[CJSC]

I am thinking of getting wood or laminate floors installed. Where is the best place to buy and have them installed?

[linandvin]

Big difference between wood and laminate. Try walking on laminate before you buy. I prefer wood because when I walk on laminate, it feels as if I'm walking on a boat on a windy day. Also, sometimes you will hear a clicking sound.

[fgrider]

We had beautiful hardwood floor in our other house but one time while we were out the cat vomited on the bedroom floor and it took the finish right off and we think it may have been the acid in the vomit. When we bought a new house we had the laminate floor installed and I love them. The cat vomited a couple of times and it was easy clean up and no damage. The care is very easy as we just use a spray cleaner and they have looked great for 7 years. We have never noticed any difference walking on them and ours do not make any snapping sounds. Maybe it depends on a good or bad installation.

[dsnrbec]

We had laminate floors installed after closing and so far have been very pleased with them (only 1 month). The quality of the floor does make a difference as does the under cushion. Most people who have been in my house think my floor is wood and are surprised when I tell them it's laminate. We had them done by Great Lakes Carpet & Tile and were very pleased with their expertise and service.

[Sandy222]

What causes the noise on some laminate floors and no noise on others? If you have level floors, use a top grade flooring and top of the line pad shouldn't it be absolutely quiet?

[JohnN]

sandy, there are different quality underlayments and the price difference is negligible ($.40/square foot) and makes a big difference in the noise.

[BowleesCreekYachtClub]

What is now known as laminate has a plastic surface with wood grain printed on it. It is possible to see the repeating patterns in some designs more than others. Laminate is a floating floor, the pieces lock together and are laid down on an underlayment. Some underlayments are quieter than others.

Engineered wood floors have a real wood surface so there is no repeat in the grain pattern. The surface is usually protected by a very hard polyurethane/aluminum oxide finish. The wood floor can be glued down and there is no hollow noise if you do this.

I think the answer is to go to a store and look at the different kinds of flooring and choose which you think looks best. Unless you wear hard soled shoes around the house I don't think noise will be a problem. Personally, in our living and dining room, we had an engineered wood floor of light oak installed and it is glued down. Of course we don't have the option of taking the floor with us if we move!

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by Sandy222

What causes the noise on some laminate floors and no noise on others? If you have level floors, use a top grade flooring and top of the line pad shouldn't it be absolutely quiet?

Ours is absolutely quiet. We bought at FloorMasters on 301 on the way to Wildwood. Lots of selection and very good pricing. The installers did a wonderful job. We had the bedrooms done in carpet. No problems there either.

Xavier

[Xavier]

Originally Posted by kramer

I am thinking of getting wood or laminate floors installed. Where is the best place to buy and have them installed?

If you use the Search pull-down on the blue strip at the top of the page and put either hardwood or laminate in it and fill in the dot next to Posts you'll find a treasure trove of information from your fellow posters.

Real solid Hardwood is very seldom put down here as there is nothing to nail it too and moisture could cause some problems. What is used mostly is engineered hardwood and laminate. Engineered hard wood is a thin piece of hardwood glued to plywood. You really can't tell the difference between it and solid hardwood. It will mark up just like the real thing. Laminate on the other hand is almost indestructible.

Xavier