to not get why people are derogatory about laminate flooring

[mavornia]

After having a puker extraordinaire in ds1 and a good few splatterings from ds2, my bedroom carpet is quite frankly rank

I'm having it replaced with laminate flooring on Friday

I think it looks good and it will be delightfully easy to clean

so why are people so sniffy about it?! So much cleaner than carpet with children around and cheaper and easier to clean than real wood too

what am i missing?

I love mine.
I have dogs and its so much easier to sweep and mop than get the hoover out. Especially with the Amazing Labradoodle furball!!

i've got amtico, i don't know if that counts as laminate, but it's bloody brilliant...

We currently have carpet downstairs that needs replacing.

Looks like it will be laminate as that´s what we can afford & we don´t want carpet again.

O, PersonalClown, I was just thinking about getting a Labradoodle!

Another point in favour of laminate!

laminate is a better idea only in theory, all the dust and dirt shows up much more and more often, youl find yourself having to sweep etc far more than with carpet

Well, from bitter experience, I have to warn you all to spend out a bit on it if you can manage. The cheap stuff chips, then swells, and looks terrible in just a few years. Still prefer it to carpet though.

Oh do it Mavornia.
They're a wonderful breed. Unfortunately a lot of people give them up when they realise that not all are hypo allergenic.

Most do shed and need a damn good brushing.
My walking furball is one my profile if you want a nosey.

I got my laminate before it became fashionable. I had been to Finland while we were buying our new house. Everywhere had wooden floors .It's been down 18 years and needs refinishing but love it.

knittedbreast that's why i like it, you just sweep it every day and you know it's pretty clean, whereas carpet festers with all kinds of stuff you can't necessarily see...

hmmm knittedbreast, I see your point but better to see the dirt though and sweep it up than having it hidden and lurking in a murky carpet

PersonalClown, I had a King Charles spaniel/poodle cross as a child (not a designer breed, just a random coupling that resulted in my wonderful dog) and he was the most amazing dog. Your two are beautiful! Ds1 is 4 and he's been asking for a dog lately but I'm due with dc3 on Christmas day and not sure whether I should wait until after the new baby comes. It would be a chance to use the wonderful baby names I have that dh won't allow me to inflict on an actual child!

Thanks commander, I'll check whether the stuff I've ordered is the good stuff

mrsravel clearly we have very differing views on cleaning :) see no dirt, clean no dirt lol!

It's cos chavs like it OP. You should only have stripped back floorboards or quality carpet.

ah, yes, in that case, carpet definitely better

i can't sleep at night if there's limescale on my taps or crumbs under the dining room table.

Ive had both and currently have laminate in kitchen-diner. I have to was floor everyday though but it is easier to wipe up spills ect...

I like carpet in living room as it shows up dirt/dust a lot less and it is much quicker and easier to vacuum once a day rather than get on hands and knees and wash every day.

I love it, if I had the time, money and/or inclination I'd have it everywhere. Including the walls and ceiling (joke).

Quick sweep and mop and it's perfectly clean, if you can see dirt on it, it's nothing a quick wipe won't sort out. In comparison carpets are minging. I once heard that if the muck from your average carpet was released outside it'd be considered hazardous.

I have it in my hallway, kitchen and lounge (open plan)

I hate it, it always looks dirty , with dust, hair, bits everywhere, and it's a huge area to need to keep mopping. Even if I do (did yesterday) it's as bad within half an hour, even if I'm the only one in!

It's freezing cold underfoot- i would end up putting down lots of rugs which would defeat the purpose of avoiding carpets!

It is also very noisy. Mil has it and when the dc are playing the noise is horrendous. Dm has wooden floors and much quieter when dc play.

I don't like it because it is fake. I don't like fake things. I would be quite happy to have proper wooden floors in my house, but I also like carpet too.

Never considered either hoovering or washing floors once a day - but my housekeeping standards are very pretty low - note, no pets.

Have just moved to house with wood laminate (I think) flooring throughout the downstairs and I think it's fab - once a week mop is fine - thefoxbrush why are you on your hands and knees washing the floor?

i hate the look, sound and feel of it, but would take it over carpet for the main rooms of a house any day. I like real wood best, hides dirt nicely in the cracks and never really needs washing. (you only notice it's filthy if you have an infant crawling around!)

I hate our wooden floorboards - heat leeches out through the floor- stuff is always getting stuck in the gaps and creases, picking scrambled egg out is particularly difficult.

The laminate we have in other rooms is a zillion times easier to clean and as it sits above the floorboards it is warmer underfoot.

It's freezing cold underfoot - not necessarily, Neverending we put underfloor heating under ours (I absolutely love it).

I think people are derogatory about cheap laminate flooring, which can look artificial and be easily damaged. Get the best you can afford and it can be lovely. The whole of our downstairs is oak laminate, grooves and everything to simulate real floorboards. Easier to keep clean than carpets.

I have laminate in several of my rooms but I would never have it again since I discovered Rhinofloor (posh lino :) ) Laminate is fine in itself but you can't risk getting it wet - which means certain kids games are banned from those rooms and means that it's not as easy to wash. Whereas Rhinofloor can get wet and it's more comfy than laminate. I have a wood-effect one in my bathroom and everyone thinks it's real wood at first. I wish I'd known about it before I got the laminate put in.

I have Laminate flooring in my hallway, lounge and dining room and I love it, and I don't consider myself to be a chav

I have 3 DC and have lost count of the number of times that drinks get spilt, food gets thrown falls on the floor etc. If I had carpet it would be filthy .

Laminate is so easy to clean, a quick sweep up and a mop, job done.

There is a huge difference between good laminate and the cheapest stuff. The best stuff is quite hard to distinguish from real wood - the worst looks very fake, can be very shiny, comes up at the edges... Although in an ideal world I would always prefer wood (I am with bibbity a bit, "don't like fake things") we have inherited some reasonably good laminate in the new house and it is not bad at all.

As for laminate vs carpet - carpet definitely looks better/is easier to keep clean-ish in places where it will just get dry bits on it (fluff, hairs, crumbs).

But anywhere that will get "wet" mess - baby sick, spilled milk, splats of weetabix - I would MUCH rather have a hard floor which can just be mopped and doesn't need shampooing or hang on to smells like carpet does.

What colour laminate are you getting? I think darker shades are better than very pale for hiding most sorts of mess (unless you have a white cat or something!).