I am thinking of putting simulated wood floor planking over my existing scratched flooring. ( artificial wood, snap together planking ) I was wondering if anyone has had any experience iwth the product. I was told that if water was poured over the planking it would get into the cracks and never dry out and start to smell bad. Is there any truth to this. Pros and cons please.
Simulated wood floor planking, whats your experience?
- Thread starter Doctor Zoidburg
- Start date
Do you mean the floating floors - like Laminate flooring.
I personally am not a fan.
I would suggest that you sand the floors that you already have. Home Depot rents the orbital sanders and they are EASY to use (though tediously slow). But you can't go wrong.
I personally am not a fan.
I would suggest that you sand the floors that you already have. Home Depot rents the orbital sanders and they are EASY to use (though tediously slow). But you can't go wrong.
you get what you pay for .."Pergo" Laminate flooring...Goodfellow lumber distribute some german made stuff through Home(less) Depot
I did this. Existing floors were extremely poor condition, not possible to refinish. But, some small spots were ok, and overall the floors were flat.
I covered everything with the thin foam sheet the laminate manufacturers require, then put down the new floor. I bought fairly good quality laminate, not the home depot shit, look at the seam design and fit to get a feel for the quality. It was fairly easy, cutting to fit around radiators, etc. was a bitch, the dense fiberboard seriously dulls saw blades.
It fits together quite tightly and water does not seem to penetrate. The exposed plank under-overlap seams supposedly are wax coated. Read their test and warranty literature, it's fairly impressive. I haven't had any problems in the front hall with wet shoes or with kitchen spiils. Also, several beer bottles, wine glass and coffee cup spills over the years with no damage or smells.
In terms of looks, I'm pleased with it. Numerous visitors have complemented me on it too. But I waver: overall the large expanse is quite uniform looking. Sometimes I think, damn that looks nice, other times I think the opposite, too uniform.
Overall, for about 600 square feet, it cost between 30 - 50% of new hardwood installed including the tear out of old floor. Also, I did it all in about one weekend, minimal mess.
I covered everything with the thin foam sheet the laminate manufacturers require, then put down the new floor. I bought fairly good quality laminate, not the home depot shit, look at the seam design and fit to get a feel for the quality. It was fairly easy, cutting to fit around radiators, etc. was a bitch, the dense fiberboard seriously dulls saw blades.
It fits together quite tightly and water does not seem to penetrate. The exposed plank under-overlap seams supposedly are wax coated. Read their test and warranty literature, it's fairly impressive. I haven't had any problems in the front hall with wet shoes or with kitchen spiils. Also, several beer bottles, wine glass and coffee cup spills over the years with no damage or smells.
In terms of looks, I'm pleased with it. Numerous visitors have complemented me on it too. But I waver: overall the large expanse is quite uniform looking. Sometimes I think, damn that looks nice, other times I think the opposite, too uniform.
Overall, for about 600 square feet, it cost between 30 - 50% of new hardwood installed including the tear out of old floor. Also, I did it all in about one weekend, minimal mess.
I believe the real trick with laminate flooring is "You get what you pay for." If you buy the cheap stuff, it will look cheap and won't last. If you're going to do it, spend the money on the good quality material.
No substitute for real hardwood. You would want it only if money is a problem, otherwise, people would know it for what is really is: Cheap alternative.
I have to agree after installing quite a few floors of various types, laminate floors generally speaking are crap. BUT there IS a difference between the 79 cent psf crap and the $12.00 psf stuff. There is are also different types of laminate floors: Rub's Inkjet floor and Real wood laminates.
The cheap laminate floors are great for basements for kid's play rooms where you aren't that concerned with appearance just want durability (some of the stuff is bulletproof). Most hardwood floor manufacturers advise NOT to install solid hardwood over concrete. Especially new concrete because of the moisture problem. However there are some that say you can put it over concrete as long as you use a membrane and or glue it down (coating the concrete with adhesive to effectively create a vapour barrier). I believe Satin Finish is one of those manufacturers.
Depending on the type of floor you have you might not be able to sand it. I've done more than a few older homes and condos where the oak planks have been sanded so much the tongues and grooves are visible and it looks like a dog's breakfast.
One of the biggest eyesores with laminate floors (in my opinion) is the fact that all the planks are the same size but they just "print" the random plank pattern on them. This is HORRIBLE IMO.
With that being said there are manufacturers who make laminate floors with real wood veneers and the planks are in random lengths and are 3" wide. This looks like a real solid hardwood floor when it's done.
Another problem with floating floors is the "hollow" sound when you walk on it. I personally hate this.
One last thing to consider: talk to any real estate agent. In most cases they will tell you installing laminate floors will reduce the value of your property when it comes time to sell. I don't know if this is a concern of yours and if the house is a POS to begin with, you may not care.
I typically charge $3.00 psf plus materials to install 2 1/2" wide x 3/4" thick hardwood and if a customer asks to install the 79 cent HD crap, I charge $10.00 psf (because in their infinite wisdom the cheap makers decided to force you to link the entire run of planks together THEN connect it to the previous run which, on a long room, means the run could be 14' long which is IMPOSSIBLE).
My advice is to pay just a little extra and get real hardwood floors. It will look better, last longer, and increase the value of your property and won't cost you that much more than the shit stuff.
Rub will probably come back with me sounding like an expert again but after installing around 50 floors and being involved with the install of probably 150 more floors, I do speak from experience.....
The last piece of advice I can give is: MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE THE EXPANSION JOINT AROUND THE PERIMETER!!! If you don't you could end up with a floor that will bow in the middle and rise 2" or more due to expansion.
The cheap laminate floors are great for basements for kid's play rooms where you aren't that concerned with appearance just want durability (some of the stuff is bulletproof). Most hardwood floor manufacturers advise NOT to install solid hardwood over concrete. Especially new concrete because of the moisture problem. However there are some that say you can put it over concrete as long as you use a membrane and or glue it down (coating the concrete with adhesive to effectively create a vapour barrier). I believe Satin Finish is one of those manufacturers.
Depending on the type of floor you have you might not be able to sand it. I've done more than a few older homes and condos where the oak planks have been sanded so much the tongues and grooves are visible and it looks like a dog's breakfast.
One of the biggest eyesores with laminate floors (in my opinion) is the fact that all the planks are the same size but they just "print" the random plank pattern on them. This is HORRIBLE IMO.
With that being said there are manufacturers who make laminate floors with real wood veneers and the planks are in random lengths and are 3" wide. This looks like a real solid hardwood floor when it's done.
Another problem with floating floors is the "hollow" sound when you walk on it. I personally hate this.
One last thing to consider: talk to any real estate agent. In most cases they will tell you installing laminate floors will reduce the value of your property when it comes time to sell. I don't know if this is a concern of yours and if the house is a POS to begin with, you may not care.
I typically charge $3.00 psf plus materials to install 2 1/2" wide x 3/4" thick hardwood and if a customer asks to install the 79 cent HD crap, I charge $10.00 psf (because in their infinite wisdom the cheap makers decided to force you to link the entire run of planks together THEN connect it to the previous run which, on a long room, means the run could be 14' long which is IMPOSSIBLE).
My advice is to pay just a little extra and get real hardwood floors. It will look better, last longer, and increase the value of your property and won't cost you that much more than the shit stuff.
Rub will probably come back with me sounding like an expert again but after installing around 50 floors and being involved with the install of probably 150 more floors, I do speak from experience.....
The last piece of advice I can give is: MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE THE EXPANSION JOINT AROUND THE PERIMETER!!! If you don't you could end up with a floor that will bow in the middle and rise 2" or more due to expansion.
E
enduser1
TBOY is right, engineered hard wood is the way to go. I am ripping my disintegrated laminate floor out after only three years.
EU
EU
OK, so I am going with the engineered hardwood floors. Just to make sure this is what you meant. Is it the product where it actualy looks like the original hardwod flooring with the tongue and groove in it, but it was not solid wood and made of a wood product that has a veneer on top?
Yes, but again, be careful what you buy. I'd be going for the one that uses individual random plank lengths as opposed to the pre-assembled wide planks made up of smaller pieces.Doctor Zoidburg said:
Another thing to watch out for is the thickness of the top veneer. Cheaper ones have a micro think layer which means it can never be refinished or sanded if you damage the floor by moving a heavy piece of furniture or whatever. The better floors have a thicker layer (as much as 3/16" or 5 /32"). I've seen some that are only about 1/32" thick.
I warn you: you'll pay as much if not more for engineered hardwood as solid hardwood. You can get solid 3/4" x 2 1/2" wide hardwood for $3.99 psf now.......with the cost of the underlayment/underpadding/vapour barrier you'll pay more than that for engineered.
(btw, thanks rub, I guess I should IYO stick to flooring instead of the oil situation in the middle east? lol)
E
enduser1
Doctor Zoidburg said:
First of all please read Tboys description below your post, its good. To it I will add, get the engineered hardwood that allows "up to three sanding and refinishings". It will say it on the box.
Second, the reason why I like engineered hardwood over a sub floor is that it doesn't "creak". Meaning the old hardwood didn't have an underlay over the subfloor.
In the older Toronto homes you will find many houses with hardwood. I grew up in a couple of houses like that. In all cases the boards would grind against the sub floor. There was literally nothing you could do, save rip up the floor. My parents tried putting wall to wall broadloom over it but the squeeking was still there, just muffled. The new technology of an underlay really makes an huge difference.
EU
EU: one of the things I've encountered with older homes is the subfloor is actually tongue and groove planks nailed to the joists. The nails come loose as the wood dries and shrinks. The only way to get past this is to screw the existing floor to the joists but this is time consuming and costly as you'll use thousands of screws. A good workaround is to lay a 1/2" ply sub floor over the existing floor and screw this to the joists. This will eliminate the creaking as the large area of the ply, screwed to each joist every 12" will secure the old subfloor to the joists. It works quite well.
Yes, you lose yet another 1/2" of height in addition to the thickness of the new floor but you have a rock solid base to start from.
Yes, you lose yet another 1/2" of height in addition to the thickness of the new floor but you have a rock solid base to start from.
Listen to tboy!
A buddy of mine put the laminate floors in his house about 4 summers ago, against my recommendation... I hate having to say I told you so, especially to friends! He is now replacing it.
He knows his stuff!tboy said:
A buddy of mine put the laminate floors in his house about 4 summers ago, against my recommendation... I hate having to say I told you so, especially to friends! He is now replacing it.
Oh just one more thing before I get to work:
DO NOT FALL INTO THE FACTORY SECONDS TRAP!!!
I had a customer buy hardwood factory seconds from that place out on Evans and there was EASILY 30 - 40 % wastage. I had told her to purchase 20% more for cutting etc and the ass there said no, you didn't need that much and convinced her to buy 10%. Now you MIGHT get away with Select or better primo stuff but this shit? It was full of knots, twisted pieces, made up of (what I call) twigs (really short pieces) and the boxes even had different species inside (we were using ash and I found oak and maple pieces) and had different colours.
Now when we ran out (like I said we wood) just buy more right? Umm no. They didn't have any more and I had to use narrower pieces RIGHT IN THE LIVING ROOM! I was able to hide the difference in widths but those assholes out at that place, man, I almost got into a fist fight with them over this. They were like: Oh put the shit pieces in closets. I said "how many closets do you think a place HAS? I don't know of any place that has 400 sq ft of closet space.......least this side of the Bridal Path and Post road.....
DO NOT FALL INTO THE FACTORY SECONDS TRAP!!!
I had a customer buy hardwood factory seconds from that place out on Evans and there was EASILY 30 - 40 % wastage. I had told her to purchase 20% more for cutting etc and the ass there said no, you didn't need that much and convinced her to buy 10%. Now you MIGHT get away with Select or better primo stuff but this shit? It was full of knots, twisted pieces, made up of (what I call) twigs (really short pieces) and the boxes even had different species inside (we were using ash and I found oak and maple pieces) and had different colours.
Now when we ran out (like I said we wood) just buy more right? Umm no. They didn't have any more and I had to use narrower pieces RIGHT IN THE LIVING ROOM! I was able to hide the difference in widths but those assholes out at that place, man, I almost got into a fist fight with them over this. They were like: Oh put the shit pieces in closets. I said "how many closets do you think a place HAS? I don't know of any place that has 400 sq ft of closet space.......least this side of the Bridal Path and Post road.....
LOL @drywall screws, man I can't TELL you how many times I've seen that....
As for screws, yup, the quality makes all the difference. I don't buy mine from HD etc (unless I'm stuck) I buy them in bulk from Dayvan by the 1,000 for about 1/3 the cost. I also heard that you can buy them directly from the manufacturer but you have to buy 10,000 and I just don't have the space to store that many of the 8 different sizes I use on a daily basis.
BTW: LOWES? man that store is HEAVEN compared to homo depot.....
As for screws, yup, the quality makes all the difference. I don't buy mine from HD etc (unless I'm stuck) I buy them in bulk from Dayvan by the 1,000 for about 1/3 the cost. I also heard that you can buy them directly from the manufacturer but you have to buy 10,000 and I just don't have the space to store that many of the 8 different sizes I use on a daily basis.
BTW: LOWES? man that store is HEAVEN compared to homo depot.....
Excellent point Dani! (And since you brought it up... waxed floors are MUCH preferred over carpet!Dani said:
)I installed laminate over a wood floor in my kitchen. Looks good, easier to keep clean, no stains or scratches and no complaints... so far!
I think the "secret" is to buy good quality laminate and have it installed by a professional!
Perry
I think the "secret" is to buy good quality laminate and have it installed by a professional!
Perry
