Laminate Flooring Questions

[Pappy]

I know a number of you have worked with laminate flooring. I am going to replace our carpet with laminatein the next couple of months. The floor is slab on grade and I have about 1600 sq ft to replace. The floor will be installed to float.

Looking at Lowe's today I saw Pergo at $2.30 sq ft. This was either 8mm or 10mm with the attached padding. I was also looking at some 7mm Swiftlock, unpadded, @ .90 sq ft. The cheapest underlayment would add $400, the better would up the cost about $850. Both have a textured surface that give more of the impression of real wood rether than laminate.

7mm vs 8mm I don't think would make a difference, but is there a real difference in the grand scheme of things going with 10mm over 7mm? Pergo has a patented end to end locking system. Does it make any real improvement in the finished floor?

Any GOOD online sources where I can save some $$$?

[drillman88]

I have worked with both and the flooring that has the padding pre-attached is worth the extra cost. The stand alone pad is very slick and the flooring moves a great deal. The pad also buckles at the seams and other areas when your laying the floor. It adds a lot of unneeded aggravation to the job. Really cheap laminate is also more flimsy and is harder to lock together.
I hope this helps.

[wardprobst]

You might check Lumber Liquidators online for prices. I'm not sure they would be cheaper after shipping but it will at least give you a ball park.
DP

[drillman88]

I should have added that I helped my dad put down some pre-padded laminate that he bought from Sam's Club. The quality was comparable to Pergo, but cost about 30% less IIRC.

[jdon]

my .02-

Several years (~8 to 10?) I put in laminate flooring in a couple of rooms, including a screened porch on a slab that I enclosed/insulated to be a year-round sun room.

I put in the separate pad, which was ~3/16" foam sandwiched between aluminum foil faces; seams were sealed with foil tape. I never noticed any problems with slipperiness or wrinkling. I used that because I figured it would give a better (seamless) moisture barrier against the concrete slab, than would preinstalled pad on each piece of laminate; with the latter, there is a break in the vapor barrier (albeit small) at each joint.

I looked at Pergo, which at the time, anyway, seemed to be middle of the road quality, with high price and visibility/marketing. I don't know anything about their end locking system- I think that most (if not all) laminate flooring systems have locking on all edges (2 "male" and 2 "female", so that's nothing special.

IIRC, the brand I went with was Witex- not well known, but better quality at a lower price than Pergo and other major brands, at the time. As I recall, factors I considered beyond price were the locking system (how tight tolerances were) and durability. I'm not sure how much of a factor the thickness plays- probably more important is the quality of the surface (wear, resistance to chipping, etc). I never had any problems with installation (over the separate pad), or afterward (no joint separation, buckling, etc.), and was very pleased with the quality and price; I don't recall where online I ordered it, though.

All this is relatively ancient history, I'm afraid, but don't be afraid to go for it. Layout goes quickly, esp. in open fields, and there's real satisfaction with the "click" as each piece snaps into perfect alignment- kind of like putting Legos together.

[Pappy]

Looking at both sales sites and tutorial articles, they all recommend a vapor barrier under the attached pad floors when installing over concrete so the 'slick' factor is there with either type.

The top (wear) coat is rated as AC1 - 5, with a 3 being heavy traffic residential / light commercial and 4 for high traffic commercial use. I am only looking at flooring with an AC rating of 3 or 4.

I have a couple of samples of Kronotex 12 mm that I snapped together and the seem is almost invisible. Another thing I have seen is beveled edge, single plank (each piece looks like a single board) that makes the floor look more real. My worry there would be spills getting in the beveled areas and seeping through to the core material.

[capncarl]

The thinner laminates are often louder than the thicker ones. That is, they sound like walking on a really cheap computer keyboard vrs. walking on on a $20 computer keyboard.
Capncarl

[Taylormade]

The thinner laminates are often louder than the thicker ones. That is, they sound like walking on a really cheap computer keyboard vrs. walking on on a $20 computer keyboard.
Capncarl

This is true, but can be remedied, at least somewhat, by a quality sub pad. I laid down Mohawk's premier laminate about 10 years ago at a price of ~$5.50 a square foot. It's awesome. Laid down Visqueen and this laminate right on top of it. It's VERY quiet.

Recently we were perusing the local tile depot for glass mosiacs when my wife found the same color laminate we have on clearance for .66/ft. Notice I said same color and not same quality.

I talked to a few people and one of the sales guys actually pushed me to craigslist where a guy has been selling good padding out of his van for $25 per 100' roll. It has the vapor barrier attached to it AND has a glue strip attached to each piece, which made the install a snap.

We got finished laying the last of the "cheap" laminate a few weeks back and while you can tell the difference between the two, it's not $5 a foot difference. This was put in two bedrooms.