Hardwood or laminate flooring ?

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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Hello all,

I've just moved to a new house and intend to have either laminate or Hardwood flooring, I have had good quality laminate before but am thinking about changing to wood. How tuff is wood flooring ? Am I going to pay a fortune for something that will not last ?

Thanks all
 
your probably better off with top quality laminate
 
A good wood floor looks special. but it is higher maintenance and much higher cost.
A wood such as maple will last virtually for ever, but it will age.
many "Wood floors" Have a thin veneer as the wood surface, on to a cheap sub layer. they are unlikely to last very long at all.
None of them will last as long as a traditional solid parquet floor.
 
Laminate will last about 25 years (if it's reasonably good quality). A hardwood floor will outlive your grandchildren.

Laminate is pretty much fit and forget, hardwood needs a bit of TLC.
 
There’s a halfway house: engineered wood flooring. It’s a layer of solid wood veneer over a ply base to give it rigidity and strength. (It also stops it warping). It comes in different thickness of wood layer on top, obviously the thicker the layer the more expensive it gets. It still needs some TLC, but you can wash it with special wood soap to clean it. We had it in our last place in the kitchen diner, it still looked immaculate when we moved out five years after having it laid.
 
We've had 2 engineered floors laid: one from Howdens and one from https://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/

The Howdens floor is about 3mm oak on a pine board, satin finish. After 5 years the surface is starting to show a little wear, and has quite a few dents and chips where things (sometimes quite heavy) have been dropped on it. Our cat has repeatedly missed the litter tray and urinated on the floor during the night so that it soaks in at the joins, causing discolouration and dark marking, effectively ruining the floor there. There's theoretically enough oak thickness for 2 sanding/refinishings.

The flooring supplies floor was a quickstep floor https://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/quickstep-engineered-flooring which is designed to prevent liquids penetrating and soaking at the joints, and also to resist scratching. Again it's a roughly 3mm oak veneer on an MDF base. So far it's kept appearance better (from memory) than the Howdens floor and looks nicer to begin with, but was more expensive (around £1200-£1300 for a 25 square meter room vs about £650 for Howdens equivalent).

We previously had a solid pine floor (which I laid myself) in the kitchen, and that required re-finishing every few years to maintain the surface: probably 5 times in 25 years.
 
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How about bamboo? We've had it in our kitchen for 13 years and it has taken pretty much everything you can throw at it,
It could do with a rub down and varnish or wax, but we kind of like the marks and scuffs as each one tells a story.
 
billy nomates said:
How about bamboo? We've had it in our kitchen for 13 years and it has taken pretty much everything you can throw at it,
It could do with a rub down and varnish or wax, but we kind of like the marks and scuffs as each one tells a story.
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Slightly off topic but I had a turntable plinth built from plyboo and that stuff is seriously hard wearing. I know you don't walk on a turntable plinth but my friend who made it has tons of experience of woods and he said it is one of the toughest materials he ever had to work with and reckons it would be brilliant in high usage areas. I used the plyboo strand for the plinth.

Here is a link to the company; I expect they have a UK distributor (I was in the US at the time I purchased).

Here is the plinth. Damn stuff is heavy!

rps20150907_163518.jpg
 
moggi1964 said:
I know you don't walk on a turntable plinth but my friend who made it has tons of experience of woods and he said it is one of the toughest materials he ever had to work with and reckons it would be brilliant in high usage areas.
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Bamboo is very tough indeed - but the look is very characteristic and fundamentally a wrong material if you have a more traditional British house.
 
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There's another option, vinyl. I have Karndean vinyl 'planks' laid that simulates wood and seems virtually indestructible. Should an area get damaged it’s much easier to replace than laminate etc. After ten years it still looks as good as new.
 
Karndean vinyl is excellent, I've used it in kitchens and bathrooms with great success. Not sure I'd use it in a living room personally, but that's just personal choice.
 
lindsay56 said:
Karndean vinyl is excellent, I've used it in kitchens and bathrooms with great success. Not sure I'd use it in a living room personally, but that's just personal choice.
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Ditto. If you go for Karndean shop around as we found prices varied a lot between distributors.
 
Cartus said:
There's another option, vinyl. I have Karndean vinyl 'planks' laid that simulates wood and seems virtually indestructible. Should an area get damaged it’s much easier to replace than laminate etc. After ten years it still looks as good as new.
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I have this in my hallway and downstairs loo. Been down about 12 years and looks as good as new. Had loo refurbed recently, and the footprint changed, so had to patch areas. Still looks as good as the day it was laid and you wouldn't notice the patching.
 
We fitted a laminate floor in the living room around twenty years ago and it still looks the same as then. It is easy to clean and hasn't marked in any way.
 
We have had an engineered wood floor in our Dining Room (really more of a Conservatory) for about 18 years. It does show quite a few scars, but as @billy nomates says, every scar tells a story. I still think it looks really good.

We are about to replace it with ceramic tiles, solely for aesthetic reasons. We looked at a new engineered wood floor and Karndean, but eventually decided on ceramic - more for confidence in the kitchen than any other reason. We want the same flooring through both.

Note that there is underfloor heating in that room, which makes a difference in the decision process.

If interested in Karndean, they have an excellent showroom in Evesham. It seems to be poorly promoted. Appointments only during the current situation. They could not have been more helpful.

Similarly, for ceramic tiles, Minoli tiles have a very good showroom in Cowley, Oxford - appointments only.
 
Amtico is another of the luxury vynal options. Have been advised to stay away from all vynal click system as it can swell with temperature and then has slight gaps bewteen the planks. Doesnt happen with laminate as its much thicker.
 
I've seen many expensive houses and flats and am yet to find one with laminate floor that I like. In a few years they generally tend to become a bit wobbly too. They are nightmare as this rocks the tripod.

Ideally the floor has to be either natural wood, ceramic tiles, granite, marble or rock depending on location. I can't stand synthetic carpets either.
 
We have laminate flooring in our lounge/dining room. It was the cheapest of the cheap and, rather surprisingly, it has lasted well for 15 years but it looks as cheap as it cost so we are looking to replace it. One option that Mrs F likes is wood effect tiling, similar to this

https://www.toppstiles.co.uk/trends/wood-effect
 
Marc said:
We have laminate flooring in our lounge/dining room. It was the cheapest of the cheap and, rather surprisingly, it has lasted well for 15 years but it looks as cheap as it cost so we are looking to replace it. One option that Mrs F likes is wood effect tiling, similar to this

https://www.toppstiles.co.uk/trends/wood-effect
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The trouble with ceramic tiles (IMO) is that they’re cold to touch, which is great in the Mediterranean or warmer climates but not so good in the UK unless used with underfloor heating.
 
Cartus said:
The trouble with ceramic tiles (IMO) is that they’re cold to touch, which is great in the Mediterranean or warmer climates but not so good in the UK unless used with underfloor heating.
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Yes, I did mention that but she said she wears double socks in winter (has a horse she goes to twice a day) or wears slippers.

TBF, we have ceramic tiles in the kitchen and that's the only place where my feet touch the floor.
 
I've always had laminate, Amtico or wood floors since before they were cool. Last house we had ceramic throughout the ground floor with proper underfloor heating. It was amazing and incredibly cheap to heat.

This house has engineered wood throughout the ground floor and it's not as warm or perfect. But it's beautiful. It makes me smile when I walk on it.

Depends what you want - a mate who does this for a living reckons LVT is the future. Personally, if you plan to stay then pay for engineered wood or Amtico depending which you prefer the look of. If you plan to move in < 10 years then get laminate.
 
Nikon Ken said:
I have this in my hallway and downstairs loo. Been down about 12 years and looks as good as new. Had loo refurbed recently, and the footprint changed, so had to patch areas. Still looks as good as the day it was laid and you wouldn't notice the patching.
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We’ve just had a flooring company quote for putting down Karndean : £70 per square metre installed and that’s for the cheapest grade. Apparently it needs lots of special prep work. No idea if that’s a competitive price or not but it’s certainly way more than we can afford.
 
boogie man said:
We’ve just had a flooring company quote for putting down Karndean : £70 per square metre installed and that’s for the cheapest grade. Apparently it needs lots of special prep work. No idea if that’s a competitive price or not but it’s certainly way more than we can afford.
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No it doesnt, it requires a solid base. Ideal is a concrete floor with self leveling compound screed over it. The floor is then glued to this. If you have floor boards they lay 6mm ply over the top and apply the self leveling compund on top. Exactly the same as tiles. The flooring is about £40-50 per meter itself
 
boogie man said:
We’ve just had a flooring company quote for putting down Karndean : £70 per square metre installed and that’s for the cheapest grade. Apparently it needs lots of special prep work. No idea if that’s a competitive price or not but it’s certainly way more than we can afford.
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I can't remember what I paid - too long ago, but that sounds expensive. I had to shop around. Local supplier was much more expensive than one 20 miles away!

I agree with James on fitting. I've got concrete floor over which they laid a self levelling screed and then glued laminate tiles to that.

Expensive but well worth the investment.
 
Laminate is too easily damaged and the scotia they have to fit around the edge to cover an expansion gap if you're not removing skirting, is hideous.
The bamboo hardwood flooring in the kitchen that was in the house when we moved in is stiletto dented to hell and back, so that's getting changed.
Over 2 houses I've done 4 bathrooms, a kitchen, a hall, utility and guest closet with click Moduleo, like laminate its a little synthetic in appearance compared to hardwood but its tough and doesn't break down.
There are lots of LVT's to choose from all with different properties, methods of installation and price point, some are waterproof some are water resistant, some require an expansion gap some don't, some use a tacky underlay some don't, research is required.
I highly doubt I'll ever bother with laminate or hardwood flooring again though tbh.
 
I corked round the laminate flooring I laid about 8-9 years ago. And yes, I do mean corked rather than caulked - thin strips of cork pushed between the skirting and the flooring. I used the foil topped "underlay" under the laminate to give a similar depth to the carpet it replaced and it keeps the floor plenty warm!
Originally went for laminate over carpet because the cat was rather prone to puking and it's a lot easier to wipe it up off a hard floor than carpet!!!
 
Right I'm a bit more confused ! :) I have just moved into a 1885 miners Terrace House in Shropshire so you have to walk through the front and back room+ kitchen if you are going outside to get any where in the house. I have three dogs that love the mud and I have endless farm land as far as the eye can see, I also like a bit of mountain biking, fishing,shooting so the cream carpet which is fitted at the moment is going to suffer. Of course I try my best but when it comes to the dogs/grandkids they couldn't give a stuff ! The idea is fit and never have to fit again, All our furniture is hard wood and I have just ordered a Chesterfield three piece suite in the traditional Ox blood colour so as you can see we like the traditional/olde worldly look. We as yet have only found engineered wood at £70 a square meter ( we haven't looked too hard as I've only been in the house four days the first two of which we had to sleep/sit on the floor with very limited kitchen equipment ! We now have every down stairs room full of box's of our stuff so it will be a while till we seriously think of flooring.
 
Old, reclaimed floorboards over a hardboard draught excluder layer? Sand them back an several coats of good, hard varnish. Should never need to be replaced (in YOUR lifetime) but might need revarnishing from time to time.
 
Nod said:
Old, reclaimed floorboards over a hardboard draught excluder layer? Sand them back an several coats of good, hard varnish. Should never need to be replaced (in YOUR lifetime) but might need revarnishing from time to time.
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That would work, and I agree about regular refinishing - mud grinds away the finish.

The link I gave had engineered boards at £50 square meter.
 
:)
AgentOrange76 said:
No it doesnt, it requires a solid base. Ideal is a concrete floor with self leveling compound screed over it. The floor is then glued to this. If you have floor boards they lay 6mm ply over the top and apply the self leveling compund on top. Exactly the same as tiles. The flooring is about £40-50 per meter itself
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Well that still sounds like a fair bit of prep work to me.
 
Our last house was a 1702 workers cottage, mid-terrace, low ceilings and inglenook. Lovely but a bit small ultimately. It had been gutted and renovated, but was carpeted throughout, including ground floor. It was warm and comfortable but not right. I replaced the living room carpet with beautiful slate, thick (circa 2cm) tiles about 2ft x 18ins, to get back to a more contemporary feel, over which we lay a couple of rugs in the area we would be sitting mostly. I know it's a slight digression from the wood/laminate discussion, but I wanted to chip in with it after reading @BADGER.BRAD 's post.In the dining room (tiny) I used engineered wood, again very good quality, the wood was about 8mm and laid over plywood base. Both rooms were expensive, but looked fantastic with our solid wood (teak) and leather furniture.
 
Decent hardwood, can be refinished time and again. Actually if you don't mind a rustic look, same can be said of good quality pine.

Or why not think about stained and epoxy varnished ply?
 
I have recently taken up a solid wood floor and replaced it with engineered wood. It was 15 years old, had big dogs and kids on it and it didn't need replacing but we were changing round the layout of the room which meant there would have been empty areas so it had to go.

I got engineered as I put the new floor right through the house and its supposedly better at resisting movement with temperature changes as it's now in kitchen / porch areas. However, it is marking very easily- if the dogs drop their bones it van easily leave a little dent etc, depends on how much that bothers you.

One thing I did differently this time was 'float' the floor - as recommended by all the 'experts' at the stores and friends in the trade. Its worked really well on the areas that have flat, concrete bases, where it's rock solid. However, the old floor was nailed onto a wooden sub floor, and that too was rock solid, but now its floated there is a little movement in places. Mrs P doesn't notice it and nobody else has saids anything but I know its there and it annoys the hell out of me!

Mike
 
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