Anyone have experience with Home Depot's Trafficmaster Allure laminate wood floor?

[momofmikey]

We are thinking of putting this down in our kitchen. We currently have white ceramic tile that has been in the kitchen since we bought the house 12 years ago. I hate the floor - always have - not a fan of the white. We have plans to do an extension within the next few years, so we were looking for an inexpensive way to get a new look. At Home Depot today, the sales rep suggested the Allure flooring. To me, it looks fine, and it seems easy to put down and very affordable. We wouldn't need to rip up the tile either. Our other option is the interlocking Pergo type floors. I'm pretty sure my DH would have to rip up the floor for this because they're substantially thicker. I read some reviews online on the Allure, and most seem favorable, was just curious if any Diser's had experience. I can't help nut be concerned because it seems too good to be true.

Thanks!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Care to hear from another Home Depot flooring specialist?

The best description I can think of is that it's like a peel and stick vinyl type flooring that installs like a laminate flooring. The planks stick to each other and the flooring floats over the existing flooring or subfloor. Very little prep work is needed -- make sure the floor is clean, smooth, and level. Don't have to worry about putting down the foam underlay like with laminate or lauan with vinyl or level the embossment of existing vinyl.

It's not too thick, maybe twice as thick as peel and stick tile but not near as much as laminate. It won't build the floor up much if you decide to put it on top of the existing flooring. If you have ceramic tile, I would suggest making sure the grout lines aren't going to be too deep that they will have an effect on the Allure. If you can, put two or three planks together down on the floor and see if the lines can be felt. If they can, you might want to level out the flooring or pull up the tile.

The only downside I can think of is that we don't offer an install program on it (at least in this market; we may in others). It is a DIY product, but it's a fairly easy one. The toughest thing may be making sure the faux grout lines are lined up properly. They cut easy -- score with a utility knife and snap.

What really impresses me is that the signage in the stores has the word "waterproof". Usually something like this will state "water resistant".

Feedback from people that have installed it has been positive. I've had customers purchase some, installed it, and come back for more for other rooms.

I don't have it in my house, but I would put it down.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Than you for the info!! I am thinking about putting that in two spare bedrooms that we have converted to a home office and a sewing room. Would ripping out carpet and cleaning up the foam pad cause any problem with that? In other words, it has the "pad" attached to the flooring already and will float on any surface. (sub floor)

 

[Cindy B]

Wow-- thanks for all your help. I was actually looking at this yesterday to install in my kitchen.

What exactly do you need to put it down on the floor?

If it helps any, I have 20 year old laminate that is coming off in spots in my kitchen. We've reglued pieces as they came off (3 pieces). Now some spots are chipping!

Will this flooring be ok with pets?

What exactly do I need to install it? (Ie all materials)

 

[momofmikey]

Thanks for the info. We're not sure of a color at this point, so I think we're going to buy a box, and just lay them down to see how the color works with everything else. Once we decide on a color, I think we'll go ahead and buy this.
It really does look like the real thing.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Than you for the info!! I am thinking about putting that in two spare bedrooms that we have converted to a home office and a sewing room. Would ripping out carpet and cleaning up the foam pad cause any problem with that? In other words, it has the "pad" attached to the flooring already and will float on any surface. (sub floor)

You're welcome. I need to correct myself and I apologize for not giving complete info in my first post.

Allure should be treated like any floating floor when it comes to what it can be installed over. Some floorings HAVE to be removed. Carpet and padding is one, including the tackstrips. Carpet and padding would not allow for as firm a surface as the Allure needs. If the padding is glued down, it needs to be scraped up. If the padding is stapled down, pull the staples or hammer them down into the subfloor to flatten them out.

I woud also recommend removing hardwood glued down onto concrete; this is required when installing laminate, so the same should apply toward Allure. Concrete is porous, and the danger involving hardwood glued down is that if moisture works its way up to the surface, laminate or Allure wouldn't allow the hardwood to breathe, causing it to rot and possibly create an unstable surface for the new flooring down the road.

As for going over laminate -- if it were me, I'd remove it, if only because it would be easy to remove and lessen how high the flooring is built up.

The surface should be as smooth and level as possible. Existing vinyl and hardwood would be fine. Any embossment or texture in the vinyl or grooves in the hardwood shouldn't cause a problem. It's much more flexible than laminate and should be more forgiving for minor imperfections. Even so, I would level out any large low or high spots.

I think it would be ideal for pets! It's pretty tough and any messes would clean up easily.

Tools needed include a utility knife to score the flooring; a T-square or straight edge to make sure the edge is straight; knee pads .... and that's about it. If I think of anything else needed I'll post.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

EXCELLENT..that is the info I needed! (now I gotta keep DW from seeing this thread hehehehehe)

Heck, I am suprised that the DIS dosn't have a home improvement thread, especially in these tough times!!

Thank you for your posting the information Obi-wan, you're our only hope!!!

(yeah, its a quote rip-off!)

 

[Anne34]

Care to hear from another Home Depot flooring specialist?

The best description I can think of is that it's like a peel and stick vinyl type flooring that installs like a laminate flooring. The planks stick to each other and the flooring floats over the existing flooring or subfloor. Very little prep work is needed -- make sure the floor is clean, smooth, and level. Don't have to worry about putting down the foam underlay like with laminate or lauan with vinyl or level the embossment of existing vinyl.

It's not too thick, maybe twice as thick as peel and stick tile but not near as much as laminate. It won't build the floor up much if you decide to put it on top of the existing flooring. If you have ceramic tile, I would suggest making sure the grout lines aren't going to be too deep that they will have an effect on the Allure. If you can, put two or three planks together down on the floor and see if the lines can be felt. If they can, you might want to level out the flooring or pull up the tile.

The only downside I can think of is that we don't offer an install program on it (at least in this market; we may in others). It is a DIY product, but it's a fairly easy one. The toughest thing may be making sure the faux grout lines are lined up properly. They cut easy -- score with a utility knife and snap.

What really impresses me is that the signage in the stores has the word "waterproof". Usually something like this will state "water resistant".

Feedback from people that have installed it has been positive. I've had customers purchase some, installed it, and come back for more for other rooms.

I don't have it in my house, but I would put it down.

We put this in our basement last year. It was very easy to do (easier than our laminate) and it looks decent. The only problem that we have noticed are scuff marks all over that are hard to get off.

 

[Cindy B]

We put this in our basement last year. It was very easy to do (easier than our laminate) and it looks decent. The only problem that we have noticed are scuff marks all over that are hard to get off.

Like what kind of scuff marks? What color did you get?

Now, how do you attach the allure to the floor? Is there a sticky side or do you need glue?

 

[momofmikey]

Obi-Wan - I have a question, I hope you don't mind. We put down the floor yesterday - looks great! Do you know if I can vacuum it, or am I better using a broom?

Thank you!