Laminate vs. Carpet..

[kbaker]

I am also very happy with our Wilsonart Laminate flooring. I don''t think our doggie would still be living with us if we had carpet!!
It is so easy to care for, inexpensive and practical. We chose that option because we are living in a townhouse in southern California. Once we purchase a larger home, I would love to put down real wooden floors. I think the look is classic and they can last a lifetime. Has anyone priced out the difference between laminate and wood floors? Just wondering!

BTW: We do have carpeting upstairs and unfortunatly, the dog stays downstairs because of it would be trashed in weeks with her laying on it. I only wish we put wood floors THROUGHOUT the house. That''s the way to go. Plus, carpet releases nasty chemicals that are cancer causing I believe.

 

[pinkflamingo]

we just bought our first house last year and it had this hideous dark emerald green carpet. we love hardwoood, but we were on a strict budget. we decided to put parquet in, which is small strips of oak in a pattern.
it looks like this:
Parquet

It was cheaper than pergo, it is real wood, gives a glow to the room, and it looks awesome. I think laminates are a fad and are going to look dated... you just can't duplicate the look, feel and sound of real wood IMHO. We looked at scores of homes when we were house hunting and there is nothing worse than cheap laminates... they just look cheap, IMO.

 

[diamondlil]

Personally I love real wood. It just looks and feels more natural/organic than laminate. My parents have laminate through their entire house except the bedrooms. It looks clean and nice, definitely better than carpet, but it does not have that real-wood feel or sound when it''s walked upon.

We have red oak through most of the house including the kitchen, and I particularly like it on the staircases and hallways. These areas will get the most wear on carpet and look terrible very quickly. The wood looks as good as the day we moved in. We have bare wood on the stairs but have oriental runners and area rugs in the appropriate areas.

The key to keeping wood looking nice is sweeping up particles that will scratch the finish, swiffering dustbunnies, and wiping up any spills when they happen. I do recommend a satin oil-based finish. High gloss looks beautiful, but it does show scratches more readily than a satin finish. We have 2 kids and have no problems with them. Like someone else said, it is the adults that drop things, and unfortunately, stiletto heels are not wood friendly. I''m a nut, and all my friends know, if they show up at my house with heels on, those pretty little shoes are left at the door.

So far, no one has ever refused to come back because I made them take their shoes off.

Color of stain is another consideration. Dark stain will hide some things better, but dust bunnies show more. We have natural stain on red oak, and it was very light when we first had it finished. Over years, an oil-based finish will amber quite a bit more than water-based, and our floors are much more golden now than they were 6 years ago. They still look great to me, but it''s just something to keep in mind. A darker finish will not look as golden with time.

Also you need to consider pre-finished or finshed in place. Personally, I like finished-in-place floors. If you ever need to repair or refinish a section, it can be done. When we built our house, our foyer chandalier was to be installed a week after we moved in. The idiot lighting guys dropped our huge chandalier from 18 feet up (2-story foyer) onto my brand new, hand-finished wood floor!!!! the crash literally scared me nearly to death. It damaged 2 sections badly enough that the boards needed to come out, and a section of the foyer needed to be refinished. I was glad no one was hurt, but at the time I was so upset, I though I was going to vomit. After the work was done, everything looked like new. We had prefinished in our previous house and had a few boards replaced because of defects in the wood. I could always tell which boards had been replaced, so I would never go that route again.

There''s more I could say, but these are some basics.

 

[movie zombie]

i don''t allow outside shoes inside the house because the thought of all that oil [parking lots, anyone?!] and dirt being tracked into my home makes me ill. i keep inexpensive cotton slippers for guests to use. some guests have taken to bringing their own comfy slippers when they come to visit...and they don''t mind.

movie zombie

 

[MINE!!]

Does anyone know anything about cork flooring?

 

[lost on 5th]

i think a hard surface and area rugs would be the way to go. exp w/ kids.

i perfer real materials... but theres a cost w/ that. that high pitch click followed by the hollow thump of laminate/floating floors drives me nuts! but area rugs will resolve that and allow for some warmth and comfort to the space.

in a perfect world, i would say riff cut white oak, but @ ~$9 a sf its not realistic for most.


bamboo is a really nice hardwood floor. some cut styles however look like laminate, so its not as popular. take a look at EcoTimber


i can take a look into cork flooring. however i believe it does show ware rather quickly. (but looks nice under foot)

 

[movie zombie]

Mine, cork was my first choice for upstairs.....and it failed miserably.

i love the look and it has wonderful features. we bought from a reputable businessman in santa cruz and paid for installation. however, there were major problems: while it looked beautiful, it also looked like a washboard!

the installers tried to convince me it would level out...but i called the manufacturer who said either the installers didn't know what they were doing or the product was defective: either way i shouldn't have to settle for a washboard cork floor. i got the business owner in touch with the manufacturer and the floor was pulled up. btw, the installers had also done all the prep work required for the cork click flooring system.

a 2nd shipment was delivered to the house and this time it was here for a few days to 'acclimatize' which it needs to do before being put down. the installers started to lay the floor and again it was a washboard so i stopped them and called both the business owner and the manufacturer.

i was told the cork comes from portugal, is shipped to germany where it is adhered to the lower board, then shipped to the US east coast. the manufacturer stated they were having problems with the product and that it was either the board being used in germany or that there was a problem during shipping.

6 months later [i kid you not!] i stil had no floor and the manufacturer and business owner were not able to provide assurance that i would be getting a good floor installed any time soon. that's when i went to tile for the upstairs.

i love the look of cork. but if you decide to go with it i'd say don't use the click method, get the most experienced installer you can, do not pay the entire bill for the product [this was my leverage with the business owner], and make sure the product is delivered days ahead of the project to get acclimatized, know what the prep work entails and make sure you are home to make sure it is done correctly, and do not accept the finished product as done and satisfactory if its not flat. it will not get better over time!

movie zombie

ps i didn't go 'cheap' with the product either.....it was a well known and respected brand. its a pity because i think cork has many many virtues and if taken care of can last 30 years or more. but so does linoleum, the reall linseed linoleum.

eta: the cork flooring will need about 3 coats of a sealer....make sure you know what you want and its appropriate for the product.

 

[MINE!!]

Hmmm... good heads-up.. thanks MZ...

I did hear that furinture would leave indention marks quite significantly and wondered about that... I went to see the Bamboo yesterday and I LOVED it.. but they were selling it for about 7$ a yard plus 3$ installation.

 

[lost on 5th]

Natural Cork is one of the leading suppliers of cork flooring.. you can find maintance and other care instructions on that site.

might not be the best thing with children. the floors finish is more of an issue than the material itself.

 

[movie zombie]

Natural Cork was the product i had the problems with.....

however, i will say their customer service was great.


movie zombie

 

[diamondlil]

Date: 2/24/2006 2:10:02 PM
Author: movie zombie
i don''t allow outside shoes inside the house because the thought of all that oil [parking lots, anyone?!] and dirt being tracked into my home makes me ill. i keep inexpensive cotton slippers for guests to use. some guests have taken to bringing their own comfy slippers when they come to visit...and they don''t mind.

movie zombie

Yay, MZ!!!! I''m so glad I am not the only one who makes my guests leave their shoes at the door.

My kids'' friends all enter the house through a mudroom, and they all know to take their shoes off before entering the house. I once sent a neighborhood kid back out the door when I saw his socks were not clean enough.

They may think I''m a nut, but my family room has white berber that is still as white as the day it was installed 6+ years ago and has never been cleaned. I definitely think my no-shoes policy makes a huge difference.

 

[moremoremore]

I don''t think I''m confortable with a guest no shoe policy but I really want to do a no shoe policy for me and hubby. I was JUST talking about this with him as we walked on the city sidewalk and looked at all the dog pee stains and worse. You walk on it. Walk on your floors and rugs. Step on it with bare feet and then go to bed. I''m not disciplined to swear slippers all the time. Ugh. I''m getting grossed out thinking of it.

 

[Mara]

we have a strict no shoe policy in our house, guests too and no one minds, in fact most of our friends do the same thing...the only exception is when we have large parties because then many times the shoes are part of the outfit for gals...hehehee.

and we get our carpet cleaned every 3-5 months sadly enough, it just doesn''t wear well in the high traffic areas since it''s so light but i refuse to have it look dirty. i can''t wait til we change it out this year to either wood or laminate!

i read somewhere that if you don''t wear slippers in the house or socks then you track the oils from your feet all over the house, yikes!! im so not a sock or slipper wearer at all so maybe i''m making the carpet even more dirty!

 

[movie zombie]

i''ll take natural foot oils any day over parking lot oil.....

movie zombie

 

[moremoremore]

I think I''d be much more inclined to do no shoes for guests if I had carpet...at least with the wood I can wipe off...but I still have small area rugs...hmmm, something to think about!

 

[Mara]

Date: 2/24/2006 10:22:10 PM
Author: movie zombie
i''ll take natural foot oils any day over parking lot oil.....

movie zombie

true that...at least you know where your feet have been...hehehee.

 

[mingagreen]

Well I just skimmed this thread (cheating I know!) But I have to put my vote for laminate flooring in!! I love ours, we used ALLOC, my DH and a couple of friends installed it, there is no glue, it just clicks together, cool stuff!! It is a bit hard to clean though, I have found only water works to make it streak free. We actually have laminte thru out and carpet only on the stairs and in our bedroom. It allows us to change the look of a room by putting an area rug down. I think that carpet is nice as far as comfort but to me it is gross!!! Happy planning MINE and congrats on your new house.

 

[chickflick]

I have a floating wood floor in my living room, dining room and hallway to the bedrooms. I absolutely love it and wish I''d done the whole place with it. The only place I have carpeting is in the bedrooms and it''s buckling like crazy even though these aren''t high traffic areas. If you''ve ever pulled up carpet and seen what gets trapped beneath you''d definitely want hard flooring.

My mother has a laminate wood all through her condo. It''s very nice and sturdy but it does lack the rich look of my wood floors. Even though it''s higher maintenance, I''d go for wood over laminate.

 

[kbaker]

Has anyone ever put laminate on stairs? I love the look of hardwood floors, but I am not sure you can put laminate on the stairs and get similar results? Has anyone done this feat successfully?

 

[movie zombie]

there is no way i would put laminate on stairs: think of the high traffic and pounding the stairs take, then think of the THIN laminate.....

movie zombie

 

[partgypsy]

yes, do not do the carpet. Real wood, or if not laminate. I do not know much about laminate. In our house wood throughout, tile in bathrooms, and linoleum in the kitchen. I LOVE linoleum! We have an older house and did not want vinyl flooring. I think it''s Ifloor.com that sells real linoleum, beautiful, great depth of color, and low upkeep. You can make it low or high gloss depending on this finisher you periodically put on (we use once a year). However, before if you do go for linoleum, make sure you line up someone who knows how to install it. Most vinyl floor installers won''t touch it (or will mess it up if they do) and the ones that know how to install it are literally a dying breed.

Good luck on your project!

 

[movie zombie]

real linoleum actually looks better as it ages: it gets a patina. i did lots of research on it before i decided to go with tile. definitely have to have an expert install it. also see:

http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/linoleum/en/us/

http://www.themarmoleumstore.com/framework/DesktopDefault.aspx?menu_id=29&old_menu_id=29&ssm=1

this is not your great grandmother''s floor!

movie zombie

 

[fire&ice]

Yeah, Linoleum is great flooring. It got a bad rap because of the sheet vinyl that is the imitation. It will last forever & does take on a pretty finish as the years go on.

Still a wood floor gal as I really like rugs. My next favorite is poured terrazzo.

 

[Miranda]

Mine - Have you checked into wood look tile? Some of it looks really bad and some of it looks great. It comes in many different colors, textures and sizes. We are moving into a new house in a couple of months and plan on using it downstairs. I haven''t had any experience with it yet, but from what I''ve seen in model homes and the flooring showroom it looks like natural wood.