Tips or suggestions on Wood Floors ???

[mikelan6]

OK, so I got the crazy idea to put in wood floors in my condo. Well, I wouldn't do it myself, I'd get someone to install them, of course ... you get the picture. I've heard that wood floors would help with my allergies too.

My question to all of you is if you recommend wood floors? What about these laminates I've read about? Are they good with cats (we have a kitty).

I know it's not going to be easy moving all the furniture from room to room to have the flooring installed. Maybe it's a good time to out some stuff on e-bay.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DisneyKevin]

We have wood floors and love them.

I'm not a big fan of laminates. I dont like the hollow sound they make when you walk on them. Also...laminates float. They are not actually attached to the floor. We much prefer the durability and solid feeling of hardwood, but keep in mind that they are glued to the sub-floor.

We have two small dogs (16 and 21 lbs) and have absolutely no issue with them and the flooring.

The other plus with real wood is that it can be refinished, should the need arise.

As laminate flooring is a photo of real wood sealed under a plastic cover, it can not be refinished.

After doing some research, we chose the Bruce brand by Armstrong.

If you want to read more about it....here is the website:

http://www.bruce.com/resflram/na/bruce/en/us/

 

[LilGMom]

Wood flooring really isn't that hard to do yourself if the room doesn't have too many odd angles. My FIL and I put the flooring in our first house and so far in this house my DH & I have put wood flooring in our bedroom and the computer room. My DH & I doing the floor in our house was a major accomplishment because my DH is not a handyman around the house. Give him a car, motorcycle or computer and he can work wonders but give him a hammer and nail (or wood flooring and glue) and he turns pale and starts to hyperventilate. So if he can do it practically anyone can.

I love wood floors and am also not a fan of the laminates, I don't care for the look (too smooth). There are also other options such as cork and bamboo but the cork probably isn't a good idea with cats (or small kids). We have used both the Bruce and Cryntel wood flooring - they are both very similiar in warranties and width - with the Cryntel being the less expensive of the two.

In our first house we put wood flooring throughout and our 60lbs. Husky never hurt the floor so I don't think a cat would do much damage. My in-laws have a cat and they have never had problems with their cat marking up their wood floors. The biggest problem that they've had with their cat is his fuzzy feet (he is a Himalayan Persian with very fuzzy feet) not giving him any traction if he starts to run.

Wood flooring, imho, requires very little maintenance and the look is wonderful. And no matter how much you vacuum or how good your vacuum is, you will never get all of the dirt, dander and dust that settles into and through carpet. So getting rid of carpet and everything that can get caught in it will definately help with allergies.

 

[scarlett873]

We have a laminate flooring in our house. We wanted the look of wood, but couldn't afford actual wood floors at the time. We chose a brand and look that actually resembles wood. The laminate has a texture on it and it looks fabulous, in my opinion...lol

I like the fact that it's simple to clean. We just sweep the floors and break out our Shark Steam Mop and it's good as new!

 

[AnneR]

Lurker coming out from the shadows here.

Tried laminates, installed it ourselves. Just wasn't the same as hardwood floors. We now have hardwood everywhere but our bathrooms and bedrooms even the kitchen is hardwood. Absolutely love it. I find it easy to clean.

Also have a cat no issues.

Anne

 

[ms*mountaineer]

I'm learning a lot from this! Someday I want to replace our carpet with either hardwood or laminate - so this discussion is helping a lot.

 

[spaddy]

Mike, keep in the mind the neighbors that live below you. My inlaws had the person above them replace their floors and not follow the code in the building. Their floor is so loud. I am sure that hard wood is not as loud as tile, but something to keep in mind.

 

[wishspirit]

We have laminates and real wood floors throughout our house, I think only the stairs and landing are carpet, and maybe my sisters room. We love it, much easier to clean, and never looks old. However if you aren't firm on you feet, it can be a bit slippy when new or after a spillage.

However they can be noisy, and some people complain about the cold floor in my room, but heck i'm just used to it!

 

[mikelan6]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

We will definitely not be doing this ourselves. Our building management requires the work be done by a licensed and insured contractor. They also require soundproofing.

We don't want any problems with our neighbors and will be doing everything to city codes or not at all.

 

[DSNY4ever]

We have laminate (Pergo specifically) because two rooms already had laminate and we found the same one and continued it into the living room and down the hallway- much more economical than ripping out the existing laminate to put in wood. It was really easy to install (we did it ourselves) and so it ended up being not too expensive. It is very easy to clean and maintain. If you are looking for area rugs (no matter what flooring your choose) we love a company called FLOR. They sell carpet tiles that stick together to make area rugs and it is made from eco-friendly or recycled materials and the best part is if it gets stained you can just pull out that square and replace (or you can pull it out to clean it too). Our favorite is their Martha Stewart collection called short shag- so soft! Look for coupons on retailmenot.com.

Good luck!

 

[Demosthenes]

We went with CaliBamboo floors (http://www.calibamboo.com/. The advantages are many, but chief among them is that bamboo is a fast growing renewable resource. I won't preach here, but this is a great option, and one I highly recommend.

 

[HillPete]

DH installs flooring professionally (both laminate and hardwood, and any other type of carpentry you can think of...). If you decide to do laminate, make sure you use the kind that requires glue between the planks. This way, if you spill something, it won't go through to the sub-floor (where not even a Sham-Wow can get it up ) and stink up the place or rot. Do whatever you can to seal that floor!

Post pix when you're done!

--H

 

[daneenm]

Two cats, a dog and two children on hardwood and we have found they hold up very well. We even have it in the kitchen.