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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not get why people are derogatory about laminate flooring

127 replies

mavornia · 20/06/2011 10:16

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?

OP posts:
Mowlem · 20/06/2011 21:04

We have tiles in the kitchen diner, and can't decide what to do in our living room.

Husband hates carpet, says it is unhygienic (which frankly, it is). But I think laminate would be too cold, and I fear too naff these days.

Can't afford wood, and it is a concrete base, so can't decide what is best to get really.

Difficult dilemma.

Grockle · 20/06/2011 21:26

Good thread. I ripped up all the cheap laminate in this house when I moved in last year and have bare floorboards. I think I'm going to put engineered wood down. I'd love to keep the floorboards but they're so cold and draughty and I keep loosing things between the cracks

marge2 · 20/06/2011 21:29

check out Karndean flooring. They do loads of different effects including wood effect. We are considering having it in our bathroom. I also much prefer real wood or carpet to laminate. The bathroom guy said real wood was a no-no in bathrooms and suggeted the Karndean. I was very dubious but we went to a local showroom to check it out and were really impressed. You would have to get down on the floor to see it wasn;t real wood and it comes in LOADS of different wood 'looks' They even do the 'beat up old floorboard' look. Apparently it feels quite warm underfoot too.

Grockle · 20/06/2011 21:32

I was in a double glazing showroom recently and asked about their lovely wooden floor - that was Karndean or Amtico - I think they are similar? Would definitely consider both

bibbitybobbityhat · 20/06/2011 21:35

I am just distraught that I will never ever be able to afford the flooring I had in my first flat £75,000 flat in Hackney - was there when I bought it - herringbone woodblock flooring throughout the living room and kitchen. God it was gorgeous.

If I were househunting now, that sort of flooring could persuade me to buy the house, no matter what the rest of it was like.

Grockle · 20/06/2011 21:38

That sounds fab bibbity. I miss the beautiful hardwood floors in all of my American apartments. Best floors ever.

acsec · 20/06/2011 22:07

I have laminate all through and I HATE it!(It was already laid when we bought the place) It shows every particle of dust, even after I have just finished sweeping, hoovering and mopping. The washing machine flooded the kitchen - laminate ruined, bathroom laminate swollen and buckling. If I could afford to I'd have carpets.

edam · 20/06/2011 23:20

I think carpets are probably more hygienic than laminate in a way - in that they trap the dirt, it's not all bouncing up into the air every time you walk into a room for you to breathe in. (Assuming you hoover regularly, obviously.)

When we had laminate downstairs in our last house, I was forever sweeping - felt like every five minutes. We've got vinyl in the hall and kitchen in this house and it's the same old constant need for sweeping (especially as for some reason EVERY leaf within a three mile radius seems to blow into my doorway and end up on my hall floor. Some people do not seem to understand the purpose of a doormat. ).

Wooden floors are probably not as bad as laminate as they are not as shiny and smooth so the dust particles aren't sitting there loose on top.

JoniRules · 20/06/2011 23:40

I did have it in last place and had to hoover everyday as all the dust and hair and whatnot showed up much more than carpet.

latenightmum · 21/06/2011 00:02

great for nappy free/ potty training... bloody nightmare for early toddling head injuries/ random dirt eating. If you have downstairs neighbours they stop talking to you....cold in the winter, don't spill water or try dancing in flats...ass over tit (round our way!)

latenightmum · 21/06/2011 00:03
  • cheap laminate = water stains showing and every door, heal, furniture scuff showing
PigletJohn · 21/06/2011 00:03

The Direct Flooring timber is in rather small pieces, dimensions 15mm x 75mm x 1200mm, so it would be OK to nail down onto an existing floor, or float onto a concrete base, but not satisfactory to put down onto the joists on its own. It is also a bit too thin for that.

The Flooring Direct looks as if it would be OK, subject to its quality, and the price is surprisingly low. You have to look out that (1) they do not give you lots of little short bits (2) it has all been through the mill on the same day so all the boards are exactly the same thickness and width, otherwise they will not fit together properly. It is best if the customer, or the fitter, visits the yard and looks at the timber they are going to sell you. This is always a problem with internet or mail order.

PigletJohn · 21/06/2011 00:05

p.s. "finger jointed" on the direct flooring website means each "plank" is made of several little bits of wood glued together. Not what I would want in my house

happybubblebrain · 21/06/2011 00:24

I can't stand it, it almost always looks cheap especially when there are gaps between the skirting and the floor. There are other non-carpet options that are just as cheap but don't look it. I have tiles and wooden floorboards. The tiled flooring cost very little and everyone says how good it looks. I did it myself and it cost about £150 for one very large room and one small room. I don't think laminate ever looked good. And my general rule is that if everyone is doing it, it probably is a bit naff.

Bast · 21/06/2011 00:31

I've got it. Used to have it years ago, chased my tail with carpets for a few years (and lost the battle!) so I've gone back to it. It's practical, much better looking than it used to be and a useful way to brighten a room without risking a lighter carpet. A carpenter installed it, so it's fitted well and sealed too, to heighten it's spill tolerance. It's warmer than tiles, less costly than wood flooring (as opposed to boards alone - cold!) and cleaner than carpet. Best of all worlds.

stealthsquiggle · 21/06/2011 08:49

laminate didn't work well for us in last house - got ruined by various spills and floods and never felt 'solid'.

OTOH we have laid engineered wood in one room of this house - with self-adhesive thick foam underlay - and it is lovely - we may well do the same for the dining room in due course. In the bathroom, where tiles would have been impossible because the underlying floor moves far too much, and we couldn't find an amtico fitter with good references (and have some horror stories about badly fitted amtico), we now have what is in effect laminate, except that it is made of solid plastic (well, sort of honeycomb structure underneath). It sounds awful described like that, but looks at least as good as most laminate I have seen and is 100% waterproof and can't be damaged by flooding.

iscream · 21/06/2011 08:53

My mil has it in the kitchen. It is a good quality and looks beautiful. We have hardwood, which we prefer. My mil's is the nicest I have seen.
When we replaced our carpeting with wood, my health improved drastically.
I recommend anything other than carpets health wise. I can see carpets being a better choice if anyone lives below you though.
For those hating the dust bunnies, one word. ROOMBA!
It really helps keep the dust and pet fur to a minimum, with any non carpeted floor.
Sadly they don't do stairs. And they wouldn't do a decent vacumn on a carpet. But for bare floors, love it.

umf · 21/06/2011 08:53

bamboo! get bamboo. it's 'real', it's much cheaper than wood, it's more environmentally sustainable, it feels solid, it's warm, and it looks beautiful.

stealthsquiggle · 21/06/2011 08:57

umf - as long as it is well fitted. My parents have bamboo in their bathrooms and conservatory and it has been pretty much a disaster from day 1 - needs completely re-doing now.

theyoungvisiter · 21/06/2011 09:15

I hate carpet but I also hate laminate - it looks and feels fake and it just feels wrong for the period of house we have (Victorian).

I agree it's practical, but having lived in rented for many years it's got the same feel as white woodchip wallpaper for me - it screams "utilitarian".

We have stripped floorboards throughout - everywhere apart from the kitchen and hall (tiled) and the stairs (carpeted) and I love them. They were also, delightfully, FREE since they were already under the carpet when we moved in!

housemum · 21/06/2011 09:42

bessie26 engineered wood is real wood but it has been steamed and pressed somehow. So it is uniform like laminate, but in theory it could be sanded in the future and resealed up to 2 or 3 times like real wood. Because it has been steamed and pressed it doesn't expand and contract the same as real wood, so you don't get gaps for draughts or to lose things down, and it stays flat and even.

We have carpet upstairs and on the stairs, engineered wood downstairs and Karndean (cheaper Amtico vinyl tiles) in the kitchen/dining room (conservatory).

IDrinkFromTheirSkulls · 21/06/2011 10:08

We have laminate in the kitchen (it's a rented house so we don't have a choice).

I am terrified of ripping it. I have never before had to be scared of harming the floor!

On the plus side it is much warmer to stand on with bare feet than tiles or wood.

What really bugs me though it that we have wooden floors in the bedrooms! I like carpet in the bedrooms personally (cold feet again!)

destinationzero · 21/06/2011 10:11

i've been following this thraed at work - i love it!

the thread and laminate Grin

PigletJohn · 21/06/2011 10:44

Bamboo flooring is the fibres heated and pressed together. It is a strong, water-resistant and hard-wearing material, but it does not have any timber grain or figuring, just the parallel fibres.

However "Engineered" wood flooring is a sort of Plywood. On top you have a thinnish fancy veneer, then you have a thick centre layer of non-show softwood, set at right-angles to the grain of the top and bottom layers, usually made up of rough knotty bits glued together, then you have a non-show veneer of a cheapish timber to balance the top layer and prevent it warping (much).

Plywood is quite a strong and rigid material, so Engineered is an economical substitute for solid wood, and the top layer (which is all that you can see) can have an attractive veneer which is thick enough to sand and re-varnish if it gets damaged. So you get the appearance of solid wood at a lower cost. Engineered flooring is usually sold in small carry-home panels so it is not suitable for laying directly on joists, it has to be nailed or floated on an existing floor, and this brings the Finished Floor Level up by 12-20mm so you will often have to plane the bottoms of your doors, and fiddle around at the skirting and architrave.

Grockle · 21/06/2011 20:42

Theyoungvisiter - did you prepare your floorboards yourself? Mine need sanding and sorting out - a few have been replaced with MDF type stuff so would need to be replaced and it feels like a big job!