jenn&charles Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I was wondering if anyone on the board has laminate wood floors (like Pergo or any other brand) and can chime in about them. Do you like them? Do they scratch easily? Were you able to install them yourself? Etc. I would love to hear comments both good and BAD. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 We put them in our kitchen/dining and hallways just over 2 years ago. I can't remember the name, but it was a very middle of the road laminate. Our contractor installed them when he got down with the kitchen, altho I know many people who have installed their own. (DH has a bad back adn that would killed him..) We did put in a thicker pad to avoid the clicking noise sound you sometimes get with laminate. No scratches..they are holding up extremely well and I am thrilled with them still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbaby Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 We have them in our dining room. 5 years later, with 3 hyper kids around, and there is only one small scratch from a pole lamp falling. They are really easy to clean. I use a steam mop and they look great:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celia Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I love them. I surprised my hubby and installed them in the basement myself! The new type of click and lock makes it really easy. Costco often has really good prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Best thing we ever did for our playroom. (got rid of stained carpeting) Looks great 3 years on, we chose the CHEAPEST on sale kind because we needed it right away due to unexpected visitors and got what was in stock, it still looks beautiful, the kids and cats are hard on it. People compliment it. And it isn't cold to sit on. You can play a board game on it if you want, unlike the tile we have in other areas of the house. It definitely has a different "sound" than real wood, but this has been very practical for us. Our real wood is in the den, which doesn't get the hard use the playroom does. Easy to clean, no problems with water damage, although we do wipe up spills right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I have laminate in my basement and I absolutely love it. There are no visible scratches. Paint wipes right off, and play-doh sweeps right up - things I would never have allowed my kids to do on my hardwood or carpet. I've had wet messes left overnight that caused no damage. My husband installed them and he had never done anything like that before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 We love ours although our upstairs laminate floor has a few sections of damage. It was definitely a very cheap brand. Our downstairs has no damage and is better quality (although due to sales not any more expensive). My dh did all of the installation. Several years ago my mother did a room at her house and did a great job. I got my dh to finish it up for her only because she had to cut some pieces and since she wasn't use to the saw it took her a lot longer than it needed to. The actual installation wasn't too bad for her though. She was, rightly, proud of her construction work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsrevmeg Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 My in-laws have had it for several years now and theirs looks great. I think it is supposed to be easy to install. I would rather have it than our real wood which has some nicks from being used by a family of five and a psycho cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamato3 all-boy boys Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 We have it in the kitchen/ dining room. I don't know what the brand is because it was done to sell the house (to us) 4 years ago. IT would be fine....except the water damage by the dishwasher. Water got into a seam, and has warped a few boards and the under-laminate (a press board type of material), has expanded...it's basically ugly right there. I hate that part of it and can't wait to replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 We just installed our own in one room, and now are removing the GLUED-DOWN :tongue_smilie: carpet in the other room so we can install it there too. It was really easy for us non-handy inexperienced people to install ourselves. We love it! Can't wait to have a no-carpet house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 There is laminate floor in some areas of the house we bought. As they are level with the ceramic tiles, I'm assuming they were put down at the same time. The tiles are beyond savings - and I pulled vinyl flooring off the tiles myself, and removed all the glue, so if I could keep the tiles, I would! The laminate floor is damaged - a few cracked boards and some places where the laminate has chipped off on the edges where boards join. Still, they are in better condition than the tiles. So - they're not as long lasting as real timber flooring, but they seem to last better than ceramic tiles. I believe that a really good underlay is the secret giving them a better "sound". We'll lay either laminate or floating / engineeered flooring, and will do it ourselves. Nikki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 While I prefer laminate over carpet, I can definately tell the difference between laminate and wood. We have real wood upstairs and laminate downstairs (put here by prior owners). Our upstairs is high gloss and looks amazing. I sweep it for dog hair, every day, but it looks shiny and perfect. Our downstairs, ie laminate, although looks and sounds fine, show every footprint. Not the actual outline of the foot, but just the traffic pattern of walking, you can see, in the right light. I sweep this everyday as well due to dog hair. Standing over it, you can't see it, it looks clean, but from the other side of the room, with the right light, you can see the "scuffy" from people walking. I can mop, and it is right back the next day. I hate that! We don't wear shoes in the house, so it is just from feet. I think it is pretty high quality laminate, judging by how the rest of the house was "done". Laminate over carpet, for sure, but wood first, any day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn&charles Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Thank you so much for the replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 From what I can tell, most people enjoy theirs. Me, I really dislike it. I had it in the kitchen in our house in one state and we put it down in our second house in this state. To me it looked and felt cheap. Once the puppy had an accident in the middle of the night. By the time it was found the next morning it had warped one board. Yes, it is half the cost of hardwood, but I'd rather wait a bit longer and put it hardwood if I ever have to do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 From what I can tell, most people enjoy theirs. Me, I really dislike it. I had it in the kitchen in our house in one state and we put it down in our second house in this state. To me it looked and felt cheap. Once the puppy had an accident in the middle of the night. By the time it was found the next morning it had warped one board. Yes, it is half the cost of hardwood, but I'd rather wait a bit longer and put it hardwood if I ever have to do it again. Wow, there must be differences in quality. We have Shaw Laminate in the loft and water/tea/coffee has been spilled numerous times. Sometimes I don't see it until next morning to wipe it up. Nothing ever warped. Generally, it cleans easily. If you have dogs with very long, sharp nails, it may eventually scratch but not easily. We managed to scratch something but I suspect it's from a desk chair being pushed back and forth. Of course...real wood looks and feels different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We have laminate through our kitchen, dining room and living room. We had it installed about 3 years ago. It is a snap together type, but we decided to have someone install it because my dh did not want to have fool with the trim, etc. I love it so much better than having a gross rug. We have had tons of water spills, etc and it has never caused an issue. The only problem I have had is in a few spots where sharp things have fallen and nicked the floor. We do not have any scratches, only the different nicks. We do have a dog and his racing around and nails have not bothered it at all. I agree that ours is not shiny and from far away with the right light you can see every little mark even when it is just cleaned. Nothing like our beautiful shiny hardwood in our foyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 From what I can tell, most people enjoy theirs. Me, I really dislike it. I had it in the kitchen in our house in one state and we put it down in our second house in this state. To me it looked and felt cheap. Once the puppy had an accident in the middle of the night. By the time it was found the next morning it had warped one board. Yes, it is half the cost of hardwood, but I'd rather wait a bit longer and put it hardwood if I ever have to do it again. I've not had it myself, but I've looked at many homes that had it (looking at real estate), and really, really dislike it. I agree with the previous poster that the stuff I've seen looks and feels cheap. But maybe it's gotten better these days and I'm sure some is better than others. I personally would never use it, but I am a die-hard hardwood floor girl. Also, while it might be cheaper, remember that with real wood floors, they can be sanded and refinished several times - and most people who look at homes to buy will consider real hardwood as a nice upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) Do you like them? Sorta. Do they scratch easily? Yes! Were you able to install them yourself? Yes. DH is handy and installed them himself. They scratch like crazy. :( If they didn't scratch, they'd be perfect! :tongue_smilie: Okay: wood would be better. (And I'm going to remember that for the future.) Edited January 22, 2011 by zaichiki DH, DH, not ds! Aaaah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfatherslily Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We have Pergo flooring installed in our kitchen and livingroom 4 1/2 years ago. I'm rather neutral about it, I guess. It allowed us to have the look of wood without the price. I love the color. At first it was so shiny that every tiny mark was sooo obvious, but now the floor is evenly scuffed so it's ok:) I'll take this pretty floor over carpet any day. However, the floor's had its share of hardship. Turns out, our back door leaked when it rained a certain way. The two boards there are warped and you can bounce on them. I'm concerned that when I can finally replace them, the new boards will be all shiny and not match the older ones. There are plenty of scratches from the kids SLIDING heavy stuff across the floor. One area is lightly damaged from a recliner that I never liked anyway. There's a gouge where I dropped the can opener. Every time one of these small things happens, it hurts me just a little bit to know that I can't refinish it in 5 more years and have a "new" floor. I will have to replace the whole thing. So it's a trade off. If we'd chosen real wood at the time, we would have gone even farther over our house-building budget. It didn't seem financially responsible at the time to use wood, but knew we'd never love linoleum/carpet. We had to find a middle ground and this was it! It really is pretty, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 While I prefer laminate over carpet, I can definately tell the difference between laminate and wood. I don't think you should ever put laminate over carpet. :tongue_smilie: :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Our downstairs, ie laminate, although looks and sounds fine, show every footprint. Not the actual outline of the foot, but just the traffic pattern of walking, you can see, in the right light. I sweep this everyday as well due to dog hair. Standing over it, you can't see it, it looks clean, but from the other side of the room, with the right light, you can see the "scuffy" from people walking. I can mop, and it is right back the next day. I hate that! We don't wear shoes in the house, so it is just from feet. :iagree: I have the same problem! It is awful, can's stand it. I feel like it looks like I don't clean my floors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 and it looks pretty scratched up in some places where we had dragged heavy furniture. Also there was a leak from the outside so it's all warped in that area. If it gets scratched, there's no fixing it with sanding and refinishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We put laminate down on the entire first floor in our last house. We installed it ourselves. It was easy peasy and we are no Tim Allens. It looked great, was easy to take care of and didn't scratch. We never had any problems with warping either. We currently have hardwoods on the first floor and they look very well worn due to the dog's nails. We also have a few spots where water often drips and those boards are warped. The price of the laminate was one of the cheapest choices as well. Both Sam's and Costco sell laminates now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daughterofsarah77 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Love ours...not sure what brand they are exactly. We do have a dog who scrambles/slides across them and no scratches. But when we rented a place with real wood floors, they were scratched like crazy. That was a huge selling point for us on the laminate. Easy to clean too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bella_gitana Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We installed laminate in a house that we now rent. I loved it. We did it ourselves with the help of a friend who had a table saw. This was about 7 years ago and even after 4 different tenants, it still looks good. The house where we live now has something different. Looks a bit like laminate, you might think it's hardwood, but it is actually vinyl. It is in stips like wood and it even has the grain and grooves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We had laminate in our last house. DH and my dad installed it. We had concrete subfloor so we had to put a waterproof shield down underneath the pad. We bought the Allegra brand--Costco was selling it at the time. They're selling a different brand now. In any case, I was really happy with it. It was easy to clean and mine held up really well in the 2 yrs we were in that house. We dropped stuff on it, slid furniture around, etc. Our current house has hardwood and I do very much prefer the look and feel of it. It definitely dings easier though. In either case, I LOVE LOVE LOVE bare floors. I have terrible allergies, and having bare floors helps a lot. I love that when I clean them I KNOW they are clean. We have carpet in the bedrooms and library here and I'd love to replace them with hardwood someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey Mom Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We installed them at our old house. We had them in for over 2 years and had NO problems with them at all. We also have two large dogs, and not one scratch. However, I do have to tell you that if you ever get water under them, they will be ruined. We had a bathroom flood and the room nearest to the bathroom was laminate. The water only got to the doorway of that room, but water got under the planks, and the whole room had to be pulled out. If you go laminate, be sure to get the spills up as soon as you can. Also, they are amazingly easy to take care of. Our new house is carpet/tile, and I really miss my laminate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I don't think you should ever put laminate over carpet. :tongue_smilie: :auto: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We bought it on sale (it goes on sale frequently) for about $35/box. dh installed it. Still looks brand new. We purchased the honey oak. I had a cherry Pergo in my first home (when it was all glue down and about $100/box!) and it showed more scratches that is why I went for a lighter color the next time. My friend has installed two different brands of laminate in her home and she prefers Armstrong over Pergo. She said that the Pergo felt cheap and there damaged more easily during installation. K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We have TrafficMaster floors that we installed ourselves. We absolutely love them. They are waterproof which was the main reason we chose that type of floor. We always have pets that have accidents. They don't seem to scratch at all. I've dragged furniture around and sometimes a black scuff mark appears that is easy to remove with a magic eraser. I know that buyers generally prefer real hardwood over laminate but we decided to buy flooring that made sense for us. I think it looks fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest momk2000 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 We have laminate on all of the floors of our first level. They were here when we moved in, and hold up pretty well. I personally do not like them, probably because I grew up in a house with real hardwood floors. If we could afford it, I would have ripped it up years ago. As a pp mentioned, they show everything (scuff marks, footprints, pawprints...), especially when the sunlight is sreaming through. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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