Looking for some feed back on these plastic laminated floors. I’ve seen Perego, Armstrong and another called Alloc.. salesperson in Home Depot told me Armstrong better than Perego with a scratch demonstration that was kind of convincing..
Salesperson in a flooring distributor here in the northeast recommends this Alloc brand as it has a metal interlock system…
Any help would be appreciated… thanks, Paul
Replies
Need more info, BP. What do you intend to do? Install the floor yourself? How big an area? Concerned about wearability and repairs? What skills do you have? What is the existing floor...carpet on concrete slab, wood subfloor, ? Tell us more thasn you think we need to know.
Do it right, or do it twice.
OK.. Will do the work myself..it will be over plywood subfloors and in two bedrooms approximately 400 sq. ft. At this time, can't swing the hardwood floors..cost prohibitive..kid in college..
You would probably be happier with engineered wood (plywood) nailed to the subfloor. Lumber Liquidators advertises in FHB every month, and some of their prices look good. I have no experience witjh them. Laminate floors (pergo etc) don't get much praise here.
Do it right, or do it twice.
pergo blows the king monkey.
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
That would be the first of many negative votes for pergo.Do it right, or do it twice.
I'd like to speak nicely of it, BUT:
I've installed it once, looked like crap
I've seen it in numerous homes looks like crap,
I've seen it 2 years later, looks even worse.....Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professional build the Titanic.
I've got it in two of my bathrooms and one bedroom at my house. Some things to be aware of: If you are putting it on a concrete floor make sure the floor is level. Mine had a trench which had been cut out of the floor and then patched, and it was by no means level. It caused a huge hassle, first I tried to level it with Portland cement and screwed that up, then I tried to grind it down with a cement floor grinder. When I had done all I was willing to do, it was still not completely level and I still notice the spot when I walk on it. Second, it is really loud when you walk on it with hard shoes, and especially when the dog walks on it in the middle of the night. It's almost like they couldn't have tried harder to make a noisy floor.
Other than those complaints, it's tough and water doesn't faze it. It was fairly easy for a first timer to install. The grains look different in the store than they do installed, I like the beech (Armstrong). Also, the trim is hegely expensive, so even if the basic cost of the planks doesn't seem too high, the trim will get you. All things considered, I would put in tile with a heating pad next time.
Frank
I have installed a lot of laminate flooring. Always go with the better quality flooring, not the lower level stuff. Check out the commercial grades and find something you like. The most important point to remember is to ensure your floor is perfectly flat! Don't have to be level, but it must be FLAT. Anything that protrudes from the subfloor surface will telegraph through and look like $^%. Rip up all the flooring down to the subfloor and fill in patch to make one even flat plane. "One measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions"
I've got it in two of my bathrooms and one bedroom at my house.
You've installed laminate flooring in a bathroom?
I'm NOT a fan of laminate flooring, but a bathroom would be the very LAST place I'd ever think of installing it!!!
Don't you feel that this is a problem just waiting to happen? How did you handle the toilet install, did you use a marble pad or just set it on the laminate floor? Why the choice of laminate floor? Wouldn't ceramic tile have been cheaper and better for you to install? A bathroom floor is a pretty small area.
Well, who knows whether it was the right thing to do, the manufacturer says it is fine for bathrooms. It has a guarantee which will outlast my time in this house.
The installation was simple, I just placed the toilet right on top of the laminate after I finished installing the planks.
I like the feeling under foot in the bathroom, it never really gets cold the way tile does, which is nice in the middle of the night in winter.
There will always be people who poo-poo things like laminate floors, they consider themselves purists, and new things always make them suspicious. I've got no time for that crap, I look around, if I see something that I like, I'll try it. Sometimes it works out, sometiimes it doesn't.
Frank
I'm all for incorporating new materials and new techniques in our industry, the only thing is that I don't see a big benefit to laminate flooring over other types. I've found that laminate flooring is pretty pricey ($2.00 to $6.00 a square foot for just the floor). The only real advantage I've found is that it's an easy install.
I've been generally leary of laminate flooring only because of what it IS, plastic laminate over a particle board substrate. Particle board can still break down in wet conditions and plastic laminate will scratch. Just like you can't repair the scratches in a laminate countertop, how can you do it on a laminate floor?
I've installed 2 laminate floors with mixed esthetic results. One was in an entry hall where we used Pergo natural oak and trimed it using the Pergo step down moldings to a carpet (not too bad, but we had to raise the floor slightly to make it look "right"). The other install was in a kitchen where a wood look laminate butts up against a real wood floor on one side and a ceramic floor on the other. I wanted to use either or, but was overruled by the homeowner saying that she liked the way the floor felt under foot. Against the other 2 floors, this install looks bad.
I wasn't arguing that laminates are good or bad, I was just relaying my experience with them. Like I said in my first post, if I had to do it all over again I would install tile with an electric heating pad underneath.
Frank
Has anyone had experience with the "Swiftlock type "laminate flooring? This is the kind that does not require glue and simply locks together. Also I'm curious about the electric pad, heat. Specifically cost to run , reliability, etc. Perhaps a new post might be better?
I used swiftlock in a bathroom, and it is doing fine, although I notice a little puckering around the seams in the wet areas. If I did it again I would most definately use glue in a bathroom even if it is swiftlock. I also used swiftlock in a bedroom and it is holding up fine, no noticible difference from the other room I did with glue.
Frank
I don't know anything about the electric pads, except that I wish I had them in the winter.
Thanks for the 411. It sure looks easy to work with. I'd thought about using it in a bath we redid. I chickened out and put in a heavier grade of sheet vinyl. It looks great and no worry about water. I've been thinking about building a vacation/rental cabin in the mountains and that gave rise to the question about a durable floor easily installed by me and the electric heat pads.Thanks again!
I used Wilsonart in my kitchen and dining room. Professionally installed, floating, glued together.
It came out great and I'm very happy with it. No scratches, damage, or stains in 3 years. When you look at it from a low angle, say across the room with patio doors behind it, the light does show off the seams. There is a very slight waviness in each strip. But, it doesn't bother me at all, and when you look at the floor without the back lighting, or at a normal standing or sitting angle, the seams are essentially invisible.
It fools some people into thinking it's real wood, but most people can tell it's not real. However, it still looks great to me.
I have no experience to compare brands, but I chose Wilsonart because they have laminate on both the bottom and the top, which should be more stable and less prone to warping than the Pergo, which has laminate only on the top. I can't say that Pergo would warp, but I chose to avoid the chance.