Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Opinion on brand of wood laminate flooring to buy

I want to put laminate wood flooring in 3 adjoining rooms: front living room, dining room, kitchen and the entry way inbetween these rooms. Any experienced advice on brand that is really good? I am looking at Pergo Signature, Bruce, Witex Deluxe, and Armstrong. I really like a natural oak that Witex Deluxe makes. Best brand in the industry?

We also want to install it ourselves. The rooms are very simple, square and easy to do. The subfloor is slab concrete. I bought a flooring book and read about it, looks really simple and we will buy the installation video. Any advice from experienced persons that have done the job on tips, tricks or anything you could share?

Will this type of floor last pretty long like the manufactures say?

Thanks in advance!

Quickstep 800
Wilsonart Estate
Armstrong Laminates for life

you are not going to find these at big box stores.
these are higher end laminates that will perform the best.
other lams may work well for you, it really is up to the consumer mostly on how well the lam performs.

Most laminate companies discourage if not frown on installing laminate in a wet area such as a kitchen or bathroom. The danger is having water leaking into a seam or edge and swelling it. If you must install in the kitchen pay special attention to outside edges by sink and dishwasher. Pergo as an example insists that those edges be protected/covered with silicone caulk. Good luck.

I have pergo installed in nearly my whole house - including my bathroom.
I haven't had any water problems - but I also paid extra attention when installing it and sealed every edge carefully with silicone caulk.

I think the best brand depends on how long you want the floor to last,
I've had the pergo now for 3 years - and with a big dog, a small kid and friends who can't figure out how to take their shoes off - it has seen alot of use. It still looks good, but there are few spots where I have replaced boards that have scratched badly.

I think that I needed a floor that held up better to wear. Someone with a much less rowdy household might have done well with pergo - it was relatively inexpensive and easy to install - the kind we got had the padding already attached to the boards. It has even held up really well to sunlight - no fading at all.

Quickstep 800
Wilsonart Estate
Armstrong Laminates for life

If I can't buy these at Lowes or Home Depot who will sell them at a reasonalbe price on the internet????

Maybe Ifloor will sell it.

check with local retailers and see if they can compete. they may be able to and may not.

after doing some more research I think kronoswiss has the best value for $$$.

It has the thickest boards over everyone 12mm, that's about 1/2 inch. Plus it has a very high wear rating of A4 or A5, I forget, but it is up there.

http://www.floorshop.com has some very good articles and comparisons.
There prices are decent but the shipping prices are awful.

However they will price match ifloor.com's shipping price which is only $89 if your order is over $1200.

Plus the price is very reasonable a little under $2 a square foot.

Peace, Rolland

Of couse the downside is it only comes in 2 or 3 colors!