Laminate Flooring: What's the best for concrete floors? (live in, cost)

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by gussie

We had Pergo flooring put thru out the house in Georgia. ...They put it on the concrete and it is just wonderful.. beautiful flooring.. Pergo is really beautiful flooring and they stand by their product!

Yep. I have pergo upstairs - I'm pretty happy with it. The only think that bugs me is that it can tend to chip easily. It's quite old (when it first came out) so I'm sure it's improved now.

[Taxed in Maine]

I'm a tile installer. i've seen this many times.
As others have stated, glueing wood directly to concrete will not work. You must keep the wood off the concrete, and have some type of vapor barrier. The 2' x 2' square honeycomb product that has been mentioned will work and then glue the flooring to that. OR it has to be a 'floating' floor like Pergo.
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OR I could come and put an electric heat mat under the entire floor and tile it.

[flycessna]

I would think that a hard service like concrete would be the best backer for laminate flooring......you see a lot of it in the homes down south that are built on a slab. I think the consideration given by Austin B to look out for moisture is a good concern though. Id be curious to know myself. I have a dry basement but isn't there always a moister concern even in dry basements??

I put a laminate floor in my kitchen (now a rental) 8 years ago. It is still mint condition...I cannot remember the name of it..I'll look it up. All I do is tell people to NOT mop it....just use a swifter sweeper and a rough sponge for those tough spots...the stuff is basically indestructable.. That was on pywood of course. I will say though that compared to real hardwood...or even tile..I thought it was a pain in the A&* to put down.

[bignhfamily]

You are right flycessna- even dry basements can produce damp floors usually due to condesation. Here's an easy way to test.
-Cut a few 2-foot-square pieces of plastic (polyethylene) and duct-tape them to various areas of the subfloor. After about 72 hours, look for wetness on the plastic by lifting up a corner of each test square. Beads of condensation on the underside of any of them, or a dark, moist subfloor indicate a moisture problem.

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by bignhfamily

You are right flycessna- even dry basements can produce damp floors usually due to condesation. Here's an easy way to test.
-Cut a few 2-foot-square pieces of plastic (polyethylene) and duct-tape them to various areas of the subfloor. After about 72 hours, look for wetness on the plastic by lifting up a corner of each test square. Beads of condensation on the underside of any of them, or a dark, moist subfloor indicate a moisture problem.

I have a 3 foot frost wall, and we are fairly "high and dry" but I'm still concerned with moisture, so I would like to have something underneath. I'll have to give that test a try!

Thanks everyone for the great advice.

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by Taxed in Maine

I'm a tile installer. i've seen this many times.

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OR I could come and put an electric heat mat under the entire floor and tile it.

That electric mat sounds fabulous, but unfortunately, I'm an "el-cheapo" who resents the electric company enough . Otherwise, I'd be all over that like white on rice!

[Normrnha1]

I live on the 5th floor of a condo. No chance of any moisture coming thru unless my downstairs neighbor floods to the ceiling. If that happens, then moisture is the least of my problems. Do I need to install a moisture barrier with those conditions?

[gcberry]

We have cement floors throughout our house (pex tubing underneath with radiant heat as backup to our woodstove). The floors were polished and now look like granite. Classy and practical... cool in summer, warm in winter. No need for any other floor on top - they are attractive by themselves. Easy to keep clean, too.

[mainebrokerman]

I have a concrete basement floor.....for years Ive been thinking of laminate on them, but Im also in a flood plane,,,and if im ever going to do something like this...it has to be removable
so ive been thinking lately... I saw some low laying, hard plastic pallets, that I just may put some laminate on-so in an emergency, I can lift them out, or stack them up if needed.

[booklass]

As long as whatever flooring you choose has some sort of vapor barrier, either put on the concrete first, or as part of the laminate (if such exists), then most well made laminate flooring will work. My desire is to find one that will stand up to six pets! I think Pergo makes one like that. We are going to look into it. Good luck.