New Flooring

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Has anyone gotten new flooring installed in their home recently? I am trying to decide between carpet, laminate, wood for my living and dining room and hall. I've dones some research on the pros and cons of each, now need to know of local experience. A little help?
 

acommondisaster

Active Member
We installed laminate (Pergo - easy to install) in our dining room/kitchen. It looked okay, but it was noisy to walk on. We bought a new house and rented that one - it did not hold up to renters so we replaced it with ceramic tile. We opted for ceramic because we figured (correctly) that it would be much harder for a renter to ruin it.

Laminate comes with its own set of problems - it hates water, so cleaning it is an issue. Since the areas you mentioned arent typically where you'd have water problems (leaks, spills), you might be okay. Of the ones you mentioned, I'd pick hardwood.
 

Vince

......
We installed laminate (Pergo - easy to install) in our dining room/kitchen. It looked okay, but it was noisy to walk on. We bought a new house and rented that one - it did not hold up to renters so we replaced it with ceramic tile. We opted for ceramic because we figured (correctly) that it would be much harder for a renter to ruin it.

Laminate comes with its own set of problems - it hates water, so cleaning it is an issue. Since the areas you mentioned arent typically where you'd have water problems (leaks, spills), you might be okay. Of the ones you mentioned, I'd pick hardwood.
I put down Armstrong laminate flooring from the kitchen into the dinning area. Put the padding down and it's quiet to walk on, seal the cracks with their sealer and no water problems, and all I do to clean it is damp mop. Dropped a hammer on it and it did fine. Dogs slide around on it with their nails, no scratches. :shrug: Laminate flooring is great. Next the living room will get real hardwood for the simple fact that it won't take as much of a beating as the kitchen.
 

pelers

Active Member
I was also looking into doing laminate (either Armstrong or Pergo) in my kitchen/breakfast nook area. We were concerned about water, is the sealer difficult to apply? And how hard was it to install in the kitchen? Not looking forward to getting around all those corners, under appliances and not entirely sure what to do about the kitchen island.
 

Clem_Shady

New Member
Has anyone gotten new flooring installed in their home recently? I am trying to decide between carpet, laminate, wood for my living and dining room and hall. I've dones some research on the pros and cons of each, now need to know of local experience. A little help?

You need to describe your intended lifestyle?

Do you have a dog whose nails will scratch flooring?

Hardwood = Bad

Allergies, asthma?

Carpet = Bad

Health condition that if you fall will hurt you?

Ceramic tile = Broken Skull

:coffee:
 

Clem_Shady

New Member
We installed laminate (Pergo - easy to install) in our dining room/kitchen. It looked okay, but it was noisy to walk on. We bought a new house and rented that one - it did not hold up to renters so we replaced it with ceramic tile. We opted for ceramic because we figured (correctly) that it would be much harder for a renter to ruin it.

Laminate comes with its own set of problems - it hates water, so cleaning it is an issue. Since the areas you mentioned arent typically where you'd have water problems (leaks, spills), you might be okay. Of the ones you mentioned, I'd pick hardwood.

Did you buy top of the line, lifetime warranty Pergo or a cheap grade?

:popcorn:
 

Clem_Shady

New Member
I was also looking into doing laminate (either Armstrong or Pergo) in my kitchen/breakfast nook area. We were concerned about water, is the sealer difficult to apply? And how hard was it to install in the kitchen? Not looking forward to getting around all those corners, under appliances and not entirely sure what to do about the kitchen island.

Pergo snaps together. Probably the only thing that absolutely can't be penetrated by water will be grouted, ceramic tile.

:coffee:
 

Vince

......
I was also looking into doing laminate (either Armstrong or Pergo) in my kitchen/breakfast nook area. We were concerned about water, is the sealer difficult to apply? And how hard was it to install in the kitchen? Not looking forward to getting around all those corners, under appliances and not entirely sure what to do about the kitchen island.
That was the hard part, moving all the appliances out. The sealer comes in a tube and you apply it in the cracks. :shrug: Since it's a "floating floor" you have to put spacers all around the edge after you remove all the quarter round molding. New molding goes down after so you don't see the space you left around the edge of the flooring. You have to nail the quarter round molding straight into the wall molding and NOT INTO THE FLOOR. The floor has to be able to expand and contract.
 

sm8

Active Member
I have heard alot of horror storries about pergo and a friend whose got ruined by a leaking fish tank while away. I absolutely love our Shaw laminate, have never had a problem. We have 5 kids and a large dog so we are always spilling and are pretty rough on it and it has held up great. We have had it down in our family room for over 3 years now and still love it.

Edited to correct brand name, had to look at the box we have in storage to be sure.
 
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pelers

Active Member
I'm not dead set on laminate at this point. The reason we're redoing the floor is because the idea of carpet in the main eating area terrifies me. Especially when the munchkin gets big enough to be in a high chair... throwing food... everywhere :cds:

So since the breakfast nook and kitchen are technically one large room I figured I may as well do the whole thing so it doesn't look funky. I just want something that won't tear up Munchkin's knees when he starts crawling (and won't crack his skull when he starts falling down, erm, walking), will stand up to accidental spills in the kitchen, will add value to the home and clean easily.
 

dalopitz

dabailey
I'm not dead set on laminate at this point. The reason we're redoing the floor is because the idea of carpet in the main eating area terrifies me. Especially when the munchkin gets big enough to be in a high chair... throwing food... everywhere :cds:

So since the breakfast nook and kitchen are technically one large room I figured I may as well do the whole thing so it doesn't look funky. I just want something that won't tear up Munchkin's knees when he starts crawling (and won't crack his skull when he starts falling down, erm, walking), will stand up to accidental spills in the kitchen, will add value to the home and clean easily.

I do not recommend laminate anymore! We replaced our family room rug with laminate strips. They told me scratches would be easy to buff out and replace. Not only is that not true, but they discontinued the brand! I ended up with somethign called duraceramic and I love it for wearability and maintenance. Just mop it, nothing else! I also recommend Clark's in LP. You'd think small business would be pricier but they are NOT. And your little one will be fine!
 
I'm not dead set on laminate at this point. The reason we're redoing the floor is because the idea of carpet in the main eating area terrifies me. Especially when the munchkin gets big enough to be in a high chair... throwing food... everywhere :cds:

So since the breakfast nook and kitchen are technically one large room I figured I may as well do the whole thing so it doesn't look funky. I just want something that won't tear up Munchkin's knees when he starts crawling (and won't crack his skull when he starts falling down, erm, walking), will stand up to accidental spills in the kitchen, will add value to the home and clean easily.

Take up existing floor, sub-flooring, cut floor joists out, and enjoy the dirt floor. Worked extremely well at the Green Door for many, many years. And they had people falling down on it every weekend! No one ever died that I can remember.
 
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