Wood vs Laminate and Who to Use to Install??

I have laminate and we love it. The ONLY drawback is if you drop something heavy, it WILL dent/chip! We had a cabinet fall on it and as expected, it left a hole. Then we also dropped a wooden chess board and it must have fallen "just right" because it made a hole. I contacted the company and they had no solution/remedy for filling it in and didn't seem to care either! So we just use a wood filler and it works fine.

We also have two kids, one dog and two cats so it's held up really well.

My husband installed it so I can't really help with the quotes. Altho, I do remember talking to Lowes, and they didn't seem to be too bad.

Good luck!

We went with laminate from Sam's Club, and installed it ourselves. The molding we put around the edges is from Home Depot, and it isn't real wood either. It may not last as long as real wood, but the cost and ease of installation were great. We got the kind that has the foam already attached to the underside and it snaps together. We bought a few extra boxes just in case. When we had a water leak from the refrigerator, we were able to take it all apart, let it dry, replace a few ruined boards, and then snap it all back together.

We didn't replace the carpet on the stairs during this project. Still not sure what we're going to do about it. It seems that the rounded edge pieces for stairs are very expensive, like $50 each.

We have 2 large dogs and a toddler. We are so happy we got laminate. My in-laws have wood and our dogs scratched their wood like crazy one weekend. (It was sealed, too!) We installed the laminate between my husband and I. It was extremely easy. The hardest part was getting the old laminate sheet floor that was down before...UGH. Then, we had to put new sub-floor down, because the existing was so uneven. The actual laminate installation was a breeze. We did the whole house on a Saturday.

My parents have used Empire and were not very pleased. They used Lowes for their laminate, and they were happy with them. BUT, you HAVE to make sure you have the laminate sitting in your house a day or two before it's installed. It needs to acclimate itself to the climate of the home. No matter who you use, they really need to do this.

until my dog dies, and my kids are gone out of my house, its Laminate all the way baby. We installed it ourselves, Looks ok, be sure to that the sub- flooring is completely flat so you dont get bubbles, and it saves you a ton of money.

I'm an architect (currently on sabbatical), but from experience, I can tell you the laminate WILL hold up better with a dog in the house. There ARE laminates of a higher grade that can be refinished once or twice if you're concerned about the scratching over time. Ask to see a "light commercial" product and compare pricing.

Now, if budget's not a concern, I would recommend looking at the new ceramic & porcelain tiles that LOOK like wood flooring... gorgeous! And they'll last forever. :)

look into lumber liquidators not sure if theres any out there but they are supposed to be cheap and install

Considering you have a dog and 2 kids, it would be laminate, Hands-Down. It won't scratch at all. As far as having a company, they are all going to be pretty high. If there is any way you can buy the flooring and install yourself. You will save thousands of dollars.

I would definitely ALSO look into Home Depot and Lowes. I'm not sure about hard flooring, but when we needed carpet, I had Costco come out to give me a quote, along with Home Depot. I didn't even consider Empire because I'd read some bad reviews about them. I also got a quote from a regular flooring store that services my area. Comparing the same carpet (from the same mill, although the names were different, it was the same actual product), Home Depot came in WAAAY lower than any of the other places, including installation. Might be the same for hard flooring. Just make sure you're comparing the same product (brand, rating, quality, etc) and not just "oak flooring".

And I would go with real hardwood or engineered wood floors over laminate any day.

We have composite hardwoods, laminate and hard wood. We also have a dog:) I really like the composite hard woods, they have a few layers of real wood on top, so they can be refinished a few times, but it installs like laminate. I hate laminate. It bubbles, doesn't do well in moist or high traffic areas, like by doors where wet, muddy feet come in. Ick.
However, we have considered bamboo in the future. Also, I agree with Jo W. it is super easy to install yourself.

Is it a big dog? Will you always have a dog or is this your last one? If your a dog family, probably best to go with laminate. Otherwise this is what I recommend to my clients when I worked as a residential designer:
If this is your permanent home, invest in real wood floors. They will last the life of the home.
If you don't plan to live there indefinitely then go with laminate, since wood is a bigger investment. Laminate floors are very loud. They are harder than wood so they do not absorb sound but rather sound bounces off them (voices, shoes, footsteps.) this may seem like a small thing, but it has a huge effect on the feel of your home.
As a rule of thumb, if its the house you are going to Iive in for more than 10 years, invest in the highest end flooring you can fit into your budget. Floors make up such huge surface of your home that your choice will make a big difference in the feel of your home. Laminate is great for sprucing up a place to resell or rent, but wood is so much better to live on.
The look of laminate is great, but slightly negated by the cheesy trim pieces which are always the tell tail sign of laminate flooring. If there were any way to match the finish with solid stock trim that would be a great compromise.

I had laminates in my kitchen, dining and living room. I loved it. I just used a swiffer to clean. So easy.. they said it had a 15 year life. We had to move 2 years later. I want to redo my kitchen and I saw a cork look laminate I might use. Go to Home Depot and check at out the laminates. I heard wood is so much more expensive and laminates are nearly indestructable. I had 3 cats and my son and his friends and didn't see any wear.

Check out Lumber Liquidators. We had hardwood floors installed 4 years ago in our family room and master bedroom and love them. We have 2 large inside dogs and 2 grandchildren, so far no problems whatsoever.

If you still have the dog or are going to get another, you should go with laminate. The dog's nails will scratch hardwood.

My husband does flooring installation. He works for a small independent company and they get a lot of jobs that Empire, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. have given estimates on because his company is much less expensive, they can be depended on to get to the job site on time, and they are very personable people.

If I were you, I would look around in your area for an independent and get an estimate before going with any of the name companys you listed.