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Advice-Buying Hardwood or Laminate Flooring

TANTRIC-NINJA

By TANTRIC-NINJA,
in Huddle Lounge

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Dexterity Newbie

Dexterity

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My father ran a flooring business & did hardwood floors & ceramic tile for several years. I paid for my college installing wood floors.

If you can afford it, go with Hardwood. It will last forever as long as you take care of it. Floating laminate floors are nice if you're on a budget but comparing it to a real wood floor is like comparing a Ferrari to a Kia. If you can afford it, & especially if you plan on living there long-term, go for hardwood. Laminate floors do nothing to the value of your home, hardwood flooring will increase your property value.

If you have children or pets I'd strongly recommend a harder wood. Some of the softer woods are easily scratched & dinged & kids will wreck them.

Go with the engineered, prefinished wood. The unfinished floors are a mess & will ruin everything in your home. You'll never get all the dust out of your house. Not to mention you end up paying twice as much for labor. And you cannot tell a difference in the two. Avoid large flooring chains & installers. Look for a smaller local company. If you're in NC/SC I can hook you up with a great dealer & installer.

Some people put hardwood throughout their house but I prefer leaving carpet in bedrooms. Just my personal preference, & something to think about if you've never had a hard floor in your room.

Edit:

If you're close to Charlotte I'd help you install the flooring for a case or two of beer. I've still got all the tools & can knock out a small house in 2 days. It's not hard.

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TANTRIC-NINJA Collaborator

TANTRIC-NINJA

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My father ran a flooring business & did hardwood floors & ceramic tile for several years. I paid for my college installing wood floors.

If you can afford it, go with Hardwood. It will last forever as long as you take care of it. Floating laminate floors are nice if you're on a budget but comparing it to a real wood floor is like comparing a Ferrari to a Kia. If you can afford it, & especially if you plan on living there long-term, go for hardwood. Laminate floors do nothing to the value of your home, hardwood flooring will increase your property value.

If you have children or pets I'd strongly recommend a harder wood. Some of the softer woods are easily scratched & dinged & kids will wreck them.

Go with the engineered, prefinished wood. The unfinished floors are a mess & will ruin everything in your home. You'll never get all the dust out of your house. Not to mention you end up paying twice as much for labor. And you cannot tell a difference in the two. Avoid large flooring chains & installers. Look for a smaller local company. If you're in NC/SC I can hook you up with a great dealer & installer.

Some people put hardwood throughout their house but I prefer leaving carpet in bedrooms. Just my personal preference, & something to think about if you've never had a hard floor in your room.

Edit:

If you're close to Charlotte I'd help you install the flooring for a case or two of beer. I've still got all the tools & can knock out a small house in 2 days. It's not hard.

Great info...Im in Columbia SC so 3cases and a good cuddle? Minus the cuddle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

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thefuzz Mentor

thefuzz

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Its still early in the process so when my and the wifeys schedules align we can go shop this weekend possibly.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

 

If it's a slab, you probably need to stick to engineered flooring.  If you are going to stay for years, get the thickest and most well built you can, especially the top layer.

 

If you are only going to be there for a couple, go with a nice one, but not the most expensive.

 

I would stay away from "glossy" floors, they show every speck of hair,dust, dirt...etc.

 

Personally I like the "scalloped" or textured floors, but that's just me.

 

 

Know this, you may or may not get money back from this, so don't blow your budget if you are going to sell soon.

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thefuzz Mentor

thefuzz

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Two years max...new houses have hardwoods and Granite countertops. Got mine too early on and after seeing a barrige of awful houses just jumped at the first decent looking house. It needs more love however..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

 

Here's the deal, granite and floors will cost you (total guess work) $10,000.  You house has not gone up in square footage, nor added bedrooms or acreage to your lot, so you won't get that money back from an appraiser.

 

He may net you an extra 3-4k, but not the full 10.

 

 

That said, it MAY help you sell your home a little faster, but not for that much more money.  Only do this if you want it for you, now, but not just for "resale".

 

 

If you want the granite and hardwoods, go for it, but be prepared to be a little disappointed by the appraisal report when it comes back.  Personally, if you are doing it just for resale, I probably wouldn't, and just under price the home 5k when you go to sell it, knowing that you have an extra 5k in your back pocket to use if you needed to, that didn't cost you a penny.

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Niner National Newbie

Niner National

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I pro hardwood.  If you decide to go hardwood, never go thru big companies.  Find some brazilians and they'll do it for the half of price.  If you live in Charlotte area and can't find Brazilians, let me know... I'll hook you up.

is this offer only for brazilians that want to sell me wood or do you also have some brazilians I can offer some wood to?  :cool:

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Niner National Newbie

Niner National

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I put laminate in my house, but a pretty high quality laminate. The people that have seen it were surprised that it wasn't real wood. I have one with a handscraped look, so it looks a little more realistic than some of the cheaper laminates.

 

I wanted real hard woods, but the guy at the store told me that since I have cats I'd be better off with laminate because it wouldn't scratch as easily.

 

Laminate is pretty easy to install yourself as long as you don't value your knees or back. 

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Dexterity Newbie

Dexterity

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If you're gonna sell the home in a few years just put down a laminate floating floor. It's not hard at all. Buying hardwood, especially if you're also paying labor, would be a colossal waste of money.

Spending big bucks to renovate or upgrade a home is never smart if you're planning to sell. Homes are like cars, everyone has different preferences. You won't get your money back on expensive mods and upgrades.

I'd have somebody like Lowe's install carpet in the bedrooms then install a floating floor throughout the rest of the house. It won't add much value to the home but it will make it look much better and help when you try to sell in a few years. And it'll cost pennies compared to a real hardwood floor.

It's very simple work. If you can change oil in a car you can do it. All you need is a rubber mallet and circulating saw. Get a buddy to help and you can knock it out in a Saturday.

Tip-

Don't cut the flooring around door jambs. Professionals use a rotozip type power saw to cut around jambs, but you can buy a cheap hand saw and cut the jamb out. Then you can fit the flooring under. If the flooring is 1/4" thick just saw off the bottom 5/16" or so from the jamb. It'll look a million times better.

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TANTRIC-NINJA Collaborator

TANTRIC-NINJA

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Tip-

Don't cut the flooring around door jambs. Professionals use a rotozip type power saw to cut around jambs, but you can buy a cheap hand saw and cut the jamb out. Then you can fit the flooring under. If the flooring is 1/4" thick just saw off the bottom 5/16" or so from the jamb. It'll look a million times better.

Whats a Jamb?

So is that a no on all the beer n cuddles I was offering lol?!

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Dexterity Newbie

Dexterity

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Whats a Jamb?

So is that a no on all the beer n cuddles I was offering lol?!

The door casing.

http://cdn.oneprojectcloser.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/door-trim-sitting-over-wood-floors.jpg

Notice how the flooring goes under the casing, but the corners are poorly cut & stick out. The proper way is to have no gaps like that sticking out. A lot of times people don't even cut the casing out & cut the floor around it, then have ugly gaps sticking out or fill it with caulk.

Just my OCD kicking in.

I'll come give you a hand if you supply beer & gas money.

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