thinking (dreaming) about new floors

[luvmyfam444]

thinking about hardwood like floors. Can you tell me what you have - the good - the bad - and if you could throw in numbers into the mix - ya know how much it costs - OR if you have a favorite KIDfriendly carpet tell me about that too.

We had hardwood @ our last house - original floors from the 50's - they were beautiful. Now we just have cheapo builder grade carpet that I would love to get rid of

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

I am there with you. I want to get rid of my carpets as well, looking to do the laminated wood floors. We can't really afford the real wood, but I heard the laminate can last and stand up just as good. It is also wayyyy cheaper than real wood. I am tired of worrying about the mess when my dog comes in from outside. My carpets are beige and being ruined. I just worry about it being cold in our house with the wood floors. Anyway, good luck!

 

[luvmyfam444]

yes - cold they are - that was the downside to wood floors - though this house is a bit more insulated then the last 'cause its newer - but our kitchen tile stays cold -so I'm afraid I'll still be cold on the hardwood here & then we'll have to go get an area rug to cover them up - defeats the purpose -ya know?

 

[Melrosgirl]

I just got a quote to re-do my family room (15x17 feet) in hardwood. (Prefinished Bruce oak hardwood. Nothing too fancy.) $2800. Not sure what fake wood floors would cost, but it won't be more than $2800. Not sure if that helps or not.

Not sure if I'll do it. Our carpet is only a couple of years old and upgraded. Nothing wrong with it. I just kind of want the family room to match the rest of the first floor, but not sure if I can justify that much right now and tear out good carpet.

 

[blana]

We just changed out our carpet in our living room for laminate. LOVE IT! Yes, the floor seems cooler now, but I grew up with hardwoods. You just throw a blanket or large pillow down if you want to sit on the floor & wear socks in the house. Not really difficult. The kids were a bit freaked out at first, but seem to enjoy slipping & sliding around in stocking feet like I did as a child (and still do....) And cleaning up the messes (spilled yogurt, blegh) is SOOOOO much easier!

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

We just replaced 15-year-old carpet in our dining room, kitchen and hallway with Mohawk hardwood flooring and it's been wonderful. It looks so classy!!

The Mohawk brand is Scotchguarded so it doesn't stain, and it's "approved" for use in kitchens because it can get wet (so long as you don't let lots of water pool on it or wet-mop it).

It's super-easy to care for, too, mostly just dry sweeping and the occasional Swiffer Wet-Jet.

 

[luvmyfam444]

thanks so much for the info.

 

[pixiewings71]

WE have bamboo laminate in our living room. We love it!!! With 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 kids it takes a beating and it still looks great!!

 

[Disney Doll]

Hardwood floors with a water based acrylic finish throughout my house.

Love them! Easy to clean, look nice, take a beating and I have a busy house, with people, dogs etc. coming through all the time.

My crazy SisIL has bamboo...those looked nice when I saw them but not sure how they ahve held up.

 

[shelly3girls]

We are in the process of planning a kitchen remodel. We have priced out several brands of hardwood 5" wide-plank floors. It looks like the flooring will cost us about $6.00-$7.00/sq. ft. with another $2/sq ft for installation.

 

[WDWAurora]

We just (as in it was installed on Monday) used Lowe's (good installation deals right now) to get 5in Bruce lock n fold hardwoods (our main option since we're on a slab). I love them so far! We did it in a living room/dining room that connect...about 14x28. We did carpets upstairs last Friday, and love those, too. I don't even remember the brand, but can look it up if you want. I like them so far, too. We had crappy builder grade carpet, so all of that is gone, and the previous owners had already done the other part of the downstairs with NICE tile, so now only the upstairs bathrooms have crappy floors. I'm a happy girl. I want to say it was in the neighborhood of 3K for downstairs, but since we did all of it, I'm not sure where the price breakdown was.