which laminate floors are good?

[Matt@]

well I've resisted the urge to have a laminated floor but I think I will have to give in soon I've never fitted one but more than capable my big question is whats good and whats not! Been to see some engineered floors ie 3mm timber on substrate - do the timber part of these these lift/ curl/ move unduly? 100% laminate floors I think are a bit soulless. The shop did have some 12mm solid tigerwood that apparently you glue to the concrete :shock: I dont trust 100% solid floors - we have a modern house so no board gaps allowed lol

any pointers on laminate floors, looking for something nice that lasts, price not the be all and end all...

which are the good suppliers?

PS was in Floors2go today very helpful sales person, I came home googled them and found they've gone bust 3 times :?

 

[RobinBHM]

Ive bought flooring from flooringsupplies.co.uk and found them reasonable (ive found them to be a professional online retailer, for the 3 times ive used them). I recall the brand I bought was khars. The modern engineered floors click together like laminate flooring so all joints are consistently tight and you dont have to worry about having to use a floor cramp to push the boards tight to each other.

I did discover that the floors with a microbevel look much more like traditional solid timber floors wheras those without look more contemporary like a laminate. Its something you tend not to consider when looking at a small sample.

I dont think there is any likelyhood of the veneer delaminating, it is stuck to a ply substrate so even a 3mm veneer should be fine.

Ive never been keen on the idea of gluing solid timber to concrete floors, it just seems too risky - engineered is a much safer bet and the face you see is solid timber.

If you choose pre finished, then this will be difficult to repair if scratched.

 

[RogerP]

..............If you choose pre finished, then this will be difficult to repair if scratched.

When scratched!

 

[Matt@]

is scratching an issue then? are some better than others in this respect? I'm guessing engineered floors rely on a lacquar finish?

 

[RobinBHM]

..............If you choose pre finished, then this will be difficult to repair if scratched.

When scratched!

Oh dear -that sounds like bitter experience!

 

[Myfordman]

None of them! they are just a fad.
Noisy and so easily damaged. Put a carpet down for heavens sake.

 

[Matt@]

None of them! they are just a fad.
Noisy and so easily damaged. Put a carpet down for heavens sake.

haha I've always thought this. I'm 55 and been a house owner for 20 odd yrs and have always hated laminated floors. BUT there are some nice ones out there. Carpets look old fashioned ie something your granny had plus a harbour for dirt :wink: . laminate floors = crisp, clean, bright and contempory...would prefer engnineered as at least you have some natural product!

 

[AndyT]

We've had Khars oak engineered flooring from 1926 Trading in our hall, dining room, kitchen and on the basement stairs for 10 years +. Still in good nick and I've not needed the extra polyurethane finish I bought for patching. No opening up of the clicked together joints and still flat.
If it eventually gets scruffy enough there is sufficient thickness of oak to sand it all and re-seal.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

After living with a household infestation of kin cat fleas, I like wooden floors. I've had solid, I've had laminate, I've had bamboo, but I've come to the conclusion that unless you're happy to have crappy old bare softwood boards everything should be treated as disposable - I'd get something mid quality, mid expense and accept that I would replace it in maybe 7 - 10 years if I was that bothered by it. I've got 55sq.mtrs of tiles waiting for my next house.

 

[RogerP]

None of them! they are just a fad.
Noisy and so easily damaged. Put a carpet down for heavens sake.

haha I've always thought this. I'm 55 and been a house owner for 20 odd yrs and have always hated laminated floors. BUT there are some nice ones out there. Carpets look old fashioned ie something your granny had plus a harbour for dirt :wink: . laminate floors = crisp, clean, bright and contempory...would prefer engnineered as at least you have some natural product!

I think you've got that the wrong way around. My grannie's generation had boards and rugs it was only in the 50's/60's that broadloom wall-to-wall carpeting became truly affordable for the masses and took off in this country. The current fad for mock wooden boarding is just a fashion thing.

 

[murdoch]

I've just laid a laminate floor in the extension I've built. Being a joiner I love solid timber but with kids and muddy boots coming in and out we went for quickstep elite white oak UE1491. It's a better quality one with a 30 year gaurantee. Easy to lay and looks seriously good, it's really hard to spot that it's not real and is easy to clean. We spent extra and got a really good rubber underlay which stops it sounding hollow and feels better underfoot.

 

[Flynnwood]

+1 for Quick Step

http://www.quick-step.co.uk/

 

[andersonec]

If you want timber then engineered flooring every time and the reason is because the surface timber (3 mm is too thin) is glued to a stable substrate (the best use Birch ply) which means there will be no movement whatsoever. This guy uses 5 mm thick timber and finishes his with Osmo Hard Wax Oil.

http://www.billinghaysawmill.co.uk/

Andy

 

[Ian down london way]

I've been progressively using laminate flooring in bedrooms and all but hallways, for quite a while. Mainly with young kids, plus some alergy stuff, I find laminates (and tiles in kitchens, you'd not have carpets there) much easier to clean and keep the dust down.

I've fitted most of them myself, and had fitted some all-wood laminated flooring, which was probably nicest, and less problematic from the viewpoint of chipping, but much more expensive.
I've now settled on an internet supplier, from whom I've bought my last two lots, and been very happy - flooringsupplies.co.uk. Last two lots were "quickstep perspective" and happen to be vintage oak natural". The reason I liked that was that it has some surface texture (not compeltely flat) that emphasised the grain and knots. Also there were 12 or so different patterns on the boards, so any repeating was pretty much invisible (i.e. yuo could keep repeats well away from each other).

However - the best thing you can do to make a laminate floor look good, is not try to use quatrant or anything like that at the edges. The finish is SO much nicer if you lift off yoru skirting, lay the floor, then reattach the skirting (or get new) and put the edges that you have to leave around the laminate floor (10mm) underneth the skirting.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

+10 My house has quadrant - it's VILE.

 

[RobinBHM]

Totally agree with that -quadrant is horrible. It looks naff along the skirting line and then when it gets to a door lining architrave, the look goes rapidly downhill from naff!

 

[Distinterior]

Another thumbs up for Quickstep Laminate flooring!!!!!!

I've been fitting it for years, right from when it was first introduced to the UK.

Yes, it is an MDF/HDF board, but personally I think its the best of the lot. Some of their timber colours and finishes are difficult to tell from the real thing without close-up examination.
Also, if you can, remove the skirting boards, fit the flooring then either re-fit the skirtings or replace with new as the overall finished job just looks and is so much better. I try and avoid using any type of quadrant unless absolutely necessary, as it looks poor in comparison.

Tim.

 

[Matt@]

re. quickstep flooring - what is it about this product that makes it better? I've keyed in our postcode and there are 4 retailers within 15 miles who are quite niche so retail outlets for the flooring are relatively limited...

 

[Distinterior]

re. quickstep flooring - what is it about this product that makes it better? I've keyed in our postcode and there are 4 retailers within 15 miles who are quite niche so retail outlets for the flooring are relatively limited...

There are various advantages to fitting Quickstep IMHO.

The quality of the click-together system, consistent size and flatness of the flooring, good variety of colours and finishes, good selection of accessories (trims, transition profiles for different types of flooring, edging profiles, matching skirting boards. staircase profiles, etc, etc).

The different types of underlay they offer are also good quality and suitable for various types of sub-floor.

Put it this way, you would be very hard pressed to find a better quality laminate floor for the same money IMHO.
I have literally fitted hundreds of them!

Tim.

 

[n0legs]

Kronospan, Pergo, Abet Parcolour.