Okay I actually sent out a request about this not long ago but it looks like we are finally going to get the $$ together to actually put in new floors. My question is this. Has anyone recently replaced their carpet with either hardwood or laminate flooring? Where did you get it and who installed it for you? Do you have any advice on a particular brand?? What is good and what is not the best?? Does anyone have any experience with Lumber Liquidators?? Are their prices really good for what you get?? There seem to be so many brands out there and I don't want to put in a floor that I am unhappy with in a year. We are planning on selling our house withing the next few years so I don't want to put too much $$ into it. Just enough to enjoy it while we are still here and to add some value to our home for when we sell. Your advice is really appreciated!
I wanted to thank everyone for their advice on hardwoods vs laminate. Everyone had a good point behind their choice. I have a good friend who is one of the top realtors in Dallas (she was listed in D Magazine) and she told me that hardwoods are much better for resale value than laminate. Yes it costs more but she told me that laminate is becoming more unpopular and less attractive for buyers. Most importantly, it will not add value to your home. Laminate is absolutly better as far as withstanding scratches and nicks. However, if you are going to sell your house over the next few years, go with hardwood. She said that engineered hardwood is actually a really good choice because it is less expensive than solid wood but still holds the value and looks beautiful since the top layer is actually hardwood. Once again, I want to thank everyone for their advice and opinions.
If you're set on hardware or laminate, do hardwood. We have a small office with laminate and it's 'okay' in there, but would never put throughout my home.
However, if you're thinking of selling and you must have new floors, put in new carpet. It's cheaper.
We chose Laminate due to the savings and I was told it would be better for dogs vs hardwood. I'm like you, I want to sell my home in 5yrs and don't want to put too much money into it. We bought ours at lowe's on sale but it's the glueless type. The person that installed it for us was a referral from my neighbor and he was great. Once we saved enough for the hallways, bedrooms and nursery we had it done before my son was born. This year we finished the house. It looks great but noise does carry and you get used to it. Let me know if you want the number to the guy I used. He said he could get flooring at a great price. If our next house doesn't have wood flooring we will let him get the flooring and install it.
they each have an equal amount of pros and cons. When it came down to it we chose hardwood because we were told hardwood does increase the value of your home and laminate does not.
I agree- Hardwoods are the key! We put laminate in at out old house. Trust me, it may look good on the display at the store, but put that stuff all the way through your house, and you will not be happy. It looks and even feels "cheap" when you walk on it. But, keep this in mind- I have a friend in the real estate industry, and she recently told me that $20,000 in upgrades on your home, will only increase the sale price about $3000. Good Luck!
I put laminate in my house a few years ago and I love it. The brand I used is Wilsonart. It's a high-end brand that you can use in bathrooms and kitchens because it is sealed between the seams. I used Carpet One. I would not suggest them though. They measured wrong and had to bring in more laminate. They didn't let the new laminate rest in my house for 3 days, so it swelled and retracted over 2 years and that made it move up and down my hallway. That makes gaps between the ends of the planks. We can move them ourselves to make them tight, but that's not a good installer.
Wilsonart was a great option for me because I plan on staying in my house for a while. As for resale value, laminate is not a good option. People want hardwoods. You can get scraped hardwoods that will increase the value of your home. Scraped means that they lay the wood, gouge it with tools to make it look weathered, and then finish it. This is the most popular process right now. It's not cheap, but it will increase the value of your home and it won't show scratches from kids and animals like regular hardwoods.
I don't know of a good installer, but that's the information I have gotten lately. Good luck!!!!
Jodi
Have you gotten around to putting in your hardwoods yet? We just built our home and did the entire downstairs in hardwoods.
I do not recommend Lumber Liquidators. They recieved only 1 and a half stars in users reviews. Instead, I HIGHLY recommend Builders Carpet and Design- ask for Jordan Goodwin. ###-###-####. We like Armstrong brand hardwoods the most. :)
I think hardwoods are beautiful, but easily scratched & nicked. Laminates are great, but make sure you get a textured laminate or everybody will be slipping & sliding on your floor! In general, the cheaper ones are not textured. These can be scratched & nicked too, just not as easily. Also, keep in mind that laminates are usually not glued to the floor, they are just laid over a moisture barrier material & sort of float, so if you spill water on the floor & leave it there or a toilet overflows or something of that sort-your floors will be ruined! They swell & bow up at the joints. We got our floors from Laminate Store Int. in Dallas & got such an awesome price that we did our whole house (except bathrooms) in laminate. There's also a place called Seconds & Surplus but they don't always have the same things, so you would have to have them check & make sure they have enough of what you want. I'm not sure that any one brand is better than the others. I've seen houses with really expensive flooring & really cheap flooring & they've held up the same. I don't really know of anyone who lays flooring, my husband laid ours, but he's laid flooring for years. I hope this helps.
Harwoods definitely. The wood floor in made to be repairable. If you get a scratch you buff it or major issue you can sand and refinish. Now neither of these things are great but Laminate is not repairable. If you have a big dog I believe that your dog will be harder on Laminate than real wood. Don't get me wrong your dog will scratch a real wood floor. Depending on how prefect you like your floor wood may not be the answer for you everywhere. In hallways and high traffic paths carpet or tile will be be easier with a dog. Iwill be happy to discuss further if you like. Just email me.
I have hardwoods in my home and if you have a large dog do NOT DO IT.... we're going to have to pay over $4K to get our floors fixed after Cujo bites the dust b/c he's just RUINED them. If you are NOT staying in your house and you KNOW this, there is no way I'd invest in hardwoods. I'd definitely do laminates. Save your money to spend making your NEW home yours rather than being in debt putting in floors for someone else to enjoy. :) LIke I said, I have hardwoods now...and if I had the choice, I'd just have SLATE floors put in my entire downstairs. LOL.... I hate anything with lots of maintenance! :) hee hee Good luck!
Have you thought about tile? I won't go on too much about it, if you're after the wood look, but our home has all tile throughout the downstairs, and we love it. We have four cats and 2 kids; I just wipe up spills and sweep the hair up with a swiffer -- and I don't have to worry about scratches or dents. I think it's comparably priced also.
Still very pleased with Coker Floors (Bob Frealy). They are actually coming next week to extend hardwoods into our kitchen and replace our kitchen counter tops with granite. Enjoy your new floors :)
