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Pilgrim
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| Posted: March 04 2013 at 5:20pm | IP Logged
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As long as ya'll are talking houses.... I have some questions about flooring. We are getting ready (hopefully)to build this Spring. I would love some input on flooring. What you have loved, what you'd never have again, etc.
I was leaning towards laminate for entryway, dining area, and all down the hall to the bedrooms. I have since discovered Luxury Vinyl Plank, basically the click together vinyl planks. Anyone have experience with this and not like it? Why? I like the idea that it is waterproof, and seems possibly more durable than laminate, esp considering the length of warranty on the brand we're looking at.
Anyone have tips on sheet vinyl from experience/research?
Carpets! Anyone have a carpet that's relatively soft/comfortable, but wears like iron? I'm looking for a good carpet for the living room, and the girl's room. I've done a little research, but not much yet, as the first thing I had to nail down was the wood look flooring for the above mentioned areas.
Any/all help/ideas are so much appreciated....don't know why I didn't think of asking here sooner, as all here have children home wearing on floors on a daily basis!  Meanwhile, I'm keeping my eye on the houses thread. There is so much to think of when looking for/building a house!
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Syncletica
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| Posted: March 04 2013 at 6:35pm | IP Logged
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I've got a listening ear as well....no advice, but am also in need of it since we'll be re-flooring the whole house sometime in the not-too-distant future.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 04 2013 at 7:24pm | IP Logged
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I would NOT put anything not waterproof in entry or bath or kitchen!! Vinyl for sure.. and some of the sheet vinyl is amazing looking these days.. I'd rather go that way for the waterproofness than tiles.
I want laminate for the rest of the house.. but I need some imput from people who've had it.. used to be if water stood on it at all it wouldn't hold up.. warps fast and bad.. only thing to do is replace that section.. but I don't know if the current stuff could handle the occational bit (think small child spills and you don't find it for a half hour or so but it's random not a spot that will always get hit or a wet towel that's dropped on the floor).
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guitarnan
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| Posted: March 04 2013 at 10:39pm | IP Logged
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We have Pergo laminate in our downstairs rooms/halls.
A little water does not warp it, but we are very vigilant and mop up snow blobs and spills instantly. However, our male cat occasionally decides to skip using the litter box and so far we have not had massive problems with puddles he's created, even if we find them a little while after he creates them. (We do clean them up thoroughly, spray with enzymes, wait a bit and then hand-dry the area, but the soaking from our cat has not caused warping.)
Pergo does dent if something heavy falls on it (large can, for example). Some of our dents are just dents, but others are chips, and it will be a pain to fix those. We have a bunch of extra Pergo stored away, and when things get really bad, we will do those repairs.
My ideal main floor would be a tiled or nice vinyl entry hall, vinyl bathroom (we drop things, so tile is a bad idea) and laminate or bamboo everywhere else.
We get loads of compliments on our Pergo, so the dents and chips that annoy me are apparently much less visible to visitors.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: March 05 2013 at 6:00am | IP Logged
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My ideal flooring would be tile in all areas downstairs. We have hard wood, and that has to be refinished every so often no matter how you baby it.
Refinishing is no big deal if the house is empty, but moving stuff around to do it is a pain. 
Yes, things break on tile, but area rugs help that. I like the look and feel of wood better, but it is pretty hard to keep it looking good in high traffic areas, IMO.
Another thing to consider- if you are planning to stay forever in your home, you can plan for one thing. If you are panning to sell someday, it is wise to think of what potential buyers would like, unfortunately.
All the home and gardens shows have given the impression that everyone lives in fabulous houses that can be bought for foreclosure prices. Stainless steel, granite, hardwood... these are considered standard, at least in my area. Laminate would be considered a minus, no matter how good it looks-- at least here. Though if you live in a place where that is not the case, you are lucky!
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Pilgrim
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| Posted: March 05 2013 at 7:55am | IP Logged
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Thanks for all the ideas.
I had thought of hardwood, but was leary of the refinishing, as you mentioned Melinda. Thanks for that input.  Oh, and thanks for the tips on thinking of resale, we have been thinking of that, and fortunately where we live, out in a rural area, I think the things we're thinking of will be fine.
The uncertainty that spills, snow, etc. would get mopped up quickly in a house of so many young ones, and those coming in at night from taking care of animals, etc. is exactly why we have leaned away from laminate wood flooring(Pergo, etc.) in entry and dining areas, so I appreciate your input Nancy.
The vinyl planks I've been looking at are said to be waterproof. They click together like laminate does, and seal tightly from what I saw at the flooring store. They have some nice looking ones and some junky looking ones, just like with any flooring. The vinyl plank for a better one is a little more expensive than laminate, but not too bad, and it looks better than sheet vinyl in such a large area of the house. I've found with either vinyl or laminate an important factor is the thickness of the "wear layer", and the quality of the core material. The vinyl plank floor I'm looking at has a 20 mil wear layer which is higher than most. It seems from what I've found the more average vinyl planks have only a 12 or 16 mil wear layer.
We are planning on the vinyl plank in the entry way, all the way into the dining room, and from there down the hall to the bedrooms. Then for the kitchen, laundry/mudroom, and bathrooms we're going to use sheet vinyl. The living room and bedrooms will all get carpeting.
Anyone have any ideas on good carpet that wears like iron, but is still pleasant to the feet?
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Erin
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| Posted: March 05 2013 at 12:57pm | IP Logged
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Well if timber flooring is an option that would be my choice. We have always chosen homes on the basis of having a timber floor. This home had carpet with timber underneath, we immediately ripped up the carpet upon taking possession.
Reasons: A couple of family members have dust allergies, timber flooring is SO much better for them.
Ease of cleaning, so stress free for me.
Like the look and feel.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 05 2013 at 1:04pm | IP Logged
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oh if you do real wood floors.. don't do a continuous flooring through many rooms. because any continuous flooring really should be refinished all at once to keep lines from forming.. but if you do seperate rooms with thresholds or something to seperate the rooms.. you can just refinish one room at a time making it much simpler since you can probably manage to move everything from one room into other rooms for the short time needed.. vs having to move everything out of the house.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: March 05 2013 at 6:02pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
| oh if you do real wood floors.. don't do a continuous flooring through many rooms. because any continuous flooring really should be refinished all at once to keep lines from forming.. but if you do seperate rooms with thresholds or something to seperate the rooms.. you can just refinish one room at a time making it much simpler since you can probably manage to move everything from one room into other rooms for the short time needed.. vs having to move everything out of the house. |
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Words of great wisdom.
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Anastasia
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| Posted: March 06 2013 at 10:28am | IP Logged
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I swear by cork in the kitchen. Seriously, it's soft on the feet and any falling dishes, it covers up dirt and dust, and has a nice woody color.
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Flooring
