Opinions on Flooring

[Healthnut]

I want to rip out my carpet (in the recroom), and put in some new flooring..........| was thinking about going with either laminate flooring or vinyl.....I would like something that is very durable, but also reasonably priced......Any opinions would be greatly appreciated'''' I thank you in advance, for any of your comments...............................

[Governator]

I'm no contractor but I would think that laminate flooring would be extremely cold on the feet in a basement.

[duckdog]

If you go with drycor first then a good underlay laminate will not be to cold at all

[fisherman7]

I've got laminate all over my house. You can beat it with a hammer (I've tried) and it won't dent. Just make sure you don't get the cheap stuff that's 7mm. I've used 8mm and still looks new. I have it in the computer room and my son rolls the chair constantly back and forth. 4 years later still looks new.

[bigugli]

Sheet rubber. No maintenance, durable, hose down to clean

 

Seriously, vinyl or laminate will be fine will a good insulator underneath. Some people have put a 2" raised sub-floor in first with insulation and vapour barrier. Remember, moisture does come through the concrete and will cause problems down the road if not dealt with first.

[hookerdown]

I would go with a laminate floor. When I had a condo, I ripped out all the old carpet and put laminate (8 mm) and it made a huge difference. I was in Costco last week and the had 11mm with the foam insulation already glued at the bottom, it was priced at $0.77 sq foot. If I had the money I would have bought their whole inventory right then and there and replaced my carpet in the basement, and my hardwood floor (it has gaps in between the boards).

 

The down fall to the laminate floor I bought, was that I found it chipped relatively easily at the edges, but during instalation and afterwards. It might have been due to the flooring being thinner, but I am not sure.

 

A word of caution though, I bought a laminate floor blade (10 inch) for my mitre saw at twice the cost of a regular blade. By the time I had finished the flooring in the condo, the blade was dulled. The flooring was a pain to cut with the blade near the end. The cuts were not as clean, the blade was not going through the wood as fast, resulting in the ends getting chipped. I don't know if a fine toothed blade is good enough. You might have to get the blade sharpened before you are done.

 

Good luck.

[gdelongchamp]

Laminate flooring is actually wood and paper composite materials held together by a lot of glue. This mixture of materials plays havoc on skill saw blades and wears them out "dulls them" very quickly particularly when the blades get hot. You dont have this problem when you use hardwood materials for flooring. I would never recomend composit flooring materials for flooring. It is thin, swells with moisture, chips and can not be properly repaired because it is a laminate. I use ceramic tiles for basement flooring and if it's cold put an area rug on or wear slippers, or install a sub floor.

[bigfish1965]

I just installed a new laminate floor in my kitchen 2 days ago. Did it myself with little fuss..okay some cussing...read the instructions and go. By a installation kit from Home Depot..handy items with it..

Cost me $120 to do my kitchen. Home depot has the regular underlay for $24 a roll.

[kemper]

I have laminate all over my house too

 

Sometimes you can get expensive floors that are 'leftovers' from another project for cheap.

 

We just did a bathroom for half price so check that option out