Replacing carpet with laminate..would you?

[PseudoSudocrem]

I'm thinking of replacing our carpet with laminate. Really good quality textured laminate (the kind with grooves that looks more like the real thing).

Pros and cons?

Would you?

[MushMonster]

Yes, I do want to do this on all the groubd floor in our house. Carpet only for upstairs, and I am actually thinking that if the house still feels warm when I do the downstairs I will leave bare boards upstairs, and just stain them and add some rugs by the beds.
I am looking forward to have it done.

[BreconBeBuggered]

No, I wouldn't. Hard floors look as if you'd need shoes on all the time to be sure of not going arse over tit.

[dalrympy]

LVT is much nicer than laminate

[Nat6999]

I'm going the opposite way when I finally move, carpet in living room, stairs & my bedroom, vinyl in hall, ds room, bathroom & kitchen. Would never have laminate again, got good quality laminate down in flat but it takes too much keeping clean, hoovering & then mopping, only having vinyl in ds room because he is a scruffy bugger who regularly spills drinks & has ruined his bedroom carpet. Will buy best quality sheet vinyl, had it down in my old house, took being washed with bleach & scrubbed but still looked like new.

[viccat]

Definitely yes. Carpet never feels properly clean to me.
You can always put rugs down to soften the feel.

[ShandlersWig]

LVT is better than laminate, warmer and not as clacky.

[Fluffycloudland77]

@Nat6999

I'm going the opposite way when I finally move, carpet in living room, stairs & my bedroom, vinyl in hall, ds room, bathroom & kitchen. Would never have laminate again, got good quality laminate down in flat but it takes too much keeping clean, hoovering & then mopping, only having vinyl in ds room because he is a scruffy bugger who regularly spills drinks & has ruined his bedroom carpet. Will buy best quality sheet vinyl, had it down in my old house, took being washed with bleach & scrubbed but still looked like new.

You need a robo hoover, I robo hoover and spray mop daily & it’s so quick.

[Fifthtimelucky]

I have all hard floors downstairs (tiles in hall, kitchen and downstairs loo, cheapo vinyl in utility room and wood elsewhere). I wouldn't change them.

We re-carpeted the landing and stairs a few years ago and I now really wish that we had had wood or laminate fitted. That's mainly because of the cats though. Long haired cats and carpets are not a good combination, especially as one also scratches.

[S00LA]

I have hard floors everywhere in The house. We started ripping up the carpet downstairs and liked it so much we did the upstairs too.

There are rugs in some bedrooms and the living room.

So easy to clean now and most of the rugs are pretty inexpensive so I don’t stress if they need replaced - usually when the kids want a change of decor in their bedrooms .

[Nackajory]

Hard floors all through downstairs, carpet upstairs for cosiness and noise reduction. I love it, so much easier to clean and not cold at all.

[Shizzlestix]

Downstairs, yes, we have tiles, laminate (don’t get the textured stuff, it’s a pita to clean!) and vinyl. Upstairs, I prefer carpet.

[Trinacham]

We replaced our carpet with Karndean and have no regrets. We live in a mid terrace so it doesn't get as cold as some homes.

[OfficialLurker]

We’ve only got carpet on our stairs now - & will change that when we can afford to. Love hard floors. We’ve got laminate at the moment but downstairs we plan to change to tiles with underfloor heating. So much cleaner!
As some people have mentioned, got the best underlay you can and if you do decide on laminate rather than the other options then I would recommend looking at the waterproof options.

[VenusClapTrap]

Hard floors are ok if you keep on top of the sweeping. I had an ex who lived in a flat with laminate on the floor and every time you moved there was a swirl of dust bunnies in your wake.

It always felt cold and echoey there too, but he probably could have improved that with some rugs.

[perfumeistooexpensive]

I've got bamboo flooring. It's virtually indestructible and reasonably priced. It looks and feels amazing.

[WonderMoon]

We put laminate 'wood' in the hallway, kitchen and living room too. Its much easier to keep clean then the carpets upstairs on landing which we hoover daily. It looks like real wood and unless you literally press your face to the floor, you can't tell its laminate.
The only place I wouldn't have it is bedrooms. Carpets look nicer in bedrooms and just feel warmer and more cosy then a cold floor.

[ouch321]

There was carpet on the bedroom and I replaced with laminate. Couldn't go back to carpet. When you wet wipe laminate and see the dirt that can come off you realise that's what would have been sitting in the carpet. No regrets. I wear socks when the weather is colder and it's fine.

[sarahC40]

We did this all through our downstairs - we have a walkthrough house and got fed up with seeing carpet trodden down after three months. We bought the most expensive quickstep oak laminate we could, and except for where my husband dropped a large telly (about six days after it was laid - I went and sat in the car for a bit) it’s stood up to the wear and tear brilliantly. Rugs for decor and to deaden sound,

[MiniTheMinx]

Had laminate years ago and found it very dusty. Hoovering and mopping every day. So no, not for me.

Last house we had slate floors downstairs, and the best carpet we could afford upstairs. The carpet lasted the 15 years we lived there, but had just started to bother me. The slate though looked as good as the day it went down. Its great for mess making kids and animals. But we are a boots on household. I dont feel dressed if I haven't got my shoes on.

Just moved, carpets were up and skipped in week one! And all the vinyl because it always feels sticky to me. We are doing the same here. But im having to budget more carefully.....humph

If I had to choose between carpet and laminate in any downstairs room, I'd still choose laminate though.

[Fluffycloudland77]

@sarahC40

We did this all through our downstairs - we have a walkthrough house and got fed up with seeing carpet trodden down after three months. We bought the most expensive quickstep oak laminate we could, and except for where my husband dropped a large telly (about six days after it was laid - I went and sat in the car for a bit) it’s stood up to the wear and tear brilliantly. Rugs for decor and to deaden sound,

You were very restrained. You should be proud of that.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Those of you with lvt that sticks down, was the adhesive solvent or water based?.

Thank you.

[tinkerbellvspredator]

We've now got Karndean in hallway and lounge, 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. Loving it so far - the first bedroom was done about 5 years ago, the rest last year.

[Soontobe60]

I have tiles in the kitchen / family room with a big rug, and carpet in the lounge where we spend much less time.

[DramaAlpaca]

We have hard floors everywhere, with rugs in bedrooms. When we had a house full of children, dogs and cats, carpets would have got disgusting quite quickly. Hard floors are so much easier to clean.

[1940s]

I hate laminate. Carpet for kids bedrooms and real wood throughout the rest of the house