Wood Laminate Flooring reconsidered

[Pewterpower]

They get ya good with the trim products, fo sho....
I've often thought about doing my staircase in a laminate, but the bullnose is freakin' $$$.
What I used for the 1/4 round was the plastic white stuff. It blended nice with the baseboards and looked great against the floor.

 

[Maddog]

Dupont laminate

We installed the Dupont laminate (Cherry block) from HD in the kitchen/dining area over existing vinyl and we're real happy with it. Looks great, dog can't scratch it (she easy scratches hardwood entry way), dropped large pot on it - pot dented but not a mark on the laminate. Not real happy with the HD-supplied installer, but HD was very good about getting problems corrected and they replaced defective material for no charge. I agree - it does not look quite as nice as real hardwood, but durability and no maintenace sold us on it. Also, the Dupont laminate has the best warrantee that we found.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Mike50]

well there you go. another endorsement.

I think you have to want/need this wood laminate for it's apparently being very difficult to damage qualities and properties.
Because.. I'll tell you this is not a cheap product..for the higher end line. (Pergo-Dupont etc.)
In many cases it's as expensive as hardwood and most tile.

If you want the wood look but have kids and dogs...it's the way to go imo.

 

[Mike50]

They get ya good with the trim products, fo sho....
I've often thought about doing my staircase in a laminate, but the bullnose is freakin' $$$.
What I used for the 1/4 round was the plastic white stuff. It blended nice with the baseboards and looked great against the floor.

Big box prices for quarter round is about 1 dollar a foot. Which is crazy.
Local hardware/lumberyard here charges 50 cents which is just less crazy.

 

[Mike50]

Followup:

Dupont wood laminate (maple w/foam backing) Floor installed. Plastic vapor barrier over concrete
actually helped the install process a lot because the planks can "slide" easier.

I paid a couple of local guys to get er done. It's a back breaker/knee pad deal all the way. No way could one guy do the job alone. In fact 3 people were required at times. Having a Ramming bar/Rubber mallet/spacers was a must.

This was not your average unskilled DIY project. You better know more than just how to swing a hammer to do this.

The floor is even better than expected. Cleans with a dust mop easy and these big dogs can't hurt it. So far it's a great product.
I'm thinking about using more thruout the house...

Mike

 

[Chris8796]

Glad to hear it worked out. We have 9 yr old Pergo that has held up amazingly well. I replaced half the house with solid oak. The oak is nicer looking, while the Pergo is more durable. The one thing I didn't see mention is noise. A house full of laminate will be a noisy house, solid wood is a little better in this regard. Keep this noise issue in mind as you consider doing more area. Noise will travel down a laminate hallway with amazing ease.

 

[Mike50]

Glad to hear it worked out. We have 9 yr old Pergo that has held up amazingly well. I replaced half the house with solid oak. The oak is nicer looking, while the Pergo is more durable. The one thing I didn't see mention is noise. A house full of laminate will be a noisy house, solid wood is a little better in this regard. Keep this noise issue in mind as you consider doing more area. Noise will travel down a laminate hallway with amazing ease.

The accoustics in this case works well for me because my halls are tile.
Now I know where the dogs are with the click clacking and that's good.
The stereo and TV now sound better and is balanced with accoustic ceiling.

No more doggy carpet smell BTW.


M.

 

[dauv]

dauv

I'm currently installing Kronotex lam. in several rooms. My wife does home daycare and is worried about the floor. She'd like me to put down a "gym floor" urethane sealer to protect it from spills-cleaning-scratching-etc. Any thoughts on this?