and see if there is Hardwood under the carpet.. if so, that will be the decision to just rip up the carpet and refinish the hardwood floors.. Hubby is afraid that it is going to make the house ''colder.'' (temperature wise)

We are going in to take pictures the monday after next.. so I will be sure to post some ASAP> Now... for the wallpaper... it is immaculate... in perfect condition and BUTT ugly... GRRRR.... so Do you think I should paint over it.. is this possible?

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I would never suggest painting over wall paper. That can just cause more headaches down the road. I did see on TLC where they had a heavy duty primer they applied over the wall paper then painted, maybe that would be ok. I am not sure. Are you planning on living in this house for awhile? If so, as HORRIBLE as it is, I think you would be better off with a scraper a spray bottle. Also I didn''t think laminate was suggested in a kitchen if there would be lots of spills. Enough water will buckle the laminate. This happened in one of FI''s rentals. He now tiles everything instead. Not a pretty sight.

 

[movie zombie]

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/carpet060216.cfm

more re carpeting....

movie zombie

 

[moremoremore]

I''m a wood fan...but I''d definitely pick laminate over carpet. i''ll never ever have carpet. Especially with the cats and fur..

 

[movie zombie]

Mine, we used Imola glazed porcelain tile throughout the entire downstairs: two bedrooms, bathroom, family room, sun/livingroom, kitchen, laundryroom as well as the closets....we used the African Series [sand]. we used the 20x20 in one area and the 13x13 in the remaining areas.

http://catalogo.imolaceramica.it/libweb/WEB31.cgi?WSSESSIONE=060218041444566&pagina=002&PGT=00007&BRAND=IMO&DescrPRG="AFRICA

we''ve had numerous compliments on this tile and had people actually reach down to touch it because they can''t believe its tile.


upstairs we used another pattern from the same company [Saloon, red] , also a glazed porcelain tile but in the 6x6 size throughout the master bedroom, bath, and closets.

http://catalogo.imolaceramica.it/libweb/WEB31.cgi?WSSESSIONE=060218041444566&pagina=005&PGT=00006&BRAND=IMO&DescrPRG="SALOON


cold? wear slippers. i go around inside the house in sandals in the winter and a short sleeve t-shirt: for the record it was 28.1F night before last. however, our home is well insulated and the windows are all double-paned. while we have central heat/air, i rarely use it and opt instead for our woodburning stove. if we''re not home for several days, we will set the central heat but only then. we find it comfortable.

fyi: not all Pergo is equal. Pergo sold at flooring stores is a different quality than that sold at home depot type stores. same goes for paint: Martha Stewart paint sold anywhere else but a paint store is a different quality.

re painting: i, too, would not paint over wallpaper. i''d take it down or find some kind of paneling to put over it. this is [right now] one of my favorite wall treatments:

http://www.bamboofencer.com/s.nl;jsessionid=ac112b1d1f4338bbf6bc64874121bf4da943a7821b0c.e3iKaNePch4Re38QbNaSbNyKe6fznA5Pp7ftolbGmkTy?sc=13&category=21

i hope to find a small wall somewhere in the house to do something like this!

i find the internet is a great way to look for ideas. i''m not very artistic and need all the help i can get!

movie zombie

 

[Mara]

Pergo is just a brand of laminate and it''s not the best one by far...it''s actually fairly mediocre. When I was researching it, you can research things like lifespan, how hard it can be ''used'', hardness factor etc etc. I was really happy with the Mannington.

It is fairly easy to install but you do need a miter saw (we bought a real table one just because Greg wanted to have it..lol) and also why we won''t be doing it in this house is that it can be hard to get it under the baseboards if you don''t want to muck them up or repaint them. So we figure something like ~$500 for the layman to pull up the carpet, discard it and then do the laminate is not really too bad, esp since we''d pay so much more through retail. And then we just don''t have to DEAL !!! hehe.

We are torn right now between doing real wood or laminate. I like laminate alot but we have alot of ''luxury'' amenities in our townhouse and almost feel like we should put down wood for the resale value and because it would go with the house better. But on the other hand wood takes more care and I really like the ease of caring for laminate. I really didn''t ever have to clean our laminate with anything other than a hot damp cloth!

Lastly re laminate not being great for around water...I read this too and was worried about having it in the bathroom but it worked out great...unless you plan to have tons of water laying on the floor (aka if your kids splash alot!) then I wouldn''t worry too much, you can get washable throw rugs for by the sink and baths and similar, but we never had a problem. Oh and throw rugs are great for warming up the house...part of why I already got the rug for the famly room is to cover up the carpet for now but also because we''ll already have it when we go to laminate/wood. I want to get one for the dining room as well soon.

 

[moremoremore]

The wood floor in my coop was put in in the early 1930s....and i love it. Everyone says how beautiful it is...part of it is that it looks a little aged which is what I like also...

I don't love the fakey sound laminate makes when you walk on it...and to be honest, 2 years here and there is not one stitch of maintenance on the floor....just a swiffer for wood and a vacuum

I *think* (not sure) is that one of the benefits of wood is that long term, wood can be sanded and stained over and over again...which helps it stand the test of time...

But I guess laminates keeps getting better...I'm still sticking with wood though...

 

[monarch64]

MMM, have to agree with you on the wood thing. Our home was built in 1948 and has hardwood floors throughout. When we bought it, the living/dining room was covered in white carpet, which we were told was because the couple who previously owned it had a baby who was learning to walk so they put carpet in for "cushioning." Couldn''t have been farther from the truth! They had re-done almost everything in the house, EXCEPT for the hardwood floors underneath the carpets. We brought in a cat and dog with us, who both ruined the carpet right away. Turns out when we went to pull up the carpet to re-do the flooring, there were bad pet stains underneath. Restoring the floors in those two rooms was not a huge deal at all...it took all of one weekend to have someone come in and replace the bad parts and refinish the rest.

We get so many compliments from guests on how much bigger the rooms seem with hardwood, as well as the sound/look/charm. It has really added to the value of our home, both dollar-wise and aesthetically.

I wouldn''t expect to find hardwood floors in a newer home, though. But we are pretty traditional as far as our taste, and probably will not seek out a newly built home as opposed to one built 20-30 years ago for our next home purchase. To each their own, I always say.

I don''t have a problem with synthetic floors whatsoever. I just personally like the look/feel/ambience of natural materials, it seems more "homey" to me.

 

[tawn]

My In-Laws just did hardwood in their new house, and they put some special 50-yr finish on it (could find out the details if you were interested). They have 3 dogs and they don''t leave a single scratch! It''s absolutely gorgeous!

I know some people who just love their laminate, but also know others that have had the buckling warping issues...but I''m not sure whether it was from improper installation or water damage!

BTW carpet is 9 times dirtier than an average street. Disgusting huh! Really bad for allergies as well...

 

[Momoftwo]

Our kiddies are 19 and 22 so it''s not an issue, but my sister has raised 3 kids (now 15,12 and 10) with hardwood in her kitchen and foyer. It''s held up pretty good. Our worst scratches have come from adults in our home moving stuff or dropping things. Most of our neighbors have hardwood where we live now and about half of them have kids. Some of them have even had more hardwood installed after they moved in and found out it was easier ot maintain than carpet on daily basis. This is our dream home and we put a lot of money into it. Large dogs are actually harder on wood floors than children, unless you let your kids rollerblade in your house. Just have them remove their shoes when they''re indoors. Sand and small rocks are the hardest on hardwood and liquid spills that aren''t cleaned up can be a problem too. So, animal toenails and accidents are much harder on the floors than kids running around. No matter what you get, floors age and need some maintenace. I swiffer and vacuum my hardwood regularly and occasionally use hardwood floor cleaner. You can even lightly damp mop it. I have it in my powder room as well as my kitchen so that is a necessity sometimes. The only place in our home that has carpet are our stairs and bedrooms. Even the upstairs hall is wood.

 

[moremoremore]

So true about adults moving things. All of my issues are from me sliding over the couches, etc...and oh snap! a scratch...and my floors are pretty light (next time I want dark)...But a finish pen fixes them pretty well...And we have hardwood in the kitchen too and it's like a duck bath when I wash LOL...and it's all good....In our next house it's a no brainer. there has to be a budget for hardwoods and fabulous new crown molding and base boars which I'm obsessed with...oh, and an upgrade if ya know what I mean!

 

[kelley1975]

We have Trafficmaster laminate flooring throughout our house, and LOVE it!! Looks great, super durable, easy to keep clean...We don''t do anything special to protect it (ie. putting felt or casters on bottoms of chair legs...) and have never had problems with scratches or dents. We have a dog with pretty pointy toenails that likes to try and dig her nails into the floor for traction going around corners and she has never scratched the floor.
My parents, on the other hand, liked our floor but thought it would be better to go with Pergo (the more expensive option) thinking it would be higher quality than the Trafficmaster. They have had more problems with their floor!! My dad hates it! Practically all you have to do is LOOK at the floor and it gets a dent! They have installed, pulled up, replaced boards, installed again, over and over....they are so frustrated with it, and they just put it in last summer.
Just my .02 cents....

 

[bar01]

I love hardwoods -and have red oak floors in the home. The are a lifetime thing - only needing easy surface refinishing every 10 years or so.

The architects in my office have been evaluating the new trend of Bamboo floors, but for many reasons are leaning against it.

 

[movie zombie]

i love red oak....that''s what we used on our stair case.

i''ve seen bamboo used in a kitchen/livingroom, stairs, family room....the rooms all flowed into one another and it was very very elegant looking....despite a very active 2 year old!

movie zombie

 

[monarch64]

We put those little felt bumper things on the bottom of the legs of all our furniture, and boy are those things a godsend for the floors! The only thing I haven''t been able to put them under are the wheels of my piano, but I rarely move that (I know dust bunnies abound behind it) because it''s so darn heavy even with the casters!

Is Pledge liquid OK for wood floors that aren''t totally sealed? I''ve used it a few times on our re-finished floors, which aren''t totally sealed, and it seems to do a good job. I just worry that it will seep into the seams and cause a problem...

 

[fisiogrl]

We put in laminate ourselves - wow, what a lot of work...
unfortunately it was still the days of glue instead of click, and we had an odd shaped room to fiddle with. I would ''maybe'' consider doing a click floor myself again, but NEVER glue. the edging is annoying too. Friends payed the $500 for install and boy did I envy them!

My hubbie and I argued about doing the whole place. He likes carpet (warmer underfoot), so we compromised and left carpet in the bedrooms.

If I were to do it all again, I would put cork flooring throughout! More expensive, but warm and very forgiving! Also, I think that it looks great!

 

[movie zombie]

actually, we had cork originally installed in the upstairs: i can give you a horror story re the click system in a very high quality product installed by a reputable dealer.....6 months later the tile went in.

i also considered linoleum for the downstairs...the real stuff made from linseed oil. great looking, low upkeep, and long enduring. has been brought up to a more modern look in the last few years.



movie zombie

 

[Momoftwo]

Be careful using anything on wood floors that isn''t for wood floors. Furniture polish makes wood flloors very, very slippery. I just use wood floor spray cleaner and a "mop" made for the job, both made by Bruce for hardwood floors. Also, occasional light damp mopping. I have felt on the bottom of some of my furniture, (for the big pieces it doesn''t stay on very well) and something I found that works better are the plastic sliders that come in different sizes and shapes. I have them on my tv armoire and I can slide it even with our large heavy tv in it. Laminate doesn''t scratch or gouge the way wood does, but wood can look great for years.

 

[fire&ice]

Not a big carpet fan. Don''t know a lot about the laminate wood - but I would second everyone w/ hardwoods lasting more than your life time. We have white oak in one house & red oak in another. The later being a house built in 1925. Why don''t you price both the laminate & hardwood?

Yeah, hardwoods are fairly low maintence to keep clean. Swiffers are magical!