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I went to Sam's Club and they sell laminate flooring. There was the usual cheap looking stuff that well...looks like plastic but they also had another kind. It was very thick and had a hand scraped design. It was shockingly close to looking like real wood floors. I actually liked it.
Yeah there is some decent stuff. We put real wood downstairs, but upstairs we are planning to put laminate in the hallway, master bedroom, and bonus room. It just isn't cost effective to put down hardwood but we want to get rid of the carpet. There are definitely uses for laminate.
I don't really know why all the hate for "laminate flooring" or "laminate counter tops". They are out there for people to have in their homes, basically it is another choice of a product. Like fabrics, cotton, silk, leather, etc, doesn't make any wrong or bad, just different.
It seems like people seem to say you cant have laminate flooring or carpet, you must have wood, same with laminate counter tops, you must have granite....other wsie in this HGTV world we now live in, it is wrong.
Each one (product) has its own place in a home. Some homes call for a specific product while others do not, doesn't make it a mortal sin to have something of lesser quality.
I have real wood flooring in my kitchen, and my sister has laminate, both look equally as nice. One is not better, we both have different looks.
To answer the original question by the OP...A person wants to sell their house. A realtor tells them they must update by replacing worn carpet, and wood floors are really hot now. Seller freaks out at the expense, so talks himself into an inexpensive DIY way to accomplish this, hoping that, as PT Barnum once said, "You will never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
All I know is that when we were looking at houses, many had laminate which looked cheap, and also felt strange when you walked on it. It flexed and then stuck then bounced back up when you took your foot away. This strange feel was worse than the way it looked.
We have a small amount of laminate in our office. It is the perfect thing for rolling a desk chair around on, so I have no problem with it in certain places, but I have heard that laminate cannot take any moisture lest it swell and get ruined.
Personally, I prefer the cheap, and tawdry look of a nice laminate. To pay more for a product that is no better, and in fact inferior to only claim bragging rights to make up for a lack of self esteem would be nuts. However, the keep up with the Jones out there will do it. They will judge others by their station in our society rather than by what they do, and how they interact with others.
We do need the self righteous in our society though, so that the majority will know how not to present themselves. Please feel free to judge on!
Well after much thought we decided to replace the carpet in our master closet with laminate (cat pee disaster). It was in our budget. We went with the flooring I found at sam's club and I have to say I am impressed with how it looks. It is plank flooring with a hand scraped design. It does not have the feel of laminate floors. It does not sound hollow and doesnt bounce. Its thick laminate that has padding attached. I do have to say though, I did not enjoy installing it. I found the whole click into place thing a real hassle. My husband and I thought installing hardwood was easier.
Our laminate floor looks as good as the day it was installed over 10 years ago. We've had no problem moisture wise or other wise. We get a lot of nice compliments.
In my case - laminate floor in the kitchen, over a radiant floor, replacing a cork plank floor that just wasn't durable enough. I don't want tile in the kitchen, I can't do a nail-down floor and I don't want to put in a glue-down floor. So that leaves a floating floor, and after looking at all the options, laminate (certain very durable ones that can handle a bit of water and traffic) seems like a better choice than engineered wood.
Anyone looking at the house, should we sell it some day, and turning down the entire house because of a 10'x12' laminate floor (all the rest is tile, except for one engineered wood floor in a bedroom), has issues, frankly.
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