Laminate Pushers: Why is it being recommended so much? Is there some kind of kickback scheme going on??

[MillennialFalconer]

Is there a reason why all the independent/local flooring outlets I've spoken with recently are all trying to steer me towards laminate? I've just had the third one suggesting I might want to consider laminate instead of engineered wood or LVT. It's getting to the point where I'm wondering if the laminate flooring manufacturing industry is offering incentives to independent retailers.

Another company I had round told me I should consider laminate over LVT in my kitchen, saying that if for example my washing machine floods, it won't get as badly damaged as engineered wood. I thought the widsom that laminate is actually the worst option of all the above for the kitchen? They're also telling me that engineered wood (which what I really want) will get really badly scratched. I don't have kids or dogs and my killer-heels-wearing days are long over.

I am really interested jn this, as I am at the same stage! I do know two quite fancy/status conscious interior design friends with beautiful taste who have gone with lvt/laminate recently and I am tempted, mostly because I can’t afford my dream engineered wooden floor right now. Can’t decide whether to get on with a good fake or wait for the dream.

Wait though, what is the difference between laminate and lvt, I really don’t understand!

We had laminate in the past. It looked nice but was quite cold and we always had to be careful about spilled drinks or where the dog dripped water. Also loathed the trim round the skirting board and found it trapped dust and dog hair.
we changed to lvt (karndean) and though it scratches and we never bothered with the top coat because it requires regular stripping and reapplying, it is just better. No trim, super easy to clean (steam mopped regularly too), warm underfoot and if something’s spills it’ll the washing machine leaks there’s no issue with it.
It’s not perfect but it’s been down 13 years and we’re in no rush to change it.

@Lightninginabox My understanding is that laminate is basically an image printed onto a fibreboard-like backing (as opposed to vinyl like LVT). I know laminate is much cheaper, but I've also heard that you should use special cleaners on it, which of course cost way more than e.g. Flash (apparently everything else could damage finish and invalidate warranty).

The previous owners of my place installed laminate and it seems to be holding up OK but it's a) not to my taste at all, b) the installation looks like it was bodged (bad transitions between rooms, c) it's not in the kitchen so I can't tell whether it would survive a leaky dishwasher.

We have LVT (Amtico) and it’s perfect for us right now and not noisy or cold.

However it was chosen to accommodate the DC and spills etc. If they were not a factor I would want wood, no question.

I used to work in property and have seen many a laminate floor worse for wear after a couple of years so no to that. Plus it’s noisy.

I’ve got karndean and LOVE it. Totally transforms the downstairs of my home (now I want it upstairs too!). As PP mentioned no hideous trim so a very “clean” look.

I have friends with laminate and they’ve had issues with it buckling in places and it just doesn’t look as good at all IMO.

We got laminate. I don’t recommend it. Within 6 months The washing machine leaked and fucked itup in the kitchen. We replaced it with cheap Lino in there.

Later, The downstairs bog leaked and fucked it up. Replaced with cheap vinyl.

Poorly Cat pissed in the hall after we went to bed (so it sat overnight) now thats fucked. Dropped a hammer assembling furniture and dented the living room floor.

I’ve said no more cheap Lino. We’ll save and karndean the whole damn lot. My great aunt has some in her kitchen that has lasted so well the (dated) pattern on it has been in and out of fashion at least twice.🤣

We have waterproof laminate, it’s not a problem if you get liquid on it and no expansion gap is required and so beading is unnecessary. It was more expensive than some other laminates but gets mistaken for wood by visitors, including tradesmen, and so I guess looks relatively realistic.

It wasn’t my first choice but we couldn’t have LVT or engineered wood due to having original pamment tiles underneath - the floor isn’t level enough, plus we could have had damp issues with them. We didn’t want to rip up or damage the pamments as they are an original feature, in case we or someone else in the future wanted to uncover and restore them, but the time wasn’t right for us to do it at that point.

We had it installed a couple of years ago and it’s held up well despite being in the room where my children mainly hang out and they have spilt drinks without telling us that haven’t been mopped up immediately. We have engineered wood in the kitchen that has been fine and I prefer but any liquid spills get noticed and mopped up straight away.

To add that the lack of expansion/beading may just be specific to the brand that we have and maybe not the case for all waterproof brands.

Laminate has come a long way over the years. You don't have to have beading, you just fit the skirting afterwards, as you would do with engineered.

I ordered loads of samples of both for my son's bedroom and the laminate definitely held up better after I'd abused it. That said, engineered can be refinished and if it's oiled, scratches look rustic, rather than ugly like they do on laminate.

I don't like lvt as it does look more fake to me. Downstairs I'll eventually have engineered as I hate things pretending to be what they're not and however real they look, I'll know!

We didn’t dare take the skirting boards off to fit the flooring, as in our old house it probably would have brought lots of the plaster off too!

We have laminate and I don't like it. It's cold and our cats make the most horrendous noise when they try to run on it. DH had LVT in his old flat and I thought it was real wood. I hadn't looked too closely at it, I just remembered it was always warm. When we moved and I said I wish we had wood floor like his flat he told me it was LVT.

Not sure about incentives/laminate but the independent carpet shop we bought from kept trying to downsell us their cheapy carpet rather than the mid-price one I wanted ??! Pissed me right off and I won't be using them again.

We need to put new flooring down in the living room (and ultimately the kitchen) of our - non-listed - 400 year old house and because this space combines a more recent extension (with concrete subfloor) and the original part with victorian quarry tiles (that we want to leave for the same reason as @Liptr above), we've been looking at LVT.

We can't easily put down our preferred choice of engineered wood which we used at a previous (Georgian) house because of the depth of the planks and how this would effect things such as the existing hearth etc.

I've gathered loads of samples and am leaning towards Karndean which we've used a few times before and been impressed with it. It's definitely warm too. But I did get a few laminate samples as well and these seem to have improved hugely since we used it in a DC's bedroom many years ago, so now I'm unsure which way to go. The samples I got didn't actually seem much cheaper than the Karndean though.

We've not actually visited any showrooms yet so have no experience of them upselling laminate over LVT.

Another option we've considered is wood-look porcelain tiles. We used these in a bathroom in our last-but-two house and they were very convincing....just not sure about tiles in a living room.

I would avoid tiles, especially without underfloor heating. I can't wait to get rid of the ones in my kitchen as they are just too cold.

Perhaps there is a lot of laminate stock to be used up, as LVT seems the more popular choice now. Had laminate, was ok for a few years but then started to get the odd chip on corners of boards, and scratches when furniture was moved etc. Wouldn't have it again.

May I ask if you went for LVT or a laminate please. I am trying to choose between the 2 for an kitchen, dining room and snug extension.

Laminate can only be sanded and refinished once (If you're lucky) as the actual wood layer is very thin. Engineered wood, you can sand a few times- we had it in a conservatory for years with underfloor heating and it still looked like new when we moved house, I hadn't had to sand and refinish it even once, and we did all sorts in there, including DIY; I once used it as my study/office full time for over a year.
Real solid wood block parquet, fantastic, much the best option of the woods (unless you want underfloor heating) but by far the most expensive.

Plastic made to look like wood. Okay if you plan to get the floor wet a lot I suppose, or if you have pets/small children who are messy. To me, it always looks plastic, however flashy the brand, but wood has been part of my job for years and so I notice it all the time. The plastic sort with an embossed grain picks up dirt like nobody's business. We have a bit of Amtico patching a similar sort of finish on a floor that will be replaced in the next year or two, and some cheap faux-wood lino bought as a temp replacement for a knackered carpet that was here in a bathroom likewise. Both of them look a bit 'dead' to me, with an unpleasant sheen, and are a nuisance to keep clean because of the faux 'texture'. Finished engineered wood/parquet is smooth and I at least find it easy to keep clean.
Provided you surface it with the right coating (tung oil or similar), with wood, brushing is enough most of the time. If you do get anything wet on it, you can mop it. I'd go for engineered if I needed underfloor heating and/or was on a budget, and real blocks otherwise. Not laminate (unless I was really tight for my budget and could not wait to save up), or plastic.

I had QuickStep in a previous property. Laminate but at the time similarly priced to engineered wood. Most people mistook it for engineered wood. I’d say it scratched less the engineered wood but when it did get damaged it chipped, and it warped a bit when we had a leak. We’ve had engineered wood in the two places since, it scratches but we haven’t had a leak to test it.