good quality wood laminate flooring

[utajoker]

Hi

Wanting to put wood flooring through the hall and living room.

we have a cat which has destroyed our carpet at the doors and it needs replacing as it just looks crap, we have got him to almost completely stop but he still does it on the odd occasion so we don't want to put carpet down again only for him to pull it up.

I used to have laminate in my bedroom that i didn't really like, mostly because it was the cheapest you could get and looked plastic more than wood, it was just horrible tbh.


Im wanting to have another go at it with some good quality stuff this time.

We have and appartment,the hall is 1m wide and 5.6m long in a loose S shape with rooms coming off each side leading into open plan living/kitchen/dining.


Im sure i recently saw someone who did their room in dark wood and it looked really nice, im wanting to do the same.

Will prob want to get it fitted by a pro rather than DIY it, i remember how my knees where last time i did it.

The plan is to do the hall one month and the living room the next.


Can people recommend me the good stuff ? engineered or real wood?

Since we are a top floor apartment we also want top quality underlay to dampen the noise as much as possible.

 

[chanjy]

Howdens stuff was decent quality and looked good when I had it

 

[j.col]

My father used Richard Burbidge Connect Texture flooring 5 years ago.
It still looks like the day it was laid, best laminate floor i have seen.
The company also makes real wooden flooring as well if that is more your taste.
http://www.evehammond.co.uk/flooring.htm

For the underlay, i remember him using green square underlay, it was quite thick but easy to lay

 

[Windle]

I'd still recommend going for real wood over laminate to be honest, there's always the risk of laminate wearing (even with good expensive stuff) and if you're paying for a good expensive laminate then why not go for wood at similar cost. We paid about £22 per pack of real oak wood flooring (1.2sqm per pack) from a specialist flooring retailer which is about half the price you pay in places like B&Q.

FYI, fitting is circa £20 per sqm so I'd recommend doing it yourself if possible.

 

[pitchfork]

Get engineered tbh.

Real wood is better but you need the skill to lay it - if you do it wrong it'll warp badly. Unless you're paying a fitter I wouldn't go with real wood.

I mean it never looks "Real" but high end engineered flooring is miles better than that horrible laminate most people have.

 

[utajoker]

i was thinking of going engineered.

any recommendation for specific underlay?

Living in a top floor apartment i don't want the people below hearing every foot step we make(though they don't seem to care about their noise levels).

 

[Tackle_Berry]

Timbermate Excel is good underlay, there are thicker ones to help with noise like the fibre board panels, but you can sometimes get issues with the boards creaking due to the underlay being too spongy.

 

[Windle]

Real wood is better but you need the skill to lay it - if you do it wrong it'll warp badly. Unless you're paying a fitter I wouldn't go with real wood.

It's not that difficult, if you let the wood settle properly in the house temperature (weeks not days) to allow for expansion and take your time cutting with the right equipment (circular saw etc) then its a fairly simple tongue and groove fit and glue.

 

[pitchfork]

It's not that difficult, if you let the wood settle properly in the house temperature (weeks not days) to allow for expansion and take your time cutting with the right equipment (circular saw etc) then its a fairly simple tongue and groove fit and glue.

Nope, unless you secret nail it and prepare the floor correctly then it'll warp with the temperature and humidity changes. Installing it on to concrete is a frigging nightmare, slightly easier on wooden floors but very laborious either way.

Leaving it in the house to acclimate applies to engineered flooring just as much.

 

[Firestar_3x]

Timbermate Excel is good underlay, there are thicker ones to help with noise like the fibre board panels, but you can sometimes get issues with the boards creaking due to the underlay being too spongy.

Yep, after reading up over the past few weeks i've decided to go with the timbermate.

http://www.luxuryflooringandfurnishings.co.uk/accessories.html?accessories_type=262

Cheap enough so you might aswell get one of the best on the market.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Engineered wood gets my vote.

 

[Bunka]

Engineered wood gets my vote.

Another vote for engineered. It's what we have in our place.

 

[Tubes]

I looked at engineered wood but went against it as we have a couple of indoor cats that love to run around and ruin all the nice things we have, they would soon be leaving scratch marks in it. Engineered wood can also change colour over time, which put me off because we would be left with a patchy colour if we had a move around of furniture etc...

I would recommend Quickstep laminate, I have laid it throughout the house and it has been great. I have used a cheaper brand in a couple of guest rooms and it doesn't come close to Quickstep quality. I even laid it on the stairs and after 2 years there isn't a mark on it.

The quickstep softboard is a very good underlay, it has good insulation and sound dampening.

 

[Superficial]

I looked at engineered wood but went against it as we have a couple of indoor cats that love to run around and ruin all the nice things we have, they would soon be leaving scratch marks in it. Engineered wood can also change colour over time, which put me off because we would be left with a patchy colour if we had a move around of furniture etc...

I would recommend Quickstep laminate, I have laid it throughout the house and it has been great. I have used a cheaper brand in a couple of guest rooms and it doesn't come close to Quickstep quality. I even laid it on the stairs and after 2 years there isn't a mark on it.

The quickstep softboard is a very good underlay, it has good insulation and sound dampening.

I agree. Quick-step is reasonably priced and very good quality and their scratch guard is extremely good.

I'm not sure how people think that Engineered wood will wear better than Quality laminate - the laminate will last longer and comes in more styles.

The Problem with wood Is that it scratches. you can argue that it can be sanded down but that is a pain in the backside and people rarely do it as it then needs to be re-lacquered often with amateur results.

 

[Maccapacca]

http://www.thesolidwoodflooringcomp...ered-wood-flooring-and-why-use-it-tc-166.html

There are great laminates about and are generally cheaper. Don't confuse a good laminate cost to a bad engineered cost, see link above.

I've put laminate down in three places, one over ten years ago and it still looks brand new.

Don't buy any laminate from homebase, in my experience it's all trash.

 

[Jokester]

Have a look at Pergo. I've had mine 4years and it's as good as new and I got it based on the recommendation of a friend who had theirs 20 years and thought it too looked as good as new.

 

[alx]

Have a look at Pergo. I've had mine 4years and it's as good as new and I got it based on the recommendation of a friend who had theirs 20 years and thought it too looked as good as new.

That Pergo stuff looks good!

 

[Wink]

I understand your frustration with the cats, our two have done the exact same!

I would recommend Quickstep laminate, I have laid it throughout the house and it has been great. I have used a cheaper brand in a couple of guest rooms and it doesn't come close to Quickstep quality. I even laid it on the stairs and after 2 years there isn't a mark on it.

We've recently had Quickstep put down in two of our rooms and it looks great. The brand was recommended by a friend who's a laminate flooring/carpet fitter.