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I've been house hunting and, for some reason, keep seeing nice houses, mostly built in the 60's and 70's with laminate "wood" floors. I'm talking 250K - 325K houses. Why in the world do people put those cheap looking floors in? I find myself deducting what it would cost to tear them out from the price I would pay. I'd prefer shag carpet. Do people really think they are a selling point?
OMG, I know exactly what you mean. We were house hunting last week in a little lower price range and the amount of Pergo would curl your hair. Not only was it fake wood, but it was light oak fake wood.
Finally, we found a house with good tile and bad carpet, but that's easy to remedy.
I admit it... I'm a laminate floor fan. Great for those with allergies and much more affordable than hardwood. My last home (in $$$ San Diego) had Pergo in most rooms on the 1st floor (tile in kitchen & dining area), and I got 13 offers the first week my home was on the market.
I've been house hunting and, for some reason, keep seeing nice houses, mostly built in the 60's and 70's with laminate "wood" floors. I'm talking 250K - 325K houses. Why in the world do people put those cheap looking floors in? I find myself deducting what it would cost to tear them out from the price I would pay. I'd prefer shag carpet. Do people really think they are a selling point?
Do you really think shag carpet would be a selling point? Everyone has different tastes.
Laminate is a semi-temporary flooring just like carpet. It's in the same price range too.
People who need to freshen their living spaces without taking out a second mortgage for hardwood, but don't want the health hazzards of carpeting, chose laminant.
laminate flooring is actually very easy to care for (don't scratch much)....it's a much more affordable option obviously. it's an easy replacement if you don't care for them. think i'd rather have laminate flooring than carpets.
Everyone certainly has their own tastes. I think people choose laminate for price, ease of maintenance, and allergy problems.
I don't care for it because of the hollowness. But I would much rather a house that I was buying have laminate in it as opposed to tile. That is a job and a half to replace....too permanent for me.
Just like you like shag I like vinyl. We are the oddballs. Props for being unique
We changed the carpet in the house we bought to laminate. We left the bedrooms which now we regret because it still gets dusty. We have kids and don't want to deal with scratches and such. The price was not bad either, probably a tad higher than good carpet and one third of hardwood. Anybody who has seen the house before and walks in now, gives a wow. We have to remind them that it is laminate and not hardwood. If the next buyer does not like the laminate, then they can change it to their taste. When we were buying, I was happier with a flooring that needed to be changed, because I knew I can redo it to our taste. You just reflect it in the price.
I've been house hunting and, for some reason, keep seeing nice houses, mostly built in the 60's and 70's with laminate "wood" floors. I'm talking 250K - 325K houses. Why in the world do people put those cheap looking floors in? I find myself deducting what it would cost to tear them out from the price I would pay. I'd prefer shag carpet. Do people really think they are a selling point?
Can we highlight your post for future use? Quite often some one comes on asking if they should put fake plastic flooring in their home. In fact there is a post just this week on such a subject. Usually by a margin of 10 to 1 you will find the majority know fake plastic flooring is trash. I see no use for it in a $75,000 house either. This product just spells cheap Walmart trash.
Some people are very happy with butcher block Formica, pressed board furniture and paneling, fake stone fireplaces and plastic shutters. To each his own.
There is nothing wrong with modern materials, and in many cases, the improved technology is more desireable than the old material, but it should be honest material for it's own sake, not pretend to be something else. Examples of these things are some of the new stone veneers, Hardie board siding, real linoleum, Azek decking material, concrete counters, and the engineered wood floors are super.
The 2 main reasons for installing laminates:
1. holds up better to dog claws than any hardwood
2. can be installed in locations that hardwood can't, such as basements
DIY-ers like laminates because of how easy it is to install, compared to wood. It's really the only DIY-friendly floor covering.
Some laminates look decent, some don't. Most people can't tell the difference between laminate and hardwood. Personally I don't like it, but I don't question other people's reasons for installing it.
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It's easy to keep clean; I sold w/o problems...
