Pros and Cons of Laminate flooring?

**mommy4ever** · 08-20-2008, 10:37 AM

I'm sitting here debating the issues.

I currently have an off white berber, that is horrible to keep clean. The vacuum is good, but due to the deep textures and grooves, it doesn't vacuum up nice. I pay $250 one to 2 times a year to clean it. Or it looks disgusting.

I have a home daycare and my main level is my main area for care. Babies do go upstairs at naptimes.

I'm considering putting laminate on the main floor. What do I need to know about it? WOuld the kids toys damage the finish like it does on hard wood? What about spills, I know some of the cheaper laminates will swell up, are all of them like that?

It wouldn't be this year, if I can get an estimate done this winter, then I might do it next summer if we can save for it, but likely 2 years away. It would pay for itself in saves on carpet cleaning within a few years. But I want to know the good and the bad about it. The sales people all rave about , but people who've had it will know the truth about it.

Any feed back would be great!

**elphie** · 08-20-2008, 10:45 AM

We have laminate floor in our playroom... it was originally intended to be a dining room when the kids got bigger but now we homeschool so its our office/libraray/classroom. Anyway... the kids have spilled drinks, food, and even paint. They build with blocks, play with hotwheels, and drag doll strollers across the floor. The have even gotten off the page and colored on the floor. We built this house six years ago and the floor looks as good as when we first put it in; no scratches, no stains. I think it would be great for a daycare setting.

It was also really easy to install ourselves (if you have tools to cut it) so it was actually cheaper than carpet that we paid to have professionally installed.

**Ceashels** · 08-20-2008, 03:42 PM

One of my clients has the new "swiftlock" style of floor (the pieces fit together) in her dining room and kitchen. It swiffers beautifully and has looked good for the year that I have worked there. It isn't designed for really wet washing though, no pouring a puddle of water on the floor and leaving it sit for 10 mins while you clean the edges. Damp mopping is all it should need.

**Squirt** · 08-20-2008, 04:01 PM

I HATE how noisy laminate floors are. Shoes, doggie feet, anything slightly hard contacting the floor will make a lot of noise. The ticking of dog nails on a laminate floor could drive me insane. It would be nice if it didn't make that sound, as everyone wouldn't be alerted to your laminate flooring as soon as they stepped on it.

Another big thing is that most laminate floors don't look like real wood unless a)you're pretty far away, or b)you convince yourself that it looks real. The fake factor has a cheapness about it that I can't stand.

**Missy** · 08-20-2008, 04:08 PM

I have a certain bias as I am in the business. WEll, dh is a hardwood (ceramic, vinyl, tile, and carpet too) flooring guy. The fake stuff is great for do it yourselfers. It is. But...it's not real. If you scratch it you are left with what looks like...cardboard peeking through. If a kid felt so inclined, they could easily peel the lamination off . We've had to replace floors for people who put their laminate in them selves and their kids did just that. They ended up going full wood throughout. If your area is small, it might be cost effective to do the laminate yourself. But really, IMO, nothing beats real wood. FOr feel, texture, depth, warmth, ...i could go on. But i am biased.

**mommy4ever** · 08-20-2008, 04:13 PM

Hehe, actually the laminate i'm looking at looks like ceramic tile. I fell inlove with it at some ones house.

I didn't take into consideration the puppy! Good point. But that's with any non carpeted surface. I do want away from it.

My main floor is 1/2 level in a 4 level split.

I never wash my floors like that..lol. I never have 10 minutes to let it soak.

Decisions decisions.

I just hate that I spend so much on getting it cleaned. Yes I could do it myself, infact I've tried, but do the texture, no home unit can do a 1/2 decent job...

Oh well, we'll see what happens. Maybe I can accelerate some payoffs and just gut the main level and do it as I want it and then do the flooring..lol. Realy tile with subfloor heating...mmmmm

**mhope** · 08-20-2008, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by Ceashels

One of my clients has the new "swiftlock" style of floor (the pieces fit together) in her dining room and kitchen. It swiffers beautifully and has looked good for the year that I have worked there. It isn't designed for really wet washing though, no pouring a puddle of water on the floor and leaving it sit for 10 mins while you clean the edges. Damp mopping is all it should need.

This what have in my living room and I love it. No more vacuuming and so easy to keep clean. My son and I put it down so I only pay for the laminate.

**madhen** · 08-22-2008, 04:40 PM

I put in laminate flooring in my birds' room. I had carpet in there, hardwood in the livingroom, and linoleum in the bathroom. After a few months of seeing how easy it is to clean, I am considering replacing all the other flooring on that level with the same laminate. Mine was the hardwood-looking stuff. Looks just like wood. They have some sort of photo-process where the surface is actually a picture of real wood, so you really can't tell the difference. I am a complete klutz at DIY, so I had someone install it for me. He was careful to lay grain to grain so there wasn't any immediate stop in any one pattern, and it looks beautiful.

I might mention that I beat up my floors pretty hard. I drag things across them, dump stuff on them, leave damp towels laying around. The guy who installed these for me uses the same laminate in his mud room and says that his floor looks brand new, years after being installed. If the hardiness of mine over the last several months is any indication, I tend to believe him.

**leezza** · 08-22-2008, 05:49 PM

I used to work at a flooring contractors and I would suggest:

QUICKSTEP, (love the way this stuff looks)

It may be more money but it looks like stone and we had it in our high traffic area where all the contractors and delivery guys came in and it looks great and was 5 years old.

JMHO,
leezza

PS. Missy would know more about how this would work for you.

**TheRootedNomad** · 08-22-2008, 06:45 PM

We put laminate (Pergo) down in our den/entry area about 8 years ago. With our dogs and our kids it has held up great to EVERYTHING except....the few drops of water that would drip from the hanging plant. Even that has only casued a small crack, but I did realize it was a problem after just a couple of waterings. I love the way it cleans up though and it is cost effective enough to redo every couple of years if you do it yourself. There is also a fairly easy way to replace damaged sections if you need to.

**nodmicks** · 08-22-2008, 08:16 PM

Dh installed 1600 sq feet in 3 rooms. It looks as good as the original wood floors in the house. There are many "looks" to it. We bought the type that looked like aged hardwood floors(as in not perfect) in a cherry to match the 150 year old woodwork.

It has only been installed for 2.5 years but it seems indestructable. I've dropped numerous heavy objects, broken dishes, dragged a huge table and not a mark.

They are cold in the winter though! Also the pet hair really shows and I could sweep a dozen times a day.

**ladykemma2** · 08-22-2008, 09:19 PM

one word: porcelain tile

i lived in a house in england that had that stuff. i would not pay one dime for it.

**C@rol** · 08-23-2008, 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by ladykemma2

one word: porcelain tile i lived in a house in england that had that stuff. i would not pay one dime for it.

I just had it installed in my kit. and dining area.
Curious, what did you not like about it?
TIA

**PrairieRose** · 08-23-2008, 11:21 AM

We've had our's in our living room and down the hall for going on 3 years now. I love it. It's soooo easy to clean, always looks new (I have one deep scratch from movers who drug a really heavy china cabinet --- scratch is one inch long and noone but me and Gripey knows it's there). I just love how much less dust I have in my house now since I'm not all carpet...etc... .

The downside.
It's coooooolllld in the winter (like tile)
It's noisy (noone can sneak up on me while I sleep....lol)
and if I don't keep it clean it looks dirty (like carpet or anything else, but I do have to sweep about 2-3 times per week and damp mop once every 2 weeks which could be more often with little ones).

I really love it. We had our's installed and get so many compliments on it. People think it's hardwood.

**PB&J** · 08-23-2008, 12:30 PM

We have laminate in our downstairs. DH did it himself. It cost us about $600 for about 1000 sq feet. It is the snap together kind. I LOVE it. It is so easy to clean and I feel that it is 'cleaner' than carpet. I use a Swiffer vacuum then mop with plain warm water once or twice a week. We have 4 kids and a cat and it is so much easier than caring for carpet.

Carpet, especially new carpet, contains a lot of chemicals, even more if it is Scotchguarded. So that was another reason we opted for laminate. Eventually we plan to put hardwood in the whole house, but that is something that we will have to pay someone else to do. Our laminate is 2 years old and looks great and I am sure it will last for many more years.