Laminate/Hard Wood Flooring Question

WE just put down laminate flooring and we really like it. It's easy to take care of and looks great. While you are shopping around, check out Lumber Liquidators. They have a website and a store in Dallas just off of I-35. We were able to get our flooring for less than $1 a square foot and it's a pretty high quality product,and came with the 25 year manufacturer's warranty.

I own a carpet cleaning company, and we clean and treat all flooring. I prefer hard woods any day. Laminate flooring is considered temporary flooring, just like carpet. Hardwoods and tile and grout is considered permanent flooring. Hardwoods can be refinished and as for scratching...they are easily removed with a cleaning and polishing. Laminate also has a hollow/louder sound as you walk on them which can create more "noise" in the home. We've had many clients that have scratched up their laminate, and also it loses it's shine as you live on it and there is no way to make it look like new again. Hardwoods can be restored. Much cheaper than replacing the floor once you wear it out. Plus hardwoods are just beautiful no matter how you look at it. However, I tell my clients, if you are planning on staying in the home you are in for a very very long time...go with the hardwood. If this is a home that you would consider selling within a few years..then go with the laminate because it's easier on the pocket book. Also...if you need a couple numbers to carpet stores that can truly educate you on this major investment in your home I will be glad to give them to. You would be surprised at the level of customer service and the great installation process, and how you may need them over warranty issues and they will help you through it all and the price is comparable to the large chains.

One of the first things we did when we bought our house three years ago was to rip out the carpet and replace it with laminate. I was a student and a new mom. So I knew I wanted something maintenance free. In between I hosted my sister's Lab for a year and a half and boy was I glad that I had laminate and not hardwood! If you do choose laminate, here are my suggestions

1. We got two rooms (study with lots of angles and a closet and the family room) done professionally. I paid a lot more of course, but especially in the family room, they cut the brick and inserted the laminate so it gave a very clean look. I would not have thought of it myself and it looks great!

2. When installing yourself, buy quality laminate - not high end, just good quality - no Sams club please. We used laminate from Sams and Quickstep. We could clearly see the difference in quality.

3. Make sure you keep your tapping board flush while tapping. If your laminate chips while tapping, it means your board is not flush and is moving while tapping.

4. The only thing they say is that if you spill liquids mop it up immediately. Of course you would have to do that even if you had hardwood floors.

All the best with your project!

I use to work in a flooring store and it really depends on your personal preferrance. Some Lam. flooring scratches just as easy as hardwood. As far as the care of the floor, it is not harder to take care of hardwood. My boss had hardwood in the entire house and she cleaned it with a swiffer and then some floor cleaner by Mannington and a terry cloth mop that she could just take off and wash in the washing machine. If you are worried about a puppy scratching the floor you may consider going with a hadscrapped wood because then you couldn't see the scratches!! Laminate flooring also comes in a handscrapped look. The best looking handscrapped Laminate is made by Mannington (in my opinion). Or you could go a whole different route. There is a product called vinyl plank that looks exactly like real wood but can go in wet areas. It is strongly suggested not to put wood or Lam in kitchens or bathrooms or utility rooms due to water damage; but with the vinyl plank you can do the whole house in the same materials and not worry about water damage. The company I would suggest looking at is Karndean. They have different lines of product but the best is Art Select (again my opinion). In the store we put a piece of hardwood next to the vinyl plank and customers couldn't tell a difference. When we remodel our house we are going with vinyl plank everywhere but the bedrooms where we have carpet.
One more thing to think about is the installation. The big box stores may have a better price on some of their flooring materials, but they have a very high price for installation. I think it is often better to go with a smaller floor that specializes in Flooring only because they depend on the happiness of their customers. You also want a company that actually has their own installer crews that work for them. A flooring store is only as good as the installers they employ. Sorry if this is too long, but I really want you to know your options. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to send me a message and I will try to help you. If you want links to some of the companies I have mentioned just ask. Good Luck.

When we found out I was pregnant, we had the "best" laminate floors installed in most of our house...and I wouldn't give you a dime for them now. As long as you don't walk on them, they look great. But throw in a husband, baby & dogs and you've just got floors that look terrible all the time. Durable, yes...but they never look clean. I've bought every dust mop & wet mop available/recommended, along with various cleaning products & nothing seems to help.

If I had it to do over again, I would stain the concrete with "Skim Stone", which is what we left in our TV room. It is much more forgiving with a quick clean & appears to last much longer. The different textures you get with it give the room more depth anyway.

When we got our house 2 1/2 years ago we took up the carpet and put the laminate in the entire house except for the kitchen & bathroom. We purchased it at Home Depot and had the contractor that was doing some other repairs and renovations to the house install the flooring. We were going to have to either replace the carpet or put this in. We chose the laminate because of allergy reasons. I have 2 boys - 8 & 3 1/2 so you know the floors get a ton of heavy duty traffic ! I love it! With everything they subject it to we have had no scratches, dings, or discoloration. This includes baseball cleates, hockey sticks, crayons & markers (both washable & unwashable !), dogs, rabbit, etc. I love the fact that I see all the dust & dirt so I can get it cleaned. My only drawback is that I have to sweep or use a stick vaccuum to get that all up and the floors have to be mopped. And I dislike mopping ! If I do a spot mop in the dining room each evening it stays alot cleaner and easier to really clean once a week. I would recommend the laminate over the hardwoods or carpet any time. Sorry this is so long and good luck on your decision !

Here is my response...I have laminate that was put in 9 years ago that extends from my dining room to my entry way. It looks great! I was told that this stuff was practically indestructible. Well...if water gets on any of the grooves, forget it...it raises up like cheap furniture. This happened only one year after it was placed in my home. I called up the company who installed my flooring, their response is that water is one of it's foe's. Well why did they not tell me that to begin with or I would have gone with wood. I love the laminate flooring of today. It looks awesome! I wish I could afford to change or I would do wood or newer grade laminate. Ask the company many questions and include separation of the grooves and water damage. You are doing the right thing by asking questions.

Since we have 2 big dogs and 2 kiddos, we chose to go with hand-scrapped hardwood floors and love them...this way the scratches from dog claws or kids' toys doesn't matter. Now I will be honest, hardwoods or laminate flooring will definitely show more dirt, hairs, etc than carpet. But it makes such a difference in the look of your home :) When you're ready to purchase, we've got a great guy---Bob Frealey with Coker Floors. Let me know if you need his contact info. We've been so pleased with him, that we're fixing to extend our hardwoods into the kitchen and replace counters with granite.

I had this same debate with myself for several months before deciding on laminate. I shopped everywhere. We decided on a laminate from Floor and Decor in Arlington. Yes, it was almost as expensive as the hardwood. But I don't regret it. I have a six year old and two dogs and I'm so glad I don't have to cringe when my son plays cars on the floor or when the dogs run across the living room. We did buy the nice padding to reduce noise. It's called "Floor Muffler". Expensive but worth it. We had people tell us that only ceramic tile and hardwood would raise the value of our house, but I tend to disagree. I looked at it like this. I had stinky, stained carpet. Anything I put in our house would raise the value. And once you pull your carpet up and see how much dirt is under there, you'll wonder how you all could breathe!

I haven't seen anyone mention the "value" of your home in respect to flooring choice. Several months ago we were choosing flooring and had a realtor take a look at the house and he said that laminate would really hurt the value of the property. Just thought I would mention that in case it would matter to you. (Thinking long-term) As far as cleaning goes, any hard floor takes a lot of up keep! I have 4 kids on hard floors and I think I could sweep 10 times a day and still not keep it perfectly clean....just part of the game I guess!
I agree with the others about the scraped floor showing less damage because it just adds to the charm!

More than likely you know already, the wood floors can be sanded and refinished and laminate can not. To help keep scratching down, keep protectors under all furniture regardless if laminate or wood. Price Lumber Liquidators also, they may be less expensive and you have wonderful selection to choose from. Once a year, sometime in April only, they offer 50 cents off a square foot as long as it is in stock at that store or the distribution center in Virginia. We plan on building this fall and have decided to go exclusively most likely Bellawood laminate, has a 50 year warranty (can still be scratched by dragging furniture) and then tile in the kitchen and bath areas. Another plus is you can replace one board if necessary too, easier to keep clean verses shampooing carpet...which is nice if you plan for pets in your future. Wish you the best.

I have laminate in my living room and hallway and I LOVE IT. It's easy to clean and sweep. I have a 90lb dog that runs all over my house and I have not found one scratch where he slips around from running. Also make sure you get the padding that cuts down on the echol when you walk on it. I also have a 3yr old and she slipped and fell a few times after we got it but I think she is finally figured out that she can't run 90mphs in the house safely. LOL. Good Luck and you'll love it

We had laminate in our old house in the living area and LOVED it. It was so easy and didn't scratch. We had the Wilson Art handscraped- looked just like real wood to me, but less $ and scratch free.

In our new house, we have wood. ( they didn't offer laminate) It's pretty, but has a lot more upkeep and we already have several scratches. AAGH! I would go for the laminate- better with kids. They drop stuff, slide around, push toys on it etc.. Go for the laminate. :)

This really is a preference issue. We have laminate flooring in the majority of our home. It was already here when we moved in, so I'm not sure of the exact quality. To be honest, I would prefer hardwood. It IS susceptible to scratching (this may be a quality issue), but unlike with hardwood the scratches don't add character or uniqueness. It doesn't have that warm sound that hardwood has when you walk across it either. We're saving up to replace it.

My sister-in-law has real wood and complains constantly about the upkeep. We have laminate, and I love the durability and ease in cleaning. I recommend getting a high quality "padding" for underneath to reduce the hollow sound made by footsteps (of the two- and four-legged type).

We have bamboo floors which we just put in two years ago and we hate it. It scratches so easily and it truly is harder to take care of. We have friends who have the scraped wood floors and they absolutely love it and they have three dogs, one cat and one teenager. It looks fabulous.

We recently put laminate in our living room and kitchen, which was supposed to be able to with stand puppy pee. My husband is a handy man so he installed it himself instead of us paying a bundle to have it laid for us. We have only had the floor for 2 weeks. There are parts of the floor where it seems to be warping and we also have a puppy. She peed on the floor the other night right where the palates line together, now they are completely folding up. The edge is so sharp that I have to lay a towel down so my son 2 ½ won’t cut his foot on it. We are waiting to hear from a customer service “specialist” to see what can be done. I don’t know it real hard wood is better but the laminate isn’t a big hit in my house…. Best of Luck! Oh and Make sure to Completely go over the Warranty.

I have had hard wood in three homes, now. I love it. I don't find that it is difficult to care for, as long as you research how the manufacturer suggests that you care for it. I vacuum mine, and maybe once a week go over it with Orange Glow and a soft mop (made by Orange Glow). The current floor is now four years old and looks great. I have an 11 year old son and a large dog (120lbs) and my son has lots of friends over. You do need to put some kind of cushioning under furniture. I have a rubber grip product under any furniture sitting on the wood, it keeps the furniture from sliding and scratching. There are a few scratches on the wood, you can see if you look for them. However, I think it adds to the charm and people can tell that they are real wood floors. I have several friends who have high end laminate and wish they had wood. No matter what, the laminate will never look like wood. Most people equate laminate to linoleum these days. My mom has 25 year old wood floors that have endured 4 children and eight grandchildren and still look great. My sister also has hard wood with three children and two dogs and hers are beautiful.

I recently went to Lowe's and they told me to go with vinyl if I had dogs because it would'n warp or come up if the dog had an accident on it. You might want to check it out.
F.

Hello Dee,

I work for a plumbing co here in fort worth and our experience with hard wood floors is not good. if you have any amount of moisture in the slab they will buckel and any moisture that gets on it will cause it to buckel also!! We just come accross this problem all the time. Just thought I would pass the word along.

I just built a new home and hav enginered hardwood flooring and I love it. The only thing to be sure of is whoever lay it is exoerienced to the fact that there has to be enough glue even in the low spots that are always somewhere in the concete base. I would never get anything from Home Depot. I got mune very reasonable at Discount Warehouse on Hwy.121 . I only paid $3.49 . for it. Also Lowe's has a good deal and stand behind ANYTHING.

It is really a matter of personal preference. We have hardwood floors. Depending on the quality of floor that you get the floors can be sanded down and refinished. However, it is NOT water proof, and that may be a big consideration for a little puppy.

My neighbor had laminate put in when their home was built. A plumber failed to tighten the water line to the ice maker in the kitchen which left a small leak. The water slowly ran underneath all of the laminate on the first floor and it all had to be removed. They went with real wood at that point.

We have hard wood floors and they are beautiful but we also have two dogs so we have little scratches all over the place. We can have them refinished and they will be good as new but as long as we have dogs or kids they will be scratched. If I ever get new floors I would get a very high end laminate (they look like wood these days) or the hand scraped wood floors (I have heard you can stracth them and not notice, but I would test this with a sample before I bought them).

Good luck,
C.