Laminate Floor Over Concrete Slab in FL?

[wsamon]

Originally Posted by L00k4ward

Look into Pergo laminate floor, make sure it isn’t less than 8 mm thick.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pergo-XP...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Read all installation manuals carefully and follow to the T.

We did exactly as in your project - 20 years ago - still like new.
I prefer the hardwood- but in our project - we didn’t have enough height in the room- the hardwood would take 2-3 inches off of the height installed after leveling, etc.

Originally I was concerned about moisture too - so I bought Pergo glue to install it on glue.
As we did self-install- was easier to do it at our own pace- realized it could get messy with glue- so we just didn’t use the glue.

As I said - 20 years later - still as new. A lot of spills, furniture repositioning, occasional coals from the fireplace even - all good

I believe Pergo may have different quality grades - we bought from the Internet site- delivered to the nearest warehouse terminal - we picked up there..- it was less expensive in our case.

The concrete slab in our case was uneven, previously painted for some reason under the carpeting but still within limits for a floating floor - looks great and doesn’t show any concrete slab defects- lows, gauges, large cracks, etc

If your slab is nice, flat and clean under your carpeting - you could consider using some concrete treatment as your final floor - you may need to densify, stain, polish and seal or just seal to keep it natural- put some nice easy to clean rugs and call it a day?

Check concrete network dot com for knowledge.

We would prefer a polished concrete floor - messy to prep though, but like I said that property had a seriously damaged slab underneath and low ceiling- so we had to go with laminate- make sure to spend some money on moisture membrane under the floor - talk to Pergo reps for a free consultation- they are the original inventors of the laminate floors. Don’t buy cheap and plastic looking laminates.

If you decide on the laminate- and concerned with water - glue it or look into waterproof laminates they make for bathrooms even

Your floor looks very nice! I think if it was just me making the decisions, I'd seriously consider the laminate, but being able to wet mop it and not worry about spills, dog pee, water from the shower etc. ruining it is make-or-break for the wife, so LVP it is. Neither of us are interested in the polished concrete look for our bedroom floor. I do want to do something like that or an epoxy for the garage at some point though.

[wsamon]

Originally Posted by RamenAddict

You would be surprised at how likely it is. I lived in a NE FL beach community. I had flooding not because of any hurricane, but because my water heater burst while I was at work. I have another friend in the Tampa area who had a water heater burst on the second floor. Unfortunately most people in FL have their water heaters in the house and not in a basement or garage, and they can do a lot of damage if you don’t spot the leak immediately. I’ve also had my washer hose pop out a few times. Luckily that area was tiled, but the water did just gush out until I was able to turn it off.

Typically in FL, laminate floor is put with an underlay. I know with wood there are ways to protect against moisture when installing over a floor that might be damp. When I had my wood put back in after the flood, they did a moisture-friendly installation which was not as tight as other installations. This allows for a little extra expansion. FWIW, it may actually be better to lose a $5000 floor because insurance will cover it. If you are just above your deductible, then it often makes sense to just pay the entire thing out of pocket and not just the deductible. My settlement did end up covering everything in the end, including the deductible.

Yeah, there's many ways water can get in there. You also didn't mention localized flooding from strong storms due to more rain coming down than the ground can absorb, damage to the roof and water coming in through the walls, etc... Our water heater's in the garage though and we have no second story. The only thing in the attic is a/c ducting. The washing machine isn't likely to put out enough water to get in our bedroom either. The only reasonable (in my mind) danger is a pipe or something else breaking in the master bath.

We'll probably use an underlayment no matter what floor type we choose, but we'll follow manufacturer recommendations in that regard if they say not to / it would damage the warranty.

Insurance is a very good thing to think about that I hadn't considered. However, I think we have a $5k deductible, and it's at least that for hurricanes, so we'd be screwed either way. We also don't have flood insurance...