Flooring - Laminate verses hardwood

katiewhompus

A question for you renovating ladies. H and I are looking at putting in new floors for the dining room as a Christmas present from my parents. We know that we would like it to look like wood, but are unsure if we want to go with hardwood (the click together kind, not the nail down kind) or just laminate (ie: Pergo, etc).
My parents have laminate type wood flooring and love it. It was really easy to put in and was only about $1/sq foot cost wise. We're probably looking at about 140-200 sq feet (guestimating). Hardwood is looking at $4/sq foot. Obviously we are going to get some idea on what my parents are willing to pay before deciding what we want.

Mil said that laminate flooring is the devil, and that if any water drops onto it it will crack and peel and need to be replaced. Hardwood is the only thing that will work and we'd be idiots to get laminate flooring. Then again, this is also the same mil who (I love her dearly) thinks that H can get whole life insurance for under $50 a month.

Has anyone had laminate flooring? Is it really that bad? I'm fairly certain my parents have spilled stuff on their floor before without a bad reaction and thought Pergo was supposed to be awesomely pet resistant, spill resistant, etc.

cupcakesfrosting

I had laminate in my old apartment, and I loved it. I used a Swiffer Wet Jet, and swept all the time, because dust bunnies are the devil, but I loved the floors.

One day I even left the water in the kitchen sink running, and it overflowed all over the kitchen and dining room (smart, huh?), and there was no damage to the floor. I called the handyman, and asked him to come out and check it. Thankfully, they were gutting the apartment below mine, so there was nothing underneath to worry about..

Cost wise, it's the best. And no one could even tell the difference when they came over..

goutesh

My inlaws have laminate and I honestly didn't know it wasn't a real wood floor.  It has held up very well over the years and they love it.

sosterhout

Katie - my bedroom, my kitchen, and hallway are all laminate wood and NO ONE knows they aren't real! They are by the company Allure. I have an American White Shepard and A lab mix and a 6 and 2 year old and the floors still look perfect. We got them at Home Depot

sosterhout

Laminate my dogs drool all over the floor and it doesnt crack. My real hardwood floor though if any water is spilt makes a permanent stain.

BTW  whole life is NOT the way to go. PM me and I can expain.

Chi_Chi

We have laminate and love it! Your floor isn't going to warp the instant water touches it. If you do miss some water somewhere, it may raise a little where the the 2 pieces touch, but it's nothing worth tearing up and replacing everything. We've got a few spots in our floor and we are the only ones that notice it. I also mop every Saturday and it hasn't affected it yet.

Chi_Chi

You can actually see our floors in my sig. We have them in our living room, kitchen and dining room. Our dogs also drip water, drool and act like possessed heathens and our floor has not been affected.

sosterhout

a buying tip take your keys and try to scrap the sample. it helps tell how durable it will be. most wont scratch but some will.

katiewhompus

Ok these are making me feel better. I love my parents floor but obviously if it's in a dining room at some point it's going to get wet (spilled drinks, etc) so that was a concern of mine. They are just really careful about spilling things so they weren't sure how they would react. I thought the whole point about laminate floors (especially Pergo) is you don't have to worry about refinishing/cleaning like you do hardwood and that they can take more abuse.

tidetravel

We have Pergo, and it's fine.  God knows that we've spilled enough crap on it in the 7 years I've been here.  The biggest problem is that if you drop something on the floor too hard, it'll chip/crack, in which case, you can just replace the piece.  Just sweep/vacumn and swiffer.

Hardwood, on the other hand, requires a TON of upkeep.  If you don't sweep it every day, you risk damaging the finish from little pieces of dirt being dragged across it (acts like sandpaper). 

cupcakesfrosting

Aww Tide, I love your tickers!

LessThanZero

I think the best bet is laminate, as far as money is concerned and the fact that they seem to have much easier upkeep. No refinishing and sealing required. Plus you have the look of hardwood.

It all depends on preference. Some people have older houses with old fashioned characteristics and want to keep the character of the old house, so they pick real hardwood.

But even if you do have an old house, IMO, I think the laminate looks good, costs less and is easier to maintain for you and any future owner. I'd probably choose it.

katiewhompus

I think I might show H this thread lol. Currently the entire house is carpeted, which actually makes me curious now what's under the carpet (and frightened). We're only looking at putting wood (looking) flooring in the dining room (Tide, the smaller one attached to the kitchen, not the one with the big table) and then one day getting new carpet for the rest of the house.

I like no upkeep and easy cleaning

LessThanZero

Show him Katie!! Haha.

Honestly, I know some people love carpeting. And this is just my opinion, but when I own a house someday I'd rather have wood/laminate flooring in every room possible besides the kitchen and bathrooms. Right now we live in an apartment and have real wood flooring except for the kitchen and bathroom.

Even with real wood, I like the feel and look of it and I'd rather throw down an area rug that i can change easily instead of having full wall to wall carpeting.

The other option that I like is having all wood/laminate except for maybe the kitchens/bathrooms and bedrooms, just in the living room, dining room and hallways. That's just me. But with how inexpensive and easy to maintain the laminate is, plus how much more popular it is - shoould you sell- I would put it wherever you could.

I don't know, I watch a lot of renovation shows. ; )

BecW2be

I love bamboo flooring, but I haven't heard any longterm feedback on it yet. I think hardwood or laminate are great for diiferent reasons, so I'm not much help to you, am I?

katiewhompus

I'm definitely a hardwood with rugs over it kind of person, but H loves carpeting. I must admit that it's easier to deal with the animals. When I first got Demon I had all hardwood and my poor baby couldn't move anywhere without sliding into walls. She's a long haired cat and has the fur tufts between her pads and would slide all over the floor!

Funny story (well maybe not that funny). When we had the inspector at this house the worst thing he could find was the condition of the carpet and he recommended getting new carpet within a year. I just laughed because the carpet in this house is pristine compaired to the past apartments I've had.

Oh we figured out very quickly that whole life was a bad decision for us. The cheapest I could find was $500/month for $200,000 worth of coverage. That's just not feasable right now for us right now or worth it in the long run. We ended up getting a couple term policies (one he has from before me, his job also helps with a slightly bigger policy)

missy68

Brother and SIL have laminate, and their Greyhound(s) and Shepherd mix haven't managed to scratch it with those devil toenails.

Andy has managed to figure out how to dent it (probably by banging on it REALLY REALLY hard with a matchbox or something), but to me, the floor looks as good as new.

And they're pretty much one step below clean freaks. Andy cured them of that level.

Chi_Chi

I see what I sweep up off of my floor everyday and I can't imagine having carpet in a high traffic area. I do have 2 dogs so that contributes to what I sweep up, but I can't imagine what is left in carpet that the vacuum doesn't get.

sister2groom

You can't really compare laminate and hardwood in a vacuum, I would only THINK about comparing them if I had the absolute top-notch laminate. Put samples side by side and look at them. I grew up in a house that had wood floors that were all about 30 years old and I loved them. I love the variations in natural wood and if I ever had the option to put in laminate or hardwood I would just wait a little and save up for hardwood.

That being said, my current apartment has laminate (and I know a couple of people who also have laminate) and I've never heard of that water drop thing (and would be completely screwed in terms of my deposit if it were true. ) OK, it might happen if you use the cheapest cruddiest laminate, you know, the kind that has sticking power comparable to scotch tape.

allisong23

We installed engineered hardwood. It is more water resistant than laminate, looks better, andf is cheaper than hardwood. We did it all ourselves ( and will be doing it again, due to a flood, so a good 15 feet needs to be replaced.)

katiewhompus

Allison that's what we've been looking at with the hardwood. The click and lock stuff. I just don't want to add "sand/finish/polish floors" to my to-do list. I already have enough to do lol.

allisong23

Katie, we probably installed about 700 feet of this ourselves. All you need is a circular saw, glue, painters tape and an underlayment/water barrier. It took about 3 weeks of doing it aftwer work/nights part-time.