one more shopping thread, Laminate flooring

[binny]

ok so we changed our minds on the new van and fixed the old one ( working fine ) we still have to buy a new dryer this weekend ( no big deal there though ) now DH has decided that he wants to put Laminate down in the house everywhere but the Family room and bedrooms. ( just as an explanation, we refied our house so we are putting some more money into it )


So that would be the Dining room, living room, all hallways, and both entry ways.

I was shopping today and found some that I really liked, they are a small width plank look kind of a dark honey oak, my questions are...

1) does anyone have experience with laminate and what do you like / not like about it?

2) Should the flooring match the cabinets in the kitchen ( Its in a Great Room Style so the majority of the laminate would be in there)

3) anything else I should know about the laminate?


Thanks all I love having this forum so I can ask all these questions! Isnt it nice that we have such a great resource?

 

[grinningghost]

My mom has laminate flooring in her kitchen. It looks great too. The only complaint she has with it is cleaning it. She said she's tried lots of things and the only thing that doesn't leave it spotty is plain water. She mops with a barely damp mop.

It's also quite slippery. She's taken care of that by carefully placed throw rugs.

Her cabinets don't exactly match the floor, but they're close - it looks very good that way. Her's are sort of a light oak.

All in all, her kitchen runs circles around mine.

 

[binny]

I was worried about the slipperiness ( LOL is that a word??) too. Especially since we dont wear shoes in the house.

I figured I'd find a couple of runners to place in the entry ways at least and then the area rug I have in the living room should help as well.


I went back with dh yesterday and they didnt have the one I wanted in stock so we brought home 2 more samples and were fighting over those. lol.


Thanks for the reply!

 

[KristiKelly]

We have hardwoods in the foyer & laminate in the kitchen. I've never found it to be slippery not like our hardwoods. I prefer hardwoods over the laminate. The floor we have is not Pergo, but another brand (can't remember) just like Pergo. I think they are loud, DH dropped his keys one morning & woke up the whole house. 2 years ago we had an ice storm, no power for 4 days & left. When we returned, we realized that the ice had melted & leaked onto the floor, several days later we noticed slight buckling, nobody else notices it but us, Dh checked under the house & all seemed fine so we are just gonna live with it (until I can afford hardwoods throughout. As for color, we have the natural red oak color floor & cherry cabinets, I like the contrast.

 

[hydster]

We have Pergo in our living room and love it! We have hardwood in our kitchen and hate it! Can't wait to switch it out to Pergo as well. The hardwood after a year or so always gets so scratched up and gross and having to have it sanded and re-coated is expensive, a pain in the butt and stinky. Pergo is durable and is really hard to scratch! My youngest is the ultimate durability tester and so far not a single scratch or problem! He also decided to color on it with a crayon....so easy to clean up.

To clean it I either use water and a little vinegar or windex is awesome to use to clean it! Doesn't streak at all (or if it does I don't notice it).

 

[laurie31]

We recently put laminate in our kitchen and family room. We are very pleased and it's surviving the kids, the dogs, and the cats. The hardwood in our foyer looks awful in comparison (the pets like to run circles through the house and they claw it up - no claw marks in the laminate, although it IS slippery. It's pretty funny to watch them slide on it ) I find cleaning easy (much better than the linoleum we had in the kichen - ugh!). I use the Chlorox mop ( it's like swiffer) and the cleaner says safe for laminate..or I think it does...I hope it does

When we first put it in, it was a huge adjustment to get used to the noise. We had carpet before, and I had no idea how much it muffled things. When the A/C came on, I thought the house was in a tornado or something I had no idea our A/C was that loud. Now that we're used to it, I don't notice the noise anymore.

I did get some little rugs to go in front of the sink and stove for comfort - it gets hard standing on it after awhile.

Our laminate has a 30 year waranty. We love the color and the style, and the durability. The kids and pets had just destroyed the carpet. I think this stuff will be able to stand up to them It was also easy to install. DH did it all himself and it wasn't any problem.

 

[mamajoan]

We have pergo in almost all of our house! none in the bedrooms or baths..... but it is everywhere else.. even the stairs....

I did it in two parts.. I did lots of research... and we had it professionally installed.

It is Pergo, honey wheat planks.. love it. I only walk a wee bit, have balance problems and other stuff. I chose the pergo because it is less slippery than tile.
Now.. lets be frank... it does not look like wood floor.. not really. nor do I pass it off as wood. I tell people right up front it is pergo. We chose the Prodigy line of Pergo.. it has some kind of backing on it so it sounds better and is not so HARD feeling.

The stairs were VERY expensive to install.. $100 per stair.. YIKES
but it took the professionals 2 days to do 15 steps... and a landing... it is ALOT OF WORK.... ALOT! So it was worth the money.

Pergo durability .. great.. no scratches or dings and that is with an extremely busy household with two dogs, many teen agers and a messy husband. LOL
Cleanability... I swiffer daily (neuroticly clean am I) ... dh mops with vinegar and water once or twice a month... He mops then dries it with a towel.
Still looking good.. Pergo and DH!


We had Home Depot contractors do the installation both times.. GREAT Guys. worth every dime they charged.
We also did not remove the old baseboard ( wooden, painted 4 inches high) but put quarter round along the baseboards.. gives the pergo floor a nice finished look.

I have had several neighbors come over to check out our floors.. as they have heard good things about it from others. Several have chosen Pergo for their homes too

 

[Pinnie]

Thanks to the OP for posting this question. I am in the market, too, for new flooring and PERGO was on the list. We have a ktichen/dining room combo that I was thinking about laminate for and then putting down the larger ceramic tiles in the foyer, hall, powder room and laundry room.

pinnie

 

[ahutton]

We have Armstrong laminate flooring in a stone, tile-looking finish in 3 of the bedrooms. I love the care of it, I swiffer dust mop every week, and use the swiffer wet mop every other week. As someone else mentioned, it is very loud to walk on, especially with shoes. I can't sneak in to give my kids a kiss in the morning if I have shoes on, they wake up every time. It is also very slick. Especially with socks, but I'm not convinced it is any more so than any other solid surface floor. The only thing ceramic has in its favor is the grout lines help break up the surface so you don't slip on on the grit. On laminate there is nothing to break it up, you just slide. It is warmer than either DH or I expected though, our tile is freezing, even in Texas where it doesn't get very cold. The laminate is not as cold, only slightly cooler than carpet but WAY CLEANER!!

 

[JimB.]

Very durable, but somewhat loud, especially when the herd of Golden Retrievers is slippin' & slidin' on it.

But kinda' loud.

Easy to install, especially since the new stuff is "glueless". The first time I used it, it had to be glued, so installation was kinda' slow. Now, it's easy as pie.

Don't like Pergo brand (just a personal preference), have used Armstrong.