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I've had the Costco laminate in our master bedroom for about three years, even with a big dog, not a single scratch or scuff. I've spilled liquids on it many times and everything has wiped up without damage. The stuff I bought had the pad applied to it already, so no extra costs - I think it was about $3 per foot.
We have a very small house to go along with our very small budget, so we did the Costco laminate throughout. My experience is the same as yours. No scratches and it looks brand new four years later. We got a pretty bad leak in the kitchen last year that soaked a section of floor all day and it didn't buckle or swell. I've been happy with the purchase.
But like others said, the sound and feel of the floor is nothing like hardwood, especially if you walk around barefoot. If you've got the money and your house warrants it, it's wood all the way.
I've got the costco laminate in my TH. It gets an "A" and does indeed look real. The lady that put it in was a designer for Robb and Stuckey. Putting real wood on a concrete slab is problematic.
Actually, laminate floors are usually topped with a clear Mylar. Pretty much the same stuff that a balloon is made of. It's very tough stuff.
Laminate are essentially a pressboard core with a "picture" that looks like wood floors and on top of that is the clear mylar finish. It sounds cheap but they have come a long way in the last 10 years or so.
If you look at the more expensive pads for the laminates, those definitely help with the "feel" of the floor when walked on. Also, in the last few years they have come out with laminates that now are embossed. In other words, they have the texture of a real wood floor with the wood grain and all. Run your hand over them and you'd think they are the real Mckoy.
Something else to consider when choosing between a floor that is glued or nailed to the sub-floor compared to a floating floor. If your sub-floor is uneven, even a little bit, regardless of whether it's a concrete or wood sub-floor, there will be a LOT of prep work to get the floor level enough for the installation of a glue down or nail down type of floor. A floating floor doesn't require a perfectly level floor and therefore, much less, if any prep work. Something to keep in mind.
Real wood floors definitely have the advantage on looks and feel underfoot though. They look and feel like you think they should. Like you remember them at grandma's house when you were a kid but they suffer in the "care and maintenance" department compared to laminates as well as more costly and more difficult to install.
You sure can't beat how beautiful a natural wood floor is when properly installed.
There is no right or wrong here. Whatever wood floor you choose will definitely do the job for a long time to come.
Last edited by maverick974; 04-24-2012 at 02:11 AM..
We have builder-installed laminate in the living & dining room. We've received so many compliments on it and the floor looks just as good today as when it was new (2007), even with moderate traffic and two dogs. With that said, while it still looks brand new, it has always looked "fake" to me.
If I was considering bedroom flooring, I would use laminate if I was putting a large area rug over part of it. If I didn't plan on covering much of it, I would probably choose hardwood. That is assuming, of course, we planned to stay there long enough to justify the price.
We're in our 3rd house with laminate floors. Love 'em and the newest ones look like the hardwood styles. All our friends and neighbors thought we had hardwood floors until we mentioned they were laminate. We've never had a scratch or any other problem with them in over 15 years. They're easy to clean and they don't have to be re-sealed like hardwood floors do after a period of time.
I had Pergo XP put down in most of our house (not the bathroom, LOL) about four months ago. So far no problems, and most people assume it's wood when they see/walk on it. I have two teens and a cat, plus frequent younger visitors. Stuff has been spilled, the cat has puked, etc, and even if we don't catch it, it doesn't seem to harm the floor. I'm sure a large scale water disaster that sat for a while would do damage, but I guess that would happen with wood too unless you were lucky. My son has another laminate of unknown age in his room the sellers put down and that one looks good as well. It seems to be tough stuff.
I waffled between hardwood and laminate for a while and ended up choosing laminate because I could get the look and durability I wanted coupled with easy care (I'm pretty lazy about mopping/shining floors). The floor feels fine when you walk on it. The only disadvantage I can think of is that you can never change the color by refinishing. Because of this, I made sure to pick a traditional style and not a trendy look.
We have laminate as well, this is the 2nd house we have put it in. It has stood up well to all kinds of abuse. I think it depends on the house, the neighborhood and your pocketbook. We have a townhouse in a neighborhood were everyone is putting in laminate so when we go to sell it wont be "under" the neighborhood. I would not put laminate in a 100 year old house...they usually come with hardwood, but if it needed to be replaced I would replace it with what was original.
If you are going to do laminate, get a quality one rather than the cheapest you can find. I say this because not all of them look like plastic or have an obvious laminate feel to them in terms of how they move underfoot. We recently sold our house, and our realtor (who has been in the business nearly 20 years) had to ask us if our floors were hardwood or laminate. When we said laminate, her response was "are you sure?"
We loved ours, and like everyone else has said, it is so incredibly durable. My best friend has real hardwood, and every-time her dog clumsily gambols about the living room and digs in his claws, she winces and goes to check for a scratch, or worries every time the couch or chair gets scooted because of the way that someone sits down. I don't think I want something in my house that I would have to worry about that much. We got Laura Ashley's laminate line, and have 2 indoor dogs that haven't put any scratches in it, and I would scoot my loveseat and coffee table across the floor pretty much everyday to clear an exercise space. No scratches.
Any laminate is going to be durable, but if you have too tight of a budget, you may end up with something that doesn't look quite as nice. To be perfectly honest, our laminate was not that much cheaper than real hardwood would have been, but we wanted it for the durability because of our lifestyle... we knew we would have been touching up our floors every couple of years otherwise.
My experience is with two homes that both had engineered hardwood floors glued to a concrete base.
A major big box store wanted to float the floor, not glue it down. Two local flooring stores (each over 30 years in business) said glue was best but a more expensive/certain type glue. Sorry but I forget the type of glue.
Not all engineered hardwood is the same. I was told be careful to get a good product with enough top surface that can be refinished at least once, and in some cases twice. I chose an intermediate grade which can be refinished a least once.
It looks great, cleans well, and I expect never to have to refinish.
Also no matter what type, get/keep the extra pieces as they can be used for repairs.
Hope this helps.
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