Any budget alternatives to real hard wood floors???

[Planogirl]

We were unable to use wood or laminate in our kitchen because our house is an old Victorian and the floor is uneven. The installer said they wouldn't interlock properly. We went with peel and stick floor planks, much to my DH's horror- he comes from a family of contractors. The floor is beautiful! We get compliments on our "wood floor" and they can't believe it's vinyl. It's been down for 5 years and still looks great. I have 2 large dogs- no scratches and I'm sure all the times they have dumped their water bowl would have ruined wood or laminate by now. Cost under $200 to do our kitchen and dining area.
Here is a thread with people's pictures of the same flooring. We have Golden Oak.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/flooring/msg0911023312366.html

Thanks for posting the link. That stuff does look really good.

We will also be looking for a lower cost something eventually. Unless we can find wood at a really good rate, we might look into these planks.

 

[jodifla]

We used a glue-down wood floor in our Florida home. It looked and felt fabulous.

 

[Ericandjenng]

We went to Lumber Liquidators and bought one the cheapest laminate floorings they had (49 cents/ sq foot). We were just trying to finish an addition and wanted something really inexpensive. We were so impressed we went back and bought more (69 cents/ sq foot) and have replaced most of our flooring with the same laminate. Super great price and a ten year warranty. It's so cheap that it doesn't matter if we have to replace it before then. We were able to do about 90% of our house for about $1000.

You have to really look at it or actually walk barefoot on it to know it's not real wood. We bought the maple finish. It was so easy to install--just click and lock. DH does have a finishing blade for his miter saw to keep the edges clean on the short pieces.

 

[disneylove69]

I hate laminate because it is so loud. However, after visiting a friend's $$$$$ home and seeing her resiliant plank floor, I think that is the route we will go (can't do real wood due to kids/dog). I could not believe that what she has is basically a vinyl peel and stick floor. They used the Allure product from Home Depot--it is textured, not hollow sounding like laminate, looks wonderful.

I used this in my master room/bath and it was easy to install. I use the Shark steam and vac to clean it.

 

[Hardy]

Half the price of what?

We bought sold oak Bruce flooring at Lowe's for $3/sq. ft. on sale. These are not engineered but solid hardwood. DH installed them himself. The cost was about the same price as carpet or laminate, maybe even a little less.

I believe it is this one:
http://www.lowes.com:80/pd_48113-97...|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&facetInfo=Solid

Dawn

we have the same wood....also used a 10% off coupon so even more saved...we did our entire main floor, except for the bathrooms of course. Also approximately 4 years old and looks wonderful. With two kids, a great dane and overall heavy traffic, I'm sure we will refinish the floors eventually, but hardwood is very forgiving when it comes to abuse. I think any scratches and dings just add to the personality of the floor for now

Our last home had some pergo laminate flooring, and it was very slippery and we had issues with chipping at the seams. Now I don't know who installed it and if it was done properly, but it was definitely nowhere near as durable as the hardwood.

 

[mickeysaver]

You will be amazed at the price variance on installed hardwood floors from one retailer to the next. The price of the wood is probably similar across the board, but there is a vast difference in the cost of labor to install. Just check around and you will see.

That's no lie! Empire wanted to charge us $8,000 for laminate installed and for the hardwood, it was quoted at just under $15,000.

Needless to say, we went with Lumber Liquidators with the quote of just over $7,000 for the nicest quality hardwood. I love our floors and they did a great job. Worth every penny!

 

[Nevergrow'nup]

Sorry to butt into a thread

Has anyone used the laminate (peel and stick planks) over radiant floor heating? Just wonder what the constant heat will due to the glue?

 

[fakereadhed]

Sorry to butt into a thread

Has anyone used the laminate (peel and stick planks) over radiant floor heating? Just wonder what the constant heat will due to the glue?

Check with the manufacturer. We had great success with ours not lifting, but we followed the instructions to the letter, and spent hours with a heat gun and scraper making sure there was no residue left from removing the old flooring on the subfloor. I know the link I posted had people who had success laying it over old flooring, but that would be taking a huge risk and I wouldn't try anything that isn't recommended by the manufacturer.