is laminate the way to go...?

[igglepiddle]

Moving house, want to put non-carpet form of flooring downstirs (3 rooms, 1 hallway) as have 2 young dc. Not sure about laminate (is it cold, noisy?) but think wood (which would be luverly) is above our budget. Is laminate ok, would anyone recommend? Many thanks

Mhmhmswhwwm

iyswim

Good points:

It is wipe clean - so good for spills
It gives a certain scandinavian blonde wood modern feel compared to carpet.
Doesn't stain

Middling points:

Wheeled toys can go very fast without carpet to obstruct (fun for half an hour.... then can get tiring living in the middle of picadilly circus of push along and ride on toys skidding everywhere).

Bad points:

A bit ubiquitous. Kind of a cliche ever since the BTL landords have cottoned on to the fact that it is pretty cheap while being able to be passed off as 'luxury'.

We're in rented accommodation at the mo, and the laminate has bubbled horribly. Hasn't stood up to the wear of being in a kitchen. Also wasn't well fitted - gaps at the edges - which rather defeats the 'sleek' look.

We had quite expensive laminate put down in part of our kitchen about 6 years ago - it looks pretty scratched up and I wish we had put real wood, but it is easy to keep clean(ish)

We have laminate in our dining room and you can see the scratches where the chairs have been moved, and yes I do have those felt pads underneath.

Wood would have been good as we could have sanded it back.

Laminate looks good if you pay for the good stuff. We visited a friend in an old converted barn, loved their floor and thought it was real wood only to be told it was laminate!!!

Try to find local wood supply places who do good laminate and try to get a commercial grade one so that it stands up to hard knocks.

My boys love it, put on socks and slide across the floor

WE have very good laminate over our original victorian floorboards . However the real thing was gappy, cold and in need of sanding and so too much work.
No scratches, we're three years in, lovely and clean and easy.

Have a look at Pergo (expensive laminate), we have had it put down in our new kitchen/diner extension.

It is not a cheap option, but it looks lovely. We chose it as we wanted a floor that was hard wearing, as we have two young boys. It is not marking at all and is easy to keep clean.

Would recommend it.

I don't like that clack clack clack you get from walking across laminate in heels! And I don't mean 6" stilettos!

We have a rental house and it is laminate on alot of it and has obviously been here about 10 years ish. It looks pretty awful.

It is very scratched and if there is any chance of water getting around it then there are big cracks in between some parts. But that is after 10 years. Think if you are going to go for it you need to spend some money to get good quality.