Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Stunned by choices - help!

We had a tree come through our house (http://zathrus1.tripod.com), and while the repairs are now complete we still need to replace the carpet in the area. We wanted to eventually replace the carpet with a laminate floor, so now's the time.

We need to get this done ASAP, since we were in the middle of a refi when the tree came through - literally two days before the appraisal. They now want everything finished before re-doing the appraisal.

I've been trying to determine what products I should look at, browsed at ifloor.com, and the end result is that I'm pretty well stunned by the variety of choices. I don't know what the good brands are and which ones to stay away from. And while there are comparisons around, it's obvious from reading them that what was a good brand one year may not be the next.

I'm comfortable with doing this myself (my wife may need more convincing that I can do it in a short time period), and I suspect that we can save $500+ on installation by doing it ourselves. But I'm thrashing on how to choose a good product, and we need to decide quickly!

I would like a glueless product - this is going into a dining room area, so water is not a huge issue. I live in a major metro area so availability shouldn't be too big. I also live pretty close to Dalton/Calhoon, GA, so if I can get an even better deal from there that may be possible (I know Mannington has a factory there, but doesn't seem that anyone else does).

Are there any products I should even seriously consider from HD/Lowe's? Or should I just hit flooring stores and/or ifloor?

If you're not comfortable giving a public recommendation, please feel free to PM me. Due to prior obligations my wife and I will probably not be picking anything out this weekend, but I'd like to early next week.

Read the previous posts on laminate for some oppinions, mine included. I am not confident in snap together laminate. Looking at it from a logical standpoint I think you will have problems much sooner than a glued laminate. Maybe some installers can comment on this. The majority of installs I was involved with were Wilsonart glued laminate. I suppose my decison would hinge on how long you need the floor to last? If you decide to go the glue route, have it proffesionaly installed unless you are very adept at home projects. Most jobs I have seen done by homeowners have gaps inbetween the slats etc. You would need to rent a strap kit from HDepot at the least, plus the cost of glue, spacers, etc. Add this up, and you probably have 1/4 of the install cost, not to mention your personel labor. I would tend to stay away from the top brand?? Go with Bruce, mannington, or my favorite Wilsonart. Read the other posts on laminate for good oppinions. Tom

Zathrus - have you considered real wood flooring? I debated between laminate, vinyl, carpet, and hardwood for my kitchen and family room. I choose 3/4" prefinished oak flooring. I am glad I went this route. It's beautiful, durable, and will last longer than me! I found the pricing similiar to laminate, and less expensive than good vinyl. I chose to have it installed by pro's. The incremental cost was minimimal. I am a dedicated DIY'er, but I recognize when a pro can do something faster and better than me. Factor in rented/borrowed tools, mistakes, scrap, do-overs, trips to Home Depot, my time - the costs may even out.

Good luck with your decision!

We too are shopping for laminate...although we're lucky we still have 4 more weeks to decide! Let me just share some things with you I've learned so far:

I've read several posts on this site and others citing problems with Shaw laminates gapping at the short ends. Apparently it's not covered by warranty and is causing people grief.

We've narrowed our decision down to two choices - one is by Columbia - it is pricier but the installers at the place we were browsing said it was an installer's dream - great locking mech and it also had great warranty.

Our second choice is by Domko - Sacremento Maple. it is cheaper but my opinion is they probably have a great graphics department - the actual designs themselves are really nice, but less warranty. Also, the guy told us that on his floor, even though it was glueless, he still applied the thinnest bead of glue on the seams if you're really worried about moisture. (like animals knocking over their water dishes)

Basically we've been told that the prices are going to fluctuate brand to brand mainly because of: warranty, thickness - we have a huge dog so we want to go with a 7 or 8 mm. The cheapo brands at HD are sometimes only 6. The other thing that can add to the cost is "texturing". It's where the laminate doesn't just have a smooth surface but has a woody-looking texture applied to it. This is great if it's done right, but on some floors, it tended to look to fake. Sometimes it's so subtle you have to hold the sample up to light and you can just see it in the glare.

These floors are hard to scratch, but apparently the lighter coloured woods hide marks better if you do scratch it.

(We didn't have the option of real wood because of said 180 lb dog.)

Anyway, we've picked a lot of salesmen's brains, so hopefully it saves you a bit of time.

The advertsing on laminates would have you beleive they are indestructable, they are not! As the previuos poster stated you can scratch them, and some are better than others at resisiting this. Once scratched, laminate doesn't retain it's looks as well as wood. When wood is scratched, dented, etc. it looks natural, you have seen those 100 year old wood floors that are beatup, but still look great. Laminate will not retain it's appearance as long as wood, and you can't hide the flaws easily. Laminate is a great product, but not the end all. If you want durability with no scratching posibilities, ceramic is your only option. Tile is basicaly impervious to scratching. If you want an idea what I am refering to, go to your local home center, take a ceramic tile, run a quarter edgewise across the surface as if you are trying to wear off the edge of the quarter. Every fired ceramic tile I have done this on has eaten the side of the quarter without leaving a scratch on the tile, durable stuff,lifetime floor, but then again in the right circumstances so is solid wood. Laminate will never last as long as either of these other floors, but is easy to clean, no grout problems, is very durable given a good face quality. Pergo actualy does have a good face, do that quarter trick on a peice of laminate you are considering, it will scratch the laminate, but will give you an idea as to the durability of a particular laminate as they are all not made to the same standards, and some will scratch easier than others. WilsonArts claim to fame is it will survive sandpaper across the face, and is very adept at resisting dents when heavy items are dropped on it. Great product. Take care all Tom

Tuberocity- Thanks for your reply!

DH and I have been discussing the pro's and con's of engineered v. laminate v. hardwood, and we like the look of the Wilsonart (as well as the warantee), but we're concerned about the ill effects of placing laminate in the kitchen.

Do you think that a hardwood floor would fare better in the kitchen? We're pretty good about getting water up ASAP if it hits the floor, but we want to think about the future. I know that laminates haven't been around long enough to know how well they will hold up in the very long term. However, we're not sure how much effort a hardwood floor would require...

Thoughts?

Wilsonart was one of the first, (the first as far as I know) that added a water damage warranty to the existing warranty. 5 years ago we were all leery about laminate in possible wet areas of the home, but nowadays it is extremely common. The substrate was reengineered to better withstand water contact, as well as dents. To install this product you will need a special router bit $125 last time I checked, retail. If this is on a raised floor, I would go with the more expensive underlayment, as this will provide more warmth, and prevent that echo/hollow sound to some degree that you get with floating laminate. Otherwise the less expensive underlayment is fine, and I wouldn't invest in the more expensive. I havn't seen Wilsonarts products lately, are they making a snap together product now? This would delete the need for the bit. Been a few years since I worked for a retailer that carried Wislonart, so many things have probably happened since then. I would follow the manufactures installation instruction to a T! and nothing more. I mentioned in another post to use silicone around the edges to prevent water damage, but I think I should retract that statment. It sounds as though you folks are attentive to your home, and the water damage warranty is in place if you install exactly to manufacture specs. I think you will be happy with the floor.
Nothing looks like real wood! The laminate companies can try all they want, but it will never look like wood to me. Many successful wood jobs have been done in kitchens, but I think common sense should prevail. How rough you will be on the floor etc. If you do have a raised foundation, you can install solid wood which will last a lifetime, and allow the changing of color should you redecorate. There are +s and -s to every floor, the easiest floors to take care of are vinyl, and laminate. For the busy family I would go the laminate route. I have seen a wood floors finish destroyed in less than a year when children abound. Of course it was Bruce which doesn't have the greatest finish. I'm sure others will give oppinions on wood as I am only familiar with a few brands, Hartco being another, and I think Bruce bought them out? Take care, you will be satisfied with the Wilsonart if this is the route you choose. Is it snap, or Glue? Tom

Wilsonart has both glue and snap together laminate products now... after examining the costs we're going to pay to have it installed. The savings were minimal once you added in costs like buying a mitre saw, and the time saving in labor and sanity are immense :)

That said, we're reconsidering real wood flooring (and leaning toward it). The installer that was by the house yesterday recommended a Bruce Brazillian Cherry product, which was priced less than the Wilsonart laminate. She claimed it was from Bruce's "best" line, but I've heard less than stellar things about Bruce, and the thickness seemed rather low to me (5/16" IIRC).

I was allways dismayed by Bruces finish. Look at the finish on the product you are looking at. Look for bubbles, rough appearance etc. If you like what you see, go for it. You might check out lumber Liquidators online, they also have a few stores east and west. You can send away for samples. They charge for this, but if you decide to buy is applied torward your purchase. If you are on a raised foundation, and existing floor permitting, I would go with 3/4" solid wood. Will be able to refinish multiple times where engineered is usually only good for one redo, then replace. I'm not ebdorsing them, I was looking myself, and it seemed as though they had good pricing, especialy for cheap laminate $1.39 ft!!
I own a duplex that needs some enry, kitchen, flooring, and thought Laminate might be my best bet at that price. They also have the Bamboo flooring that seems very poular these days, and has been favorably taked about here on DIY. Type in Lumber Liquidators in dofpile etc, and that should bring up a link, on second thought the link didn't work, I just typed it in the browser. Let us know what you decide. Tom