Laminate flooring - questions and opinions?

[Davebud]

Here's the basics Rock:

You have 4 general options for wood or "wood" flooring. They are:

1) Laminate (ie. Pergo) which is a layered wood substrate with an ultra high resolution photograph of wood as the topmost surface.

2) Engineered hardwoods. Similar to laminates, but use a thin layer (usually about 1/32nd to 1/64th of an inch) of actual wood as the topmost surface.

3) Prefinished hardwoods. Genuine hardwood all the way through with a fatory applied stain and (usually) polyurethane topcoat.

4) Site finished hardwoods. Raw milled hardwoods that are installed and then sanded / stained / urethaned in place.

There are pros and cons to all 4 options. IMHO, laminates usually look cheap. They are generally pretty thin and are often floated over the subfloor (not glued down). They often sound "hollow". However, if you are installing below grade (basement), they are usually the best bet. They are very durable and very structurally stable (meaning they are relatively immune to changes in moisture / humidity).

If you go engineered, DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!! Some are great, some are absolute garbage. Usually, the more plies in the substrate, the better (I suggest 7 minimum). A word about warranty......read it carefully! When a product touts a 15, 20, 25 or whatever year warranty, more often than not it's referring to wearing through of the urethane finish ONLY.

As a side note on appearance, I really dislike the products that are multi-plank wide and uniform width. What you end up with is a floor that looks like it has butt joints that span 2, 3, 4 board widths. Ugly.

Pre-finished hardwoods are generally pretty dang nice.

Site finished can be great and are very versatile / easy to repair, but they are messy to install! When it comes to the finished product, you are competely at the mercy of the installer.

Regardless which way you go, think carefully about the THICKNESS of the product. Traditional hardwoods are 3/4" thick, the thinnest products out there are about 5/16ths". Thickness comes into play not only for longetivity / durability, but also for finished floor height with respect to adjoining rooms and doorways (having to cut the bottom of a door for clearance is a real possibility).

Lastly, pay attention to the various installation methods. Traditional hardwoods are blind nailed or stapled over top of a moisture barrier (usually 15 pound roofing felt). Other methods are floating or glue down. The manufacturer will dictate the acceptable installation method. If you are installing over a joisted subfloor, the planks are installed perpendicular to the joists below.

HTH

My 2 cents on pre-finished hardwood floors, each piece is beveled on the edge so that at the joints there is a groove in you floor, that means before you mop it you need to vacuum it, otherwise your going ot have a smeared mess on your hands. Other than that it looks more like a site finished hardwood than laminate thats for sure, but anyone in the know will be able to tell.

[ProjectX]

My 2 cents on pre-finished hardwood floors, each piece is beveled on the edge so that at the joints there is a groove in you floor, that means before you mop it you need to vacuum it, otherwise your going ot have a smeared mess on your hands. Other than that it looks more like a site finished hardwood than laminate thats for sure, but anyone in the know will be able to tell.

What you are referring to are called "mico-beveled" planks and are not limited to just pre-finished hardwoods. It is a deliberate design element and not all planks are made that way. Most manufacturers have options with both micro-beveled and square edged planks.

[Rockford35]

What you are referring to are called "mico-beveled" planks and are not limited to just pre-finished hardwoods. It is a deliberate design element and not all planks are made that way. Most manufacturers have options with both micro-beveled and square edged planks.

This is true. I've seen pre-finished without bevels, and with different types of bevels.

R35

[MCDavis]

Those grooves are a pain when you and the missus can't make it to the bedroom!!!

Laminate is a little softer, too.

Sorry, that's all the input I got on this one...

[VtDivot]

I have no technical advice. I personally would never have laminate of any kind in a grand room like a kitchen, call me snobbish if you want, but I just don't like the feel of laminate (vinyl or wood).

I'm assuming that cost is not an issue since it's only one room - if your concern about wood is the dog scratches, we have a 90lb yellow that chases the ball and my little guy all around the house and our floors look fine... it's great fun watching him (the pooch) lose traction in the corners .


Get yourself some maple/birch or brazilian cherry. You won't regret it. Who cares about the resale value... you need to look at it everyday.

[Davebud]

Divot is right about the Maple in two respects, its very light in color, and that is usually a good thing in the kitchen. It is also very hard, even in comparison to other hardwoods, it suffers less denting and scratching and the ones that it gets can be cleaned and oiled to not show up as much.