Getting wood/laminate flooring... any advice?

[ElizK]

We've decided that our nearly 3yr old carpet in the living room has been pee'd (housebreaking the puppy... now past that stage!) and puked on by our two lovely dogs enough, and it's time to remove it. We'd like to have wood or laminate flooring.

Has anyone done the installation themselves? Is it worth it to pay the extra to have it installed? The flooring will butt up next to ceramic tile... anything I should know about re that? Anyone know of a really good place to buy from?

If you have any words of wisdom for me, I sure would appreciate it!

Thanks!

 

[Michelina]

If you have two dogs, I think that laminate flooring might hold up better for you. It's also much easier to install yourself. I think one of the most important things when it comes to having laminate or wood installed is to make sure to leave enough expansion space all around the perimeter of your room and where it butts up to the ceramic. Both kinds of floors expand and contract and if it doesn't have enough room to move it can buckle up.

 

[bananiem]

I have a laminate floor in my kitchen and I love it! It's not wood; it looks like squares of marble or stone. It's super easy to clean and it seems to be pretty durable so far. The builder was here when it was being installed and he said it looked tough to install but that might have been because of the squares versus the planks of a laminate wood flooring.

 

[Nebsky]

Im a sort of handy guy that has a friend that is really handy with tools. We were going to undertake this task May 03 on my kitchen but decided to let the professionals do it. Im so glad. It took them 3 hours to do it and it looks great!!!

My friend and I watched them do it and then he decided to try it out on his house. He did a great job but it took him 3 weeks. He did his whole kitchen/living & dining room. He said he would have preferred to let them do it to get it done quicker, but the satisfaction of saying he did it drove him to do the work himself.

If its a small area without very many angles/doorways, Id consider doing it. If its my kitchen all over, Id let them do it.

Good luck!!

 

[binny]

I had laminate installed here and I would NEVER attempt to DIY it! we thought about it but decided against it and we were SO glad we did!
It was worth every penny spent!

You can do a search here for more on laminate flooring there have ben lots of topics lately on it.

 

[ElizK]

Thanks for your responses. I like the idea of getting it finished in an afternoon rather than dragging the project out for weeks. The room also has several angles in it.

Anyone know the best place to buy? (web site... particular store, etc)

 

[mom2grace]

DH installed it by himself in our kitchen. It was pretty easy, borrow or rent a saw to cut the pieces for the ends, etc.

I would say DH is above average in the handyman department, but he has never done work for anyone else or for $$.

 

[chasbos]

We laminate throughout our entire house - 3000 sq ft. I love it and with 4 kids and a dog it is a snap to clean. We did not install any of it ourselves - you lose the warranty if someone qualified does not install it. Also, there are many kinds of laminate flooring and of course price=quality! I put very high quality in my kitchen and living room - $5.50 sq ft (Canadian $$) but much less quality upstairs in the bedrooms - $1.80 sq ft.

So be careful what you buy and let them know you have high traffic with 2 dogs running it.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Like others said, the main advantage of laminate is that it's easy to clean, and that's a big one for most people. Hardwood's main advantages are that it adds lasting value to your home and that it can be sanded and refinished (laminate can't).

A lot of people do install it themselves. The glueless laminates aren't near as messy as the ones you glue together. Home Depot (and Lowe's also, I believe) has regular classes on installing laminate flooring and they also sell DIY installation videos.

Among the popular brands -- Home Depot carries Pergo, Shaw, and Mohawk. The last two are major carpet manufacturers, but I believe they buy the flooring from another manufacturer and put their names on it. Same with Dupont, which has a laminate floor in Home Depot. Lowe's carries Armstrong and Pergo. Other names are Wilsonart, Quikstep, and Alloc.

 

[rocketriter]

Another possibility is bamboo. Google "bamboo flooring" and see what comes up. It's a prefinished product that's intermediate in hardness between oak and maple, and can be sanded and refinished just like wood floor in the future. It comes in snap-together boards that take some expertise to be installed, but that don't require you to move out for a few days for sanding and finishing. We're putting it in throughout our first floor next month--with the installation done by professionals.

 

[Imzadi]

DH installed it by himself in our kitchen. It was pretty easy, borrow or rent a saw to cut the pieces for the ends, etc.

I've been wondering how these snap-lock ones works. I know you are supposed to install it so the lines forming the ends of the individual "planks" aren't lined up right next to each other, (looking all the same length,) but give a staggered look. Do you have to cut the boards to individual lengths, or are they pre-laminated with the different "lengths" already on them?

Sorry, I'm about as clear as mud! LOL

 

[vettechick99]

We are buying a new home and have decided to do most of the 1300 SF in laminate flooring. We'll be doing it ourselves with help from our handy dads in about 3 weeks. I'll post when we finish. I know that we will save about $2,000 by doing it ourselves... and THAT'S worth a lot of aggravation!

 

[Michelina]

You do have to stagger the boards from row to row so that you don't have four boards all coming together to make four corners. I don't know if that made sense but it makes the floor stronger when the boards are staggered. One thing that you can do is install your first row, then when you have to cut some off of your last board in that first row, you use what is cut off to start your second row. (As long as it isn't really short, say 8 inches or less.) Since you're starting your second row with that short piece, the rest of the boards are automatically going to be staggered from the row above it. Some laminate looks like one strip per one board, some looks like 3 or more strips on one board and those strips would be staggered looking.

 

[Pugdog007]

Why would you choose laminate over hardwood? My understanding is that the cost is about the same. If this is the case, I would choose hardwood. It will last forever, looks better and adds resell value to your home. I have hardwood throughout my entire first floor (even MBR) and with 4 dogs it is very easy to keep clean.

IMO laminate... looks like laminate. And I think the lifespan is only about 10 years.

 

[vettechick99]

Why would you choose laminate over hardwood? My understanding is that the cost is about the same. If this is the case, I would choose hardwood. It will last forever, looks better and adds resell value to your home. I have hardwood throughout my entire first floor (even MBR) and with 4 dogs it is very easy to keep clean.

IMO laminate... looks like laminate. And I think the lifespan is only about 10 years.

Laminate can often be less expensive than hardwoods up front. I've seen good laminates for $.99-1.99/SF whereas I've yet to see hardwoods less than $3.99/SF. Also, hardwoods need upkeep and maintenance to keep them in good shape, whereas laminate is install and go.

 

[Taylor]

Two things that I won't do:

1) Pay someone to work on my house - It is my pride and joy and my hobby. I do things that most won't tackle. I build all of my own cabinetry, and mill all of my own trim. You will never see any woodwork in any other house that is like ours since I designed it, milled it, and installed it myself from scratch. My next project is 300 sq. ft. of brazilian cherry hardwood for our bedroom floor.

2) I will not install laminate flooring or any other products that are supposed to "look like the real thing". I won't do this no matter if it is cheaper, easier to care for, or lasts longer. It just isn't my style. I watched my best friend have laminate flooring installed, then ripped out 3 years later to have real oak installed. You can NOT beat the real thing IMHO.

 

[lynetteSC]

Laminate can often be less expensive than hardwoods up front. I've seen good laminates for $.99-1.99/SF whereas I've yet to see hardwoods less than $3.99/SF. Also, hardwoods need upkeep and maintenance to keep them in good shape, whereas laminate is install and go.

We did laminate floors this summer .. due to costs, we chose laminate over hardwood. We purchased ours at Lumber Liquidators and got a GREAT deal! In fact, I saw an advertised special on their website and they gave me the same deal in the store. Not sure if they have a location near you or not. I think the website is www.lumberliquidators.com .We took our measurements and told them how many thresholds and doorways we needed to factor in, they figured everything. My dh and his friend installed in over a weekend in our living room and also hallway (probably about 600 sq ft?). It looks great and so much easier to clean for pets and new baby! PM if you have any installation questions and I can ask my dh! Good luck!

 

[HookedOnDiz]

I put down laminate in our kitchen last year... it wasn't too hard. I am very pleased with the way it came out, but if we were going to be in our condo for more than a couple of years I would have gone with hard wood floors. We plan on selling in a couple of years and moving on to a house, so it made sense as a short term solution.

 

[Digger In FLA]

my best tip is to pay the extra for the best underlayment you can get. it's not that much more per roll and it really muffles and softens the noise of laminate. i did the main floor of our house in laminate right before we sold it and moved down here. it looked great, the house was on the market 3 days and we had an offer. the realtor told us all who had toured the home commented on the floors. we only lived on it 2 months, so I can't comment on longetivity. buy or rent a sliding compound miter saw and a trim nailer to speed up the installation. I prefer hardwood as well, and helped install a couple of them, and they are a lot more labor intensive than laminate. just be prepared to have some extra for waste, and I recommend working out of at least 3 boxes at once to keep the grain distributed nicely. oh yeah, use duck tape to keep the seams taut as you install down the run.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Sam's Club has the lowest prices, that I've found, for laminated flooring. My sister bought it there, and her husband laid it himself, for a couple people, and no problems.