I have decided to replace the carpet in the living room/dining room area with laminate. The house has beige carpeting throughout. Everything is fairly "light" in color. I'm considering going to a "red" mahogany. It is going to be a DRASTIC change.
Have any of you guys made that drastic of a change and how did you like it?
Look at the Santos Mahogany. The page will automatically scroll over to that example. The flooring is actually much darker than depicted on the page.
http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/laminate/en/us/

Its about time for some diversity in your life "whitey". The cats will have to go, they will clash.

It does look pretty boring.
The mahogany will definitely change that.

Go for it. We've done a lot of hardwood flooring and have always been happy with how it looks.

How many square feet and are you doing it yourself?

Don't go with the photo type laminate flooring. It is crap.
Basically it is particle board with a vinyl photo glued on top.
Their definition-
Laminate Flooring
Hard surface flooring utilizing a fiberboard core and Melamine wear layer, that is available in blocks, planks, and squares and can be installed as individual units.

If you get water on the floor it will cause swelling around the seams.
Go with real wood. It will last for generations.

Complete bullshit.


I've got a piece that's been in the yard for several months without swelling. I'm doing a test to see how much open-weather abuse it can take.

Forget wood. It's expensive, a pain in the ass to work with, and dings up easily. Sam's Club has a smokin' deal on various colors of snap-together laminate. We've done around 1100 feet of it so far and have a few hundred to go. Once you cut it, laying it down is a simple snap-fit. You use glue only in wet areas like bathrooms and entryways.

I agree with Carlos on this one. Real wood is beautiful but modern engineering has beaten it!

Go with the Dupont Real Touch Elite laminate flooring.

The surface is deeply textured, it cuts like butter, and it's as tough as nails.

It also has the foam backing already installed, it needs no sealing, and assembly is a whiz.



One more thing, there is no pattern! Right Todd!

I used to be hardcore "real wood all the way". I recently installed about 1000 sq feet of Mohawk dark cherry laminate. It has the backing built in and seams are snap-lock plus pre-glued. All you do after tapping it in and locking it is wet mop the seams fairly well and leave it. The moisture will work in and activate the glue.

The only drawback with a dark color for us has been the amount of dirt it shows........

Tom,

I just typed a whole long reply and my laptop shut down..... I just put in the highest grade laminate in my home (Wilson Art's Performance ProFX) had a professional install it about 1.5 years ago and I am not happy at all.

Dents easily, scratches eventually, and it has already swollen in 2 spots. One spot is where the I empty the dishwasher and I get water on the floor (and usually wipe it up fairly quickly) and the other spot which is completely ruined is where the dog has urinated maybe 4 times in that year and a half and it had gotten wiped up within 2 hours. That spot is swollen, ripped and completely fucked.

Also....the strips of laminate expand in the summer and shrink in the winter and causes some bowing that sucks.

If you want...I can take some pictures of what it looks like where it has swelled.

This summer I am ripping up the whole floor and putting down granite.

I would vote against it as someone who actually has it.

Let me know if you want me to post a few pics.

Dave

Oh....you don't have to get it wet for the edges to swell and raise a bit. I can see the corners coming up in many spots as well.

I am sure you will get different opinions and I am sure there is a TON of happy people out there...but I would never get it again.

i have installed pergo in 2 homes and i could not be happier. first one i had someone install for me but decided i could do the second. of our 2850 sq feet, roughly 1500 sq ft is pergo. i even installed it in kitchen in our new home and it still looks perfect. we bought one of those electric swiffers and a spray swiffer and it cleans/sweeps up the whole floor in minutes. by the way our pergo has been down for 2.5 years with no problems

we did mohawk laminate in our basement about a year ago, floating laminate over concrete. it was the cheapest stuff we found, about $1.09 a sf i think, it looks nice, but if you install it yourself, i suggest being very anal about the subfloor being absolutely level. in the places that i got the concrete leveled, it looks great, and its hard to pick out the seams. in high spots, where a plank can try to move up and down a bit, the seams start to show. its way better than carpet for cat hair. we have 2 dogs and 2 cats, and they bring in a lot of dirt, the laminate seems to almost repel dirt. sweeping gets it really clean easily. we've had water on it, not for too terribly long, but it hasn't been affected so far. just be careful with the subfloor, and its great stuff.

So it looks like you should go buy a few samples and water-test them. I can tell you that the stuff from Sam's is pretty impervious to water, apparently others are less so.

I did a laminate floor in our "back room" and avoided the "picture of wood on a wood-like product" stuff. I found a laminate that consisted of three layers of plywood with the top layer (number three) being the actual wood. If you divide a half inch pc of plywood into three layers, the top layer is a little thicker than 5/16th thick. I got it delivered to my door for about the same as Home Despot had their crap on sale for. Check with Lumber Liquidators and pay attention to the way it's constructed. I had to glue it, but installation was an easy job, once I figured how to deal with a room that was 6 inches out of square. I cannot remember, but it was around $3.75 a square foot delivered with a twenty five year finish/defect warranty and was a Bruce Product, so they will be around for a while. JMHO

Just has 1500 sq ft of this installed. Like Charlie was talking about, it's called engineered wood, not laminate, actually the best of both because it can be refinished 2 to 3 times, if it is ever damaged

have any of you guys gone with a real dark wood flooring?

That flooring looks good Porter.

Mine is medium color....a touch lighter than Porters.

That flooring is Brazilian Koa and it will darken to more of a redish color, so will cherry. They are photo sensitive woods.

So as long as I don't take any pictures of the floor I'm ok.

What Dave said.




I agree here. The engineered stuff is way better. It can be refinished.

My jobs are as a Home Inspector and Insurance Claims Adjuster so I look at houses all day everyday.
In fact last week I looked at a house that some of the shingles had blown off allowing water in that puddled on the laminate flooring. I had to write up for removal and replacement because it was shot.
I can tell you that every house I looked in FL after hurricane Wilma had fucked up laminate flooring. Unless you get the water, or in Daves case dog piss, off immediately it will be ruined.
As a Home Inspector I can tell which people can't read directions that state no wet, meaning saturated, mopping because everytime there will be swelling around the seams.
If the floor swells and the owner does nothing the areas that are above the surrounding surface are subject to increased wear. This eventually exposes the particle board.

It may very well be that Sams has a type that will resist water but I haven't seen it yet.

Tom - I think this is the place that I got my flooring from. If anything, it is a very informitive site. They offer all the info on floors they sell. Check it out. Like I said, I saved a ton of money by -buying from these guys, and doing it myself. Hope this helps.

http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/Hardwood_Fl...ood_Floors.aspx

I've been installing a birch laminate here. It looks kind of orange but works well it's a cheap Chinese floor with an AC3 finish, I've had scraps of it out on the deck for over a year now in the snow rain and freezing temperatures, still no noticeable swelling or anything. I'm very happy with it. I'm even considering putting a similar product in the kitchen.

Edit: depending on the value of your house and resale, you may want to go hardwood, some markets seem to be worth the extra cost.Click to view attachment

Thanks for doing the photoshop. I like it.
I plan to order the stuff tomorrow. I'm pretty exited about it. Also going to install new flooring in the master bath.
I have to have carpet replaced in one of my rental units so the guy is giving me a deal on installation in my home.

There's got to be a pattern.

I have Santos Mahogany engineered hardwood in my house. I tried to find some photos but this is all I could come up with. I'm pretty sure I have more so I'll scout around a bit, or take more shots if you're interested.

The floors were installed 2½ years ago in most of the downstairs rooms. I couldn't afford to also do the living room at the time so that was installed the following year. Laminates were considered, but I'd heard they were noisy and with the high ceiling in the entry way and living room, I was afraid of that. Also, I thought lighter to medium laminates looked better, but the darker ones looked too fake for me. I'm sure that's been improved even since I did it.

The floors have scratched quite a bit from the dogs' nails, but and I've noticed a bit of a film that's built up, even with using the Bona wood floor cleaner which is the one which is most recommended.

That being said, I still love my floors.





(Ignore the ugly pink carpet. I hope to replace that when possible, but one project at a time. )

Thanks for posting the pics. I'm not sure if its buyers remorse or just fear that I won't like it once its installed, but these pics have helped aalleviate my fears.
Your house looks great!! I love the stairway (despite the carpet color)

There, fixed that for you, Tom
Now just embrace your decoratin' self!!!!!

I was looking at your photos and noticed you have the same issue I have, very high ceilings (2 stories high)
What did you do to paint them? Contract it out? I have thought of renting a scissors lift ( I have double door entry) that is probably the only way I could access the top.

A scissors lift never occurred to me. For some time, I pondered having to paint those walls and ceiling with a very long pole and it just seemed beyond me. I have physical restrictions which helped rationalize just hiring someone to do it. I did paint my kids' rooms myself years ago, but this time someone else did it all. They used the long pole and a ladder. That ceiling looked like a total bitch to paint. Watching them do it confirmed it was money well-spent. ;)


Hey, where's Todd with my "Mmm, yellow"? I could get huffy.

In the pics it looks a bit to beige to get a Mmmmmmm Yellow.

It's not beige! It's a goldish yellow, dammit!

No boring, freaking beige. :icon_mutter:

Inoticed there are no window coverings. What do you do for privacy? Or do you just live in a very remote area?
My house is somewhat similar, I have blinds on the lower windows but not on the upper ones.

It might have been mentioned in the thread earlier but I have been told that laminates are better for dog owners since they tend to be more scratch resistant. I don't remember if you have dogs. Hardwoods are usually always going to be nicer looking IMO.
I just helped a friend install a laminate floor that is textured to look sort of rustic and the planks are individual rather than being a section with a seam painted on it. Installation was super easy since it has the padding already attached. You just basically snap it all into place. He wound up buying way too much and couldn't return it so we are buying the rest of it to finish our upstairs bonus room.


Beautiful house pics, Pam. Has a great light and airy thing going on with all those windows. Love the floor too.

The stuff I am buying is individual planks like your friend bought.
Yep, the laminates do better if you have pets. I have 2 gay cats.

Armstrong Santos Mahogany

Laminates......to put it into a word are CRAP. They wear like crap. Sound like crap and are crap. More specifically compressed cardboard with formica on top. Real wood or another genuine hard surface flooring material will add value to your home. Just my 2 cents........I own a contracting Co. and have been in the biz over 25 years. :

Reviving this!!! Did you ever complete the project Mr. TFT (what is your name, BTW??) And......PICS!!!
I put down a dark engineered wood in my kitchen and I love it, way happier than if I had gone with laminate. I own a restoration company and have seen what happens to laminate if it gets wet all too often.....

Brad his posts are signed at the bottom, "Tom" !

hmmmm, I would call you a smartass if I didn't feel like such a dumbass!

A couple of "ass"s either way you look at it

Maybe we are related or something

Yes I did. Plus I just got new furniture for that room.
I am on the Slope right now for some meetings.
(Slope: North Slope of Alaska, where the oil is. North of the Arctic Circle)
When I return home I'll post some pics.