Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - hardwood, or laminate?
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sernabe
03-03-02, 07:09 AM
I am redoing the kitchen in a house we just bought, and am not sure if we should use hard wood or laminate. We are going to do the work ourselves, regardless of which we use. The subfloor in the house consists of 5/8 plywood with 1/2 particle board over it. Is this acceptible for either? Also, will the hard wood increase the value of the room enough to off set the extra investment needed?
AzFred
03-03-02, 10:27 AM
Floating floor or glue down? The sub floor isn't going to hold nails very well. Special care and acoustical underlayment may be in order for a floating floor to control noise. Glue down will be most difficult for a DIY installation.
twelvepole
03-03-02, 12:08 PM
Go to www.installingwoodfloors.com for helpful hardwood info. Go to www.doityourself.com/laminate and www.azfred.com for laminate info and installation tips. Hardwood floors can last 200 years or more.
tpeyroux
03-04-02, 10:32 PM
I have been researching floors myself and have concluded to go with the laminate flooring. I have just a plane concrete slab to put my floor on which is a little different from your situation, but after careful research i think laminate is the way to go!!
There are several reasons why-First depending on how much traffic you will have going through your house(kids, dogs,etc.) Laminate does not dent, scratch or fade very easily. It is also so easy to install. I went with a floor that requires no glue, it just snaps. Also I know a big concern in the kitchen is about spills on the floor and water damage, but they have made the flooring(even snap together) so tight that it would take hours to damage a floor and it is almost impossible for water to leak through.
Wood flooring definetly is beautiful, but it dents, scratches and is to me harder to clean. Laminates come in so many nice colors now and look so real you can hardly tell the difference. They are easy to clean and easy to install. We did it ourselves.
Your base floor in the kitchen is something I really do not know much about. I can tell you of the site where I bought my floor from(they have got the best prices), they were great about answering my questions! The address is www.fastfloors.com .
They have great articles and many different companies to choose from. Good luck!!!
There are several reasons why-First depending on how much traffic you will have going through your house(kids, dogs,etc.) Laminate does not dent, scratch or fade very easily. It is also so easy to install. I went with a floor that requires no glue, it just snaps. Also I know a big concern in the kitchen is about spills on the floor and water damage, but they have made the flooring(even snap together) so tight that it would take hours to damage a floor and it is almost impossible for water to leak through.
Wood flooring definetly is beautiful, but it dents, scratches and is to me harder to clean. Laminates come in so many nice colors now and look so real you can hardly tell the difference. They are easy to clean and easy to install. We did it ourselves.
Your base floor in the kitchen is something I really do not know much about. I can tell you of the site where I bought my floor from(they have got the best prices), they were great about answering my questions! The address is www.fastfloors.com .
They have great articles and many different companies to choose from. Good luck!!!