Wooden/Laminate Flooring

[Dekers]

Ok, I am doing some major decorating/development work on my house and I'm considering this wooden floor stuff. At the moment it's carpet everywhere so views on suitability/experiences when flooring fitted to:-

 

Dining room.

.. noise, pulling chairs in out, Scratches, high heel marks, cleaning, spilt drinks/food, pets anything I have forgotton, are you happy, would carpet have been better now you have the experience, etc, etc, and please be honest.

 

Also considering fitting to Hallway and Living Room, your experiences and views again as above.

 

Cheers

Edited July 2, 2011 by Dekers

[Alex C]

Hallways are great as its a wipe clean affair so no you dont have to worry too much about muddy foot prints etc.

 

Dining room would be fine as you dont use it too often, it will be a bit noisier and also a bit chillier underfoot but nothing that would stop me having it fitted. But again food spillage etc are no problem

 

Lounge to be honest i would steer clear of. It can make a room a bit echoey and chilly on winter nights

 

Rather than the laminate stuff spend a bit more and get solid wood. Looks loads better and lasts longer. With laminates, high traffic areas tend to dull a lot as the finish wears off. At least with wood it can be refinished.

 

Just my opinion but hope it helps

[whiskymac]

Fitted hundreds of laminate floors and still not keen, though they are much better these days than they used to be. Much prefer solid wood flooring if budget can be stretched a litte.

As far as the scratches go real wood flooring is pretty hard wearing and if you go for something like aged/character oak any scratches that do occur will blend into the timber....makes a nice patina over time.

If you want to know who I use then let me know.

Edited July 2, 2011 by whiskymac

[artschool]

Go for engineered wood flooring, it's one step up from laminate and wears better. My entire ground floor has been surfaced with this if you want a carpet just buy a rug.

[jasper3]

Hello dekers, i run my own little flooring buisiness, and to be honest , I'm a lover of karndean, this isn't wood but a heavy vinyl and it comes in planks or tiles , the major advantage is..its warm, and easy to clean, its also quiet

 

I 1st put down some lam when we 1st moved here, but the tippy tap of dog feet drove me mad

 

the wood selections are fantastic and realy look good, and if you wanted , you can get borders to add to the effect

 

google Karndean..there are some bargains out there

 

jasp

 

PS we have solid oak in the hallway and the wife hates it..she is forever cleaning the marks off

Edited July 2, 2011 by jasper3

[Dekers]

Appreciate the responses!

 

This wooden/laminate floor business is not the new messiah by all accounts then, I had reservations anyway which is why I posed the question.

 

I still have reservations but may just try the dining room!

 

Many thanks!

 

[100milesaway]

Wouldn't put it in the shed. It's horrible and looks cheap and tacky, even the expensive stuff. Also from the point of view of the poor person that has to keep it clean, i don't want to spend every day of my life shifting furniture or getting down on my hands and knees to keep it dust free.Get some good quality carpets down. from Auntie.

[monster1971]

from a trade point of veiw if you have pipework under your floor make sure that it is 100 percent because lifting laminate to access pipework or wiring can be a pig of a job

[Paul T]

Hate carpets but I hate laminates (tippity-tap) more, so 4 years ago we did the entire ground floor in solid oak and it's ace . We do have one big oriental rug in one room though as the mum-in-law insisted on her part of the house having carpet.

 

Ours is stuck down to the concrete screed so no tippy-tap - it's very solid. We got the Tavern Grade stuff from here (scroll to bottom of page), which at £10psm (as it was then) was much cheaper than the premium knot free stuff and any marks just add more character. The seller advised we bought a lot extra as 'spare' to allow for poor fitting and unacceptable faults, but to be honest there was hardly any that could be called unusable so I've loads left over :blink:. It fits in with our 200 year old cottage perfect and really does look great.

 

We've dragged furniture across it, the dogs run round on it and I continuously walk over it in my steel toecapped dealers. It never gets any special treatment other than a quick weekly brush and a damp mop every other week and still looks great. Would I ever go back to carpet? Er... Nope!!

[death from below]

I've got dark wood laminate throughout the ground floor - fitted it 5 years ago and it still looks great - we have a big rug in the living room for lazing about on. It's horses for courses, I love our laminate, it's easy to keep clean and is still as good as new after all this time.

 

Like you say, try it in one room, you can always add later.

[vampire]

Have fitted both laminate and engineered for plenty of customers,the best is defo the engineered stuff as its harder wearing and sandable should you damage it.Make sure its fitted correctly and stored in the room well BEFORE its installed,perimeter gaps, etc etc.

Wood is brilliant if you have sufferes of dust allergy in the home,you will be shocked at what builds up on it that would otherwise have gone unoticed,but now stares you in the face,so whoever does the cleaning is gonna hate it

Not so good for dogs,very slippery for claws.

 

It does make a room look bigger,i did a whole house on the ground floor,breaking it at doorways to keep expansion etc,it looked knock out,i would advise taking off skirting and not using a quadrant and cutting the door linings so the boards go under,it will be worth it.

 

Oh,one other person posted about his floor being glued to the concrete,this is the best way of fixing because even the expensive stuff can expand by up to 65%,i have seen this inperson and expensive to put right (no it wasnt one of my jobs)

[jasons gold]

Oh,one other person posted about his floor being glued to the concrete,this is the best way of fixing because even the expensive stuff can expand by up to 65%,i have seen this inperson and expensive to put right (no it wasnt one of my jobs)

 

 

i have never seen wood be able to expand by that much,absolutely beyond physics

[SuffolkShot]

Hi Vampire

 

Sorry to hijack this thread - the system said you cant accept PMs......

 

 

I'm looking for 8m2 of decent, classic solid oak flooring for my hall way and possibly for my lounge (about 25m2). Can you reccomend a decent supplier in Suffolk? Also, do you do fitting? If so, would you be interested in quoting me? Would appreciate a PM if so.

 

Thanks

 

SS

[mick miller]

If you want to be a bit more eco, bamboo looks good, is cost effective and wears well. I think the carbonized stuff is designed for high traffic areas. I haven't noticed it being any colder underfoot than the carpet but much easier to keep clean and spills are nay bother.

[Cosd]

I've fitted over twenty floors in my time and that's just as a novice, work that out!

 

Had both solid hardwood, cheap engineered and good quality engineered. I will say two things in my opinion. Firstly engineered wood does not move if fitted well, it does not shrink nor expand in my experience, even though they still say expansion space needed. Solid wood on the other hand has moved and joints opened after about three years being down.

 

My second tip would be to get an oil finish rather then laquered. When you do scratch it, and you will, you will never match a factory sprayed finish, plus you have to laquer the whole area. With an oiled floor you can rub the scratch out with wire wool then oil a patch and it blends in. Down side is a top quality engineered floor can be more expensive than solid.

[Dirty Harry]

Try flagstones. Very hard wearing, don't move about and once laid will outlast you and the house!

They are a bit expensive mind.

[wymberley]

Hallways are great as its a wipe clean affair so no you dont have to worry too much about muddy foot prints etc.

 

Dining room would be fine as you dont use it too often, it will be a bit noisier and also a bit chillier underfoot but nothing that would stop me having it fitted. But again food spillage etc are no problem

 

Lounge to be honest i would steer clear of. It can make a room a bit echoey and chilly on winter nights

 

Rather than the laminate stuff spend a bit more and get solid wood. Looks loads better and lasts longer. With laminates, high traffic areas tend to dull a lot as the finish wears off. At least with wood it can be refinished.

 

Just my opinion but hope it helps

As regards locations.

 

One of our members scattered some about for me (product by LG Hausys or something like) In addition, have some where my computor, gun cabinets, etc are located - ideal for wheelie office type chairs. Would definitely have it in the dining room when existing carpet requires replacing. All visitors have commented favourably.

[Dr W]

I've got laminate in the hall, great for not having to take shoes off to get to the kitchen but now have installed a new radiator and had to takeup to get to pipe work and it's proving a proper hassle to get back down.

[FalconFN]

We have 'pub' grade solid oak throughout the downstairs and it's great as we have kids and a dog running in and out all of the time so it's easy to clean. I wouldn't have laminate, it resembles wood but has none of the benefits or character and if it chips it looks terrible.

 

There was a comment about keeping the floors dusted - I use a thing called a vacuum cleaner, they are quite popular.

 

The downside to real wood is that the floor height can be raised quite a bit. I secret-nailed my 20 mm boards onto 18 mm ply so the floor was raised by nearly 25 mm above the carpet level which meant I had to trim the bottom off of all the internal doors.

[jonnyoftheboy]

another vote for karndean.

 

I have had wood in the last 3 of my properties - 1. 22mm junckers wooden floor, 2 & 3. good quality engineered 14mm

 

and they look lovely.... but take a lot of looking after, and they can take a battering.

 

with dogs, I now swear by Karndean.

 

oh yeah, I also have a natural stone floor - travertine.... DO NOT TOUCH! can't believe how soft the stone is.

[pegleg31]

I'd have Kardean over laminate any day but for me you can't beat solid flooring.I've fitted some good quality engineered flooring but it only has a veneered top surface.Solid wood flooring is the best but if you have heavy traffic don't get laquered buy oiled it's far superior and easy to maintain .For the best results when fitting solid floor or engineered you really need to use something like Elka bond rigid http://www.elka.co.uk/elka-extras-fix.html#Elka-Bond-Rigid

there is cheaper versions but it acts like a damp proofing and take the laminate/hollow feel away from floating the floor

Edited July 4, 2011 by pegleg31

[NickP]

I've got dark wood laminate throughout the ground floor - fitted it 5 years ago and it still looks great - we have a big rug in the living room for lazing about on. It's horses for courses, I love our laminate, it's easy to keep clean and is still as good as new after all this time.

 

Like you say, try it in one room, you can always add later.

I got dark wood laminate at my old house, walnut I think was the colour, with did entrace hall and dining room and all we ended up with was light coloured scratches from stones caught in shoes or chairs been moved

 

In the new house it had light oak laminate and the scratches are nearly invisible

[ziplex]

We've got decent quality laminate in the living room, it was supposed to be virtually bullet proof....which it is, but if liquid is spilled on the joined areas and left for any length of time it swells. One of the springers brought in a 'toy' from outside which we didn't realise was full of water until the following day which had seeped out onto an end join We've had it down years and it still looks good (apart from the odd swelling here and there), it does make the room noisy though.

 

Also our dogs live indoors and if they decide to have a romp it's like being locked in a tumble drier with a pound of wood screws! similarly if my daughter decides to stroll through with heels on it's nearly as annoying as the dogs

[Pheasant Feeder]

If its a house you intend to stay in more than a couple of years go for solid, if its a timber subfloor secret nail it then if you really need access it can be carefully lifted, de-nailed and relayed. If its concrete then look at a liquid batten system of gluing (sika is a good product but wear gloves its a **** to clean of your hands).

Advantages are that it will last longer than you if its looked after, it is a good insulator although can feel cold to the touch compared to carpet, it can be sanded and refinished up to 7 times. Ensure the timber is kiln dried and avoid reclaimed as you might experience problems.

 

Laminate... I've yet to see one I'd want in my house. If I was doing up a buy to let or student let then as a cheaper alternative may be.

 

Engineered most are quite good and some are excellent, they too can be sanded and refinished usually 3-4 times and most are prefinished meaning less mess on initil insallation. My only gripe is that most are a multi stave board meaning that where the board ends meet then 2 or 3 boards end together.

 

Oh and to clarify all timber and laminate floors can expand but under normal domestic conditions a suitable expansion gap (less than the thickness of the skirting board) is sufficient to prevent problems so long as there are no existing damp problems.

 

If you require advice on installation or refinishing just PM me.

[mitch66]

Ive had engineered wood down for almost 5 years now, still looks great, no movement, no expansion, & its just sat on a concrete floor with the foam underlay, 3/8" expansion gap all way round. it suits me as i have a modern house, ok its not for everyone but its practical & it lasts !!