Laminate Flooring

[Albannach]

Shirley wants to lay laminate flooring in our living room, however neither of us know anything about it.

Can anyone advise us on what is good about it and what is bad?

Also, what constitutes good flooring and what is crap?

Cheers.

[Sancho]

Shirley wants to lay laminate flooring in our living room, however neither of us know anything about it.

Can anyone advise us on what is good about it and what is bad?

Also, what constitutes good flooring and what is crap?

Cheers.

I have it in my living room, kitchen and hall.

Good points:

1. It's very easy to clean.

Bad points:

1. It looks crap
2. You get sound bouncing around all over the place.
3. It moves gradually so you can see the lines around individual planks.
4. If you do clean it, walking around in socks becomes a hazardous pursuit

You may have gathered that I didn't have mine put in. Personally, if I was looking for the 'wood look', I'd go for genuine wood everytime. Best sources are salvage from gyms (usually maple strips) or from school science blocks (usually teak parquet). Example here. If you lay it properly, sand and lacquer it, you will get a finish infinitely better than laminate.

If you really have to have laminate, get one with a decent amount of wood on top, not just an MDF veneer. That way it looks like wood, will flex less and can be sanded in future to get the finish back. If you got to a B&Q or something like that, get your keys out and surreptitiously give the sample a prod with a key to see how well it will withstand wear and tear.

[Sclerotic Hen]

I'd go for real solid wood or failing that what they market as engineered wood (It plywood with a thick veneer of posher wood on the surface). Laminate rarely seems to age well. Real wood is more expensive than laminate by quite a long way but will last for much longer. Make sure you don't need to get under the floor for wiring or pipe work before laying your floor. You'll be cussing if you have to lift a load of tongue and groove to get to a leaky pipe.
Afore mentioned B&Q were doing a special on "French tongue and groove pine flooring" that looked really solid for the money being asked for it but you are probably better off scouring the internet for a better deal.

[Overland Tonka]

Real wood only. Nothing much else to say....it just ticks all the boxes...

[Albannach]

If we go for real wood, how do we fix it to a concrete floor? Or can it be glued and laid as a 'raft'?

[Dodge]

The stuff you get from B&Q and the like is sh!t!

You can get some decent laminates though, we imported some for our old house, came from NE Europe somewhere Sweden I think, forget exactly.

It came in huge 8ft planks over an inch thick, can't remember exactly but 35mm rings a bell, genuine Oak top with a man made board under for insulation and to allow it click together without the natural grain splitting. Wasn't cheap but lasted for years, was still down and looking better than new when we moved as it had worn nicely as real wood does and you can sand it if it gets damaged or too worn.

We did the whole downstairs in it, well a chippy did.

Upstairs I fitted the B&Q sh!te in the bedrooms, looked nice once I'd finished but it was awful, it moved, split, creaked, I lifted it up from our bedroom, fecking horrible stuff should be banned from being on sale.

[Sancho]

If we go for real wood, how do we fix it to a concrete floor? Or can it be glued and laid as a 'raft'?

Gripfill. The backbone of the british construction industry.

The teak blocks normally have a sort of bitumen glue on them, so that must have been what they originally used. I just chucked them through a thicknesser to take it off.

[madcampbell]

Worth a look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SDYsQDbxhc

[MWS]

I've done three floors now, Andy and it's all pretty straight forward. In my opinion the stuff that looks best is the flooring that looks like real wooden planks, (bevelled edges and slightly raised grain and knots). Go for really high quality laminate,or better still real hardwood. I used the underfelt square panels, but didn't use any adhesive. its best to allow the whole floor "slide" as it expands and contracts. Leave the recomended expansion gap around all the outside wall edges. When you bring the flooring into the house, leave it for a couple of days to allow it to acclimatise to the room temperature. Finally, if you could buy, or even borrow an "exakt" saw, it will make the job far easier.....And as my old woodwork teacher was so fond of saying; "Measure twice, cut once"......Good luck....Mick.

[tintin]

Just about to sit down for roast beef, will post you some links laterAndy!
basically the best of both worlds is 'engineered real wood laminate!

mmmmmmmmm roast beef and yorkshire puds

Alan

[soramad]

If you can afford it go for a genuine t&g hard wood floor(oak) this can be glued to a concrete floor with the correct impact adhesive (which can cost up to £75.00 a large can, 10 ltrs I think?) but leave a gap around the edge for expansion and contraction then cover gap with the skirting. However to get a good finish it will need sanding and sealing either with liquid wax or something like bourneseal which coats the surface of the wood with a hard finish. If you must use a laminate then go for an engineered one that has an inert plywood base with a thick laminate of genuine hard wood this will last a life time under normal conditions fix the same as above and use an approved sealer or wax to ensure the joints are water sealed especially if it is used in a hall way, some laminates can be glued together in which case the floor can be left floating but under thin laminates you must use an underlay to stop drumming as its walked over, the worst floor I have ever laid was a solid bamboo plank over a water heated floor, secret nailed into the joists between the trays holding the water pipes. The best is always the most expensive, afraid its a way of life, not unlike car repairs.

[tintin]

Something like this was what i was thinking of Andy,,,,,

http://www.greenappleflooring.co.uk/...FdNc4QodTWg05Q

http://www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk/En...FQJO4QodUnEb4w

Alan

[slobodan]

Lino

[Rustinho]

Lino

The sort with a laminate flooring print on it?

[slobodan]

The sort with a laminate flooring print on it?

Get out!

Real wood printed on it!